Emm Labs DV2 versus Tambaqui

@yyzsantabarbara Well that’s a good idea... I pulled the pin and should have the Tambaqui in house come first week of April.

So I can definitely give you my thoughts on the Musetec 005 vs Tambaqui A/B, and would be cool to have some others A/B different DAC’s listed.

Appreciate the suggestion!

It might take me a little time to really give a good listen (new baby T-minus any day), and I’m told it needs to run hot and get some hours in. But I’ll do my best in giving you my unadulterated subjective, relatively new to Hi-Fi opinion.

Excited none the less.

I'm not sure if this thread has discussed source synergy yet (I don't have the stamina to re-read it). The EMM DV2 doesn't have an internal source, whereas the Tambaqui does have an internal Roon streaming board.

The obvious streaming source for the DV2 would be the EMM NS1 streamer, connected via EMM's proprietary Optilink (which supposedly minimizes jitter). I do have an NS1 on the way, but I don't have an EMM Dac to try out that particular combination. 

For streaming, the Roon board in the Tambaqui sounds good (better to my ears than the separate $3000 streamer I had on hand). Since Bruno Putzeys is/was connected to both Mola Mola and Grimm, a lot of folks pair the Tambaqui with the Grimm MU1 server (Roon core + endpoint + reclocker + upsampler). The Grimm is a special piece. I've had it at home and will try it again. But of course it's nearly the same price as the Tambaqui itself. For me at least, it's one of those money-no-object kind of components -- something for a very ambitious system.

“In the $15k plus category, keep an eye on Nagra. Their successor to the Nagra Classic DAC will include streaming capability”

“For streaming, the Roon board in the Tambaqui sounds good (better to my ears than the separate $3000 streamer I had on hand).”

@metaldetektor

I’ve noticed quite a few manufacturers of high end DAC’s are now including streaming client with their DAC’s. To me, this makes perfect sense as long as it’s implemented with proper care. Honestly speaking, the Merging +player has squashed my desires to own any outboard high end streamer. In direct A/B comparison, Merging’s Roon Core+Endpoint $3K option in their +player went toe to toe with a five figure ultra high end streamer :-)

@lordmelton This is a pretty late comment, but that was some very bad advice.

There is not a single review across the board which puts a Chinese DAC ahead of the Tambaqui, including the best of them, the Holo May.

Even Herb Reichert, Stereophile, who holds the May in high regard, concludes:

"Is the Tambaqui better than my forever-favorite HoloAudio May Level 3 DAC? "Better" is not a word I often use, but the Mola Mola makes music bigger, clearer, more solid and rousing than the May. The Tambaqui encourages me to listen longer and more closely than I do with the May. That's what "better" means to me, so yes, it's better."

But let's put that aside for a minute, the Tambaqui bests it in all measurements (other than noise floor in which the May is slightly lower - but noise floor at the level of the Tambaqui is already way beyond your hearing threshold, and the least of your worries in terms of measurements).

As for this talk about the Musetec DA005 - that DAC is a completely jittered mess; a terribly engineered chip DAC, and an incredibly poor performer. It's not even in the same dimension as the Tambaqui in terms of technical merit.

So, why highjack a thread like this with a hugely false statement that doesn't answer the question?