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Mach2Music mini and Amarra : Huge disappointment

I invite all the fellow Audiogon members than own both the Mach2Music Mini and Amarra to share they experiences.

Mine has been a huge disappointment .

The sound I get from the Mach2Music mini even with the advantage of playing Hi-Res files is mediocre at best and way inferior to the sound of a common CD.
Mach2Music tech support after checking that every setting is correct and everything is as it should dropped the ball. They blame the mediocre sound I'm complaining about on Amarra newer version of software they say more stable but sounding not so great.......

To me It doesn't add up. When there are problems the old music start playing: It's someone else fault. May be it's just that the Mach2Music mini is not so great as some say to start with.......

After spending over $4000 on the Mach2Music web site purchasing all the best available upgrades to possibly get the best possible sound from this computer based system, including their top of the line cables (power, USB, Firewire) an optional solid state SSD hard drive besides their special sandwich case to reduce vibrations and the expensive software Amarra, I get instead the sound you would from a cassette player.........at least that's how it sounds to me in my audio system....

My audio system as you read below is of high quality and well balanced where everything from acoustic treatment to power treatment has been closely matched starting from a dedicated room 20x24x9H fully treated with massive use of acoustic diffusers Gikq7 and bass traps Soffits and Tritraps by GikAcoustics.

Audio components connected to the Mach2music mini are:

DAC : dCS Debussy 24/192
Pre: BAT VK52SE upgraded with 6H30DR supertubes Reflector 1987.
Amp: 2x BAT VK600SE Mono
Transport ; Oppo 95
Speakers ; Magnepan 20.1
Speaker cables : MIT Oracle Matrix HD90
Interconnect : MIT Oracle Matrix XLR
Power: 2x Torus RM20 (one x each amp on two dedicated 20 amp circuits)
Power cords all MIT Oracle ZIII
Audio rack Adona Zero reference
All internal and external stock fuses replaced with HiFi Tuning Supreme.

I rarely write on the forum but this is too big of a screw up to pass and I hope to save to somebody the frustration I went thru.

Besides if some of you has a very positive experience with other computer based systems please share . Help is always appreciated.

I hear good things about Solos by Meridian or the USB Thumb reader by Bryston and I'll probably move on one of the two.... life continues......

so if you'll see my Mach2mini for sale on Audiogon in the near future you already know why..............................
128x128alessandro1
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Not being part of the Mac world, all I can do is suggest that you try posting on computeraudiophile.com. Beyond that, I can tell you that my MediaMonkey/MusicVaultII server/Modwright Transporter easily beats my NAD 6300 cassette recorder. In fact, I am continually surprised at home good even the standard quality Pandora stream sounds.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Mach2music is not at fault here. Not fair to blame them. The latest Amarra is unfortunately not great sounding, just like Mach2 claims. You should backtrack and install the previous version, 2.2.3. Ask Mach2 how to uninstall properly and install the new version. This version enabled me to get best of show at RMAF in 2011. Version 1.2 got me best of show in 2010. I avoided the in-between versions 2.0-2.1 because they were not good. All Amarra back versions are usually available. BTW, Jon of Sonic Studio is aware of the Amarra SQ problem and is working on a fix for a newer Amarra version that is forthcoming.

If you have no patience for that, then just install Pure Music.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
abruce's avatar
abruce
246 posts
 
I have a Mach2mini, it's almost as good as my cd player,
Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired
Good Luck with whatever direction you take
213cobra
885 posts
 
Getting 'Best of Show' recognition in a hotel hifi exhibition is like CNET saying your smartphone has the best screen for watching movies on a handset. So what?

If you're not getting good sound out of a dCS Debussy DAC, you have a serious problem upriver. Running old software shouldn't be the answer. Who allows audio quality to degrade in newer versions of software when they're in the music playback business? I agree, try Pure Music. Or forget it for now and pony up for a 47 Labs non-oversampling CD player.

What doesn't add up is that if M2M shipped the server with Amarra installed, then they have responsibility as the integrator for including something they admit knowing does not sound great in the iteration they chose to ship. The software & systems fingerpointing is leaking into hifi. No chance we'll regret that....

I come from software & computing, professionally. We're ten years into computer audio and it's still a pathetic cluster****.

Phil
bjesien
1,365 posts
 
I've got the mini with a QB-9 dac and love it. Be careful what you wish for with hi-rez files. I've downloaded many many 192 kHz files and most suck. The hi-rez game has been something similar to a scam IMHO, at least from some companies.
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