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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..............................
alessandro1
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
1,369 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.
tom6897's avatar
tom6897
1,484 posts
 
I couldn't agree more with 213Cobra. I would have steam coming from my ears too if I had invested as much as you in my playback system. I think too many people have jumped in way too early for a technology that is still far from maturing. But hey you knew that going in. Someone has to help pay for the R&D, right?

Try to get the Amarra 2.2.3 version up and running at let us know how that sounds.
vmk
41 posts
 
I can certainly understand your frustration however my
experience has been quite the opposite. I too own a
Mach 2 modified 2011 mac mini which in my case is connected
to a Playback Designs mps-5 with USB-x. This setup wil play all formats as well as DSD files. Puremusic 1.85
software has been working very well and to my ears sounds
very good. Some of the music that sounds exceptional:
HD TRACKS
Monty Alexander-Calypso Blues 24/192
Ornette Coleman-Change of the Century 24/192
CCR-Chronicle 20 greastest hits 24/96
Duke Ellington- Ellington '65 24-192

Try the Puremusic software. Its a free trial.
Best of luck!
turboglo
110 posts
 
I'm curious about how many hours the OP has on the power cords. I just have a straight 2010 Mini and recently upgraded the power cord to one that Mach2Music sells. The break-in was erratic. It took a good 80 hours to settle down. The end result is pretty remarkable. Love what I'm hearing.

Also, unfortunately, my experience with high-res files is similar to that of Bjesien's. I only have about 6 albums worth. But they're at best average.

Does M2M have the Mini set up so that the default is for it to boot up into 64 bit mode? That makes a very significant improvement in my setup.
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