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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
pettyofficer
462 posts
 
Edorr: That's just it! Is Computer Audio a new proposed
Format, or is it just a clone of CD Format. Both Formats
value convenience over Sound Quality. Are we trading up, or
are we trading down? Right now there are Pop Artists whose
Music is available as Downloads, but not available as CD.
So much for the extra decade! Cheap local storage? MP3 with
less than CD resolution? Minimum High Resolution Selection-
almost strictly Classical/Jazz. Like both, but I don't live
by bread alone! Without Selection- kind of hard to see a step up. What is the Format I propose? A Computer Audio
Format that puts Sound Quality above convenience, with
adequate Music Selection- and is a clear step up in S.Q.
above CD. Computer Audio today is a partial Format- one foot in lower than CD MP3, and one toe in severely limited
selection of High Rez. Downloads. A few short of a six
pack for a real replacement Format? Not firing on all four
cylinders? Computer Audio desperately needs to get its ducks in a row, or else it will be out the door sooner than
CD. Shoot me if I propose that Computer Audio failure is not an option! Being a CD Format clone is surest way in
following in CD Formats failure! If convenience isn't
saving CD, it sure as hell isn't going to save Computer Audio. Computer Audio can, and should do better- if you
want to keep it longer than CD. Man (And Formats) do not
live by convenience alone! Formats (CD) apparently do
eventually die by convenience alone! Ditto Computer Audio??? I dare Computer Audio to do better than CD to save
it, and not let it suffer the same fate! Minimum Selection
in High Rez., and S.Q. of lower than CD MP3- two anchors
that will sink Computer Audio faster than the Titannic.
Definitely a ship built for convenience, but what was the point???
chadeffect
586 posts
 
Hi Pettyofficer,

I understand your point. It can be confusing out there. My experience is that you have to do the basics 1st with computer audio. Obviously crap in crap out.

So choose your format. Let's forget MP3s. Let's forget lossy data compression. Have enough memory to run the operating system & whatever software you use.

Then let's get into software. iTunes to me is the best library front end for convience, but for sonics you do need something like Amarra or Puremusic etc to get the best signal to your DAC. I like the sound running from RAM.

Keep your computer power away from the systems power & get good cables.

From there you have a hope in hell of getting good sound, but the DAC is really important. The finest I know is the new Weiss Medea + FW. It is utterly amazing. Making the finest digital from only a few years ago sound metallic & confused. Even the glorious DCS which at the time was smooth & natural when compared to the other reference DACs.

For old school vinyl guys & people who love a coloured sound or rolled off
warm sounding systems, you will need to match your amp etc carefully as the sound from the DAC is pure & untouched. Nothing added nothing taken away.

But I get the impression many here like sound touched & different to the master. If you are that guy, you will need to play around. But what came from your HD is what came out of the recording studio. That was the dream...

The tweaking is another story, but if your system is good & balanced you don't need anything else. Sit back & enjoy record after record from the hit seat.
edorr
714 posts
 
Pettyoffice, like all industries the primary driver in music publishing is money. As soon as a large enough number of folks that want high quality audio and are willing to pay for jump on the computer audio bandwagon, it will become commercially viable for studios to (a) remaster their catalogues in high resolution that will exceed CD quality and (b) release all new material in downloadable high rez.

So rather than lamenting the state of the industry, get yourself a PC, tell all your audiophile buddies to ditch their turntables and start buying high rez tracks on line. If HD tracks and the likes can show the industry there is booming demand, more labels will join the audiophile quality computer audio fray.
pettyofficer
462 posts
 
If I saw one High Rez. Download available of any of the following groups, I would do exactly that- Edorr! Heart, ABBA, Pink Floyd, Carpenters, John Barry, Ennio Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, Howard Hanson, Bernard Herrmann, Gerry Rafferty, Enya, Bangles, Juice Newton, Kate Bush, Norah Jones, Nancy Sinatra, Henri Mancini, Liza Minelli......
etc.etc! Have seen High Rez. Downloads of Fleetwood Mac-Rumors, Eagles-Hotel California, Megadeath, Dianna Krall, and Ringo Star. I check what is available everyday. With this limited Selection in Pop Music, it is obvious that High Rez. Download Computer Audio is nowhere near serious in becoming the next Format. What is it then? A Format that cherry picks what Music everyone will be allowed to listen to? That is not a New Format! People will not buy something that is not there, under the empty promise that it will soon be there. We did that with SACD, spending tens of thousands on the equipment only to never see our Music available on SACD! This time you will have to show everyone the Music Selection first before everyone will buy into it! That has been the cost of every New Format for the last 50 years. Prove it to me that you are serious!
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,597 posts
 
Chadeffect, I hate to tell you this but even if the signal coming out of your DAC is as pure as the driven snow the rest of your system is coloring it. And for that matter, the file on your server is a pale reflection of what was heard by the musicians in the recording studio. Get rid of that junk you're listening to and make friends with some good musicians.
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