MOLA-MOLA TAMBAQUI STANDALONE DAC ARRIVES IN AUSTRALIA
Well, there you have it! If you were wondering where audio brand Mola-Mola gets its inspiration for its distinctive name, wonder no more: Mola-Mola is the name of a very large fish.
But whatever the origin of one of audio’s most alluring brand names, the company’s new Tambaqui DAC lives up to Mola-Mola’s exquisite sense of audio circuitry and styling.
Yes, Tambaqui is a species of a big freshwater fish and here’s betting buyers of this leading edge DAC will feel they’ve landed the big one every time they hear its detailed sound.
Credentially, the Tambaqui swims in very deep waters. It’s a DAC whose creator is audio luminary, Bruno Putzey, the man associated with design for Grimm, Kii Audio and Hypex Amplification. A fairly amazing pedigree, you’ll agree.
Mola-Mola loves audio gear with a clear, uncluttered look. And most notably, a small footprint.
Tambaqui delivers all of these features in a chassis derived from Mola-Mola’s handsome Kaluga mono amplifiers.
A quick squiz reveals a DAC embellished by a sumptuous chrome bezeled display that shows important settings and functions and is easy on the eye.
As for the casework, you’d be right in assuming the flowing lines are modelled on a fish. But not just any fish. The styling cue is taken from the Mola-Mola fish according to a brand spokesperson.
Internally, the thinking behind the circuitry is as fresh as the external styling. Where rivals use off-the-shelf DAC chipsets and mundane resistor networks, Mola-Mola has given its new DAC the processing grunt of the latest ASIC technology for the brand’s in-house FPGA, and upsampling and decoding algorithms.
Moreover, digital upsampling filters have been specifically designed for each of the DAC’s unique sample rates. So the Tambaqui is a lot more than a pretty chassis.
Connections abound, and these include USB, SPDIF, AES/EBU and Toslink inputs. These are complemented by i2s and also the fact that the Tambaqui is also Roon Ready.
The new DAC supports all high-res content including DSD256, DXD and up to 32/384kHz PCM.
A fully modern DAC, the Tambaqui’s settings, pre-sets, firmware updates and volume happen over the air using Mola-Mola’s Remote smartphone app. A separate IR remote can also be used.
The Tambaqui is available now and sells for $15,990 RRP.
For more information visit Mola-Mola.
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Peter Familari
One of the veterans of the Australian HiFi industry, Peter was formerly the Audio-Video Editor of the Herald Sun for over two decades. One of the most-respected audio journalists in Australia, Peter brings his unparalleled experience and a unique story-telling ability to StereoNET.
Posted in: StereoLUX! | Hi-Fi
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