Mutec MC-3+USB

You can turn all of the lights off no problem.

If you re serious about your digtial front end then you need ot listen to one imho

Ok,

3 hours of listening and I took it out.

Played 60 seconds of Toto - Rosanna and put it straight back in.

I am still trying to pin down exactly what's so different that this Mutech is doing, but in a haste to find anything remotely sensible, that word is propulsion.

One of the most addictive aspects of Vinyl for me is the life-like dynamics and weight of drums. Call it what you want, but that rock on the cantilever speeding through the groove just seems to sound more propulsive than digital, no matter how good digital has been.

Almost to the point where I have never suspected digital of being able to do the same.

However, the realism that propulsion brings to vinyl has been delivered to digital via the Mutech. In truth, I had no idea this could be a thing!

Listening to a passage of music from Gary Moore's "Donna" there was absolutely no doubting the effect of the Mutech.

It was vivid, dynamic and precise. Detail....not micro or macro (but those too) DETAIL in all its catagories seemed elevated to the point of being laughable. The soundstage....huge.

I'm reminded of when misterc brought his £20k+ Liquid Music Preamp here. Its first act was to seemingly remove any boundary to the soundstage. It pushed the soundstage wider and deeper than I was managing at the time. Rightly so, as I had a £200 DIY preamp!

The Mutech has done much the same to the Soekris. There is greater precision in the soundstage because of how much space and depth there now appears to be. Things are coming from much further back and listening to Lou Rawls - Live! It's like I am now sat in the crowd at points. The applause is around me and Rawls is further back in the stage

How it's done this, I dont know. But it has.

I am struggling to understand how such a device, the likes of which I have tried before, has been so successful here. The Oehlenbach XXL has been in the system and lasted all of two tracks before I removed it and forbade it from returning.

Knowing the impending challenge of mind over fact, I read all the specs and in keeping with realism, the Soekris has a decent clock etc, so shouldn't really "need" this device. But the influence it has had is as obvious as I've come across in the hifi world. That's a big statement and one that I haven't made lightly.

I'm not sitting here screaming "ITS NIGHT AND DAY" but it's certainly getting there.

I'll be taking this to Alan's tomorrow for his opinion in his system. He has a Soekris, a Neurochrome and a BT2, so we *should* be able to easily replicate what's happened here today.

How is the Mutec connected to your Soekris, and more importantly what cables are being used  

🤣

I would be go that far!

It's hard to not be enthusiastic. If I seem to be being enthusiastic, that's because I am.

Very surprising bit of kit.

With you on this one as well.
Wondering if the offerings from Denafrips do the same thing?
Imported direct from Vinshine the Iris comes in at £440.
But no idea if they are even comparable
www.vinshineaudio.com/product-page/denafrips-iris

G’zackly

It is a lot cheaper as well.

More of a question of what is to be gained by spending a grand… or more for that matter. Sounds like Oliver’s experience is money well spent for the result.
Knowing nothing about adding these things would naturally mean asking those that do.

Exactly . . . . I did try and perpetuate that line of questioning but I can't really tell from the responses if there are only performance gains to be had from this exact product (only) or if similar improvements could be had for less.

Most of the responses from searches of similar products result in people swearing it cannot do anything (most of whom haven't tried one) and people saying they make a rather positive difference.

So to spell it out - do similar (cheaper) implementations of re-clocking the signal yield similar benefits or is this product (MC3) particularly special?

Denafrips
Audio GD
Mytec (other models)

would seem to be worth investigation if so. If not it might stop people wasting their precious time and money!

Perfect Tony, that's a very encouraging response.

Personally it does make sense to me, it's (almost) irrelevant to me it potentially costing more than the DAC, but I understand why that may not make immediate sense logically. It sparks a big question for some:

- Why was the DAC not made with this technology in the first place? Just my own musings indicate that if it was, it would simply be around the price of the DAC plus the cost of an MC3 (I would imagine!). DAC's are built to a cost too and same goes for their clocks and parts.

Now, I really REALLY like the sound of my DAC. I don't know how it measures, I don't know how good it's clocks are etc, BUT I do know I love the sound.

It's a very unusual combination of TDA1541 chip with C3G tube output. It sounds so much more exciting and involving than my SONCOZ SGD1 - an excellent measuring DAC which also has it's place no doubt.


If the signature 'sound' of the DAC could be retained but elevated then that's an avenue worth considering for me. 



I feel as if I will need to spend a lot more than this to get the same performance 'jump' in my vinyl rig.


IE there is much more untapped potential on my digital side. Hence my interest in this product.


Food for thought as ever but I would be interested in investigating further.  

Great response.. many thanks Tony.
Better get my tax return done and see if there’s any left over!

Ok boys and girls....

I took the Mutech to Alan's today, eager to blow his mind. However, it didn't happen.

First of all, using USB from the Innuos Zen Mini to the Mutech, then Coax to the Soekris 1312, we couldn't get any sound out of it at all.

No lock LED illumination, no "Audio" LED illumination either.

No matter what, it wouldn't have it.

We then tried the same combo with the Musician Pegasus and again drew a blank.

Eventually we put Alan's Philips CD transport into the Mutech via AES, Then AES into the Pegasus.

Eventually we got sound.

However, the difference is Alan's system via this less than ideal setup, was no where near what I have experienced at home and was somewhat dissapointing.

There was an audible difference/minor improvement, but it was the type you had to listen for rather than the holy Sh#t moment I'd had at home.

There is obviously something amis with this unit as it won't play ball unless you feed it AES. I need to investigate, but it's not a real concern for me as I only plan on using AES with it anyway.