09-Oct-2021, 07:19
Another very interesting set of measurements from GoldenSound, see link below.
https://goldensound.audio/2021/10/05/mut...surements/
In summary, noise levels are very low indeed, which is good. Jitter via the BNC output is not so good. Jitter via AES/EBU output is much better, but falls some way short of other DDC's available now.
I thought the very decent noise level measurements were interesting, particularly as the Mutec uses a switch mode power supply. I know that a few owners have performed modifications to use a linear power supply, but looking at the measurements I would say that this is perhaps not too much to worry about.
Jitter performance via AES/EBU is reasonable, but it would appear that the Mutec is beaten in this regard by other DCC's, and indeed by the humble Pi2AES. I am not that surprised by this. I think that products of this type are in a very rapidly developing area of technology, and in these terms at least it is now a relatively old design, I recall that I first became aware of the device in early 2015, and even then it was based on the previous MC3+. So an almost seven year old product now, which typically for devices of this type would place it near the end of it's product cycle. During this time, audio clock performance has been steadily moving on. This could go some way towards explaining my own subjective observations. I found that the MC3+USB provided a very nice uplift in sound quality with my previous D800 Expert. With the Pro, I found using the MC3+USB sounded pretty much equivalent to AIR.
Although reading the GoldenSound article, it also looks like the Mutec's performance is held back a little by the some aspects of it's design, in terms of the very flexible functionality offered. The Mutec does have it's roots in the world of Pro audio, which in some regards may give it a disadvantage in comparison to some devices such as the Singxer which are focused purely on domestic audio.
Some interesting words about clock stacking too. It appears that this does not work, or at least this is what the measurements seem to be suggesting. Some rather negative comments regarding build quality too, which surprised me a little.
All of this also makes me wonder how the MC3+USB performs with an external clock, and indeed if a more domestic audio based DCC would perform better with something like the Mutec REF10, but that is another story entirely.
https://goldensound.audio/2021/10/05/mut...surements/
In summary, noise levels are very low indeed, which is good. Jitter via the BNC output is not so good. Jitter via AES/EBU output is much better, but falls some way short of other DDC's available now.
I thought the very decent noise level measurements were interesting, particularly as the Mutec uses a switch mode power supply. I know that a few owners have performed modifications to use a linear power supply, but looking at the measurements I would say that this is perhaps not too much to worry about.
Jitter performance via AES/EBU is reasonable, but it would appear that the Mutec is beaten in this regard by other DCC's, and indeed by the humble Pi2AES. I am not that surprised by this. I think that products of this type are in a very rapidly developing area of technology, and in these terms at least it is now a relatively old design, I recall that I first became aware of the device in early 2015, and even then it was based on the previous MC3+. So an almost seven year old product now, which typically for devices of this type would place it near the end of it's product cycle. During this time, audio clock performance has been steadily moving on. This could go some way towards explaining my own subjective observations. I found that the MC3+USB provided a very nice uplift in sound quality with my previous D800 Expert. With the Pro, I found using the MC3+USB sounded pretty much equivalent to AIR.
Although reading the GoldenSound article, it also looks like the Mutec's performance is held back a little by the some aspects of it's design, in terms of the very flexible functionality offered. The Mutec does have it's roots in the world of Pro audio, which in some regards may give it a disadvantage in comparison to some devices such as the Singxer which are focused purely on domestic audio.
Some interesting words about clock stacking too. It appears that this does not work, or at least this is what the measurements seem to be suggesting. Some rather negative comments regarding build quality too, which surprised me a little.
All of this also makes me wonder how the MC3+USB performs with an external clock, and indeed if a more domestic audio based DCC would perform better with something like the Mutec REF10, but that is another story entirely.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
