Moor Amps mana DAC
It’s becoming increasingly clear that there’s an elephant in the high end audio listening room and that herbivore is aluminium. This material is almost ubiquitous in the casework of high end audio components and even a few loudspeakers, it’s relatively easy to machine into attractive shapes and when anodised has a durable surface that adds to the appeal of the products it encases. However, there is increasing evidence to suggest that it’s not a great material from a sound quality point of view.
Over the years various audio designers have come up with alternatives with acrylic being popular in some circles thanks to the work of Denis Morecroft in his DNM electronics, and wood making its way into the chassis of valve/tube amplifiers. Tim Narramore decided to take a more contemporary approach and has developed a composite chassis for his new mana DAC, this is made of bioplastic reinforced with carbon fibre and uses brass mass loading and polyurethane rubber damping.
The mana DAC has a compact but very neatly put together case that weighs more than expected presumably because of the brass plate in its base. It also has a compliant suspension between the base and the larger part of the case, this is apparently much like the suspension found on some turntables and designed to keep vibration away from the electronics. Tim is very much of the opinion that vibration is the enemy of sound quality in DACs, he is not alone, and provides an example of why it matters by citing the condenser microphone. This uses a capacitor which produces an output voltage when its plates are vibrated by sound waves, which proves fundamentally that capacitors are sensitive to vibration.
I recall reviewing an isolation base once and tried both a turntable and a DAC on it, both devices sounded better with isolation but the DAC improved to a greater extent than the turntable which surprised me. I thought that this was down to the crystal in the clock being sensitive to vibration but it seems that electronic components are also sensitive.
The mana DAC uses a pair of PCM1794A chips operating in dual mono mode for maximum dynamic range, this is a hybrid resistor ladder and Delta Sigma converter which Tim feels produces a very ‘analogue’ sound. This DAC only has single ended outputs which usually run off half of the balanced output produced by dual mono chips but here the two are merged to take advantage of the dynamic range available from a pair of converters. It’s worth noting that this converter is PCM only, DSD enthusiasts would need to set their streamers to convert output appropriately.
The power supply is built on the basis of ‘look after the micro-volts and the volts will look after themselves’, in other words Moor Amps have gone to great lengths to provide extremely low noise power using three transformers and 18 regulators, 12 of which are ultra low noise types. The mana DAC also benefits from multiple ground planes which essentially separate the analogue and digital sections of the circuit from one another. Keeping clock noise to a minimum is also a key goal with the USB input benefiting from optical isolation and built-in reclocking to keep jitter down prior to the signal entering the DAC chip.
The connections provided by the mana DAC are pretty straightforward with USB, Toslink optical and coaxial S/PDIF options, so no AES/EBU balanced and no streaming option. Likewise no balanced analogue outputs. The only unusual connection is mysteriously marked STBY (standby), this apparently is similar to a 12V trigger connection that works with Moor Amps’ Angel-Pre buffered preamplifier, allowing remote on/off switching. The front of this DAC is pretty straightforward with no novelties like a headphone output or filter switching, it’s a ‘does what it says on the tin’ type of device and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The main challenge for the mana DAC is that we buy with our eyes and that’s why high end brands use fancy aluminium casework, it’s a form of male jewellery and a source of pride. Compact composite casework makes sense from an audio engineering perspective but only those dedicated to sound quality will pay attention, hopefully there are enough of us to make this DAC a worthwhile project.
Sound quality
The first thing that hit me when I connected the mana DAC to my Lumin U2 Mini streamer (via coax cable) and pressed play in the JPlay app was just how good the timing was. As a long time vinyl enthusiast I value timing very highly, in fact I would go so far as to say that it is the most critical quality when it comes to producing an engaging musical experience. It’s also an area where digital is often found wanting, a result no doubt of all the processing involved in its production and replay equipment. So this DAC was off to a good start and, to be honest, continued in that vein throughout the time I used it.
The mana DAC is more revealing than many at this price as well and gets very close to my reference DAC (in its elaborate aluminium case) at twice the price. I loved the syncopation that it delivered on Bill Frisell’s Benny’s Bugle and was enthralled by the scale of image that was revealed when Blues for Los Angeles was streamed down the wire. The sound is full of light and detail, with crisp guitar strings displaying an awful lot of their harmonic structure thanks to the remarkably low noise of this converter. This combination of immediacy and transparency allows a sound that with the right recording can be surprisingly real, close your eyes and you’re there real.
It doesn’t smooth over the attack of an electric guitar yet the low noise means that you hear the timbre and tone without any apparent colouration. I find that high pitched instruments are the most challenging for digital systems, they either sound blurred or ragged but rarely clean and clear as they do here. You get the shine of high notes without any grain which is a very enjoyable quality and one that opens up the range of enjoyable recordings significantly. I particularly liked Laurent Garnier’s Barbiturik Blues where Bugge Wesseltoft creates some aggressive distortion on the keyboards, it’s here that the low noise and precision timing of the mana DAC comes into its own. The energy in the signal is not diffused or sharpened by the converter and you get a high power, large scale live musical experience with oodles of vitality.
The above was experienced with ATC’s new EL50 active speakers (review coming soon), switching to my regular amp and speakers I enjoyed a more sumptuous and relaxed sound but one which remained highly engaging thanks to the mana DAC’s ability to keep noise and jitter to a minimum. The coherence was evident on everything played including Kendra Morris’ In My House which is not the most sophisticated of recordings and can become brash in the wrong hands. Here it was bright yet also natural, the guitar, snare and vocal are strong in the mix but don’t cloud the bass line which keeps the piece bouncing along.
The mana DAC responds enthusiastically to upgrades made in the digital source, provided in this instance by using a Network Acoustics Origin power supply with the Tempus switch instead of the standard supply. This allowed the DAC to deliver superb 3D imaging, with greater ‘air’ around cymbals and more body to double bass notes. I love the spacious and well projected nature of the images that it can deliver with a decent recording, this alongside the ability to drive tracks along when it’s called for. Joan Osborne’s Pensacola really chugs and while the vocal is somewhat overwrought the tune certainly rocks, in fact I looked it up and found that there’s a live version on Youtube that’s phenomenal. I also enjoyed the crunchy static on Massive Attack’s Teardrop, and the power of the bass line. The latter gets a bit bludgeoning at level thanks to heavy compression but that is what it is supposed to do, this isn’t Julie Andrews after all.
Nor is the Italian band Nerovivo which sounded awesome on the mana DAC, the bass felt a little heavy but it’s hard to know whether that was the recording or the speakers, either way the sense of space was remarkable and the shade and light that this DAC finds in the recording is particularly good. The presence or otherwise of compression/limiting in a recording is always clear which means that those that use it aggressively can sound hard and forward, fortunately most do not overdo this sort of thing, not outside of mainstream pop and metal at least. Singer Melanie de Biasio’s No Deal album is not obviously tainted in this way and the sense of dark space on it is revealed to great effect, as is the power in the bass synth and the nuances of the brushed snare.
Finally the mana DAC is impressively coherent when it comes to more hectic mixes, the Weather Station’s Kept it All to Myself can be muddled and chaotic on some converters but the Moor Amps cuts through this and focuses on the vocal , drums and strings, avoiding the blurring that you get with even very able DACs.
Verdict
I very much doubt that the mana DAC would be as good as it is if it were housed in a machined aluminium enclosure, and it would certainly cost more. Clearly Moor Amps has made some very good choices when it comes to the digital and analogue architecture and components chosen for their first converter, but I suspect that the casework is the masterstroke that elevates the mana DAC above the crowd. It challenges dedicated music lovers to close their eyes and listen to the performance rather than staring at a box, this after all is the most rewarding way to engage with the music we love and the raison d’être of audio equipment.
Pros
Excellent timing and musical engagement
Very detailed, transparent sound (near higher-priced DACs)
Low noise and jitter for clean, natural presentation
Innovative vibration-damping composite chassis
Strong imaging, space, and coherence
Smooth, grain-free treble
Cons
Limited connections (no balanced out, no AES/EBU, no streaming)
PCM only (no native DSD)
Very minimal features
Plain, non-luxury aesthetics
Bass can be slightly heavy depending on system