So about a week in and probably ~10 hours of solid listening time, I can say the UD+M is a solid upgrade all around. My TL;DR report is the noticeable improvement to the output level compared to the U-Turn+8mz. I've lowered my regular listening level ~ -3-6dB.
My usual go to track for testing new equipment is Adele - Set Fire to the Rain. Did A-B testing and all was what I expected on the orbit, granted my time with the 8mz was less than 4 hours. Switching over to the UD and I was surprised to hear the track sounded WORSE. Super muddled and low output level. I was baffled as to what was wrong, assuming maybe the MasterTracker was dirty or just needed more break-in time. I was also noticing the feedback level was worse than what others had posted about. Listened to another track and still had the same experience with super low output. Sat there thinking what could be the problem..."uh oh...did I?...YEP"; when swapping the interconnects on the Pho-8 I accidentally bumped the cart setting from MM to MC
. Switched back and we were in business.
Pulled several albums I've played multiple times and noticed how well the MT was performing with vocals and overall mid-range. Listening to Adele, Rag-N-Bone Man, Fleetwood, Laura Gibson all gave the sensation of what I imagine a studio session would be like. The cart didn't feel overly technical or musical and just had a nice neutral sound to it. Bass retrieval was also much better, resulting in me removing my previous EQ settings. Where the cart REALLY blew me away was with All The Ways by Wet. There is one spot where my orbit would always skip, something i assumed was due to a bad pressing. Nope! MT managed to play the whole track without an issue
. I did also notice how quiet the table is, with feedback only noticeable with my ears right next to the speakers. Happy to report my wife also noticed the improvement from the orbit, which doesn't always happen when I get new audio gear.
Overall I am super happy with the upgrade. Was a bit worried the table wouldn't fit on my rack since it is wider than the orbit, but luckily it fit with a few inches to spare.