MoFi UltraDeck / StudioDeck Owners and those interested

Beatlesblogger said:
This is at once fascinating, but also a little scary! That AI can ingest 8 or 9 written reviews and then create what sounds to all intents and purposes like a well-informed conversation between two people about a specific topic is impressive. I for one found it easier to listen to an explanation about why high mass tonearms work better with low compliance carts. I actually came away understanding this better than I had previously.

The one thing they didn't addess though was the big cost difference between the Hana ML and MoFi Ultragold. Here in Australia the Hana will set you back A$1995, the MoFi A$2699.
Click to expand...
I don't trust ai for this stuff. Those Google ai summarys that show up on Google now are frequently completely wrong.. And they are so confident in their facts and yet so completely and utterly wrong.
 
Mather said:
I don't trust ai for this stuff. Those Google ai summarys that show up on Google now are frequently completely wrong.. And they are so confident in their facts and yet so completely and utterly wrong.
Click to expand...
Trust but verify with GenAI.

I use AI from Antropic and OpenAI on a daily basis for work. If you prompt them properly the results can be very good. The Google results are trying to guess at what you want from a search request. Ask it a proper question and see what it returns for results.

Check out Perplexity if you want to experiment with multiple models in a user friendly interface.
 
Beatlesblogger said:
This is at once fascinating, but also a little scary! That AI can ingest 8 or 9 written reviews and then create what sounds to all intents and purposes like a well-informed conversation between two people about a specific topic is impressive. I for one found it easier to listen to an explanation about why high mass tonearms work better with low compliance carts. I actually came away understanding this better than I had previously.

The one thing they didn't addess though was the big cost difference between the Hana ML and MoFi Ultragold. Here in Australia the Hana will set you back A$1995, the MoFi A$2699.
Click to expand...
I totally agree on the ease of consuming the content. I've done like 9 of these for various hifi things now. It's great because it's not like I need to commit to a podcast series or seek things out. I can just skip reading, get the main points told to me while I drive, and go on with my life. Or go back and read more closely if I need to.

On the pricing, that's a huge difference for you in Aus with a 35% increase between the two. For us here in the US, the ML is $1200, the UG is $1500. Still a 25% increase for UG, but not nealy as significant. I think here if you could get to 1200, you can stretch or just save little longer to get to 1500.

Mather said:
I don't trust ai for this stuff. Those Google ai summarys that show up on Google now are frequently completely wrong.. And they are so confident in their facts and yet so completely and utterly wrong.
Click to expand...
In my humble opinion the future success of a range of careers is who can effectively leverage AI as a tool. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Google responses have issues because it's just generating off the search results that are ranking according to their algorithms, and looking for consistencies in those postings. If several sites (including social media posts) or pushing incorrect information, or highly authorities sites are posting conflicting information, then it's going to cause problems. The other big step that's missing is a human review or QC process, hence the issues.

Now notebook, what's nice there is I get to control the inputs. I'm hand selecting the sources used to build the podcast. I can decide to only put in sources that I would trust. It's ultimately giving me a summary of multiple reviews without needing to read through the specs and the same marketing sections in every review. And the other things that's nice, is I can also use it to say "you know what, I do want to get all the details from that one" and go back and read it myself.

It hasn't been perfect. I tried to get it to compare the Chinook and the Sutherland 20/20. It kept processing the 20/20 as add on to the Chinook for some reason. So I broke that one into two summaries.
 
Alright everyone, it’s conclusive and instant. In the case of my Mofi Ultradeck in my system, the power cable on the TT had more of an impact than the linear power supply on the Sutherland 20/20. They are both about the same price if you’re getting the cable used and the LPS new.

If you are looking for a very simple upgrade to your Mofi turntable, I highly suggest looking at the power cable on your turntable. I’m confused as to why this makes a difference, but it very clearly does in my case. A noticeable increase in space between elements, bigger vocals, and significantly more bass punch. And that’s just Tracy Chapman. I haven’t even switched back to Daft Punk yet.
 
displayname said:
Alright everyone, it’s conclusive and instant. In the case of my Mofi Ultradeck in my system, the power cable on the TT had more of an impact than the linear power supply on the Sutherland 20/20. They are both about the same price if you’re getting the cable used and the LPS new.

If you are looking for a very simple upgrade to your Mofi turntable, I highly suggest looking at the power cable on your turntable. I’m confused as to why this makes a difference, but it very clearly does in my case. A noticeable increase in space between elements, bigger vocals, and significantly more bass punch. And that’s just Tracy Chapman. I haven’t even switched back to Daft Punk yet.
Click to expand...
I'm going to test this out. I upgraded the power cable on my Ultradeck, but I never put the old cable back in to see if I could detect a difference. I will say this. I recently upgraded all the cables (interconnects, speaker, power) in my system and I did notice an elevated sense of clarity when listening. That said, I couldn't tell yo which changes made the most significant difference.
 
mindhead1 said:
I'm going to test this out. I upgraded the power cable on my Ultradeck, but I never put the old cable back in to see if I could detect a difference. I will say this. I recently upgraded all the cables (interconnects, speaker, power) in my system and I did notice an elevated sense of clarity when listening. That said, I couldn't tell yo which changes made the most significant difference.
Click to expand...
That’s the biggest benefit of slow and steady upgrades.

Also I need to reiterate, with power especially I’ve heard at lot of mixed results from people. Cleaner power from the wall, different gear in the system, etc. I’m just sharing my instance. But in my instance, I’d 100% tell people to try this before trying a linear power supply on their Sutherland. Both had an impact, but in my case the power cable impact was much more significant.

Let us know how it goes for you!
 
I also have an upgraded power cable on the Ultradeck, but I have done so many small tweaks that I don't know which one is more effective!
It does sound really good now, compared to a few months ago when I got it.

The one thing that blew my mind is something I believe I read somewhere on this thread: I was hearing the motor and it drove me crazy. I could hear it clearly while changing the records, but I could also hear it from my listening position 10' away, when the arm was lifted at the end of play.
Yes, adjusting the screws made it a little quieter, but what made it completely disappear is a stack of sorbothane discs placed under the table right where the spindle is, so that they touch the bottom while the weight still rests on the table's feet.
Dead silent now. :)
 
displayname said:
If you are looking for a very simple upgrade to your Mofi turntable, I highly suggest looking at the power cable on your turntable. I’m confused as to why this makes a difference, but it very clearly does in my case. A noticeable increase in space between elements, bigger vocals, and significantly more bass punch. And that’s just Tracy Chapman. I haven’t even switched back to Daft Punk yet.
Click to expand...
I am not doubting what you're hearing, but I am confused how it could be the case since the power ostensibly has nothing to do with the signal being generated by the cartridge. Is there some sort of weird electrical interplay going on between the motor circuitry and the signal path?
 
kvetcha said:
I am not doubting what you're hearing, but I am confused how it could be the case since the power ostensibly has nothing to do with the signal being generated by the cartridge. Is there some sort of weird electrical interplay going on between the motor circuitry and the signal path?
Click to expand...
I’ll let you do your own homework on that. I gave up on trying to understand it years ago. I have no idea, and I don’t like to try to convince people on science that I don’t understand.

If anyone offers you an opportunity to plug in a different power cable to your TT, I would just encourage you to try it. And if you hear nothing, enjoy spending that money on records.

For the record, went into the first experiment very skeptical, and I was able to continue testing over months because I was moving the cable from my dac to my TT.
 
displayname said:
Can we get a roll call of people that went from MasterTracker to Hana ML?

Would love as much feedback as you're willing to give, pros, cons, setup, whatever.
Click to expand...
@displayname has been looking at my Google searches. Would love to hear others opinions on Master tracker to Hana S or M.

I’m debating between a Hana S or M and the MoFi MC Carts. As of now, I’m leaning towards the Hana S MkII.
 
displayname said:
Not the same, but I'd love the feedback. Not sure why my brain has been so resistant to moving to MC for so long.
Click to expand...
On my system, at least, the SAE (which is only marginally different from a Hana SH) was the more pleasant cart. The MoFi always felt very accurate but a little bit thin and edgy in my system. The SAE felt a bit less analytical than the MasterTracker, but with a lovely sound stage and a very lush, but not exaggerated, midrange that I think puts it head and shoulders above the MoFi. The SAE was so good that even though I only originally intended to use it for a few weeks while my SoundSmith was being retipped, it ended up spending 18 months in my system.

I’m planning on getting it retipped with a Line Trace stylus, which should make it more equivalent to the MH. I can give you a bit more feedback on it once that happens.

Also, FWIW, the HOMCs are wonderful if you don’t want to mess with SUTs or huge gain settings.
 
displayname said:
I'm surprised by that description. That's not how I feel about the MT at all. Part of my hesitation has always been that I very much enjoy the sound that I'm getting right now.

I'm assuming the Sutherland 20/20 will be up to the task.
Click to expand...
It is! Just thought I’d mention it. The difference in moving mass for a HOMC is pretty small (just a few extra turns of wire), so the carts should sound very similar to their LOMC counterparts, and they’re less picky about loading. They essentially behave a lot like a low output MM as far as that goes.

I’d be happy to send you my SAE for a demo so you could get some idea of how a Hana might work in your system. It has a good amount of use but I don’t think I’d consider it Worn.
 
displayname said:
I'd love to hear some thoughts on the Geodisc vs the Fieckert. I'm considering just skipping the Geodisc and going straight to Fieckert.
Click to expand...
Feickert great for precisely lining up spindle/pivot and even better if you need to measure precise spindle-to-pivot distance, which I needed to do on my current setup. I bought Feickert used so more manageable price wise. There are also Chinese knockoffs on eBay that seem visually identical for notably less than a used Feickert.
 
Portland Sheriff said:
Feickert great for precisely lining up spindle/pivot and even better if you need to measure precise spindle-to-pivot distance, which I needed to do on my current setup. I bought Feickert used so more manageable price wise. There are also Chinese knockoffs on eBay that seem visually identical for notably less than a used Feickert.
Click to expand...
Appreciate it! I've started watching for a used one, and I've seen the eBay ones as well.

My main concern with the eBay ones would be QC. They may very well be coming out of the same factory. But they also could be units that didn't get or worse did pass QC. But I might also be overthinking it.
 
displayname said:
I'd love to hear some thoughts on the Geodisc vs the Fieckert. I'm considering just skipping the Geodisc and going straight to Fieckert.
Click to expand...
I use a Geodisc and have been happy with it. I can align a cartridge with a Geodisc in 15 - 20 minutes. I simply do not change cartridges enough to justify owning a Fieckert.

The one extra accessory I use with the Geodisc is a metal yardstick to align to the pivot point versus just a visual line of sight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top