Mola-Mola Lupe User manual

Mola Mola
Kattegat 8
9723 JP Groningen
The Netherlands
[phone]
[e-mail]
www.mola-mola.nl
Lupe
User’s Manual

Lupe
User’s Manual
R1
Please read this manual before operating the unit
Packing List
Your product was shipped with the items checked below. Please verify that you find all
items mentioned in this list before you start setting up:
Item
Qty
Shipper’s signature
Lupe
1
Power Cord
1
Standard Remote Control Unit
Premium Remote Control Unit
This Mola Mola product has no user serviceable parts inside. Opening and/or making
changes to the unit by any other than Mola Mola approved service engineers voids the
warranty.

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Welcome
First off, congratulations! With the purchase of this product you have joined a growing
community of audiophiles who value truthful sound reproduction and who consider neutral
and transparent electronics a cornerstone in this pursuit. We at Mola Mola made it our
primary goal to build electronics capable of passing a signal with no discernible change at
all. Amplifiers make the signal bigger; converters turn the signal from a digital
representation into an analogue one. In all these processes we strive to add nothing and to
remove nothing.
Through our work designing professional audio equipment we have collected extensive
knowledge of how to achieve total freedom from colouration without having to resort to
minimalist circuitry. This allows us to build products that are purist without cutting back
functionality.
The 4 preset buttons are programmable via the Mola Mola Remote app to access any
combination of source, processing and routing.
We wish you a lifetime of musical enjoyment with this product and thank you for your
custom.
Mola Mola Team

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Table of contents
Important Safety Instructions ........................................................................................ 1
Connections & Controls ................................................................................................ 3
Front......................................................................................................................... 3
Rear ......................................................................................................................... 4
Setting Up .................................................................................................................... 5
Installation ................................................................................................................ 5
Connection ............................................................................................................... 5
Basic operation ............................................................................................................ 7
Factory Preset Mode ................................................................................................. 7
Front Panel Operation ................................................................................................ 7
Android®and iOS®.................................................................................................... 9
Advanced Control and Programming ........................................................................... 10
Signal Path ............................................................................................................. 10
Programmability...................................................................................................... 11
The Mola Mola remote ................................................................................................ 12
Setting Up and Controlling the Phono Stage ............................................................. 16
Troubleshooting ......................................................................................................... 23
Audio performance data Phono Stage.......................................................................... 24
Technical data ............................................................................................................ 24
Annex I: RC5 Codes.................................................................................................... 25
Standard Remote Control Unit..................................................................................... 26
Revision History ......................................................................................................... 27

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List of tables
Table 1: Front panel overview........................................................................................ 3
Table 2: Rear panel overview ........................................................................................ 4
Table 3: Audio performance data Phono...................................................................... 24
Table 4: Technical Data .............................................................................................. 24
Table 5: RC5 Codes.................................................................................................... 25
List of figures
Figure 1: Front panel overview....................................................................................... 3
Figure 2: Rear panel overview ....................................................................................... 4
Figure 3: Mute and source shown on display................................................................. 8
Figure 4: Configuration for moving magnet cartridge. ..................................................... 8
Figure 5: Configuration for moving coil cartridge with subsonic filter engaged................. 8
Figure 6: Sketch of the internal signal path................................................................... 10
Figure 7: Pull down to scan for devices. ...................................................................... 12
Figure 8: Discovered devices. ..................................................................................... 12
Figure 9: Type in new name and click Add device........................................................ 13
Figure 10: The start-up page. ...................................................................................... 13
Figure 11: Swipe left to show disconnect and remove buttons. .................................... 13
Figure 12: Home Page ................................................................................................ 14
Figure 13: Preset Page for Preset 1. ............................................................................ 15
Figure 14: List of Phono Stage EQ Curves. .................................................................. 17
Figure 15: Phono settings on Preset Page.................................................................... 18
Figure 16: About Page. ............................................................................................... 20
Figure 17: Update Page............................................................................................... 22

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Important Safety Instructions
Throughout this document, some aspects of operation that have a potential impact on
safety or reliability are noted with the words “Warning” and “Caution”. Take particular care
reading and understanding these items. Paragraphs marked with “Warning” explain safety
measures required to maintain your personal safety. Paragraphs marked with “Caution”
pertain to danger to the equipment itself or to connected equipment. Please follow these
precautions when using this product:
1. Read these instructions.
2. Keep these instructions.
3. Follow all instructions.
4. Heed all warnings.
5. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
6. Use only attachments or accessories specified by the manufacturer.
7. WARNING: Dangerous voltage is inside this apparatus. Opening is only allowed
by qualified service personnel.
8. WARNING: Do not defeat the safety purpose of the safety earth connection. Use
the provided three-prong power cord to ensure the product is connected to safety
earth. If the provided mains cord does not fit your outlet, consult an electrician for
replacement of the obsolete outlet.
9. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched, particularly at plugs,
convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus.
10. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of
time.
11. WARNING: Do not use this apparatus near water. Do not expose the apparatus to
dripping or splashing. Do not place objects filled with liquids (flower vases, drink
cans, coffee cups, etc) on the apparatus. Do not use this apparatus out of doors.
12. WARNING: Clean only with a dry, soft, lint-free cloth. Do not spray any liquid
cleaner onto the cabinet, as this may lead to dangerous shocks or malfunction.
13. CAUTION: This device runs slightly warm when operated normally. Operate in a
normally ventilated area.

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14. CAUTION: Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers,
stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat. Avoid
exposure to direct sunlight.
15. Use only with a cart, stand, bracket, or table designed for use with audio or music
equipment. In any installation, make sure that injury or damage will not result from
cables pulling on the apparatus and its mounting.
16. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when the
apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as when the power-supply cord
or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the
apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate
normally, or has been dropped.
17. WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this
apparatus to rain or moisture.

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Connections & Controls
Front
Figure 1: Front panel overview
#
Function
Notes
1
Display
2
Power LED
1 LED, white or dim red
3
Preset indicator LED
4 LEDs, white
4
Presets
4 push buttons
Table 1: Front panel overview

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Rear
Figure 2: Rear panel overview
#
Function
Notes
1
Analogue XLR Inputs
1 stereo pair
2
Grounding Posts
3
Analogue RCA Outputs
1 stereo pair
4
Analogue XLR Outputs
1 stereo pair
5
Trigger Input
3-15V, AC or DC
6
Mains power input
7
Analogue RCA Inputs
3 stereo pairs
8
Trigger Output
1 programmable output
Table 2: Rear panel overview

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Setting Up
Installation
This product relies on free convection of air along the sides and top for cooling. Avoid
placing magazines, books or other objects on top of the product as this acts as thermal
insulation. Installation inside a cupboard is permissible provided at least 30cm (12”) of free
space above the product and 10cm (4”) around the sides is respected. Operation in closer
quarters requires some provision of forced convection (fan) to be installed inside the
cupboard.
Connection
CAUTION: Whenever you are plugging or unplugging cables, make sure that the device
is turned off. Failure to take this precaution may result in pops or bangs in the
loudspeaker. Use properly shielded interconnects with reliable connectors.
AC Power Input
Connect the supplied power cord to the AC input receptacle on the rear panel. Do not
connect the power cord until all the audio input and output connections have been made.
It is usually best to plug the product directly into a wall outlet. Avoid the use of extension
cords. A heavy duty multi-tap power outlet strip may be used if it and the wall outlet are
rated to handle the total current demanded by the components connected to it.
Your Lupe has a universal input power supply, allowing it to operate anywhere from 90V to
240V mains.
If you are going to be away from home for an extended period of time such as a month-
long vacation, it is a sensible precaution to unplug electronic equipment. Do the same as a
precautionary measure during thunderstorms. No amount of surge protection or mains
filtering will save your equipment from a lightning strike in the backyard.
Input Connections
Your Lupe accepts both RCA and XLR type connectors. Do not connect sources with line
level to inputs of the Lupe. Do not use RCA- to XLR adapters for XLR input.
Grounding Posts
Connect any turntable ground wires to one of the grounding post to minimize the chances
of capacitively induced hum on the phono cartridge from the turntable.

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Output connections
The Lupe has one pair of RCA outputs and pair of XLR outputs. By default, both outputs
are set as output. Keep in mind that pin 2 is hot (signal) and pin 3 carries the reference
potential (cold).
Trigger Input
Connect a 3.5mm jack cable to a trigger source such as the trigger output on the Makua
preamplifier. Any standard 3.5mm jack/jack cable will do (mono or stereo).
Trigger Output
The 12VDC trigger output can be used for various purposes. It can be linked through to
another device with trigger input. Any standard 3.5mm jack/jack cable will do (mono or
stereo). Although the factory setting is to make the trigger output come on as soon as the
Lupe is turned on, it can be linked to individual presets.

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Basic operation
Factory Preset Mode
Your Lupe comes factory-programmed with default settings. In this mode:
•The leftmost button selects the leftmost source (source 1) and so on.
•RCA and XLR outputs are both enabled.
•The trigger output is always on.
•Input 1, 3 & 4 are configured for Moving Magnet cartridges with a gain of 45dB
and a load resistance of 47k Ωand capacitance loading of 100pF.
•Input 2 is configured for Moving Coil cartridges with a gain of 52dB and a load
resistance of 250Ωand no capacitance loading.
Should you wish to return your Lupe to its factory-programmed state, you can do so by
holding down the two buttons on the outside (Preset 1 & Preset 4) for one second or more
until the display will show the message: Restore Default Presets. It makes good sense to
do this if this is a device you are loaning for evaluation and it was sent to you directly by a
previous user.
Front Panel Operation
Powering Up
So long as mains power is applied the power LED can be in two states: on or standby. In
standby mode it will light up a dim red (barely visible in daylight, bright red standby LEDs
lighting up the room at night is a pet peeve of the designer). Push any of the 4 buttons to
wake up the Lupe. The power LED lights up white and the preset you have just pushed will
be engaged (as indicated by the LED above the button).
Selecting Inputs
The preset indicator LED lights up solid when the Lupe is passing signal and blinks when
it is muted.
Muting
You can also make your Lupe mute by pushing the currently selected preset button. When
the Lupe is muted the display will show the message on line 3 as shown in figure 3. Push
again to unmute.

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Figure 3: Mute and source shown on display.
Display
The display will show the selected input and details about the phono stage settings (see
figure 4). The display will also show if the mono switch or subsonic filter is engaged (see
figure 5 for example). 15 minutes after the last change on the display, it will turn off. The
display will turn on again when changes are made.
Figure 4: Configuration for moving magnet cartridge.
Figure 5: Configuration for moving coil cartridge with subsonic filter engaged.
Powering Down
You can turn the Lupe off (place in standby mode) by holding any of the 4 buttons until the
device powers down (about 1 second).

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Android®and iOS®
Your Lupe is fitted with a Bluetooth®module to allow access with a mobile device. To use
this feature, install the Mola Mola remote app from the App Store or Play store.
The home page shows the preset buttons and volume control. Other pages are used for
advanced control and programming. They are explained in the Mola Mola remote section.
Powering Up and Down
The stand-by logo in the top left corner acts as power button.
Mute
Click on the speaker indicator to mute or unmute. The speaker indicator and volume slider
bar will turn red when muted.

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Advanced Control and Programming
The factory preset only operates the most basic features of your phono stage. The
architecture is much more powerful, as the signal path diagram in figure 6 shows.
Signal Path
Figure 6: Sketch of the internal signal path.
Everything that can be switched or changed in the above diagram is under software control:
•Source selection
•Variable loading, gain and EQ of the optional phono stage
•Subsonic filter
•Polarity inversion of left, right or both
•Mono summing
•Output selection

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Programmability
Every thinkable combination of routing and processes can be rolled together for direct
access through any of the 4 presets.
Say for instance that you have 2 turntables, each fitted with a different cartridge (most
records sound best with an elliptical or VDH stylus but dynagroove cuts positively require
a conical stylus). You can then assign one preset button to each turntable, each with its
own optimum loading and gain.
Now imagine that some of your most precious historical records are mono, vertically cut
with obviously a non-RIAA curve. You can then assign yet another preset to the same input,
with the same loading and gain but with one channel’s polarity inverted and mono on, and
with the EQ that applies to these records.

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The Mola Mola remote
The control app for your Lupe is available in the Apple App store and Google Play store.
The app can be used for all Mola Mola products. The app will attempt to contact your
Lupe and should find it as long as it is within reach and plugged in. Also ensure that the
Bluetooth function of your mobile device is enabled. The app will auto connect when
there is only one Mola Mola device paired with the app. The app will turn the Lupe on
during the connection procedure when it is not already turned on. In case you have
multiple Mola Mola devices select the device you wish to operate and click on Choose
device.
First time setup:
1. Pull down to scan for devices (figure 7).
2. Click on the Add button of the device you want add (figure 8).
3. Type in new name and click Add device (figure 9).
4. Connect with device by clicking on Choose device at the bottom of the page
(figure 10).
Figure 7: Pull down to scan for devices.
Figure 8: Discovered devices.

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Figure 9: Type in new name and click Add device.
Figure 10: The start-up page. Figure 11: Swipe left to show disconnect
and remove buttons.

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Swiping a device to the left will allow you to remove the device from the Mola Mola remote
app by clicking on the remove button. If the device is already connected with the app, then
an disconnect button is also shown here (figure 11).
Home Page
The home page is the regular remote control, as outlined in the section about basic
operation. Click on the speaker indicator to mute or unmute.
Figure 12: Home Page

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To program a preset, tap the button of the preset you want to change and click on the edit
preset button in the top right corner.
Preset Page
On this page you can change the settings for the selected preset. It will display the settings
of the preset currently in use. You can edit the name of the preset. Wait until the check
appears in the right corner of the Preset name field. The new name will automatically be
shown on the home page buttons. The maximum length of a preset name is nine
characters. To change the source, click on the current source. Select the desired source in
the dropdown menu.
Figure 13: Preset Page for Preset 1.