Mola-Mola Makua User manual

Mola-Mola
Kattegat 8
9723 JP Groningen
The Netherlands
[phone]
[e-mail]
Please read this manual before operating the unit
Makua, the Preamplifier
User’s Manual
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
This Manual 1
Pair of Cotton Gloves 1
Preamplifier 1
Power Cord 1
Standard Remote Control Unit
Premium Remote Control Unit
Shipping Carton (Brown 1
Display Carton (White with Logos 1
Carrying Case (Black 1
Phono Option (internal
DAC Option (internal

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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. So we decided that our preamp should be complete. Very complete.
The basic Makua Preamplifier is an extremely transparent gain stage and a programmable
routing matrix. The chassis has ample room to fit in optional extras, most notably a DAC
and a phono stage.
The 6 preset buttons are programmable via Bluetooth to access any combination of
channel, processing and routing. In a system with mainly digital sources, the preset
buttons would be programmed to select between them. Vinyl lovers on the other hand
might want to use several buttons to select the same turntable but with different EQ
settings to suit their large collection of historic LP's. All five inputs are switchable
between XLR and floating RCA connections, and all can be assigned as either phono or
line.
We wish you a lifetime of musical enjoyment with this product and thank you for your
custom.
Bruno Putzeys, CTO and Designer.

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Table of contents
Welcome....................................................................................................................... 2
Table of contents........................................................................................................... 3
List of tables .............................................................................................................. 4
List of figures............................................................................................................. 4
Important Safety Instructions ......................................................................................... 5
Connections & Controls................................................................................................. 7
Rear .......................................................................................................................... 7
Front.......................................................................................................................... 8
Setting Up ..................................................................................................................... 9
Installation ................................................................................................................. 9
Connection ................................................................................................................ 9
Basic operation ........................................................................................................... 11
Factory Preset Mode ................................................................................................ 11
Front Panel Operation ............................................................................................... 11
Premium IR Remote Control Operation...................................................................... 12
Standard IR Remote Control Operation...................................................................... 12
Android
®
Tablet or Mobile Remote Control ................................................................ 12
Advanced Control and Programming ............................................................................ 14
Signal Path .............................................................................................................. 14
Programmability....................................................................................................... 15
The Makua App........................................................................................................ 16
Setting Up and Controlling the Phono Stage .............................................................. 22
DAC settings............................................................................................................ 25
Troubleshooting .......................................................................................................... 27
Audio performance data............................................................................................... 28
Technical data............................................................................................................. 29
Annex I: RC5 Codes..................................................................................................... 30
Annex II: Serial Commands .......................................................................................... 31
Connection .............................................................................................................. 31
Command Format .................................................................................................... 31
Command list .......................................................................................................... 31
Revision History .......................................................................................................... 33

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List of tables
Table 1: Rear panel overview ......................................................................................... 7
Table 2: Front panel overview......................................................................................... 8
Table 3: Audio Performance Data................................................................................. 28
Table 4: Technical Data ............................................................................................... 29
Table 5: RC5 Codes..................................................................................................... 30
List of figures
Figure 1: Rear panel overview ........................................................................................ 7
Figure 2: Front panel overview........................................................................................ 8
Figure 3: Sketch of the internal signal path.................................................................... 14
Figure 4: Status bar while the mobile device tries to contact the preamplifier.................. 16
Figure 5: The app is ready to control the preamp, the preamp is on. .............................. 16

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Important Safety Instructions
Mola-Mola gaat er van uit dat u deze Engelstalige tekst volledig begrijpt. Als u hier
moeite mee heeft dient u contact op te nemen met Mola-Mola. Op verzoek sturen wij
u een vertaling toe.
Mola-Mola geht davon aus, dass Sie diesen Englischen Text völlig verstehen. Wenn
notwendig, nehmen Sie bitte Kontakt auf mit Mola-Mola. Auf Wünsch wird Ihnen eine
Übersetzung zugeschickt.
Mola-Mola suppose que le lecteur comprend parfaitement le texte en Anglais ci-
dessous. En tout cas de doute veuillez contacter Mola-Mola. Une traduction sera vous
envoyée sur demande.
Mola-Mola da por supuesto que el texto en versión Inglesa no ofrece ninguna duda de
interpretación y se entiende integramente. Si este no fuese su caso rogamos contacte
con Mola-Mola quien, a petición, se encargaría de enviarle la correspondiente
traducción.
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 insure the product is connected to

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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 unit runs slightly warm when operated normally. Operate in a
normally ventilated area.
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
Rear
Figure 1: Rear panel overview
# Function Notes
1 Analogue inputs, balanced 5 stereo pairs
2 Analogue inputs, unbalanced 5 stereo pairs
3 Analogue Outputs 2 parallel stereo pairs for bi-amping
4 Trigger Outputs 4 programmable outputs
5 Mains power input
6 Chassis ground terminal For turntable grounding
7 Option module void cover
8 (Un Balanced toggle switch One for each input pair
9 Serial control port connection Optional
Table 1: Rear panel overview

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Front
Figure 2: Front panel overview
# Function Notes
1 Volume control knob With indicator LED
2 Power LED 1 LED, white or dim red
3 Preset indicator LED 6 LEDs, white
4 Presets 6 push buttons
Table 2: Front 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 (1’ 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
volume control is turned fully down. 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 preamplifier has a universal input power supply, allowing it to operate anywhere
from 90V to 240V mains. However, as an anti-grey-market measure, products sold in
some territories may refuse to operate from a mains voltage other than the one in regular
use in that territory. If you are planning to move overseas, consult with your retailer to
have the voltage range unlocked. The same should be done if your auditorium is custom-
equipped with a non-standard mains voltage.
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.

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Input Connections
Your preamplifier accepts both RCA and XLR type connectors. If your sources have both
RCA and XLR outputs, it is exceedingly likely that using the XLR connection sounds best.
Depending on which you choose, set the toggle switch to the corresponding input.
Grounding Post
Connect any turntable ground wires to the grounding post to minimize the chances of
capacitively induced hum on the phono cartridge from the turntable.
Output connections
Two pairs of XLR outputs are provided for the purpose of bi-amping. Both pairs are
completely identical. No RCA outputs are provided because Mola-Mola considers
balanced (XLR connections to be fundamentally superior. If you need RCA outputs to
interface with a power amp that lacks balanced inputs, most commonly available adapter
cables or plugs will work fine. Keep in mind that pin 2 is hot (signal and pin 3 carries the
reference potential (cold .
Trigger outputs
The four 12VDC trigger outputs can be used for various purposes. The most obvious one
is making the power amplifier turn on and off with your preamplifier. Another is lowering a
projection screen when a particular source is selected. Any standard 3.5mm jack/jack
cable will do (mono or stereo . Although the factory setting is to make all 4 outputs come
on as soon as the preamplifier is turned on, they can be linked to individual channels. See
the section on advanced control and programming for more details.

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Basic operation
Factory Preset ode
Your preamplifier comes factory-programmed as a simple line amplifier. In this mode:
•The leftmost button selects the leftmost source (source 1 and so on and the
rightmost button is used for the internal DAC (if fitted . The DAC select the first
input it can find a valid signal on. So for now, think of the preset button simply
as input select buttons.
•The trigger outputs are always on.
•XLR/RCA selection is determined by the toggle switches.
Should you wish to return your preamplifier to its factory-programmed state, you can do
so by holding down the two buttons directly besides the volume control for one second
or more. It makes good sense to do this if this is a unit you’re loaning for evaluation and it
was sent to you directly by a previous user.
If like most users you only have a handful of line-level sources you can just go ahead and
use the unit in this way.
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 LED’s
lighting up the room at night is a pet peeve of the designer . Push any of the 6 buttons to
wake up the preamp. The power LED lights up white and the preset you’ve just pushed
will be engaged (as indicated by the LED above the button .
Selecting Inputs
The preset indicator LED lights up solid when the preamp is passing signal and blinks
when it is muted. The preamp mutes temporarily for a moment after powering up or after
changing presets.
uting
You can also make your preamplifier mute by pushing the currently selected preset
button. Push again or change presets to un-mute.

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Powering Down
You can turn the preamp off (place in standby mode by holding any of the 6 buttons until
the unit powers down (about 1 second .
Premium IR Remote Control Operation
The group of six buttons on the remote control mirrors the front panel buttons. Pushing
any of them will power the unit on and/or engage the associated preset and/or mute the
unit. The top button acts as mute/standby button and does the exact same as the preset
buttons except it doesn’t switch presets. This is mainly useful because the remote control
unit obviously doesn’t have LEDs to indicate which preset is engaged and sometimes you
just want to mute the unit regardless of what was playing.
The volume up/down buttons operate as they do anywhere else. The LED on the volume
knob will come on to provide easy visual feedback of the volume setting.
Standard IR Remote Control Operation
The standard-issue RC unit works slightly differently. The button in the middle of the
quadrants turns the preamp on or off (hold 1 second for off . Press this button once for
mute or un-mute. Pushing on the left and right quadrants of the ring cycles through the 6
presets. The top and bottom quadrants control the volume. The two lower buttons are not
used.
Android
®
Tablet or obile Remote Control
Your preamplifier is fitted with a Bluetooth
®
module to allow access with a mobile device.
To use this feature, install the Mola-Mola Makua app from the Play store. As soon as your
mobile device and your preamplifier are within reach the app will display “Connected” in
the status bar.
The startup panel shows preset buttons and volume control. Other panels can be reached
by swiping. They are explained in the advanced control and programming section.
Powering Up and Down
The status bar (the one that says “Makua – Connected – Standby” acts as power button.
Volume control
Drag the circle around the control arc to change the volume. The actual volume setting is
indicated both numerically and by an arrow that tracks the physical movement of the
volume knob on the front panel.

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ute
The area with the volume indication acts as mute button. Mute is indicated by a red bar
through the volume indication.

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Advanced Control and Programming
The factory preset only operates the most basic features of your preamplifier. The
architecture is much more powerful, as the signal path diagram shows.
Signal Path
DAC
(option
Phono
(option
Load
(R/C
Gain
Tone
(option
Var EQ and Gain
MC
MM
Pol. Mono
Figure 3: Sketch of the internal ignal path.
Everything that can be switched or changed in the above diagram is under software
control:
•XLR/RCA switching
•Source selection
•Routing of any input through the optional phono stage
•Variable loading, gain and EQ of the optional phono stage
•Polarity inversion of left, right or both
•Mono summing
•Optional tone control
•Volume

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•Balance (independent control of left/right volume
Programmability
Every thinkable combination of routing and processes can be rolled together for direct
access through any of the 6 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.
Tone control can either be set to be the same for all presets or to behave differently for
different presets, for instance flat on all channels but a tad rolled off for TV. As a final
example, although the RCA/XLR selection is normally controlled using the toggle
switches, it can be overridden. In the unlikely case that you have 6 sources you can
assign one preset button each to the RCA and XLR pair of one input channel and hence
use all 6 buttons to select between 6 sources. Note that crosstalk between RCA and XLR
pairs of one input channel is not as low as between different input channels so you
should not co-locate two sources that you expect to be putting out signal at the same
time.

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The akua App.
The control app for your preamplifier is available on the Google Play store. The app will
attempt to contact your preamp and should find it as long as it is within reach and
plugged in. Also insure that the Bluetooth function of your mobile device is enabled.
Status is announced in the status bar (the grey area at the top .
Makua – Listening
Figure 4: Statu bar while the mobile device trie to contact the preamplifier.
Figure 5: The app i ready to control the preamp, the preamp i on.
The power logo on the status bar turns the preamp on and off. It shows black on grey
when off, white on grey when on.

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Depending on the options installed in your preamp, the app has up to 5 pages that you
can access by swiping.
Home Page
The start-up page is the regular remote control, as outlined in the section about basic
operation. Move the white circle around the arc to change volume or click on the arc to
go straight to the desired setting.
To program a preset, tap the button of the preset you want to change and swipe left to
access the routing for that preset.

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Routing Page
Here you can select the input channel and whether the XLR or RCA inputs are to be used.
Usually you will want to leave the latter option at “switch” so that the toggle switch on the
rear panel controls this.
You can edit the name of the preset, the new name will automatically show on the home
page buttons.
There are three types of analogue sources: Line, Phono and Direct. To change the type
of source, tap the Enable button first to unlock the three selections. The enable feature is
to keep you from accidentally switching to phono or direct during operation.
Line is the normal kind of input.
Selecting Phono routes the signal through the phono stage. The configuration of the
phono stage is done on another page, see further.

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CAUTION: Only select Phono if the selected input is connected to a phono cartridge.
Do not select phono if you are using an external phono stage. An external phono stage
is a line source. Selecting Phono when a line source is actually attached to this input
can potentially damage the phono stage.
Direct routes the input directly through to the output and disables the volume control.
Direct mode should only be used when the source is itself volume controlled. Normally
speaking the only use for Direct mode is connecting a surround sound processor when
you want to use your stereo system as front left/right in a combined home theatre / hi-fi
system. In order to signal that Direct mode is engaged, the power LED on the front panel
will turn off (become red while the LED above the active preset remains on.
CAUTION: Absolutely only select Direct if the source is volume controlled. Direct
mode amounts to making a direct connection between the source and the power
amps. It is also nearly equivalent to turning the volume all the way up. Engaging
Direct mode with a source that is not volume controlled may damage your
loudspeakers.
If you have the DAC option fitted, three digital sources will be listed as well, USB, SPDIF
and AES. These correspond to the three connectors on the option panel on the rear of the
preamp.

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Adjustment and Trigger Page
Swipe left from the routing page to get more options for the analogue signal path.
Level offset adds a fixed amount to the volume whenever this preset is active. Use this
when you find that you always have to turn the volume up or down compared to other
sources.
Mono does what you’d expect: sum left and right together.
The two polarity invert buttons invert the polarity (absolute phase of the left and/or right
channel. Inverting one channel is usually not useful, except when playing back vertically
cut records which, played back with a modern cartridge, produce out-of-phase left and
right. Otherwise, do not invert only one channel. Inverting both channels is occasionally
useful if you happen to know that your source has inverted polarity or follows the now-
obsolete pin-3 hot wiring scheme. Note that the sonic effect of this is exceedingly subtle
so when in doubt, simply leave those two buttons off.