The volume follows logaritmic curve (first half slowly goes up but later on smaller steps mean higher gain) so I would expect from there you will only need slight adjustments. Just out of curiosity - on low gain the 1266 does not go loud enough at all?

Great comparision. I think the whole chain has a lot to say about the end result. Lately I found out how much you can compensate on different aspects in different parts of the chain. Mentor's strength I believe is it can adapt and translate those changes into the end result quite well. Apart...

This might be even my case, maybe it has just different impact for me. The bass I instantly heard tighter and deeper at the same time. It was like until now my speakers were all the time working well under their real potential and now they finally revealed. Now I’m more used to this new...

sure :). For me the addition of PSM156 did a lot to the sound. Can't describe it perfectly but it's just more of everything (energy, bass, separation, details), and lack of nothing really. Especially the bass difference in my room is just like a slamp into face, you just know it happened. I...

I can only tell that I connected into PSM156 Dac, preamp, power amp, headamp and once I will have it also dedicated streamer (or DDC). If I would play music from the computer, I would connect the computer as well. It has 6 sockets which are supposed to be completely isolated, so if all of them...

Yea still the same buttons where only a half works with Mentor :), interesting take on the remote. The old one was more worthy of the rest, big and heavy. But agree, not necessary. That knob is really great. I rearranged my room just to have it handy even from the couch.

True, however I suspect this remote is programmable somehow. It contains some buttons you can't use with Mentor so it is generic in a way.. Besides that, every time you grab it, it feels like you have something very special in hand :) hard to describe. If somebody has the new "plastic" remote...

That is really unfortunate situation, can't explain this and certainly does not fit into my type of experience. I ordered "refurbished" version, just because in Europe there was no new available and I didn't want to go through the hassle of import from China. I ordered in the middle of 01/2024...

Of course, didn't mean that Mentor is for everybody better. After all I mentioned several times I consider them quite equal, but with different signature. It was more about that feeling when you don't chase for anything anymore. Still remember how much energy it took to finally pick and decide...

For those still undecided this shootout is good! For Mentor owners it’s already a solved problem :). It’s relaxing to be on the other side for a change.

Yes, however then the quality is lower. It's not full resolution hi-res like if I would stream it from iPhone directly into DAC over USB cable. This is what is possible with Holo Red or Eversolo A6/A8, but seems like it's not possible with Rive (or any other such streamer as far as I know)...

Curious why the DDC is needed here? I’d assume Rivo does the reclocking already, or whatever needed to serve clean digital output for DAC. Rivo does look interesting also for me, but it again does not solve Apple Music streaming. Seems like I can’t connect iPhone to Rivo and let it process the...

Quite encouraging reading. Given the fact the same ASR guys didn't have too many good words about my beloved Puritan PSM156 (which as well clearly brought a huge improvement to my whole system). So now for one we are in agreement :).

I'd say there will be no difference. Mentor is dual mono but unbalanced (there was discussion about it some time ago, you can find it here). I think the XLR output is for convenience but it is the same as from SE. I tried both outputs and if there is any sound difference, I didn't notice it.

If anybody brave enough to order with location reasonable close to west Slovakia - I'm in for comparative session with Mentor :). Sadly my yearly budget for headamp shopping experiments is gone. And next year this might not be available anymore.

I would be very interested in your take on Iris vs DI24HE. I’m considering some ddc or usb isolator but still not convinced which one. I leaned towards Iris to pair it with Pontus II. Do you consider it significant upgrade? It’s interesting how such DDC change can have that impact. Also, does...

Good luck with that :). There are already folks here with both units at home, but happy to read yet another opinion on those two side by side. I read MJ3 can get quite hot and I was considering that as an advantage for my passive house :) I guess it would be enough to heat my room during winter...

That was for sure better way how to get it. I just didn't want to deal with those import duties (not clear how much it would be in my country) and I prefered to know exact price before buying, the price via Schiit-Europe wasn't bad at all, considering all those additional costs. But in the end...

It can be available now (which is great). I ordered by Schiit-Europe towards end of last year and by March still no signs when it will be again. At that time I already started to gather information about Mentor. Then I made the switch :).

Looking forward. I was waiting for MJ3 for more than 3 months but no availability. With Mentor no regrets at all but still curious to see what those lucky ones with all of them under the same roof think.

UK seems to be the most expensive place to buy Mentor because of the Brexit. For shipping to EU we are lucky as they technically ship from Poland, so no additional taxes and duties. Btw. the same as Hifiman, if choosing a model that is located in Poland's warehouse - the same case, no taxes or...

That’s new

I noticed Mentor gets very slightly warm even if turned off but still connected to the electricity socket. Do you keep it like this or do you unplug the power cable if not used for few days? I’m asking because I have experience when my solid state class A power amplifier consumes 50W per hour...

It is.. Mentor helped me to discover Neotech cables lineup and now I have interconnects and even speaker cables from them. They are maybe the only one with official UP-OCC copper trademark. Others produce OCC copper of course but it can’t be labeled UP-OCC (I think). Anyway, really great cables...

There is still the upgrade power cable (worth 100 I think) which would need to be also included, but it's not as you can choose not to have it.