[DrTone]

Anyone have a clue to what the Mirus Signature Pro is?

http://www.resonessencelabs.com/shop/invicta-mirus-signature-pro/

@project86 ?

 

[project86]

Just talking to Resonessence about that, will post what I know ASAP.

 

[smial1966]

I asked Mark Mallinson this very question about the Mirus Signature Pro and his reply was -

"The Signature PRO series is sonically superior Andrew. We are always experimenting with different components and solutions. Mirus signature Pro takes things to the next level beyond what we could achieve with Mirus PRO."

- so no specific information about upgraded components, but the likelihood of improved sonics over the already excellent sounding Mirus Pro.

 

[DrTone]

I asked Mark Mallinson this very question about the Mirus Signature Pro and his reply was -

"The Signature PRO series is sonically superior Andrew. We are always experimenting with different components and solutions. Mirus signature Pro takes things to the next level beyond what we could achieve with Mirus PRO."

- so no specific information about upgraded components, but the likelihood of improved sonics over the already excellent sounding Mirus Pro.

So it sounds like $1850 of expectation bias. With it available for sale on their website I would hope they are a little more open to at least indicate in which areas they made improvements.

 

[smial1966]

Having requested some more tangible specifics from Mark Mallinson about how the Signature version differs from the Mirus Pro, he wrote -

“The transformer is new and we have changed the Op-Amps in all circuits Andrew. These are the biggest changes that I am aware of. I will be sending John (project86) a Signature Pro unit next week so that he can communicate with head-fi readers”.

So there are definitely component upgrades in the Signature version and I look forward to John elucidating the sonic improvements that these bring to an already outstanding DAC.

So it sounds like $1850 of expectation bias. With it available for sale on their website I would hope they are a little more open to at least indicate in which areas they made improvements.

 

[twsmith]

I wonder if Resonessence Labs will be able upgrade current Mirus Pro units to the Signature Pro level? I'm sure there are a fair number of Mirus Pro owners (like myself) that might be interested, especially if it turns out that the sonic improvements are substantial. Unfortunately I gather from the posts above that the component changes made in the SigPro may preclude the ability to update prior units -- after all this is not just replacing DAC chips or updating firmware/software, etc. Resonessence has always taken considerable care to help owners of current units avoid "planned obsolescence". If current Mirus Pro owners cannot update their units, then I think the next best thing would be to offer us an opportunity to trade our current Mirus Pro units in for the Signature Pro.

 

[Sonic77]

I'm curious about a upgrade and of course the cost, I just upgraded to Mirus Pro, I hope they take that into consideration too.

 

[project86]

Alright, Mirus Pro Signature Series in the house, and I've had a bit of time to listen to it. So far I'm comfortable saying it's an upgrade of sorts.... but not a massive one. It's tough to judge because I don't have both units available for direct comparisons, as my Mirus Pro developed a corrupted firmware. Long story short, I sent it back to home base and the timing was right so I went ahead with the Signature instead.

In lieu of direct A/B listening, I'm having to compare the new model to a known reference like my BMC UltraDAC, and then correlate the difference with my prior comparisons using Mirus Pro. It's certainly not an exact science. Thus far it seems this is a smaller upgrade than the jump from Mirus to Mirus Pro. No major changes in character, just more of everything, particularly a sense of space or openness. Pretty vague, I realize. I was incredibly happy with the Mirus Pro as it was, so I didn't expect huge increases, or even think them to be possible. Frankly I'm amazed there was even anything left to pull out of the machine, with all the optimization they've already done over the years.

Mark tells me they will have an upgrade program available starting roughly 4 weeks from now. It will be $750 to go from Mirus Pro to Signature Edition. That seems quite reasonable to me considering the price difference between the two models. I imagine that price is for existing Mirus Pro owners, as a sort of gesture of good will.... I bet you can't buy a Mirus Pro and then immediately turn around and get the upgrade. Haven't heard that officially but it makes sense.

Based on my listening so far, I'm going to say it's probably worth the $750 upgrade fee, assuming you have a really nice system capable of resolving smallish differences. The $1800+ difference between Mirus Pro and Sig Edition (when buying brand new) is a bit tougher to justify. But perhaps more listening will change my mind.

 

[DrTone]

Here's the measured difference as done by Resonessence. The red says Mirus but it is in fact the Mirus Pro.

 

[project86]

Alright, this thing is growing on me. Still won't call it a massive difference by any means... it's still smaller than the jumps from Invicta to Invicta Mirus to Mirus Pro... but absolutely compelling nonetheless. When things are already at such a high level of performance, it becomes more difficult to eke out incremental improvements. But, at least to some appreciable degree, Resonessence Labs has done it once again.

For the cost of $750 to upgrade from a Mirus Pro, I'd say it's definitely worth the trouble. For the $1850 it costs to purchase new compared to the "regular" Mirus Pro, I'm on the fence. On the one hand, that's a lot of cash. The Mirus Pro is already so good that it might be worth just stopping there. In the other, folks spend that much (and more) on things like absurdly thick AC cables, interconnects with magnets in them, and weird room tuning devices that don't really do much. In that sense, I'd rather see someone run Cablyedyne cables for a modest cost, and funnel the savings into the Sig Pro instead. It's going to be a more tangible improvement as far as I'm concerned. Then again, people buying gear at this level might not care about the savings, so there's that.

 

[Marcner]

Alright, this thing is growing on me. Still won't call it a massive difference by any means... it's still smaller than the jumps from Invicta to Invicta Mirus to Mirus Pro... but absolutely compelling nonetheless. When things are already at such a high level of performance, it becomes more difficult to eke out incremental improvements. But, at least to some appreciable degree, Resonessence Labs has done it once again.

For the cost of $750 to upgrade from a Mirus Pro, I'd say it's definitely worth the trouble. For the $1850 it costs to purchase new compared to the "regular" Mirus Pro, I'm on the fence. On the one hand, that's a lot of cash. The Mirus Pro is already so good that it might be worth just stopping there. In the other, folks spend that much (and more) on things like absurdly thick AC cables, interconnects with magnets in them, and weird room tuning devices that don't really do much. In that sense, I'd rather see someone run Cablyedyne cables for a modest cost, and funnel the savings into the Sig Pro instead. It's going to be a more tangible improvement as far as I'm concerned. Then again, people buying gear at this level might not care about the savings, so there's that.

How much for just the decal?

 

[DrTone]

Anyone know when they are going to start taking units for the update? Also turn around time?

 

[project86]

Anyone know when they are going to start taking units for the update? Also turn around time?

Just heard back about that very thing. I was told that they will begin taking units in for upgrade to Signature status at the beginning of December. Customers should contact sales@resonessence.com for an RMA number after December 6th. Turn around time is 7 business days under normal circumstances. As a reminder, cost for existing Mirus Pro owners will be $750.

I'm actually not sure if this also applies to the non-Mirus units. IE, those in the original configuration with the onboard headphone outputs. It seems most of us around here use our own dedicated headphone amps so we went with the Mirus variation. But any non-Mirus owners should certainly inquire about Signature upgrades if that interests them.

 

[DrTone]

Alright, this thing is growing on me. Still won't call it a massive difference by any means... it's still smaller than the jumps from Invicta to Invicta Mirus to Mirus Pro... but absolutely compelling nonetheless. When things are already at such a high level of performance, it becomes more difficult to eke out incremental improvements. But, at least to some appreciable degree, Resonessence Labs has done it once again.

Pro vs Signature Pro

>130db DR vs >135db DR
< -114db dist/noise vs < -124db dist/noise

 

[thewatcher101]

How much is it to upgrade from the Mirus to Signature, I had the Mirus for a long time and haven't felt the need for an upgrade, but I am assuming that going to the signature will be a big jump i'll be considering.