MHDT Havana was much better than the PS Audio I had, and I think the Paradisea sounds very similar. |
I'm using MHDT Havana as well, my friend who owns PS Audio digital linkIII came to my house one day, after hearing my Havana, he said PS Audio produces incerdible details, which he said sometimes it was too much, sometimes he got tired of all those details(but gives u the upgrade bug). Secondly he said, PS Audio brings power to bass in all kind of music, if you are into bass.
His reaction on Havana was,,the sound is so real, so true to the timbre, u don't have to "imagine" a drum kit, just close your eyes then u "believe" the drum kit is in front of you kind of realness. Havana is also a lot more analouge sounding than PS Audio, which is more musical sounding to me and my friend agreed.
I haven't heard Paradisea either but i heard Havana's much better in details.
Here's my take on these 2 techonologies: I used to listen to CDP that has upsampling DAC built in, and PS Audio would be a top notch upsampling dac u could ever get, the way upsampling deals with details is separating all the sound. It becomes so easy to focus on one instrument.
Havana uses non-oversampling technology, which gives more coherent sound. Some said it doesn't have the detail, being a musician myself i can feel more soul with havana, for me that's the sort of "detail" i like, call me old school if u like but i think young kids are missing out the ambient of the room that was recorded in, the movement of the performers. I'm sure 10k upsampling CDP produces that no problem, but just imagine what 10k non-oversampling can do compare to that.
karmatogdral |
Thanks for the great comments and info! I have a Paradisea+ on the way that I'm going to give a spin. I was thinking about the PS Audio, and I'm sure it's a great DAC, I just got intrigued by the MHDT DAC and the NOS school of thought. I also like the idea of the tube buffer stage. We'll see how it flys in my system.... |
OK, had some opportunity to listen in earnest to the Paradisea... Not quite sure that I understand comments that I see about NOS DAC's "not having enough detail", that doesn't seem to be the case here. I've had a couple of oversampling/upsampling DAC's and I'm not discerning this difference. Maybe the rest of my system doesn't have the resolving prowess to hear that difference, but I kind of doubt it.
What the Paradisea NOS DAC does is to get the fundamentals right. The midrange is now beautifully fleshed out on digital material like never before and I still hear all of the top end and "air" that I've experienced with other OS DAC's, but the overall sound is much sweeter! My gut tells me that the Paradisea is perfect for those of us looking for musical performance over other parameters. Think I'll keep this puppy for a while. As of today, I'd say my next DAC upgrade would probably be to the MHDT Havana, and not another OS DAC... I'm impressed! |
congradulations, now u r listening to music, not hi-fi! I'd say MDHT not as detailed in terms of quantity of details(compared to upsampling), as for the quality of detail, i think one needs to spend 3 times the price to beat MHDT.
Do you like the stock tube(GE 5670)? I find the stock tube very smooth, perfect for classical, with jazz and rock, i prefer tung sol tubes(more dynamic), the 50's WE tubes have top notch sound, tons of details, if you'r into that sort of thing. |
I have a Raytheon in place right now. The previous owner had very good things to say about it in his rig, so I left it in place to start off. I also have the stock GE which I haven't had a chance to try yet. I'll probably start searching for some different ones to sample, but the Raytheon has the unit sounding great at the moment. Thanks for the tip!
Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention previously... the build quality on the MHDT is just unbelievable. Never seen a product at this price point built like it. Bravo to the folks at MHDT! |
Karmatogdral
What type of tung sol tube do you use w/ your dac? |
Trip,
I'm using JTL-5670 Tungsol black plates D getter 1959, straight after i plugged it in, the soundstage became so wide and deep, at first i thought something was wrong with my amp, normally it gets pretty loud around 9:00, then i realised the soundstage has expanded so big the sound became relatively small, so now around 10:00, i get an amazing dimensional sound.
Tungsol is more versatile than stock tube, in a sense that it's smooth the same time very dynamic, not only does it sound good on classical, it excels in jazz and rock as well, the drum solo from the album "time out by Dave Brubeck" sounded so real, i could picture an exact size drum kit in front of me. On classical Tungsol is smooth but it doesn't have the sustaining effect for instance the violin sound, on this particular point i prefer the string instrument sound from stock tube. I highly recommend tungsol tube. |
Karmatogdral, what's the rest of your system setup...? Know any good sources for the Tungsol 5670's?
Just a tip, I've dealt previously here on A'gon with Webtoco who is over in Holland and a good source for tubes... he might have some interesting things as well. |
The rest of my systems are: Plinius 8200mk2 intergrated.
Spendor speakers, SP2/3R.
My sources are: CEC T51XR, & my wife's sony vaio.
I use Siltech cables for CEC, the amp and the speakers.
About tubes, it can be challenging to get right tube, like i bought these WE 396a(1954) from yahoo and i don't like them as much as Tungsol.
andy |
btw got my tungsol from "new tube world", for me at first i was sceptical about buying used tube made in the 50', but then i read that tube world place is a reputable seller.
you can never be too careful, some people print famous brand on their tubes for money! |
Is the Tungsol thin sounding as some say? Does it have better and deeper bass than the WE396a. Also is the JTL-5670 the exact same tube as the Tungsol 2c51 Black plate d getter. Karmatogdral's discription of these tubes peaks my intrest. Thanks, Tweaker |
