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Some DACs I am Considering-Any thoughts?

Soekris 2541                $1.1

Doge 7                         $1.2

Mhdt Pagoda               $1.4

Denafrips Pontus         $1.8

Audio Mirror SE           $2.5

Holo Audio Spring 2    $2.7

Audio Note 4.1 Kit       $3.6

Lampizator Amber 3    $3.8

Anyone who can speak from experience  about comparisons
between any two these?

I like the use of a tube and I like the R2R style of build.

Prefer to stay under $2.5 but might be swayed.

Thanks in advance for sharing.

(Some of these prices are certainly not correct)
chorus

Showing 2 responses by decooney

decooney
1,906 posts
 
@adam8179
My experience is limited but I have a little experience with the MHDT DACs.  I have the Pagoda (non-balanced) and I really like it but I prefer my Chord Qutest.  The Qutest has better bass and treble extension, and better detail.  The Pagoda definitely is more of an analog and less fatiguing sound, but in my opinion, it's not as true to the source as the Qutest.  My good friend got an Orchid on my recommendation and I'm afraid to say, neither of us liked it very much.  It was much more rolled off than the Pagoda in bass and treble and it overemphasized certain frequencies to a strange degree.  For example, any recording with tape hiss was almost unlistenable because of how the DAC emphasized it.  We thought it was defective but he returned it and the folks at LTA said it was working perfectly.  If you decide to go MHDT, I would go for the Pagoda, especially if your system is a bit on the analytical side.  If you already have some warmth, I might suggest staying away from tube DACs
Did you or your friend use the factory supplied tube(s) or change them? What you mention can occur if sub-standard tubes are used.  

Several friends with both MHDT Orchids and Pagoda, all good luck so far past 3-5 years. Mine is dead quiet.  Both DACs sound different and better with really good tubes.  With really good interconnects and for the DIY'ers, adding top-shelf coupling caps open them up even more but still retain the R-2R Ladder non-oversampling (NOS) analog type of sound.
decooney
1,906 posts
 

[@cetla416] I had a Pontus II in my system for about six months and it obviously blows away the DAC in the Node 2i that I use as a streamer now only. I don’t post much but I do research quite a bit in these forums. The responses about MDHT Orchid were always positive so I bought a second-hand one with the WE tube that was modified by a member here. Well I packed up the Pontus II sold after listening to the Orchid. I recently purchased the tube adapter so I could roll 6DJ8’s in it and it really takes it to another level. In my system the Orchid beat out the Pontus II/NOS head to head handedly. I was never going to use the other modes in the Pontus II and I liked what I read about R2R/NOS DAC’s.

 

Nice! Its a neat DAC R2R ladder design in its own right. Along with trying other GE 5-star triple mica tubes, Tesla, WE369A tubes, just for grins I upgraded the (very good) stock caps to some silver-gold-oil Mundorts. Both were small incremental improvements. +really a good OCC digi coax input and OCC output interconnects, the MHDT Orchid holds its own with higher $ DACS.

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