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Paradisea+ just arrived - Page 3

post #31 of 103
3/23/07 at 10:30am
So what did you guys do with your Constantine+'s?? If you're looking to unload it, PM me, lol.

So would you say it was worth the ~$200 difference from the Constantine?
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post #32 of 103
3/23/07 at 11:06am
I would say it's worth the difference. However, I think it's more than $200. The Constantine ranges from $259-350ish depending on bidding. The Paradisea+ is $599 wih USB. Not sure what the non USB will be. I haven't seen one, but there was a post about one earlier inthis thread(?). I'll sell my Constantine. That's how a rationalized the upgrade.
Jeff
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post #33 of 103
3/23/07 at 9:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff G View Post
I'm enjoying it very much. I have a WE 396A on the way. I'll be interested to see what that does.

BTW, I'm listening through speakers, not phones. I'm using the coax in.


Jeff
If you enjoy it right now, give it a hundred hours of burnin with that we396a tube in it and you will probably not be even thinking about the Constantine anymore! With all this talk about the + model I'm almost tempted to sell my "old" original version to try out the +
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post #34 of 103
3/24/07 at 12:00am
Thread Starter 
Just got back from my short spring break vacation and have been doing some more listening. My Russian 6N3P tubes have arrived, so I will try them in the Paradisea+ soon.

FauDrei, you could wait for one to show up on E-Bay or contact them by e-mail and ask to buy one (not sure if they do that).

Just before I left, I had postulated the differences between the Paradisea+ and the USB+ Constantine. Coming back from the vacation and hearing it again has just further confirmed my initial impressions.

This unit has more detail, this being the most noticible. I can notice much more subtleties, and it has taken my system to the next level. The mid range has come alive!
In addition, both vocals and instraments seem to be more focused in space with a better sense of depth than the constantine+. Again, all this with the stock GE 5670w tube and optical out of my laptop Audigy 2 ZS sound card.

You know an upgrade is truely worth it when you can revisit your music library and it's as if you are listening to the music for the first time again, hearing new things and getting more personal with the music. This has been the case with my upgrade from the Constantine+ to the Paradisea+.

As others have said, the constantine+ can be had for about 260-350$us, and the paradisea+ goes for about 600$. Is it worth the roughly 300$ price increase? If you have the money to spend, yes! If you are on a tight budget then that question becomes more pressing, and the constantine+ is a great choice for those who don't have the funds for the paradisea+.
I highly recommend this for people who use their computer as source, or those who suffer from a cheap DAC in their audio players.

When I go back to school, I'm going to do some serious comparisons between the Paradisea+ and Constantine+ back to back, but I already know I'm sticking with the Paradisea. Now.... I have to decide what to do with the constantine.

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post #35 of 103
3/24/07 at 11:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff G View Post
I recently bought the Pardisea + to replace my Constantine USB. Changes/features of the Paradisea+ include (taken from Ebay):

...-Mhdt labs specially ordered flameproof military low noise resistors.
It saddens me that there won't be any low noise resistors to pass on to my next of kin should I be attacked with flamethrowers while listening to my headphones. What was I thinking?

I'm glad that you guys are enjoying that beautiful DAC. (I think that the Paradisea+ is a work of art.) Look forward to hearing more impressions and comparisons with the Constantine and other DACs.
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post #36 of 103
3/27/07 at 10:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Towert7 View Post
I was told they were going to announce it in 10 days, and that was back on the 9'th of March. So should be pretty soon. You can always send them an e-mail and they can give you more info. Who knows, they may already have one ready for sale.
The "non USB" Paradisea+ is now available. If I'm not mistaken they replaced the USB input with a BNC one. What exactly is BNC ? I prefer coax over TOSlink and I'm not sure what I can use BNC for. Why not an "all coax" model ?
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post #37 of 103
3/27/07 at 11:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turn&cough View Post
The "non USB" Paradisea+ is now available. If I'm not mistaken they replaced the USB input with a BNC one. What exactly is BNC ? I prefer coax over TOSlink and I'm not sure what I can use BNC for. Why not an "all coax" model ?
BNC is Coaxial (SPDIF), it's just another cable type with different connections (jacks and plugs). I was told that BNC has the best theoretical bandwidth, and thus why it was used on high end audio equipment. It's amazing to see a company now a days still using it.
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post #38 of 103
3/28/07 at 5:35am
Noticed that you save $40 if you dont need USB input $559 for new Paradisea vs $599 for paradisea+. Thats cost of shipping
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post #39 of 103
3/29/07 at 12:04am

paradisea+

ordered my paradisea+ on sunday, just got it today. pretty fast shipment from taiwan!.

it's now connected to my pc through usb. rest of my setup includes a budget NAD receiver and a pair of Totem Mites. even though it's still burning in, i can already tell that its detail and resolution is higher than the musiland md-10 that i returned due to its output noise problem. surprising i feel that the sound from the musiland actually sound just as warm as the paradisea+, despite the fact that the musiland is NOT a tube dac. however, the smoothness, fullness, and level of resolution of the paradisea+ is a league above the musiland.

i'm just using the stock tube. it seems like a lot of people are recommending to replace the stock GE tube with the WE 396a tube. i'm new to the tube thing. is it difficult to replace the stock tube? can someone point me to a link on how to do that? do i need to open up the case of the paradisea, or can i just pull the stock tube out from the opening on the case? does tube replacing require any soldering?

thanks.
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post #40 of 103
3/29/07 at 12:48pm

Replacing the tube

My version has four hex nuts on the top that require a 7mm (I think) hex wrench. The top comes off real easy, most tube rolling does not require any soldering. Since you are considering traveling down the tube rolling path I would recommend you go to your nearest hardware store and buying the full range of hex wrenches. Once you have rolled your first tube then soon you will find yourself opening up the cases on every bit of audio gear you have. Oh, be sure you unplug the gear first.
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post #41 of 103
3/29/07 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by happybob View Post
i'm just using the stock tube. it seems like a lot of people are recommending to replace the stock GE tube with the WE 396a tube. i'm new to the tube thing. is it difficult to replace the stock tube? can someone point me to a link on how to do that? do i need to open up the case of the paradisea, or can i just pull the stock tube out from the opening on the case? does tube replacing require any soldering?

thanks.
Just open the top of your Paradisea, pull on the tube by rocking it sideways a bit at the same time. It fits pretty tight in the socket so don't be afraid to pull a bit more then you would normally expect from such a small thing. You just push the new tube same way but make sure you allign the pins before you start pushing because you will easily bend them.

The WE396A, IMO is the best bang for the buck for the Paradisea if you want lush mids/voices. The National 2C51 can be found around the same price, mids do not sound as "tubey" with it but it gives a bit tighter bass and a bit more highs then the WE396A. If money is no object, the Bendix 6385 is the top tube for the Paradisea, not much compromise with this one. The Bendix 2C51 is also pretty good, very similar to the National 2C51. I've tried several others but they are not worth it, all somewhat equivalent to the original tube.
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post #42 of 103
3/29/07 at 8:09pm
Thread Starter 
happybob, just remember that this DAC does not use tubes for amplification, but rather as a buffer (I think). I've been told this puts it in the middle, since you have the Solid State of the opamp, with some of the tube flavor.

Glad to see you are enjoying it as much as I am.

The Paradisea has a "Tube socket". That means you don't have to do any soldering when you want to replace the tube, you just pull the old one out, and put the new one in. Luckily, the socket is designed so you can only put the tube in one way (for the pin configurations), so it takes all the guess work out of the equation. ^_^

Yea, those little gold screws at the top need to come out first and then you take the cover off, otherwise you would not be able to get a good hold on the tube and may break it (it's in there securely).

And yea, their shipping is so fast! Ordered mine late night friday, and it arrived at my door Monday.

I should be getting a national and WE 396A soon, so that'll be interesting. I also have stock Jan GE 5670W tubes and Russian 6N3P tubes, but I havn't managed to do any comparisons because I'm too busy with school work.
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post #43 of 103
3/29/07 at 9:01pm
Can anyone make comparisions between the new Paradisia plus and Lite Audio dac60? One uses one tube and the other uses two tubes, any comments?
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post #44 of 103
3/31/07 at 8:07pm
thanks for the help guys. i might just get myself some we396a tubes. so do you guys know exactly what type of hex screw driver i'll need to open up the case? also today when i lifted up the dac, i noticed that the pcb board seems to move back and forth a little bit when i tilt the case forward and backward? do you guys notice the same thing with your paradisea and paradisea+? maybe the screws attaching the pcb board to the case aren't tight enough. for those of you who've already opened up the case, do you know what kind of screws are used to secure the pcb board to the case?

thanks.
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post #45 of 103
3/31/07 at 9:09pm
i found some hex screw driver and was able to open up the top case cover. i noticed that the pcb board is actually secured to the case pretty well, it's the torroidal transformer that's shifting slightly. the transformer is attached to the pcb board via a long screw, and the washer that's securing the screw on top of the tranformer isn't very tight. i tried to turn the washer with my fingers to tighten it as much as i can, but it doesn't seem to tighten that well. it seemed to secure the tranformer slightly better now, but oh well. i know i'm just being anal now. do you guys also notice the transformer shifting slightly?
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