MHDT Havana DAC - Page 12

No, you risk a chance of breaking both the tube and possibly the socket with the cover on.
Just take the cover off (4 screws) and grab the tube at the base and gently wiggle it out.

Okay, thought so.
Thanks for the info.

I too found my first DAC purchase (a Musiland MD-10) to sound unnaturally detailed and bright. As mentioned in previous reviews ... I found myself constantly wanting to analyze and pay attention to the "sound effects" as opposed to becoming transparently and absolutely involved in the music.

Mind you, this is with my particular audio chain, which ultimately culminates/terminates with the notoriously finicky Grado RS1's ... so who is too know what another set of phones would have yielded with the MD-10? Just didn't work for me ...

The Havana, however, was a revelation in musicality with my particular gear.

No other way to say it. I was suddenly entralled with music again and all of the emphasized, near effects laden features of my previous DAC simply melted into a lovely, very detailed, rich and musical experience.

The same held true for the Paradisea+ that I had prior to the Havana but the Havana took it to the next level in regards to transparency, detail and soundstage while still retaining the very musical qualities of the Paradisea.

I've heard similar descriptions of the DAC1 as those you use above; I've also heard others claim it as sonically perfect to their ear.

What I've found to be most true when reading the 100's of review pages of 100's of different DACs is that generally you are in a NOS/analogue-esque camp, where naturalness ease and realistic detail are preferred ... or you are in the oversampling camp where analytic, near clinical (but still fun because of it) sound and razor sharp detail are preferred.

Myself? I'm in the NOS camp for sure.

I've played live music and listened to live music for two decades and to my ear, the NOS sound is the sound that best represents what I'd hear in a real physical room with real physical players.

But that's just me, so take all that with a healthy pinch of salt.

This game is as fun as it is because of the diversity of opinions and gear ... so to say one thing is the penultimate ... or even the ultimate ... to me is near blasphemous.

Have fun.

I agree with S1rrah. The Havana sound is intoxicating. Now I'm wondering if there's any even higher end NOS dacs out there, like a balanced version with XLRs?

Hey nice pics, thanks.

I picked up a WE2C51/396A to tide me over until I could get a 6385. Already its slightly more detailed and smoother than the stock tube. I loved the Havana with stock tube, love it even more now. Just waiting for my stinking 6385 to be shipped to kuboten now.

I'm loving the NOS dac sound. Wonder if MHDT will make an even higher end dac sometime down the line.

Hi all. I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to try out the 840C at home this weekend....a private seller was kind enough to entrust the player to me to help with the decision.

Rather than go off-topic about it here, I've started a new thread in case anyone is interested.

I just got my havana and was wondering what to do to make it sound its best... besides burn in which I'm doing now. Any particular asio driver and setting etc when using it with my laptops usb???

I am using windows vista and was wondering if asio will benefit the sound at all. I put the asio dll in the components folder in foobar and it doesnt seem to do anything. It doesnt detect any asio devices even with the usb dac connected and working

Well, finally received my Bendix 6385s. They are in REALLY good shape, none of the wording on the tube is even the slightest bit smeared like my other old tubes. And they DO sound good, better than my WE 396A. They add a bit more detail, the bass seems to be a bit better controlled, it adds a bit of air to things, and decay seems to be more to my tastes. Very nice sounding.

Now who was it that PMed me that wanted to buy the other tube since I bought a dual? I recently cleaned out my PMs and now I can't find it

Do you have a year for the tube manufacture? I might be interested ...

How do I find out the year? Also I'd like to give whoever it was who PMed me first a shot first, since it seemed they really wanted one for their new Havana

I also have to add, I received my Audio Sector NOS DAC that cost me $410. Its based on the TDA1543. All I can say is WOW. This thing sounds incredible for the price. Its slightly more detailed than the Havana and not quite as warm and doesn't have the tubey smoothy goodness but does seem to have more impact though the Havana is much more romantic sounding and better still, especially with the 6385(guess basically tube vs SS), still very nice. I think this sounds better than my Cary 306 and my previous 840c & Stello DA220. Either that, or I'm just a NOS guy now

After 3 days burn in... and listening to the ge and we tubes, I can say that the WE definitely gives a more human quality to voices. The 396A makes reference recordings shine more than the stock ge tube. When listening to fast paced music though, my quick impression is that the ge tube sounds more like it is a solid state dac in that it has a faster dryer sound. The GE is better for rock music that doesnt need a human quality to the sound as much as it needs speed. Now anxiously waiting for the Bendix 2c51

I find your comments on the stock tube vs. the 396A to be *exactly* as I would describe it.

BTW: the Bendix should be there in 5 to 6 days.

Great tube. Didn't want to sell it but figured with the low power draw that the Havana puts through the tube ... my 6385 will probably last for the life of the DAC.

Post some thoughts re: Bendix once you get it ...

or don, you could go for
Translated version of http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e83547474



1964 packaged in November. Sadly my boxes only say 6385 and no package date and year.