Just a quick word ...
Juins comments are accurate ... at least regarding output level ... I *did* notice that the
Havana's output was just a tad "louder" than was the
Stockholms ... which, of course, just meant that I needed to raise my amplifier volume a teeny bit to get the same volume level as with the Havana ... personally, I do not see this as a "shortcoming" of the initial Stockholm release ... simply a novel difference, since I have a fairly simple listening setup...
That said, there really was a psychological effect as it seems physical/neural impulse response almost universally dictates that lower initial volume equals less perceived details ... which, I don't think is necessarily the case.
When A/B listening between the Stockholm and the Havana ... once I got the volume matching down, I actually found the Stockholm to be a bit more "resolving" DAC ... a bit more detailed ... at the same time, be it some trick of the new digital receiver or be it placebo ... I thought the Stockholm to be a tad "thinner" sounding ... mostly in regards to the bass ... as I think the Havana's stock bass performance, though very good, is still a bit "flubby" here and there compared to other DACs I've listened to. The stock Stockholm bass is a bit better, I think ....
I'm curious to hear the new version, though .. especially regarding the true lack of any OPAMP circuit (either dedicated or built in to the DAC chips themselves) ...
And it should be mentioned that both the Havana *and* the newer Stockholm DACs both have an OPAMP circuit (of sorts) built in to their typical NOS R2R DAC design ... so, as a future RE-purchaser of a Havana (cause it's the most simple of the two and for no other reason) ... I'm hoping that MHDT mirrors the "true no opamp/filter" design to future renditions of the Havana too ... cause I want to buy one.
Cheers!
.j