Either Orchid or Pagoda will give you a essential mhdt R2R family sound but I recommend Pagoda as yielding the most resolution with tone in the family, and its neutrality makes it highly tunable via changes in the output buffer tube(s). The Orchid also limits you to 16 bits internal processing...

I don't understand the confusion. The RCA, BNC and Toslink inputs are accepting of S/PDIF signal. Phil

>>Hello All, is anyone here still using their MHDT Labs dac? How is it holding up? If you have made a change, what has replaced your MHDT Labs dac?<< I started with Havana Balanced back in 2011. A few years ago I moved on to Atlantis for one system, and Pagoda Balanced for another, to add...

Gotta say, in my many decades of spending my own money on hifi and music, I never understood what "wooly bass" is, or why wooly would be the descriptive word for the actual sound people are hearing when they use it. There is an MHDT family sound I'll generally characterize as organic. A Havana...

My experience with these is different. Atlantis and Pagoda are equally affected by sonic differences in tube-rolling, though the ideal tube may be different in each. My point above is that tube rolling in Havana, while quite fruitful within the 5670-compatible range, showed less advantage to the...

On a quick listen of the adapter/CCa combination in my Havana Balanced, I noticed that the CCa/6922 advantage over the better examples of 5670 family was diminished. I didn't explore it further at the time because I was focused on getting my Pagoda and Atlantis sounding right. So I've...

Jiun is of course right about the 12XXX series not being suitable, even if you had an adapter. The heater voltage is wrong, and the plate voltage requirement is much higher. But there is precedent for the 6dj8/6922 family being used with very low operating voltages, so I was willing to try it...

Joel,   I do have the JW version of the 396a. Agree wrt headphones influencing evaluations. And on imaging, headphones have nothing really useful there unless you have a true binaural recording.   Eric,   I have had the Reflektor 6n23p silver shield in the past. I never agreed with that...

>>I think you would find the Bendix 6385 to be nearly identical in regards to sonics as the Bendix 2C51<<   I have to say, that is not altogether consistent with my experience. There are a lot of 2c51 tubes to try, and they vary from barely different from a 396a to the sharpened 2c51 sound...

Seb,   I did check the Amp/Phi e88cc types but only briefly. They are very good but not equal to Siemens-Halske. I will include them in my weekend eval of middle-upper end 6922 family and report back.   Phil

Eric,   I have a lot of experience with CCA/Ecc88/E88cc/6922/cv2492/6dj8 types in excellent preamps over the past 40 years. The Telefunken e88cc is certainly a fully credible alternative to a Siemens or Siemens-Halske or Valvo CCa. The CCa was designed for very long life use in West German...

Eric,   There is a significant individual preferences factor here, so keep that in mind regarding what I write next, though given that your own impressions mapped well to what I wrote wrt those three tubes, you should have some confidence about this.   If you love the Tesla 6cc42, you will...

Joel,   Here are a few from a reliable vendor I think are good bets:   http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/6922-E88CC-Tube-Types/Tesla-E88CC-6922-Gold-Pin    $50   http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/6922-E88CC-Tube-Types/JAN-Sylvania-6DJ8    $40  ...

Sure:   http://www.ebay.com/itm/1piece-Gold-plated-ECC88-6DJ8-6922-TOP-TO-5670-6N3-tube-converter-adapter-/201229111879?hash=item2eda309247:g:tosAAOSwa-dWssSP   Or just do an ebay search for ecc88 (top) too 6n3p converter.   Phil

I started a new thread on this, but thought I'd add same here:   As mentioned last year in some comments I placed in one of the mhdt Pagoda threads, I upgraded from Havana Balanced to Pagoda and Atlantis in my systems. I promised further commentary after I had extended time with these DACs...

As mentioned last year in some comments I placed in one of the mhdt Pagoda threads, I upgraded from Havana Balanced to Pagoda and Atlantis in my systems. I promised further commentary after I had extended time with these DACs. After getting some long-awaited comparative listening time I got to...

I bought my first set of AD1856 chips from a vendor on eBay a few years ago, and another set from Mouser. Granted, the sound differences going from PCM56J to PCM56K to AD1856 are comparatively subtle, relative to other changes you can make to your sound chain. But they are easily discernible...

I don't have any meaningful difference in experience between listening to these DACs via Stax headphones vs. Zu speakers. For anyone who has history with Stax, the SR5 was a mid-1970s issues and it was/is a very natural, relaxed, holistic-toned headphone. The later Stax, beginning with the SRX...

When I use headphones, which isn't often, I use vintage Stax SR5 electrostats powered by an equally vintage Stax SRA3s tube preamp/energizer. Most of the time I am listening to the mhdt DACs via speaker-based systems, in each of which I use the transport of Pioneer BDP-09fd bluray players...

After using mhdt Havana Balanced DACs in both of my audio systems for the last five years or so, I am moving up to the current 24 bit R2R DACs by mhdt. I have a Pagoda Balanced installed and in use for over a month now, and have a SE Atlantis as well. I am getting a SE Pagoda shortly, after...

>>how do you attach the feet/spikes/pods to the component<<   When I have to attach a cone to the underside of equipment where the cone has a flat top or there is no option for a bolt, I use appropriate size GrungeBuster dots from Herbie's Audio Lab. These can be ordered with adhesive on one...

I've just joined head-fi, and the reason is this thread, specifically. I do very little of my listening via headphones, but when I do it is via Stax SR5 driven from a Stax SRA-3S active tube headphone amplifier. I have for many years been active on Audiogon and AudioAsylum under this same handle...