[Soundsgoodtome]

I have yet to experience this problem with any of my recordings through my Paradisea 3

Interesting, it's been mentioned on multiple occasions about the DAC. I thought it was just how the DAC was. Are you able to get albums on the fly to test? I can name a few if you'd like to test it for me.

Also how do you have your chain set up? What music player, etc.

 

[ZachPtheDude]

Interesting, it's been mentioned on multiple occasions about the DAC. I thought it was just how the DAC was. Are you able to get albums on the fly to test? I can name a few if you'd like to test it for me.


Also how do you have your chain set up? What music player, etc.

Normally from Foobar to a musical fidelity v-link, optical out to mhdt paradisea with Tesla 2c51 tube, to a heavily modified Bottlehead crack, blue jeans cable RCA, audioquest a1 optical cable, diy power cables from an online retailer.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Normally from Foobar to a musical fidelity v-link, optical out to mhdt paradisea with Tesla 2c51 tube, to a heavily modified Bottlehead crack, blue jeans cable RCA, audioquest a1 optical cable, diy power cables from an online retailer.

How are you able to get the V-link 24/96 to talk with the Paradisea? It's 24-bit in nature and doesn't seem to work for the Paradisea 3? At least in my case, hence me selling it at the moment. I may need to try Optical but to my understanding the 24/96 VLink upconverts even 16-bit to 24-bit.

Also can you snap a pic of the op amp you're using by chance?

--


After a bit of searching, I think another member directly contacted MHDT Labs and got this response:

A lot of time has passed since the last message in that thread, but I'd like to ask OP one question - was you Paradisea clipping on every CD?


I have found at least ~5 CDs in my collection that (probably due to mastering issues) are "clipping" on certain tracks. It sounds like a very short, unpleasant harsh distortion (like crackle). It is independent of volume. The easiest way to remove it is to use some kind of declipper and process the whole track - after doing so - the clipping is gone. Also, reducing volume in iTunes helps (not completely, though). I have contacted Mhdt and Jiun-Hsien said that it is related to mastering not hardware. Other (several hundreds) CDs play perfectly fine.


Is it possible that the output signal is too strong only on certain albums and good on others?

 

[ZachPtheDude]

How are you able to get the V-link 24/96 to talk with the Paradisea? It's 24-bit in nature and doesn't seem to work for the Paradisea 3? At least in my case, hence me selling it at the moment. I may need to try Optical but to my understanding the 24/96 VLink upconverts even 16-bit to 24-bit.

Also can you snap a pic of the op amp you're using by chance?

--


After a bit of searching, I think another member directly contacted MHDT Labs and got this response:

You know, I wrote that I 'normally' use that setup because my computer is being repaired right now and I'm forced to use the usb input of my Paradisea. I only recently acquired the v-link, and between building my bottlehead crack, helping build a guest room and spring vacations I haven't had a chance to properly try the two out with each other. I will borrow a friends computer and get back to you.

 

[Barra]

Just bought a used Havana and it is supposed to be here on Thursday. It comes with the stock tubes (guessing the GE 5670 from the official site) and Tesla 6cc42. There is no power cord, so I will be starting off with a spare cheap computer power cord. My interconnects are cheap monster types as well. As a novice to tubes in general and this DAC specifically, does anyone have any pointers on getting it set up to work optimally?
 
Notes:

• Mjolnir: I will be pairing it with my Mojo balanced to my LCD2.2s. It sounds bright as is so I am hoping to add some weight and tubey sound qualities to make it more musical. Has anyone tried this pairing? What amps pair well with the Havana?
• Headphones: I have the HD700 and LDC2.2 that need some special care from the Havana.
• Tubes: What tubes are a must have with the Havana, how do I get them, and what do they provide?
• Power Cords/Interconnects: Do power cords and interconnects make any difference at all? If so, what? Doesn't the entire pathway have to be premium to hear the difference, or does the weak link still define the SQ?
• Tube Amp: I have been watching the La Figaro 339 as a possible tube amp purchase. The person that sold the Havana to me told me that doubling put tube equipment was too much for him and was going SS in the DAC with a nice tube amp. However, the Paradisea paired with the Project Ember sounds awesome. Opinions?
• Speaker System: I have some Maggies that I would love to pair this with. They are doing double duty in my theater system hooked up to a Marantz AV7702 to a Rotel RB-1090 at 1kW peaks at 2 ohms for a fairly beefy system. The system also sports a pair of high end subwoofers to complete the Maggies down low. Being in my theater, everything is tightly cabled making pulling the system apart a no go. I am considering using the front AUX1 component in to pass through the Havana audio to the amp. Am I missing something, or is this a good way to do this?

 
Feel free to pick and choose what you answer as I don't expect anyone to know it all.

 

 

[ZachPtheDude]

Just bought a used Havana and it is supposed to be here on Thursday. It comes with the stock tubes (guessing the GE 5670 from the official site) and Tesla 6cc42. There is no power cord, so I will be starting off with a spare cheap computer power cord. My interconnects are cheap monster types as well. As a novice to tubes in general and this DAC specifically, does anyone have any pointers on getting it set up to work optimally?

Notes:

1. Mjolnir: I will be pairing it with my Mojo balanced to my LCD2.2s. It sounds bright as is so I am hoping to add some weight and tubey sound qualities to make it more musical. Has anyone tried this pairing? What amps pair well with the Havana?
2. Headphones: I have the HD700 and LDC2.2 that need some special care from the Havana.
3. Tubes: What tubes are a must have with the Havana, how do I get them, and what do they provide?
4. Power Cords/Interconnects: Do power cords and interconnects make any difference at all? If so, what? Doesn't the entire pathway have to be premium to hear the difference, or does the weak link still define the SQ?
5. Tube Amp: I have been watching the La Figaro 339 as a possible tube amp purchase. The person that sold the Havana to me told me that doubling put tube equipment was too much for him and was going SS in the DAC with a nice tube amp. However, the Paradisea paired with the Project Ember sounds awesome. Opinions?
6. Speaker System: I have some Maggies that I would love to pair this with. They are doing double duty in my theater system hooked up to a Marantz AV7702 to a Rotel RB-1090 at 1kW peaks at 2 ohms for a fairly beefy system. The system also sports a pair of high end subwoofers to complete the Maggies down low. Being in my theater, everything is tightly cabled making pulling the system apart a no go. I am considering using the front AUX1 component in to pass through the Havana audio to the amp. Am I missing something, or is this a good way to do this?

Feel free to pick and choose what you answer as I don't expect anyone to know it all. :wink_face:  

I own a Paradisea 3, also using the Tesla 6CC42 (slightly modded, using 3uf solen caps at the output instead of stock 2uf, better low end response and clarity) and I absolutely love pairing it with my heavily upgraded Bottlehead Crack which I just so happened to put up for sale along with a bunch of extra power and input tubes. Feel welcome to check it out!

 

[joespride]

  Just bought a used Havana and it is supposed to be here on Thursday. It comes with the stock tubes (guessing the GE 5670 from the official site) and Tesla 6cc42. There is no power cord, so I will be starting off with a spare cheap computer power cord. My interconnects are cheap monster types as well. As a novice to tubes in general and this DAC specifically, does anyone have any pointers on getting it set up to work optimally?
 
Notes:

• Mjolnir: I will be pairing it with my Mojo balanced to my LCD2.2s. It sounds bright as is so I am hoping to add some weight and tubey sound qualities to make it more musical. Has anyone tried this pairing? What amps pair well with the Havana?
• Headphones: I have the HD700 and LDC2.2 that need some special care from the Havana.
• Tubes: What tubes are a must have with the Havana, how do I get them, and what do they provide?
• Power Cords/Interconnects: Do power cords and interconnects make any difference at all? If so, what? Doesn't the entire pathway have to be premium to hear the difference, or does the weak link still define the SQ?
• Tube Amp: I have been watching the La Figaro 339 as a possible tube amp purchase. The person that sold the Havana to me told me that doubling put tube equipment was too much for him and was going SS in the DAC with a nice tube amp. However, the Paradisea paired with the Project Ember sounds awesome. Opinions?
• Speaker System: I have some Maggies that I would love to pair this with. They are doing double duty in my theater system hooked up to a Marantz AV7702 to a Rotel RB-1090 at 1kW peaks at 2 ohms for a fairly beefy system. The system also sports a pair of high end subwoofers to complete the Maggies down low. Being in my theater, everything is tightly cabled making pulling the system apart a no go. I am considering using the front AUX1 component in to pass through the Havana audio to the amp. Am I missing something, or is this a good way to do this?

 
Feel free to pick and choose what you answer as I don't expect anyone to know it all.

 

Hello
 
I pair my Havana with my Tube amp and my He500 and it is sublime, I totally disagree that pairing a tube amp with Havana is to much tube. In fact I dont feel like the Havana is overly warm / tube sounding, It certainly takes the edge off but its not what I would call warm
 
I have tried NOS GE, Raytheon. RCA, Sylvania,, And am now very happy with the Je Western Electric 2c51 50's vintage............The raytheon Windmill Getter 5671 are also very nice, The stock GE sounded Grainy to me
 
My tube amp is the Kenzie Headphone from ampsandsound.com give them a look they are super nice guys and the no feedback design pairs very well with NOS Dacs and is plenty of power / drive for the lcd 2 (I have a friend driving the lcd3 with the kenzie and he is in heaven)
 
Enjoy, I Love my Havana

 

[Barra]

 

Just bought a used Havana and it is supposed to be here on Thursday. It comes with the stock tubes (guessing the GE 5670 from the official site) and Tesla 6cc42. There is no power cord, so I will be starting off with a spare cheap computer power cord. My interconnects are cheap monster types as well. As a novice to tubes in general and this DAC specifically, does anyone have any pointers on getting it set up to work optimally?

Notes:

• Mjolnir: I will be pairing it with my Mojo balanced to my LCD2.2s. It sounds bright as is so I am hoping to add some weight and tubey sound qualities to make it more musical. Has anyone tried this pairing? What amps pair well with the Havana?
• Headphones: I have the HD700 and LDC2.2 that need some special care from the Havana.
• Tubes: What tubes are a must have with the Havana, how do I get them, and what do they provide?
• Power Cords/Interconnects: Do power cords and interconnects make any difference at all? If so, what? Doesn't the entire pathway have to be premium to hear the difference, or does the weak link still define the SQ?
• Tube Amp: I have been watching the La Figaro 339 as a possible tube amp purchase. The person that sold the Havana to me told me that doubling put tube equipment was too much for him and was going SS in the DAC with a nice tube amp. However, the Paradisea paired with the Project Ember sounds awesome. Opinions?
• Speaker System: I have some Maggies that I would love to pair this with. They are doing double duty in my theater system hooked up to a Marantz AV7702 to a Rotel RB-1090 at 1kW peaks at 2 ohms for a fairly beefy system. The system also sports a pair of high end subwoofers to complete the Maggies down low. Being in my theater, everything is tightly cabled making pulling the system apart a no go. I am considering using the front AUX1 component in to pass through the Havana audio to the amp. Am I missing something, or is this a good way to do this?

Feel free to pick and choose what you answer as I don't expect anyone to know it all.

 

I own a Paradisea 3, also using the Tesla 6CC42 (slightly modded, using 3uf solen caps at the output instead of stock 2uf, better low end response and clarity) and I absolutely love pairing it with my heavily upgraded Bottlehead Crack which I just so happened to put up for sale along with a bunch of extra power and input tubes. Feel welcome to check it out!

 
 

 

  Just bought a used Havana and it is supposed to be here on Thursday. It comes with the stock tubes (guessing the GE 5670 from the official site) and Tesla 6cc42. There is no power cord, so I will be starting off with a spare cheap computer power cord. My interconnects are cheap monster types as well. As a novice to tubes in general and this DAC specifically, does anyone have any pointers on getting it set up to work optimally?
 
Notes:

• Mjolnir: I will be pairing it with my Mojo balanced to my LCD2.2s. It sounds bright as is so I am hoping to add some weight and tubey sound qualities to make it more musical. Has anyone tried this pairing? What amps pair well with the Havana?
• Headphones: I have the HD700 and LDC2.2 that need some special care from the Havana.
• Tubes: What tubes are a must have with the Havana, how do I get them, and what do they provide?
• Power Cords/Interconnects: Do power cords and interconnects make any difference at all? If so, what? Doesn't the entire pathway have to be premium to hear the difference, or does the weak link still define the SQ?
• Tube Amp: I have been watching the La Figaro 339 as a possible tube amp purchase. The person that sold the Havana to me told me that doubling put tube equipment was too much for him and was going SS in the DAC with a nice tube amp. However, the Paradisea paired with the Project Ember sounds awesome. Opinions?
• Speaker System: I have some Maggies that I would love to pair this with. They are doing double duty in my theater system hooked up to a Marantz AV7702 to a Rotel RB-1090 at 1kW peaks at 2 ohms for a fairly beefy system. The system also sports a pair of high end subwoofers to complete the Maggies down low. Being in my theater, everything is tightly cabled making pulling the system apart a no go. I am considering using the front AUX1 component in to pass through the Havana audio to the amp. Am I missing something, or is this a good way to do this?

 
Feel free to pick and choose what you answer as I don't expect anyone to know it all.

 

Hello
 
I pair my Havana with my Tube amp and my He500 and it is sublime, I totally disagree that pairing a tube amp with Havana is to much tube. In fact I dont feel like the Havana is overly warm / tube sounding, It certainly takes the edge off but its not what I would call warm
 
I have tried NOS GE, Raytheon. RCA, Sylvania,, And am now very happy with the Je Western Electric 2c51 50's vintage............The raytheon Windmill Getter 5671 are also very nice, The stock GE sounded Grainy to me
 
My tube amp is the Kenzie Headphone from ampsandsound.com give them a look they are super nice guys and the no feedback design pairs very well with NOS Dacs and is plenty of power / drive for the lcd 2 (I have a friend driving the lcd3 with the kenzie and he is in heaven)
 
Enjoy, I Love my Havana

Thanks Guys, I have to say that so far I am loving my Havana. It does sound incredible with my friends Project Ember - double tubed - and nice with my solid state Mjolnir. However, I am considering trading my Mjolnir for a tube amp to get more tubey SQ and rolling options. My friends have various Eddie Current amps that sound wonderful, I am anxious to see what the pairing would do.
 
The real surprise is how much I love it with my full sized Magnapan speakers. They need 1000 watts high current to be driven properly, so I am not sure if there are any tube amps that can drive that, or that I can afford if there are, but I would love to have the option. Regardless, my Havana provides a nice tube sound for all my solid state systems. But like many Americans, I am thinking that "MORES BETTER". Am I being silly?

 

[Hauge]

Has been lurking in here for half a year, reading, being inspired. - I have a Havana, witch i use for streaming/flac. It's equipped with LM Ericsson 2C51 and Russian PIO || Mundorf silver/gold. And i absolutely love it!

Has not been trying it out against other separate dacs but it wipes the floor with all my CD's (except one) including Philips CD 860, Pioneer PD-S901 (upgraded with AD op amps), Sony CDP-XB720, and a few others. - The one it has not wiped out is a Marantz CD 63SE, witch is modified with LC audio's LClock, and other Burr Brown op amps. Those two, the Havana and Marantz, has something magical over them, that has just dismissed any other digital things tried out here...

The Marantz has something about overall coherence, where the Havana is more dynamic (micro/macro) and therefore they supplement each other perfect in my system!
After reading this tread, there's loads of inspiration as to what to improve on this little marble called Havana...

Thanks to all contributors!!!

 

 

[M3NTAL]

What type of connectors do I need to get for the R-Core transformer swap?

 

[Hauge]

Try to have a look here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/310441/mhdt-havana-dac/2325#post_10014434

 

[Hauge]

  Try to have a look here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/310441/mhdt-havana-dac/2325#post_10014434

And around here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/310441/mhdt-havana-dac/1485 theres a lot about the R-Core mod... - Try a few pages back and forth.

 

[BORDELO]

Hello,
 
a long time ago that I did not come here ... I'm still very happy with my tweaked Havana.
I have since purchased others ( Stax Talent , Counterpoint DA10 ) for compete with. But, at the final, Havana is my favorite.
Very very musical and pleasant gear.
 
Now, i'm looking for one or two tubes AEG 5670.
could someone tell me where to buy. I saw a link to Allegro but the seller has no more ...
 
Thanks
STEF 

 

[banquier]

Does anyone know the difference between Havana and Havana V2?
I heard good music tone about Havana but don't know about Havana V2.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

http://www.head-fi.org/t/310441/mhdt-havana-dac/1500_30#post_7912264

Does anyone know if this is possible with the Paradisea 3 and if it would be as beneficial? I've read that an r-core upgrade dwarfs changing caps in terms of gains.