[Southeastern]

I actually use a Cambridge Audio 851N now as a DAC/Streamer. It uses twin Analogue Devices dac chips, and is way beyond the Orchid in terms of . musical distortion free full bodied sound

 

[quanghuy147]

Hi Chronicals,
Are you using any MHDT DAC now? Cambridge Audio 851N look very modern and hi-tech. Looks like it's a sleeper. There are not many reviews about it.

 

[lordcloud]

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 out of the box could fairly be accused of having thicker bass than ideal, but this is easily tuned out or mitigated by selection of the buffer tube(s). Havana was a little soft on the top end but not muted or rolled-off. This could also be adjusted by selection of tube and further by upgrading chips and / or capacitors. Still, Havana made 16 bit sound beautiful.

But the newer Atlantis, Pagoda are far from rolled off, and bass is quite disciplined. One still has the tube rolling option to tune it. These are highly articulate, agile DACs that retain the MHDT organic qualities, and provide greater transparency and spatial information than the older models.''

The single greatest, most transformative sonic improvement to my Atlantis and Pagoda has been using converters to run 6922/CCa/e88cc tubes. This improves everything. Deeper more articulate bass, more nuanced, harmonically-complete top end, more authentic full band, expanded soundstage. No downsides, nothing not improved.

Phil

I will agree that using 6922 tubes has been an improvement with no negatives for me, and that the Pagoda is highly articulate.

 

[lordcloud]

Thanks for your relpy. Do you by any chance use any other DAC that is equally good or better than Pagoda? Have you tried Schiit Yggy?

No problem.

I have not had a DAC of equal quality in my system unfortunately. The Pagoda replaced a Scout Nixon Tubedac plus, that I loved, as my system was packed away for years before I pulled it back out and made some upgrades.

I considered the Yggy though. But ultimately the Pagoda won out.

 

[norbert2nd]

I prefer my Orchid DAC over the Yggy any time when equipped with an ECC86 tube. The ECC86 is a low voltage car radio tube available for much less money than the ECC88 having the same pin layout. The only DAC in my possession coming close to the Orchid or even surpassing it in some areas is the Chord Qutest. I use both DACs alternately.

 

[Amish]

I can't tell you how it compares to the Orchid, however I can say that it in no way has rolled off treble or wooly bass. It is a very revealing but neutral DAC, in my opinion. I wouldn't choose any of the other MHDT dacs, as they're been said to be less revealing than the Pagoda. Though many people love them.

The Pagoda, in my system, isn't overly anything. It just plays what you feed it.

This. The Pagoda is a very neutral sounding DAC. It is one very special piece of equipment that I doubt I would ever replace. Maybe one day if it dies but honestly I bet it will last my life time. This DAC presents the music how the music is presented to the DAC with no coloration at all. Wonderful.

 

[fcdvpds]

Hi all! I am using the mhdt Atlantis since April 2019. I purchased it to enter the dac tube world. I also have a vintage Bel Canto DAC 1. My experience so far was like this: With the original GE JAN 5670 tube which I used for about 6 months, the sound was very good but I was never really satisfied with the bass that seemed discombobulated (kind of messy, too strong, don't really know how to describe).

Comparatively to the Bel Canto, the major difference was the sound stage which is much bigger in the mhdt. The belcanto is more balanced overall with less bass but more defined. The sound is way thicker in the mhdt and also slightly darker. Then I purchased a few tubes to enjoy some tube rolling. This included Western Electric, Tung-Sol, Bendix and Raytheon. I started with the Wester Electric 396A and never took it out. The change in sound was so dramatic that I wonder why mhdt doesn't include this tube as stock. More definition, perfect bass, very musical, liquid sound, smooth, etc. It gives me the best sound I ever listened from a digital source. It is very interesting because it was the first time that I felt the word liquid could be used to describe sound when in the past I had no idea what it could mean.

Any thoughts?

Sources: AK300 via optical out & Luxman CD n-10 via coaxial
Amplifier: Luxman mq-88uc
Speakers: Proac Tablette 10 Signature

 

[SHIMACM]

New owner of a MHDT Pagoda here.

I bought mine used and the previous owner had owned it for four years.

Could anyone tell me about the quality of the parts for this DAC? Is a DAC built to last?

 

[Loftprojection]

New owner of a MHDT Pagoda here.

I bought mine used and the previous owner had owned it for four years.

Could anyone tell me about the quality of the parts for this DAC? Is a DAC built to last?

I have the Orchid for more then 5 years, still works perfectly and I still love its sound, using a 6922 tube. In my secondary system I also have the original Paradisea which is about 15 if not 20 years old and still working fine. MHDT DACs are sleepers, you buy it and once you have found the best tube for you then you are set for many many years of lovely sweet sound.