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MHDT Labs: R-2R NOS Tube DACs
Feb 21, 2022 at 9:23 PM Post #676 of 897
Decided to (quickly) step back up to the plate (American Baseball) and roll another after the earlier Telefunken incident :wink:

Staying within the Mullard family -- now rolling the CV2493

Initial impressions --> The CV2493 is very similar (no surprise) in general characteristics of CV4108/7308. Highly resolving with great separation, excellent decay and phenomenal timbre. Great weight/thickness to the vocal presentation.

I'm perceiving a slightly more intimate (closer) stage / forward vocals vs. CV4108/7308.

Will spend more time this week on the 2493.

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Feb 21, 2022 at 10:56 PM Post #677 of 897
David222 said:
Decided to (quickly) step back up to the plate (American Baseball) and roll another after the earlier Telefunken incident :wink:

Staying within the Mullard family -- now rolling the CV2493

Initial impressions --> The CV2493 is very similar (no surprise) in general characteristics of CV4108/7308. Highly resolving with great separation, excellent decay and phenomenal timbre. Great weight/thickness to the vocal presentation.

I'm perceiving a slightly more intimate (closer) stage / forward vocals vs. CV4108/7308.

Will spend more time this week on the 2493.

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Keep these impressions coming. Very helpful!
 
Feb 24, 2022 at 1:09 AM Post #678 of 897
Pharmaboy said:
Keep these impressions coming. Very helpful!
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Circling back around here on my post #676...I'm +5 hours A/B testing between Mullard E88CC-01 CV2493 vs. CV4108/7308....

Test Tracks:

1. Eva Cassidy | Live At Blues Alley / Track #3 "Bridge Over Troubled Water" / "Track #8 Fields of Gold"

2. Martin Sexton | Live Wide Open / Track # 9 "13 Step Boogie"


Notes: My initial impressions (noted in post #676) held true through the extended session:
  • E88CC-01 / CV2493:
    • Excellent resolution + fantastic separation + brilliant but not bright
    • Slightly more intimate (closer) stage
    • vocals present more forward
    • I perceived a slight increase in (digging out) micro-detail. However, hard to assess if this was actually increased detail or simply a bi-product of the more forward vocal / closer staging??
      • By way of example, I selected the test tracks due to high-quality recordings, but specifically because of their live setting within club/bar....there are background sounds of crowd noise, silverware "clanking", ice cubes / glasses dropping -- with the CV2493 I was noticing an increased awareness of the "edges" of these ambient/details sounds.

  • CV4108/7308:
    • Excellent resolution + fantastic separation + incredibly smooth, sweet and with unparalleled "flow"
    • Ever so slightly relaxed / deeper stage
    • Vocals presented farther back
    • Micro detail still present and plentiful - but not "etched"

Closing thoughts:

  • Both tubes put a smile on my face and were winners
  • Personally, for my preferences, the CV4108/7308 remains my #1 in Orchid (for now)
    • The overall timbre, flow and sweetness of this tube is absolutely a show-stopper (to my ear)
    • At some time past midnight while testing -- I ordered 2x for backup and cleaned Langrex out of current stock :)
  • Depending on setup / chain --> I can easily see owning both of these tubes and rolling based on AMP + Headphone
  • IMHO, these tubes would also serve great purpose as matched pairs in certain AMPs, so I've gone ahead and stocked up on each type for future use.

--> I'll be rolling another Mullard into the Orchid in the weeks ahead --> E188CC Holland
 
Feb 24, 2022 at 8:15 PM Post #680 of 897
has anyone tried 7DJ8 tubes? Not sure whether it's safe to use. who wants to be guinea pig?

Juin said it "will sound but don't know if correct". not sure whether he means he's not sure it will sound good or that it might not be safe?
 
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Mar 9, 2022 at 11:17 PM Post #682 of 897
Mar 10, 2022 at 12:40 AM Post #683 of 897
viggen said:
how does it compare to your lab12 reference or any other MHDT dac?
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The Lab12 is on another league but is also three times more expensive.
Everything is considerably better, from timbre to dynamics, technicalities, soundstage projection, texture, well everything.
Unfortunately this is my only experience with a Mhdt Audio DAC so I don't have a clue how the upstream products compare.
 
Mar 10, 2022 at 1:35 PM Post #684 of 897
Ichos said:
The Lab12 is on another league but is also three times more expensive.
Everything is considerably better, from timbre to dynamics, technicalities, soundstage projection, texture, well everything.
Unfortunately this is my only experience with a Mhdt Audio DAC so I don't have a clue how the upstream products compare.
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Thanks. There was a Reference for sale a few months ago and was about to bite. Terry London's review of Orchid compared it to Lab12 and he preferred the former. Another thing is I thought I'd prefer 1541 over 1543 chip. So, I demurred. But, Terry's Lab12 unit isn't the latest version.
 
Mar 10, 2022 at 1:58 PM Post #685 of 897
viggen said:
Thanks. There was a Reference for sale a few months ago and was about to bite. Terry London's review of Orchid compared it to Lab12 and he preferred the former. Another thing is I thought I'd prefer 1541 over 1543 chip. So, I demurred. But, Terry's Lab12 unit isn't the latest version.
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The previous edition was the Lab12 Special edition and the current one is the Reference.
Mine is a special dedicated edition with some exotic parts but I have reviewed the standard reference edition.
BTW, in the "other" forum there is guy who auditioned Dac1 reference and he found it bright and technically subpar.
Well I must have a hearing loss...
 
Mar 21, 2022 at 6:24 PM Post #686 of 897
So, I got the 6922 Valvo Mullard. After playing with it for a few days, I find it to not have the faults of the two other fave tubes I use with Orchid: 1) WE369 and 2) Amperex 6922. It's not lacking in mids or bottom like the Amperex and it's more balanced throughout the FR compared to the WE. However, it's not as memorable. It's not dull sounding. It just lacking its own personality which could be a good thing.

On another note, I've always been curious about Acoustic BBQ cables partly because the owner used to mod Orchids and think there might be synergy between the cables and the dac. I bought a pair of Fullrack speaker cables and USB cable used a few weeks ago and didn't find synergy between the cables and dac. Replacing Duelund and OmegaMikros, the Orchid/BBQ sounded hard and cold.

On a lark, I tried the BBQ cables with Topping D90MQA replacing Orchid in the system. It does't have the same sense of air and space that the Orchid has, but D90's spatial, balance, sound's personality all improved acrossed the board with the Fullrack cables. Honestly, I don't know which DAC I like better now.
 
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Mar 24, 2022 at 1:41 AM Post #687 of 897
Follow-on to Posts #676 & #678

Rolled a unique tube into the MHDT Orchid - Mullard labeled / Heerlen E188CC. I assume this is Philips? Also, I have not seen many of these around... only other I came across on the internet machine had a different looking Mullard label.

The date codes on this are as follows:

Row 1 Code: VR9
Row 2 Code: Left Triangle (Heerlen) then 4A1

My best guess is January 1964. If anyone thinks otherwise, please let me know.

Sound Impressions:

  • This tube is phenomenal. Outstanding clarity and instrument separation, light and airy with a deep and wide stage. I would certainly qualify this tube as "holographic"
  • I think the instrument separation on this is greater than what I noted in previous posts vs. 7308
    • 7308 presents slightly warmer / thicker
    • This E188CC is straight as an arrow. It does not surrender any sense of "thereness" just rides the neutral line. IMO, no where near as "cold" as the Telefunken I previously rolled (and quickly removed).
  • Depending on Headphones / DACs and of course music selection... I would highly recommend this Holland made E188CC


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Apr 9, 2022 at 12:04 AM Post #688 of 897
I am back. I was ready to put the Orchid on sale until I saw a LTA MZ3 available. Pulled the trigger on it, received it, compared the Orchid with D90/SU6 while plugged into it, and much much prefer the Orchid with it. Currently, my favorite tube is the Valvo Mullard E88CC.

edit. after swapping signal tubes in the mz3, it's now hard to decide between the two dacs again... argh
 
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Apr 10, 2022 at 11:45 PM Post #689 of 897
When shopping for a new dac recently I looked and really considered a mhdt dac, but ended up going with the audio mirror tubadour iii se. I greatly enjoy it, but I can’t offer any comparisons having it had the chance to hear the mhdt. I’d be very curious if anyone has heard both and had comparative thoughts.
 
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