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MHDT Paradisea(+) Owners Club
Aug 28, 2008 at 11:07 PM Post #31 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyface /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Some more comparisons of the Paradisea to other DACs of various "styles" in its price range would be very helpful in aiding my decision on whether to get one. Thanks, bye.


I have been using a Paradisea+ and a Benchmark Dac1pre for a few months now. They are both great dacs. DAC1pre is more transparent but the difference is rather small. I am also surprised to find how similar these two units sound in my system-considering one has a tube output and the other is often criticized for being sterile and non musical.

If Havana is a better sounding "Paradisea" it will be money well spend even if it costs twice as much.

-Paul
 
Aug 29, 2008 at 12:27 AM Post #32 of 338
I haven't heard the Paradisea, but my Havana definately sounds better than my Benchmark DAC1 USB in every way.
 
Aug 29, 2008 at 4:46 AM Post #33 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by bdh /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I haven't heard the Paradisea, but my Havana definately sounds better than my Benchmark DAC1 USB in every way.


Some people think the Paradisea sounds better than the DAC1 anyway.
The Havana might be an even bigger bargin than the Paradisea. I would be very interested in hearing it- it seems like the only way to do that is to buy one.

-Paul
 
Aug 29, 2008 at 7:06 AM Post #34 of 338
i sold my paradisea(non-usb) to s1rrah. never thought that dac had him motivated about dacs that much...

paradisea was indeed a very special, musical dac. after running sony xa3 cdp for so many years, after i inserted a paradisea in the path...man, the nht 1.5 speakers had never sound so musical! the paradisea dac just blew the dac inside sony xa3es out of the water. i was indeed surprised...

for tube dacs, i had tried monarchy m24(which has great reviews) and while it was a very good dac i still prefered the paradisea better, it had better details and just more musical.

the one thing that i didn't like about the paradisea was the digital input selector switch was on the back(minor issue).

previous dacs i had tried while paradisea was in my position were: bel canto dac2, benchmark dac1, lavry da10 and the venerable audio research dac5. all were great dacs...one i liked least among them was benchmark dac1, it was so analytical that it became a little edgy at times. from what i could remember, bel canto dac2 and paradisea excelled in drawing you into listening to music. if you want accuracy, as i perceived it, lavry dac10 and audio research dac5(this is a dac from '96) are it. neutral is the word. if u want a dac to seduce get a paradisea or bel canto dac2.

now, someone has to get the havana and compare it to paradisea...

oh, after i sold paradisea i got a stello da100 signature...it is a very good dac. very details and punchy(misture of lavry da10 and benchmark dac1 sound), but still as not as musical as a paradisea or bel canto dac2.
 
Aug 30, 2008 at 9:57 PM Post #35 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by MrLA /img/forum/go_quote.gif
i sold my paradisea(non-usb) to s1rrah. never thought that dac had him motivated about dacs that much...

paradisea was indeed a very special, musical dac. after running sony xa3 cdp for so many years, after i inserted a paradisea in the path...man, the nht 1.5 speakers had never sound so musical! the paradisea dac just blew the dac inside sony xa3es out of the water. i was indeed surprised...

previous dacs i had tried while paradisea was in my position were: bel canto dac2, benchmark dac1, lavry da10 and the venerable audio research dac5. all were great dacs...one i liked least among them was benchmark dac1, it was so analytical that it became a little edgy at times. from what i could remember, bel canto dac2 and paradisea excelled in drawing you into listening to music. if you want accuracy, as i perceived it, lavry dac10 and audio research dac5(this is a dac from '96) are it. neutral is the word. if u want a dac to seduce get a paradisea or bel canto dac2.


Yeah ... you didn't know you were starting something ... but you did.

Chaos theory at it's finest.

wink.gif


Anyway ... in light of your comments and so that other owners/potentials might be aware ...

The older Paradisea, which was liquid smooth and warm with it's OPA2604 and GE5670 tube (stock) ... can be totally transformed into a doubly resolving/detailed unit by simply adding the LM4562 OPAMP and a more resolving tube like the Bendix 2C51.

That's why I went with the newer version.

Though, as per my original comments, I thought the older version was, a bit more "sweet" and musical than the newer version (which ships with the LM4562).

That considered ... said newer version Paradisea can still be made to sound near identically seductive (your term and a good one) by simply swapping out the stock LM4562 for a OPA2604.

Furthermore, the socket allows you to try all other variants of OPAMPS; I've settled on a OPA2228 for the time being as it's the perfect combo of tube warmth and detail.

...

Regarding the earlier post of wanting more comparisons among similarly priced DACS...

Here's a bit I just read on Audiogon:

"I have owned a Paradisea for several months now and am very pleased with it. Prefer it to a RAM modded BelCanto DAC2 and a Modwright modded CIA VDA1. A Monarchy 24/96 DIP improved the sound. I use plain old Blue Jeans digital cables on the Monarchy / Paradisea after having used DH Labs and VH Audio on the BelCanto. "

...

Happy listening, yo.

smily_headphones1.gif
 
Sep 7, 2008 at 12:59 AM Post #36 of 338
So I received the Paradisea quite a while ago now and have had a good chance to listen to it paired with my Cayin HA-1A amp using my headphile HF-1. I was initially excited about the new warm, lush sound but after a while I felt it was too much and I was losing out on a lot of detail...but one of the great things about the HA-1A is it's versatility: switching to ultralinear mode, the sound was immediately more dynamic and more detailed yet still retaining the extra warmth from the Paradisea.

I had this combination for a while but then I was lucky enough to happen upon a headamp GS-1 sold locally for a decent price. I decided I couldn't pass this opportunity up and so after emptying my bank account I took the GS-1 home. The first conclusion is that the combination with the Paradisea to me is almost perfect. It is now far more detailed than the combination with the HA-1A yet retains all the warmth I had before. The bass is a lot deeper and punchier as well, I think that the bass qualities of the GS-1 and the paradisea+ really mesh well.

Then, I decided to roll a 1970s RCA5670 in to replace the orginal GE5670. This change brought a very nice smoothness to the combination that I felt improved the sound noticeably.


The next part of the story is:....
biggrin.gif
...I just managed to win a NOS Tesla 6CC42 tube...these are recommended on the Mhdt website but they seem pretty rare...

Hopefully I will receive them in a week and I can try it out with the Paradisea.
 
Sep 9, 2008 at 6:32 PM Post #37 of 338
XXII: Did you get the Tesla tube yet? I'm interested in how that worked for you. I'm very jealous of your GS-1 also. I have that on my short list of amps. I have discussed the Paradisea/GS1 combination with another Head-Fi'er, and he is also very happy with it.

I am shopping for tubes right now, but it is very confusing. I have learned enough to know that you don't always get what is advertised. I am hesitant to pull the trigger on a tube until I become a little more educated about them. I would like to find a WE396A D-getter 1950's or early 60's (per the MHDT "first-class" listing). I see some WE396A tubes for sale, but it is difficult to know if these are the right version (some say 2C51, some don't). I don't have a tube tester either, so I don't know how to tell if I am getting a good NOS tube or a half-dead used one.
 
Sep 10, 2008 at 7:28 AM Post #38 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin /img/forum/go_quote.gif
XXII: Did you get the Tesla tube yet? I'm interested in how that worked for you. I'm very jealous of your GS-1 also. I have that on my short list of amps. I have discussed the Paradisea/GS1 combination with another Head-Fi'er, and he is also very happy with it.


Not yet! I will definitely post some impressions when I get them..
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Sep 12, 2008 at 12:05 AM Post #40 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by btbluesky /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Has anyone tried the AD806 ? Others have said it's more detail, with the top not harsh. If anything the paradisea might benefit from the more detail and airy mod to bring it close to Havana...(I have both)


That sounds very interesting! I might give that a try. Where's a good place to buy opamps online?

The consensus in the websites you linked to seem to be that the AD8066 is bassy. I'm not sure if that would complement the paradisea well since it is already quite bassy...
 
Sep 12, 2008 at 12:05 AM Post #41 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by btbluesky /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Has anyone tried the AD806 ? Others have said it's more detail, with the top not harsh. If anything the paradisea might benefit from the more detail and airy mod to bring it close to Havana...(I have both)

diyAudio Forums - AD8066 vs. LM4562

Audio Reviews: Flavors of Audio Op-Amps


I want to try the AD806 but have not yet.

I just received a OPA2134, which was suggested earlier in this thread ... but I don't like it as much as my reigning fav, the OPA2228; in comparison, the 2134 had a much noticeably narrower sound stage but otherwise sounded about the same as the 2228. The soundstage is what did it for me in the end, though ... the OPA2228 throwing a much wider and provocative image than the OPA2134 and so the OPA2228 is still the champion.

The OPA2228 combines the warmth of the OPA2604 with the detail/resolution of the LM4562 ... having neither the slight blandness of the former nor the edginess of the latter ...

Def check out the OPA2228!

It's a bit pricier than your standard 2 dollar OPAMP (running about 7 to 8 bucks) ... but to my ear, it sounds the best.

You can get it from Digikey or Mouser electronics ... both sites ship very quickly and are highly recommended.

...
 
Sep 12, 2008 at 12:12 AM Post #42 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by XXII /img/forum/go_quote.gif
That sounds very interesting! I might give that a try. Where's a good place to buy opamps online?

The consensus in the websites you linked to seem to be that the AD8066 is bassy. I'm not sure if that would complement the paradisea well since it is already quite bassy...


Regarding where to buy:

See my above post for links to Mouser and Digikey!
 
Sep 12, 2008 at 4:26 AM Post #44 of 338
Sep 12, 2008 at 4:30 AM Post #45 of 338
Quote:

Originally Posted by btbluesky /img/forum/go_quote.gif
OH man, so which would fit Paradisea+?
And is it just taking out the old one and plugging it in?

Thanks for the info.

OPA2228P-ND OPA2228P IC DUAL PRECISION OPAMP 8-DIP Tube
OPA2228PA-ND OPA2228PA IC DUAL PRECISION OPAMP 8-DIP Tube
OPA2228U-ND OPA2228U IC DUAL PRECISION OPAMP 8-SOIC Tube
OPA2228UA-ND OPA2228UA IC DUAL PRECISION OPAMP 8-SOIC Tube



Indeed. The listings are confusing.

But this is the one you want to order:

Digi-Key - OPA2228P-ND (Texas Instruments - OPA2228P)

...

"8-DIP" refers to the type of OPAMP that can plug and play with the Paradisea.

Anything with SOIC in the descriptor is not for you.

Order from the link above and you'll be fine.

wink.gif


BTW:

Yes ... it's as simple as pulling out one and plugging in the other.

Do carry on ...

As I've said before ...

I've found that various OPAMPS can impact sound more than tubes.

Have fun.

k701smile.gif
 
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