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Post by luckbad on Feb 17, 2016 5:58:44 GMT
I've known about MHDT for a few years now, but I had never heard any of their DACs. I love R-2R multibit DACs, though. I also have always love the idea of non-oversampling (NOS) DACs, and have owned a few in the past. In most cases, the sound was a little soft overall but sounded quite organic. The MHDT DACs also have a single tube in them, which further intrigued me. When I discovered that they had a new DAC called the Atlantis that uses the legendary AD1862N-J chip, I couldn't resist trying it. I was blown away immediately when I received it. I spent a week with it at work and carted it home to compare it against my Audio-GD Master-11. In short, it's overall more musical, equally realistic sounding, and with a touch less detail/separation/other audiophile terms than the Master-11. But there's something romantic about it. So much so that I'm selling my Master-11 and getting another Garage1217 amplifier to pair with it at home. I will have these two systems now (did I mention that I just purchased a second MHDT Labs Atlantis? Yeah, that happened): Work: MHDT Labs Atlantis -> Garage1217 Project Sunrise III Home: MHDT Labs Atlantis -> Garage1217 Project Ember II The first system is right around $1000 sans fancy tubes and the second is a bit over. Basically, I'm getting two systems for the price of one Audio-GD Master-11. If you have a chance, check on some MHDT stuff. If you live in Southern California, I'd be happy to give you a listen. If you live in Washington, Soundsgoodtome on Head-Fi and a few others in that area have MHDT gear. More info in a thread I started at Head-Fi: www.head-fi.org/t/798259/mhdt-labs-r-2r-nos-tube-dacsAnd Basshead.Club: www.basshead.club/audio-gear/mhdt-laboratory-audio-devices/And glamour shots:
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2016 10:58:35 GMT
I'm struggling to see the point in using a DAC that isn't 100% accurate. Surely any colouration/tuning should be done after the DAC stage (if at all)? What am I missing?
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Post by chinook9 on Feb 17, 2016 16:58:40 GMT
I'm struggling to see the point in using a DAC that isn't 100% accurate. Surely any colouration/tuning should be done after the DAC stage (if at all)? What am I missing? As in all things audio I expect its whatever rings your chimes.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2016 20:56:44 GMT
I'm struggling to see the point in using a DAC that isn't 100% accurate. Surely any colouration/tuning should be done after the DAC stage (if at all)? What am I missing? As in all things audio I expect its whatever rings your chimes. Or massages your bank account. Getting tired of this crap.
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Post by chinook9 on Feb 18, 2016 1:48:03 GMT
This definitely can be an expensive hobby. For example, I probably spent 2-3 times as much on tubes for my Sunrise II than I paid for the Sunrise.
I used to be an audiophile to just listen to the music and relax after a long day in a very stressful job. But, nowadays, I'm retired and more into the equipment and trying out different combinations. Not as expensive as some hobbies but more expensive than many others.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Feb 18, 2016 10:18:08 GMT
Absolutely. I'm also finding that old habits die hard! I've been retired for a year now and I am still spending at the same rate as I was when I was working. I'm not exactly hard up but I do have to watch now what I'm doing. It's actually quite difficult. Even getting used to the greater amount of time that you have in the day is quite hard and your whole outlook and style of life changes massively.
However, for me tubes are very similar and I don't hear massive differences so I have tended to not change them too often. I also know of others who have done the same or even worse than you and have spent more on tubes than the amp itself.
But then again, a hobby traps your interest and life become so much more pleasant with hi-fi and the interaction especially with others on places like this.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Feb 18, 2016 16:31:57 GMT
I have heard a few DAC's and the 'good' ones I can't tell apart blindfolded so stopped funding DAC manufacturers.
The FiiO-X3 works quite well as a capable DAC/player for me. For my PC I use the EMU0204 and in the living room (MP3 only) I have the creative SB1240 + W8.1 laptop + winamp and upsample algo to 96kHz. (the SB1240 can only natively play 48 and 96).
The hobby is expensive enough already. Still if it floats ones boat who am I to disagree.
The price of the MHDT isn't that far off from a Gungnir or Bifrost MB.
Still contemplating the AK4490 from JL-sounds as a project but then my SB1240 would be out of a job.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Feb 18, 2016 16:42:58 GMT
DAC's are another area where people claim to hear big differences such as the well known 'night and day' comparison. I don't get that either tbh.
Even telling the differences between the Fiio X1, X3 and X5 is pretty difficult and for me, the biggest differences is more what they offer and what they play in the case of the X5 being useful for dsd stuff but other than that, telling them apart is pretty difficult, which is why I think the X1 is absolutely brilliant value for money. Especially as it seems that they can take 200Gb cards .... Even the X1.
The thing is, it doesn' 'need' to be an expensive hobby really.
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Post by chinook9 on Feb 20, 2016 15:27:10 GMT
When I was doing research on transformers, I read a report of dramatic improvement from replacing the stock toroidal transformer in an MHDT preamp with an R-Core. I can see how there could some some improvement here but I'm not sure how dramatic it would be but I would like to hear other opinions.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Feb 20, 2016 19:40:09 GMT
Unless there are 'leakage' problems (as in ground loops) I can't see any reason why SQ would be affected, for any device that is. That is of course if the original transformer was underdimensioned or the new one is underdimensioned. In this last case I would not expect an improvement though.
But this is just my opinion and may not jive with those of many others.
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Post by luckbad on Feb 20, 2016 21:37:23 GMT
I've never heard night and day differences between DACs. At most, I can hear a little more detail, or a little more etch, or a slightly smoother overall sound.
Using a tube in a good amp gives you more change than the differences between capable dacs.
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