MHDT Orchid or Lampizator Amber 3?

Sorry I just saw your post on the Amber 3. I ended up selling the Amber 3. It is a very good dac, but in the end just not for me. The longer I had it the more I found myself dissatisfied with my system. I found myself listening to music less and getting caught up with sound. I focused on its sonic feats of strength, but was unable to relax into the music. Sound over music. 

The Amber checks off all the right audiophile sonic attributes in terms of individual sonic attributes like bass impact, top end extension, resolution, vividness etc... it was all there. However, it never sounded completely right in my rig. Impressive at first, but over time it just did not connect me to my music.

Over time I found it lacked top to bottom cohesiveness with the upper mids being too present and vivid. Too much of a good thing that I started to find distracting.

In the end the upgraded Orchid was more enjoyable for me. I now own the Mojo Audio Mystique and love it. It is a very special dac that connects me to my music and brings full contentment.

Hope this helps.

@grannyring would you say Orchid without the upgrade is a no brainer vs. the Mystique? Because it is seven times more expensive than the Orchid:) 

So from what I understand from an earlier post here, the Orchid can only output 16/44. I use Qobuz and Tidal (don't care too much about MQA though) and wondering if it's better to go with Pagoda. Has anyone compared the two when streaming 24 bit files? Is it worth the extra cost?

Hi, this is a great thread, although older, and I hope some of might respond. I am wondering if anybody has compared Audio Mirror, Orchid, Amber 3 to a Terminator or Holo May. Seems the May and Terminator are pretty similar sounding, wondering if anyone could compare to the tube dacs? Thanks so much 

@caglioti  Hi there, from the above list I've had the AM T3SE, Amber 3, and Holo May in my system for 7 day or longer home demos.  Here are my brief thoughts.  Feel free to ask for elaboration.

Amber 3 - Bright and lively, energetic and dynamic.  Too incisive for my system.
Holo May - Extended, accurate, and incredibly even handed across the frequency spectrum.  The largest soundstage I've experienced in both height and width.  Extremely quiet with great tone & timbre.
Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE - Holographic and real.  The most flesh and blood sounding of any dac I've tried.  Provides a more 3-dimensional image than any other dac.

If I could design the sound profile of my ideal dac, it would combine the extension and frequency reproduction accuracy of the May with the 3-dimensional soundstage and realness of the AMT3se.