MHDT or Border Patrol

I have a balanced Pagoda and I think it sounds amazing. 

I looked at the Border Patrol before I got the Pagoda. When researching dacs, I could not find a negative word written about the sound of the Pagoda. It was always characterized as being detailed yet natural, and I that's exactly what I hear in my system. I didn't want a dac that warmed over information or would make my ears bleed. The Pagoda just sounds right. 

I also wanted a true balanced dac. The Pagoda won. I only wished I'd bought it later so that I could get the J grade chips that he offers now. 

I would heartily recommend the dac to anyone. 

The other MHDT Labs dacs are not as information rich as the Pagoda, and don't use chips that are held in as high estemm as the PCM1704, so I did not consider them. However, the other dacs are warmer, and that might be what you're looking for. 

I won't buy anything called Border Patrol  .

@schubert 

Love it

kalali
...I would like to "upgrade" to a non-OS tube DAC just to see if it adds more body and texture to the music without losing detail.

>>MHDT Orchid<<. Done for a while, Thankfully.

Came close to acquiring the BP DAC. Finally settled on the MHDT. Liked the initial design and approach with the MHDT too, and it comes in Black, not a fan of Silver. Gary at BP would not entertain Black faceplates without a run of 50 units up front. Fast forward a month of use now and I’m truly enjoying a recently new MHDT Orchid with stock coupling caps and have now come full circle back to the stock original GE 5670 Five Star Triple Mica tube that came installed in the DAC brand new. No need for the S1 or S2 crown chips IMHO, the R1 chip sounds great and other reviewers have commented the same; "just be patient and let it run in for a good while". After trying a few different DACs prior, including a very highly regarded oversampling DAC with absolute best-in-industry specs on paper, I knew I had to try the complete opposite end of the spectrum of "latest & greatest" tech in oversampling DACs, go in reverse, and try a proven NOS DAC with a great design including the good ole’ Philips TDA1541A chip similar to what was used in my prior beloved Marantz SE CD player. Since I run tube preamp and tube amp, and prior non-tube DACS were not cutting it for me, a tube DAC became a must this go-around with my next DAC!. It was also helpful to find others already well down this discovery path with plenty of posts, updates, photos all over the web about MHDT DACS.

After rolling a few tubes, including the famous Western Electric WE396A / 2C51, other GE tube, TungSol in the Orchid, it was nice to realize it sounds pretty darn nice straight outta the box BUT it needs 3+ weeks of solid burn-in time before things truly start to open up and settle in.

Also a fellow member/colleague owns the Abbas 2.1SE, MHDT Havana, and recently new MHDT Orchid too doing some home baked DAC-offs with a good selection of tubes. His findings are very similar to my own. The Orchid sounds "natural", musical, very enjoyable. In a revealing system, the Orchid’s sound can change with simple tube changes if you wanna tube it to a particular open, detailed or softer and laid back sound with simple tube changes. It’s nice to listen to music again and if I’ve learned anything, I’ll never let perfect specs dictate a decision again. Gotta listen to it at home on your system with your speakers and room setting. Good Luck, hope this helps.