MHDT Orchid or Lampizator Amber 3?

@alexberger


Not directly. I couldn’t fall in love with my Dave, but it was probably just me.

@alexberger

I have owned Chord Mojo, Qutest w/ high-end linear power supply, old Qute HD w/ battery power supply etc. and now own Border Patrol SE. BP SE Dac sounds better to my ears even if BP supports only up to 24/96. (And Amber 3 and modded Orchid seem to sound better than BP SE according to many other Audiogon members)

The Border patrol accepts a 24/96 feed (and outputs spdif 24/96 on the usb only model) but it only processes 16/44.1 and it STILL sounds better than most dacs on the market. You have a great dac @yoyodyne !

I don't use streaming. I only listen CDs and vinyl.
So, for me only 16bit/44.1KHz is important.

Well it seems this little MHDT Orchid has more tricks up it’s tiny  sleeve! This is not a dac you just plug and play and expect to get the most out of it.  One of my customers and a good audio buddy  purchased the Orchid with my upgrades and just loves it. He is also a big tweaker and decided to try the tube rolling idea which goes beyond the WE tube LTA sells with the Orchid.  

Well he purchased a tube socket adaptor from this vendor....

http://www.garage1217.com/garage1217_diy_tube_headphone_amplifiers_012.htm

He purchased the one at the bottom of the page so he could use his 
Siemen & Halske E88CC Gold pin tube. His unit has my upgrades,  the SR Orange fuse and now the tube socket to roll E88CC tubes.  He was so excited with the outcome that he could hardly contain himself.  The soundstage grew well beyond the sides of the speakers and also became taller. He commented it was like opening the flood gates.  The new tube can play at louder volumes with a greater ease and smoothness. He felt the overall improvement was on the order of 20%. Now this is in his system and your mileage may vary.  

He also purchased a 6sn7 socket adaptor and will roll some very nice 6sn7 tubes this weekend.  This will be most interesting! 

What a fun little dac that can with some diligence and attention to the details be made to sound far better than stock.....and the stock unit is no slouch! 

The Orchid is the little dac that could!