MHDT Orchid or Denafrips Ares?

David ten  told me there is new Ares II that came our too.

Besides writing a rave review on the Orchid, for details see the Six Moons.com, I have now received over six Emails from individuals who purchased the Orchid because of the review and find it superlative in their systems.

I have had in-house three very highly regarded DACS, all much more expensive then the MHDT piece, that were quite good, and all did not use a tube in the analog conversation section.

As Jayctoy stated it's really a matter of personal taste and system synergy.  In my system the Orchard offers beautiful tonality, 3D imaging, and great layered sound-staging.  All the solid state DACS sound slightly washed out and flatter to me in my system.  Do they offer more micro-details?  Maybe, but I don't enjoy the music as much.

Finally, if you figure in the price and you can audition the DAC for 30 days, I would suggest you audition one before you spend more money.

A new Ares II sounds essentially as good as an older Audio Note DAC 1 series. If you have the money, a new Audio Note DAC 1.1x/II is likely to surpass the Ares II when it comes to making music.