From an MHDT to an Audio Mirror, quick impressions

When I upgraded my MHDT Orchid with top-shelf Mundorf coupling caps and Tesla 6CC42 or GE 5-star Triple Mica tubes - the speed, sound stage depth, tone/texture brought it to a new level. In my rig the Tesla is very nice.

Comparing to other dacs, this Orchid holds its own. The company owner is very supportive and responsive. Sure, spending at least ~3x in order to surpass it in some ways seems about right. Maybe 4x. DAC technology is on the move again past 2-3 years. The Orchid is a nice baseline stable reference to keep and compare what is better or just different. Swap back and compare once in a while if possible.

Enjoy the new dac!

I'm holding on to the Orchid for now.  I still like it, will go in the garage system.  Future comparison, though possible, is so past "just different" not likely.  

Newly engineered DAC IV.

@wlutke which connection type are you using? (AES, SPDIF/Coax, USB, Toslink)

I’m experimenting with another non-tube dac that formerly utilized a similar AD chipset and now on to something different. It’s good to read you are having favorable results with this proven r2r multibit chip design in this dac. Found some of these dacs are better than others by the connection type alone. Some not as good with USB compared to others. Not a big USB fan here.  What’s your preferred type on this dac so far?

@decooney 

I use  Wireworld Starlight 8 coax, never tried the other formats.  Still new at this.  Been into analog forever.