Anyone know how good MHDT Labs Paradisea DAC is?


There has been some talk on the net that it is a bit of a bargain. True or false?
raymondr

Showing 4 responses by ihcho

Here's some spec on impedance of my gears:
Linn power amp input impedance: 4700 ohms
Rougue preamp output impedance: 350 ohms
Paradisea Ouput: 2.0V, < 800 ohms
NAD C541i output impedance: 300 ohms
Marantz DR700: line output is 2Vrms, but no mention on output impedance

I've found that most NAD CD players have low impedance, e.g., C542 has 150 ohms. I did not care much about all those spec numbers since as long as one sound good it is OK with me.

Does anybody care about those impedance mismatching? If yes, why many vendors don't bother put them on the spec?
From the Paradisea spec:
Output 2.0V, < 800 ohms

It appears to have pretty high impedance. If the transport's impedance is much lower, it may not work well with Paradisea and the overall sound would be rather dull (lack of dynamics).

The output impedance of my NAD C541i is 300 ohm and Paradisea does not work well with C541i, as I noted in another thread. The only reason I can think of is the impedance mismatching as suggested by Tvad.
This is from Rogue. As you see they do not provide input impedance. Do we need to care for something the maker does not provide? Or, am I missing something?

- frequency response: 1Hz-200KHz ± 1dB
- THD: <0.1%
- gain: line stage: 23dB
- gain - mm phono: 65dB
- gain - mc phono: 75dB
- RIAA accuracy: ± 0.1dB
- rated output: 1.5V
- maximum output: 30V PP
- output impedance: 350 Ohms
- dimensions: 17"W x 5½"H x 14"D
- weight: 27 lbs.
- shipping weight: 32 lbs.
- power requirements: 115/230V - 50/60Hz
I upgraded the power cable ($60 used), digital cable ($70 used), and tube (Western Electric 396A $25).
To my ear, the tube upgrade brought more positive sound than the two cables combined. Now, it is not hard to notice that mhdt with my Marantz DR700 CD player sounds better than the CD player alone.