MHDT or Border Patrol

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.

When comparing DACs from MHDT, there was quite a bit of discussion over at AC the past few years from one owner comparing the various units, including the Orchid, Pagoda. He found the Orchid to be a tad more "laid back and smoother" (TDA1541 R1) compared to his Pagoda. Interesting thing is he sold then sold Orchid, then he sold the Pagoda. I noted some confusion information about the tubes tested, and don’t feel this member gave it long enough rolling and evaluating different tubes - jumping around too much too fast, IMHO.  And, recently saw a post where the same person now "wishes he had not sold the Orchid". Grass is greener, and it was less brown than he thought...Gotta give it time to break in and different tubes can change the sound. Really enjoying this part of the MHDT Labs DACs both GE 5670 5 Star Tiple Mica and the legendary Western Electric WE396A along with a few other tubes, fwiw.

Orchid: I stream content both Spotify Premium and Tidal Hi-Fi, and ALAC and FLAC from my Mac Mini. Both work well, Tidal HiFi definitely comes through it with more detail through the Orchid and surprisingly, does really well with Spotify Premium, a tad softer, missing some detail, but still very engaging.

Choose your flavor.

And, right on the MHDT Labs page, yes, Orchard supports 24/192, noted here: "Orchid DAC is capable of up to 24bits/192kHz digital signal inputs yet remains driving legendary TDA1541A R-2R digital to analog output", link: http://www.mhdtlab.com/Orchid.htm

jeenam77
posts01-12-2019 7:14pmThe Parasound ZDAC for $200 is crap. I had one and it was not very good. Arcam irDAC was a far better value, though slightly more expensive. I would never recommend anyone purchase the ZDAC v1 or v2.

Now having owned the MHDT Orchid for a bit, looking back my prior Arcam irDAC and irDAC-II units were pretty solid values IMHO. Each with their own signature sound. While the later irDAC-II version was more open and airy (tad brighter, more forward) with it’s ESS chipset implementation, I probably should have kept the prior irDAC Burr Brown version - it was smooth, no glare (tad softer, more laid back presentation). Both were kinda tunable with simple quality Copper or Silver over copper IC changes for Analog out to my preamp. The new owners were pleased to buy either and I got the feeling afterwards they knew "better" than I did at the time of sale :)

01-14-2019 7:23pm
...I really wish the MHDT units were offered without the tube buffer stage as I run a tube preamp and don't really need/want more 'tube' sound in the signal chain.

fwiw, my MHDT Orchid DAC plugs into a Cary SLP-98 tube preamp with four NOS Sylvania 6SN7 front end tubes and I find the sound to be clean, musical, and fast as-long-as I don't run overly syrupy tubes in the preamp or the DAC or my tube amp.  All tube.  Sounds nice and natural - no edge.  The MHDT factory suppled stock GE 5670 5-star Triple Mica tube works out nicely in this particular Orchid DAC. The ability to tune sound with different tubes in the DAC is a nice feature I prefer, actually.

Update, 4-years later. Recent dacs tested and a few updates to share, fwiw.

MHDT Orchid, 2019:

Sold my lovely MHDT Labs Orchid DAC w/cap upgrades to a happy new owner. Went with all the tubes, GE, *5-Star, WE, Telsa, and more. Nice for a r2r chip dac.

• Solid value, can sound nice with the right tube, warmup a must.
• Upgrading the caps helps it some more. Great service from Juin.
• Responsive to higher quality interconnects. Try a few.

Schiit Bifrost 2/64, 2023:

Have since tried the new Schiit Bifrost 2/64 dac with dual TI processors, NOS mode, and no tubes in the signal path, as desired. Extra Great Value for the $!

• Smooth clean tone, texture, detail, layering.
• Sound stage is there, w/NOS mode is a nice option.
• Responsive to higher quality interconnects. Try a few.

BorderPatrol SE-I, 2023:

June 2023, custom ordered the new BP SE-I version dac in Black with the new Jupiter Beez Wax caps and new Choke design. Tube is NOT in the direct signal path. Using tube rectification for the Power Supply. Worth a serious look-see.

• Weighty, its a heavy little well built hand made tank w/real iron inside!
• IF hypersonic in-your-face-detail sizzle is your thing, look elsewhere.
• IF massive sound stage, over-sampling is your thing, look elsewhere.
• Yes, its a tad more laid back, and with the right speakers, very nice!
• MIDRANGE, oh my gosh, think AudioNote type sound, presentation.
• Smooth, tone, organic, texture, no etch, zero midrange glare, none.
• Music listening sessions jumped from 2hrs max, to 6-8hrs, no sleep!