Hey tvad,
After I reviewed the Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE, I bought the review demo. Great DAC! For the last two weeks I have been in the process of evaluating the Mhdt Lab Balanced Pagoda DAC. In this comparison, if you run in/out balanced with the BP DAC it offers better overall dynamics, deeper more controlled bass extension, and is quieter with more air around players in its sound-stage. As far as timbres and tonality both the BP and Tubadour are equals in a very positive way.
I never make comments out of ignorance, but I’ll give you my hunch. Because the Mhdt Lab BP is a true balanced design, it still might offer better results then using a balanced transformer with single ended circuity. My question is how much does Vlad charge for this upgrade option? The Audio Mirror already costs $500 more then the Balanced Pagoda. Therefore, if the up charge is another $200 to $300 dollars more, we are close to almost a thousand dollars over the cost of the Mhdt Lab piece. Right now, I would purchase the Balanced Pagoda over the Tubadour III SE, with the caveat that its run balanced in/out, feeding a true balanced preamplifier. If you run single-ended through out your system, I would stick with the Audio Mirror DAC. As I said this is just a hunch, but I don’t think for the extra money for the upgrade to a balanced transformer in the Tubadour III SE, that you would get a better sounding DAC then the Balanced Pagoda which is a lot less money.
After I reviewed the Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE, I bought the review demo. Great DAC! For the last two weeks I have been in the process of evaluating the Mhdt Lab Balanced Pagoda DAC. In this comparison, if you run in/out balanced with the BP DAC it offers better overall dynamics, deeper more controlled bass extension, and is quieter with more air around players in its sound-stage. As far as timbres and tonality both the BP and Tubadour are equals in a very positive way.
I never make comments out of ignorance, but I’ll give you my hunch. Because the Mhdt Lab BP is a true balanced design, it still might offer better results then using a balanced transformer with single ended circuity. My question is how much does Vlad charge for this upgrade option? The Audio Mirror already costs $500 more then the Balanced Pagoda. Therefore, if the up charge is another $200 to $300 dollars more, we are close to almost a thousand dollars over the cost of the Mhdt Lab piece. Right now, I would purchase the Balanced Pagoda over the Tubadour III SE, with the caveat that its run balanced in/out, feeding a true balanced preamplifier. If you run single-ended through out your system, I would stick with the Audio Mirror DAC. As I said this is just a hunch, but I don’t think for the extra money for the upgrade to a balanced transformer in the Tubadour III SE, that you would get a better sounding DAC then the Balanced Pagoda which is a lot less money.