DAC for all tube 2 channel set up?

OK I’ll lplay the advocate here.

As good as perhaps the aforementioned DAC s are, and I’ve no reason to doubt it, I’ve found there is sufficient info which tells me a system is comprised of the whole of things.

To that end, and owning a tube power train, sometimes a mix of SS & tubes are the need. Sometimes not. Too much of a good thing, and all that business. Dig?

The DACs I tried either complemented the system or detracted from it. I tried an Apogee, Bel Canto DAC 3, and the DA10 from Lavry Eng. All very nice and quite good sounding though each had it’s own voice of course. For my system needs the Bel Canto D3 won out. It gained me better imaging, extension, astonishing bass, and added the feeling of more speed to my all tube pre & amps. It was what the rig needed. The same choice might not have been made had my system been otherwise. It may well have been the Lavry for example.

Soooo, if you’re looking for system improvement, there’s that to think about.

I think Blindjim has a point here, which I was alluding to by stating that I didn't know what the rest of your system is comprised of. As not all tube gear is the same, give us an idea of what you're working with. I stand by my assessment that the MHDT gear I've heard (and this includes the Paradisea+) doesn't sound overly lush or slow in any way. Sure, rolling the tube will provide some changes, but it's not going to go from a romantic and full red wine to an ice clean vodka doing so. Ultimately nothing will be as good as listening to a piece in your system. For the last 2 months I've had 3 Dac's in my system, and while the Bel Canto that I've had in place all along isn't going anywhere, it's illuminating to compare and hear the differences for yourself (which is especially easy to do with a computer-based source).

As Memberman says What are you wanting to achieve?

My system is nothing like a SET sound, nor is it like anything nearing SS, yet it has those qualities which enable it to be very comfortable with any genre.

had I been solely into classical music given my equip, the Apogee may have been the pick. Only into Vocalists? Then the Lavry was a sure bet... further, if my rig was on the edgy side or a bit bright sounding, the DA10 would be a safe and appropriate pick.

The DAC3 wasn't nearly as musical as the other two contestants. it did however bring the items I listed above and all were apparent needs ONCE I heard it in my system... prior to? I was pretty OK with what was going on and was seeking just a good DAC with USB.

Funny thing now is I use the USB incidentally and not as my main pc source interface, and could well live without it after all that. lol.

Thanks for the good notes. My system comprises of a McIntosh C2300 tube pre amp and a MC275 tube amp. I love my vinyl and I also love some of my CDs that are being played through an Arcam DV79. I wouldn't say Mc gear is as "tubey" sounding as most out there. Sound is very clean and distortion free. If there is one area that it may underperform it is in tight fast bass response. I love collecting old Grateful Dead bootlegs and other live shows and as it is now I have to download, convert, then burn to disc to play them. Btw, I hate burned CDs. I want to centralize my music and since the C2300 is pure analog, I cannot connect the digital toslink from the Computer to it. Therefore I have to get a DAC. I don't want to spend a fortune though on it. At least for now.

I have heard that the MHDT is "analog sounding" but not te last word in detail. Can someone explain to me what detail is? My tube system with a properly pressed record reveals details in music you would never believe. I am wondering how this applies between DACs. Is it something regarding a "digital" sound? Others say the PS Audio DL3 is warm and musical like analog. With my CDs I crrently have, I find that some music is very fatiguing on the Arcam and wouldn't mine improving on that as well.

Basically I'm after faithful reproduction of recorded material without any harsh or grainy attributes that can be found on digital players. My system will calm the material down a bit, but not overly. I am not saying NOS or upsampling is better because I just don't know.

Sam Ash has a return policy, that's where I found the Apogee USB DAC for about $900 +, back then.

Lavry used to have a trial period on their DACs too. Benchmark and perhaps others like PS Audio do too.

the MHDT DACs seem to have no trouble selling around here either... provided you get one and it's not to your liking.

so there's that.

None of which, IMO will ingender bass like the DAC 3 will, though... and it's remote with volume control & source selection. the dejitterizing aspect is killer. it does convey ALL the info on the disc, but not in any untoward fashion. If there is any knock on it I can thinnk of it can sound dry.... if not set properly into a particular system. it will only provide at best, via all but the USB interface (16/44.1K), 24/96 PCM sampling.

other DACs will upsample or over sample as the case may be.

as to upsampling the resulrs IMO the sound gets rounder and positioned further away from your chair.

For around $1500 $1600 or so these days, given it'll act as a preamp too (just in case), and has USB & dejitterizing of the input signal via BNC, AES, & SPDIF, and can be run xlr or rca, at the same time, it does present a value and a lot of flexibility.

There are others in the $1K or so neighborhood you might prefer.

Good luck.