Paradisea DAC

GHM · « **Reply #380 on:** 11 Apr 2007, 06:54 pm »

Quote from: F-100 on 11 Apr 2007, 03:00 pm

GHM,
Thanks for the detail info. There are some drawbacks in using USB+ DAC that I see here...
1. The maximum length of a USB cable is 15 ft (unless you want to use a USB hub) so you would definitely need a very quiet computer.
2. No wireless capability like the SB3.
3. No remote control. (a must have for some folks )

Quote from: rajacat on 11 Apr 2007, 07:42 am
Very interesting!! Thanks for the explanation. No SB needed as transport; just a dac with USB ability. I wonder how the SQ compares to analog mods SB? The analog SB, of course, doesn't use a digital cable either but an ethernet cable or wireless. So it may be the quality of the dac that is all important.

The quality of the DAC is very crucial. I have an RWA analog mods SB3 and it's no match with the digital out + external DAC.

Ah ha...Yes you are correct. A quiet PC is needed. I have a remote for my PC. I can use it with foobar and a few of the other playback programs I use from time to time. Most of the time I just use my mouse which is bluetooth enable. I can also use a bluetooth enabled PDA and control the selection of songs remotely from any where in my house. One other draw back, you need a monitor if not using a PDA. I use my Plasma TV as a monitor. ..So no problems. I can pull up the albums by cover,genre..you name it, which come tagged when ripping to the hard drive with db poweramp accurate rip.

Just from playing with this stuff IME the biggest pro with the USB DAC is the slaving of the Dac to the PC. Some audiophiles spend mega bucks on traditional transports and Dacs that are capable of this..when all they really need is a good PC to do it and a USB or Fire wire capable Dac. All of the conversions take place inside the Dac..there must be a plus in that some where as well. One of the biggest keys is getting the conversions away from the PC..this makes a very noticeable improvement in sound quality.

You can buy a Mac Mini which is fan less and not much larger than a CD player. This should be very quite..quieter than most Cd players.

Oscillate · « **Reply #381 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 03:33 am »

Today a kind soul practically gave me a WE369A tube. Date code(?) stamped on the side of the box is 8-55.
All I know, is that the Paradisea + now sounds m-u-c-h smoother. Passages on CDs that were irritating and
scratchy with the stock GE5670W NOS tube are now pleasant and musical.

I have the option to buy some 6385 Bendix Red Bank Type TE21 tubes. Is anyone using these tubes? Is the
the sound quality and longevity worth the investment?

anthony a. · « **Reply #382 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 04:23 am »

i just got my paradisea also and have some new tubes on the way. so far its pretty good, i hope the other tubes make this thing really sing!!!

btw, what is the f/c toggle switch for?

GHM · « **Reply #383 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 06:59 am »

Quote from: anthony a. on 12 Apr 2007, 04:23 am

i just got my paradisea also and have some new tubes on the way. so far its pretty good, i hope the other tubes make this thing really sing!!!

btw, what is the f/c toggle switch for?

The switch is for toggling between digital inputs.

Quote from: Oscillate on 12 Apr 2007, 03:33 am

Today a kind soul practically gave me a WE369A tube. Date code(?) stamped on the side of the box is 8-55.
All I know, is that the Paradisea + now sounds m-u-c-h smoother. Passages on CDs that were irritating and
scratchy with the stock GE5670W NOS tube are now pleasant and musical.

I have the option to buy some 6385 Bendix Red Bank Type TE21 tubes. Is anyone using these tubes? Is the
the sound quality and longevity worth the investment?

How are you using this unit USB or spdif? Do you use the ASIO4all or USB-AUDIO driver?

R Browne · « **Reply #384 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 07:45 am »

Quote from: Oscillate on 12 Apr 2007, 03:33 am

Today a kind soul practically gave me a WE369A tube. Date code(?) stamped on the side of the box is 8-55.
All I know, is that the Paradisea + now sounds m-u-c-h smoother. Passages on CDs that were irritating and
scratchy with the stock GE5670W NOS tube are now pleasant and musical.

I have the option to buy some 6385 Bendix Red Bank Type TE21 tubes. Is anyone using these tubes? Is the
the sound quality and longevity worth the investment?

I started out with the WE 396a in the Paradisea but lately have been using a Bendix 2C51. Haven't done any A+B comparisons but my impression of the Bendix is that it is smooth with slightly better detail with more depth and space. Just a bit more musical and more to my personal taste than the WE. Haven't heard the 6385 so I don't know how it may differ from the 2C51.

Loftprojection · « **Reply #385 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 12:43 pm »

Quote from: R Browne on 12 Apr 2007, 07:45 am

Quote from: Oscillate on 12 Apr 2007, 03:33 am
Today a kind soul practically gave me a WE369A tube. Date code(?) stamped on the side of the box is 8-55.
All I know, is that the Paradisea + now sounds m-u-c-h smoother. Passages on CDs that were irritating and
scratchy with the stock GE5670W NOS tube are now pleasant and musical.

I have the option to buy some 6385 Bendix Red Bank Type TE21 tubes. Is anyone using these tubes? Is the
the sound quality and longevity worth the investment?

I started out with the WE 396a in the Paradisea but lately have been using a Bendix 2C51. Haven't done any A+B comparisons but my impression of the Bendix is that it is smooth with slightly better detail with more depth and space. Just a bit more musical and more to my personal taste than the WE. Haven't heard the 6385 so I don't know how it may differ from the 2C51.

You can expect a similar upgrade when going from the Bendix 2C51 to the Bendix 6385 as you got from we396a to 2C51... The Bendix 6385, to my ears, is the best of the lot. You definitely get slightly more detail and bass is a bit tighter, snappier and deep then what you get with the we396a. Can't say mids and voices are better, they are a bit different. I think they might feel a bit more "liquid" with the we296a but a bit more refined and natural with the Bendix 6385. BTW, I tried a whole slew of different tubes, the best is the Bendix 6385 but the we396a, the National 2C51 and the Bendix 2C51 are all very good. All the other tubes I tried, including the original that came with the DAC were definitely worse. Ho, and I have the original Paradisea, not the plus!

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #386 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 01:12 pm »

Look for WE 396A in early production with three number of date. To my ears this tube is more musical, rounded sound and mellow or liquid than National, Tungsol and Bendix 2C51. I have not tried Bendix 6385 but I believe the 6385 is good for Rock, Pop or Heavy Metal music. That is a typical Bendix tube since I had used a lot of type of Bendix tubes before. My DAC is a Renaissance II modded signal path and output caps.

shooter · « **Reply #387 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 02:53 pm »

Using different op amp in the original Paradisea will make a lot of difference in the character of the sound, even more so than tube rolling, the Renaissance II is a very lay back sounding Dac.

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #388 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 05:07 pm »

Quote from: shooter on 12 Apr 2007, 02:53 pm

Using different op amp in the original Paradisea will make a lot of difference in the character of the sound, even more so than tube rolling, the Renaissance II is a very lay back sounding Dac.

I do not think the Renaissance II is very laid back if you are still using the stock caps in the signal path and output. I have swapped all the stock caps with higher quality caps. The sound beats the old version Paradisea. Friend of mine he did the same to his Paradisea and he admits now his DAC sounds more analog but not analytical and much less low noise.

GHM · « **Reply #389 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 05:23 pm »

Quote from: shooter on 12 Apr 2007, 02:53 pm

.
Using different op amp in the original Paradisea will make a lot of difference in the character of the sound, even more so than tube rolling, the Renaissance II is a very lay back sounding Dac.

Yes it would seem the case. I did some reading up on the LM4562NA op amps Description used in the newest version. These are spec wise very impressive op amps! Sound wise they meet the specs IMO...super low distortion.

I see MHDT is offering all their Dacs with the USB connections now.

rajacat · « **Reply #390 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 05:40 pm »

Quote from: tanchiro58 on 12 Apr 2007, 05:07 pm

Quote from: shooter on 12 Apr 2007, 02:53 pm
Using different op amp in the original Paradisea will make a lot of difference in the character of the sound, even more so than tube rolling, the Renaissance II is a very lay back sounding Dac.

I do not think the Renaissance II is very laid back if you are still using the stock caps in the signal path and output. I have swapped all the stock caps with higher quality caps. The sound beats the old version Paradisea. Friend of mine he did the same to his Paradisea and he admits now his DAC sounds more analog but not analytical and much less low noise.

I have the Mhdt Constantine. If I wanted to replace the caps with, for instance Sonicaps, do I remove the old caps and just replace with caps of the exact same values?

Raj

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #391 on:** 12 Apr 2007, 06:19 pm »

Raj,

I replaced .22uF stock cap with a Jensen PIO copper foil .22uF/630V from the digital in then the two last .1uF/250V with Mundorf Silver/Oil .1uF/800V before the output caps 1.5uF, which I replaced with West-Cap 1.5uF/600V (NOS caps) I got on ebay.

I also replaced the two Sanyo 1500uF/35V (maybe differerent values in Constantine) with Rubycon ZA/ZL (best for PS). Since Renaissance II has tube output I did replace four Silmic 330uF/35V with four BG 330uF/10V to feed the tube 5670 or 2C51.

Good luck,
Tan

rajacat · « **Reply #392 on:** 13 Apr 2007, 12:44 am »

Tan,

Thanks for the tips. So I see that some of the values for the new caps (630V vs. 250V) are different. I can see that it's time that I do some more tech study lest I screw up when I select caps especially of different values.

Raj

Loftprojection · « **Reply #393 on:** 13 Apr 2007, 01:09 am »

Quote from: tanchiro58 on 12 Apr 2007, 01:12 pm

Look for WE 396A in early production with three number of date. To my ears this tube is more musical, rounded sound and mellow or liquid than National, Tungsol and Bendix 2C51. I have not tried Bendix 6385 but I believe the 6385 is good for Rock, Pop or Heavy Metal music. That is a typical Bendix tube since I had used a lot of type of Bendix tubes before. My DAC is a Renaissance II modded signal path and output caps.

I wouldn't discard the Bendix 6385 so easily if you haven't listened to it in the Paradisea specifically. I never listen to the type of music you mention. The Bendix 6385 does a great job for jazz, classical, medieval, the type of music I listen to. Maybe it's different in the Renaissance which I believe is not based on the same DAC chip but with the Paradisea, the Bendix 6385 definitely provides a more refined overall sound then the we396a. Not night and day, it just does everything a bit better, to my ears at least.

Oscillate · « **Reply #394 on:** 13 Apr 2007, 06:19 am »

"How are you using this unit USB or spdif? Do you use the ASIO4all or USB-AUDIO driver?"

I tried to install the trial version of USB-ASIO driver, but the install kept failing on this 'Win XP SP2 retail' box.
So I installed ASIO4ALL v2.7.

Tried using the Paradisea+ 1) straight from the USB port 2) from the RCA S/PIF with and without the Monarchy upsampler.
The Monarchy provides much better imaging and less background/floor noise.

Path is:
usb port > USB to (RCA) SPDIF Converter > Monarchy DIP 48/96 Upsampler > Paradisea
(soon to be > Promitheus Ref Dual TVC > Promitheus active preamp > Promitheus hybrid amp

)

Thanks for the tube feedback. Will go ahead and make that 6385 Bendix purchase.

GHM · « **Reply #395 on:** 13 Apr 2007, 07:13 am »

Tried using the Paradisea+ 1) straight from the USB port 2) from the RCA S/PIF with and without the Monarchy upsampler.
The Monarchy provides much better imaging and less background/floor noise.

Hmmm..I wonder whats going on there.

I found it just the opposite. It's dead silent going USB direct in my system. The music gets loud past 12 O'clock with the TVC. Most of the time I don't get the volume past 10'Oclock. With my ear next to the driver I hear nothing.

Good luck with the TVC preamp.

Once you get the TVC try direct usb again. Maybe this will break the ground loop if that's what you're hearing.

Good listening

yashu · « **Reply #396 on:** 14 Apr 2007, 05:38 pm »

I have the Dialogue II and I have been watching this thread. I would like to know if any of the mods described would apply to this, or where I could go for more detailed information about modding MHDT.

I love the DAC, my frist NON-OS dac... I am also a PC user and found that the monarchy DIP (I have a classic) really makes a HUGE difference in quality with the PC and s/pdif adapter. I suppose I understand why native USB can be an advantage if it avoids those problems.

Also, do you think the tube buffer is worth the trouble upgrading from the dialogue II to a paradisea or renaissance II?

anthony a. · « **Reply #397 on:** 15 Apr 2007, 01:19 am »

sorry for the redundant question, but my new paradisea has 2 switches on the back. one switch (to the right) is for switching digital inputs (r/b) and there is another switch to the left of the rca which is labelled f/c. can someone tell me what it is for? thanks.

GHM · « **Reply #398 on:** 15 Apr 2007, 01:59 am »

Quote from: anthony a. on 15 Apr 2007, 01:19 am

sorry for the redundant question, but my new paradisea has 2 switches on the back. one switch (to the right) is for switching digital inputs (r/b) and there is another switch to the left of the rca which is labelled f/c. can someone tell me what it is for? thanks.

My USB Paradisea doesn't have this switch. Wish I could help you there. I've never seen one with this switch.

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #399 on:** 15 Apr 2007, 04:07 am »

Quote from: anthony a. on 15 Apr 2007, 01:19 am

sorry for the redundant question, but my new paradisea has 2 switches on the back. one switch (to the right) is for switching digital inputs (r/b) and there is another switch to the left of the rca which is labelled f/c. can someone tell me what it is for? thanks.

Why don't you open up your DAC and follow the upstream of that switch f/c to see what it is used for. My Renaissance II has only one for selection of digital input too.