Has anyone heard about Mhdt Laboratory made Dacs ?

Nitin K

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2018
Messages
2,067
Points
113
Location
India
While searching for something else , I just chanced to come across a thread about their Paradisea dac ( a 2008 thread) which was very well acclaimed and did well against the Schiit dacs. If I am not mistaken they are made in Taiwan. My main source is digital which are CD's & mp3/wav files on a hard disk in which some compressed recordings do have a hard edge & sibilance. Though on some well recorded cd's it is not apparent.

Now from a user who had used their dac called Paradisea, he praised it for presenting a very natural & musical presentation( the gear used also matters though)with no trace of any digital presence even in the case of poor recordings. In fact according to him it came quite close to vinyl sound with the Paradisea dac which is now discontinued.

I have absolutely no experience with tubes which these dacs use but apparently they are not the expensive ones. Among their current line as mentioned in the link, the Stockholm V2 more or less fits my taste as per the reviews being musical & forgiving on digital recordings without losing much on details. The Pagoda Dac has a bigger sound stage, accurate & more detailed but less forgiving on poor recordings. I did not find inbdepth reviews on the rest of their dacs. Would really appreciate if someone who has used them can shed some light on this. Thanks a lot.


Regards,
Nitin
 
Last edited:
This is the only review I could find about their 2 most popular dacs which is quite interesting.
 
While searching for something else , I just chanced to come across a thread about their Paradisea dac ( a 2008 thread) which was very well acclaimed and did well against the Schiit dacs. If I am not mistaken they are made in Taiwan. My main source is digital which are CD's & mp3/wav files on a hard disk in which some compressed recordings do have a hard edge & sibilance. Though on some well recorded cd's it is not apparent.

Now from a user who had used their dac called Paradisea, he praised it for presenting a very natural & musical presentation( the gear used also matters though)with no trace of any digital presence even in the case of poor recordings. In fact according to him it came quite close to vinyl sound with the Paradisea dac which is now discontinued.

I have absolutely no experience with tubes which these dacs use but apparently they are not the expensive ones. Among their current line as mentioned in the link, the Stockholm V2 more or less fits my taste as per the reviews being musical & forgiving on digital recordings without losing much on details. The Pagoda Dac has a bigger sound stage, accurate & more detailed but less forgiving on poor recordings. I did not find inbdepth reviews on the rest of their dacs. Would really appreciate if someone who has used them can shed some light on this. Thanks a lot.


Regards,
Nitin

Hi,
I am getting a MHDT Pagoda (hand carried, Mid July) and can share my impressions of it in my set up after I hear it a while.

I am buying it unheard, based on reviews and recommendation of @prem (I have a lot of appreciation and respect for his experience and audio acumen. His recommendation of the Croft integrated amplifier as a match for my speakers was spot on. I am delighted every time I switch on)

I am in Bangalore and your location says India 😊, so if you are visiting Bangalore, end July, you are welcome to come over for a listen.
 
You should know Amir of ASR found it measures not good … at all.
Quote: “ Combination of relative noise and distortion is so high that it lands the Pagoda DAC at the bottom of our ranking of nearly 400 DACs tested”… He ends with: “It goes without saying that I can't recommend the Mhdt Labs Pagoda stereo DAC whatsoever.“


Subjective reviews are contrary to the ASR review opinion and full of admiration and praise.

There seem to be a few on the audigon forum who have this DAC and are very satisfied (a review is on page 2)
 
Last edited:
Hi,
I am getting a MHDT Pagoda (hand carried, Mid July) and can share my impressions of it in my set up after I hear it a while.

I am buying it unheard, based on reviews and recommendation of @prem (I have a lot of appreciation and respect for his experience and audio acumen. His recommendation of the Croft integrated amplifier as a match for my speakers was spot on. I am delighted every time I switch on)

I am in Bangalore and your location says India 😊, so if you are visiting Bangalore, end July, you are welcome to come over for a listen.
Hi Analogous,

I respect Amir's objective reviews. But seeing some of the user reviews even I don't mind going with my gut feeling & taking a blind plunge in the Mhdt dacs since most of the people have had only a positive experience to report .
I have absolutely no knowlege of dacs and tubes and my search came across this one. The one what I would be looking specifically for is the Stockholm V2 dac although it outputs 16 bits and loses out on some details due to its chip limitations. The Pagoda which is 24 bits ,has a bigger sound stage, more accurate and brings out much more details than the Stockholm but unforgiving with bad recordings.
Since my source is digital hence would prefer the Stockholm V2 warm sound. If I am not mistaken, they do not come with power chords which you can confirm. A user had used a Furutech power chord.
I am really glad from your response that finally someone has heard about this company.
The chief designer Jian is very responsive and supportive as per the users.
Ps do let me know your impressions about the Pagoda after the break in which I suppose should be a month. Are you getting it carried from Taiwan ?
Would be glad to hear from you and thanks a lot for your invitation. Wish I could come there but I am based in Mumbai :)

Regards,
Nitin
 
Last edited:
@Nitin K,
I too have a hazy understanding of the tech bits. I remind myself that I am not listening to electronics or measurements, but music. I trust my ears and brain will tell me if I like what I am hearing and if the SQ is engaging or not.

I have learnt synergy and how components match and work well together matters,….a lot (eg: streamer, DAC, amp, speakers) My choice of this DAC is hopefully a good match / upgrade in performance with my existing amp and speakers. My sense is this synergy is more critical to good sound (along with the room acoustics and clean power). I use well constructed but not very expensive cables (power, speaker, interconnects). But there are several experienced FM and some discussion threads on cables on this site to learn from.

I will be happy to share my impressions of how my set up sounds with this DAC after it arrives.
 
@Nitin K,
I too have a hazy understanding of the tech bits. I remind myself that I am not listening to electronics or measurements, but music. I trust my ears and brain will tell me if I like what I am hearing and if the SQ is engaging or not.

I have learnt synergy and how components match and work well together matters,….a lot (eg: streamer, DAC, amp, speakers) My choice of this DAC is hopefully a good match / upgrade in performance with my existing amp and speakers. My sense is this synergy is more critical to good sound (along with the room acoustics and clean power). I use well constructed but not very expensive cables (power, speaker, interconnects). But there are several experienced FM and some discussion threads on cables on this site to learn from.

I will be happy to share my impressions of how my set up sounds with this DAC after it arrives.
+1 to what you have said. The chain synergy matters more than the individual components.
Sure, will wait for your impressions.
 
If you share some details of your current set up, some experienced FM may share opinions (or guesses) on what kind of changes the Pagoda may bring.
Sure, currently the gear is Marantz SR 7011 avr,( being used for stereo listening too) Marantz cd 6006 UK edition cd player which has a usb port for MP3/wav file playback too. Speakers are Dali Oberon 1 with the Rel HT 1508 subwoofer.
In the future will be adding an integrated amplifier for stereo listening with HT bypass.
 
Hopefully FM with experience with Marantz, Dali and some insight into the MHDT pagoda based on reviews will share their opinions on how this DAC will work in your set up.

On a slightly different note it seems the input power voltage setting has to be manually configured to 230v if brought from the US (115V). I wrote to MHDT and almost immediately got a reply (link to guidance below)
 
Nitin K, I don’t think MHDT is the right dac for your system.

Since you are also considering a 2 channel amp, you might want to look at an amp with a built in dac. The now discontinued JOB integrated with the built in dac was very good. You might find it in the used market.

Some of the new NAD stuff is also good. But I think it may not be in your budget.
 
On a slightly different note it seems the input power voltage setting has to be manually configured to 230v if brought from the US (115V). I wrote to MHDT and almost immediately got a reply (link to guidance below)
Yes that's quite possible. They do have a dealer for the Europe region too. Pls check about the power chord too.
Nitin K, I don’t think MHDT is the right dac for your system.

Since you are also considering a 2 channel amp, you might want to look at an amp with a built in dac. The now discontinued JOB integrated with the built in dac was very good. You might find it in the used market.

Some of the new NAD stuff is also good. But I think it may not be in your budget.

Thanks a lot for the heads-up Prem. I'll try to look out for the Job integrated if I am lucky.
Very true, the Nad masters is way beyond my budget. My main intention for the dac was to smoothen out the digital presence in certain CD recordings and compressed files.
 
Last edited:
Yes that's quite possible. They do have a dealer for the Europe region too. Pls check about the power chord too.


Thanks a lot for the heads-up Prem. I'll try to look out for the Job integrated if I am lucky.
Very true, the Nad masters is way beyond my budget. My main intention for the dac was to smoothen out the digital presence in certain CD recordings and compressed files.
Here is an used Job integrated for sale in this website.

Don't have any affiliation with the seller though..
 
Here is an used Job integrated for sale in this website.

Don't have any affiliation with the seller though..
Thanks a lot Pks.k . Very kind of you to search for the amplifier.
I will try to check on it especially the authenticity of the website. I would be looking for an integrated specifically with an HT bypass since I intend using it in the same avr setup and also could power the fronts in HT mode. If the inbuilt dac is very nice then there is no need to buy the dac separately.
Thanks again for your effort, really appreciate it.

Regards,
Nitin
 
Thanks a lot Pks.k . Very kind of you to search for the amplifier.
I will try to check on it especially the authenticity of the website. I would be looking for an integrated specifically with an HT bypass since I intend using it in the same avr setup and also could power the fronts in HT mode. If the inbuilt dac is very nice then there is no need to buy the dac separately.
Thanks again for your effort, really appreciate it.

Regards,
Nitin
Welcome @Nitin K ..!
I have casually reached this website when I was searching for a DAC few months ago. I went for a demo there ( DAC was in my city), and acquired that Dac..

Now,

I also have the same issue which you are facing -"Sibilants "( Thanks to our Generous fm @Hari Iyer for introduced this word and helping to be sort out the issue.)

The problem stays till now ,
Search continues for a solution..!
 
Welcome @Nitin K ..!
I have casually reached this website when I was searching for a DAC few months ago. I went for a demo there ( DAC was in my city), and acquired that Dac..

Now,

I also have the same issue which you are facing -"Sibilants "( Thanks to our Generous fm @Hari Iyer for introduced this word and helping to be sort out the issue.)
So assuming the website is genuine I guess if you bought the dac from them. If you don't mind me asking, what dac did you buy & how much improvement you got from your dac.
I guess a lot of factors come into play like the synergy of the components and mainly what is the source and how well recorded they are.
Certain CD's and MP3 sound fine. But there are quite a few old CD's and wav/MP3 files which are not so pleasant to listen where at least some improvement is required. Although it is understandable that there is no substitute for bad recordings.
 
I guess a lot of factors come into play like the synergy of the components and mainly what is the source and how well recorded they are.
Certain CD's and MP3 sound fine. But there are quite a few old CD's and wav/MP3 files which are not so pleasant to listen where at least some improvement is required. Although it is understandable that there is no substitute for bad recordings.
It seems the website maintained by dealers, experience was very pleasant ( at least for me).
I bought a Prism sound Callia dac still showing in DAC section indicates as sold..

It sounds very clean in the semi treated demo room with a pre power combo and Xtz ribbon tweeter FS speakers,
Flac files played through a oppo blue ray player ..

In my home as a 1st hifi dac (for me) ,
It brings a lot of details in a enjoyable way with my Flac files playing in a sony bdp S1500 Blu-ray player..

But ,I can't hear some songs more than 2 mnts due to vocal sibilants..
 
It seems the website maintained by dealers, experience was very pleasant ( at least for me).
I bought a Prism sound Callia dac still showing in DAC section indicates as sold..

It sounds very clean in the semi treated demo room with a pre power combo and Xtz ribbon tweeter FS speakers,
Flac files played through a oppo blue ray player ..

In my home as a 1st hifi dac (for me) ,
It brings a lot of details in a enjoyable way with my Flac files playing in a sony bdp S1500 Blu-ray player..

But ,I can't hear some songs more than 2 mnts due to vocal sibilants..
Thanks a lot Pks. Really appreciate your feedback.
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
Back
Top