I've been using the Mullard for so long I don't remember what was the improvement, however I remember it was noticeably nicer then the original tube. I don't think the WA8 gets much talked about and it's too bad because aside from a short battery life I think this is probably the best sounding...

Will be interesting to read your feedback on the Atrium Closed as I'm quite tempted to get those for my next purchase. :)

The nice thing in audio is that there is a lot of choice so there is something for every taste. I myself like tube analog type sounding gear and the BurrBrown DAC inside the Finale happens to have a lot of synergy, to my taste, with my WA8 tube amp. I'm sure one day I'll find an R2R or 1bit...

Can't say about Mojo2 but if that's any help I can tell you I sold my Mojo1 once I heard the Finale. Way nicer sound to my taste, less "digital" sounding in my opinion, and I use it mostly as a DAC feeding a Woo WA8 tube amp.

curious on which you prefer?

Finally! :ksc75smile:

I'm sorry but I don't agree, my ears and the ears of guys here providing real listening feedback are the only judge of good sound quality I trust. Graphs and all sorts of data analysis is irrelevant to me. To my ears MHDT Orchid with a good NOS tube provides marvellous sounding music in the...

Too bad you did not give it a good 100-200 hours of burnin. You would probably have had a different opinion. Just look at all the owners opinion, those MHDT DACs get praise, specially the Orchid and Pagoda. I still own Paradisea after I don't know how many years now, sure it is quite a bit...

I don't get why in 2024 some manufacturers are still not able to get rid of such channel imbalance. Sure for many it's just a very minor annoyance but for some that like to listen at very low volume with specific headphones it can be a bigger issue.

If I can make a suggestion, as a consumer that as no opportunity to try equipment before buying, I really appreciate all those pro reviews you make available. However, I find it would be very very nice if you could, when reviewing a "DAC/AMP" device, if in you "compare review section" to just...

XD05 owners that have bought the three chips (ESS, AKM and ROHM) can certainly provide quite good feedback because they are using the exact same amp and components when they switch between DAC chips. Hopefully soon XDuoo will release an R2R DAC to fit their device and we'll have almost the...

I use my iDSD Finale exclusively as a DAC feeding a WA8 tube amp. I just tested it and I do have the channel imbalance with IEMs (Beyer Xelento) you guys talk about but it is at very very low volume when using the IE Match and ECO amp mode. If I don't use IE Match and put the amp in turbo...

Hey thanks a lot, very nice read and yes, informative for me. If you have the budget, don't hesitate to try out a NOS DAC like Border Patrol. I've tried a few ESS based DACs as well as the Mojo. All can sound very nice but have that "digital" twist to the music that I don't have with the...

Seems like a great deal if it sound great, which is probably the case for speakers but I'm curious if any experts here tried it with big cans (I have Meze Empy).

Interesting info. How would you compare D16 to other DACs you've tried with Kenzie/Atrium? I personally use iDSD Finale/Woo WA8/IEMs with great sound for transportable or bed side but at my desk with my big cans (Meze Empy) the iDSD Finale is no match against a similarly D16 priced desktop dac...