Either pw or std works nicely. I tried the regular Tesla. FB tried pinch waste. I recall something about either sounding good, better than the GE5670 or the WE396A. FB might chime in.

UPDATE 1 Year Later - DAC

DAC: MHDT Orchid R-2R Ladder DAC running;

Tube: Tesla 6CC42 tube has been great. Nice tone, texture. No need to change.
DigiCoax: Analysis Plus Crystal Solo SPDIF digital OCC copper reveals it all.
RCA out: Analysis Plus Crystal OCC copper cables enhances the DAC sound, more open.
Caps: I did swap out the stock caps in the Orchid to Mundorf Silver-Gold-Oil, slightly better.
Longevity: We will see. So far so good, knock on wood. Hoping to keep it several years.

How would I control the music I would listen to thru the Orchid DAC? I have all my digital music ripped to FLAC files on USB and HD media. I know I can plug either into the Orchid, but how do I control same?

Controlling music through the Orchid
 

Glenn -
Sorry it has taken so long for you to receive a response to your question. I've been meaning to respond but... distractions & life go on, right?
Anyway, I'm not sure whether this will work for your setup, but I control my streaming via bluetooth, either via my android smartphone or my second laptop. Not exactly the same setup you have, because I'm not controlling music coming off a hard drive, but this should be do-able for you. When I stream I can even control the volume via the Spotify app.
I haven't figured out how to do this for everything. For instance, it doesn't appear that YouTube is set up for this, but I have made zero effort to figure it out.
One other forum you might check for approaches to doing what you are doing is the Pinkfishmedia.net forum. There are numerous threads over there which discuss this type of capability.
Best of luck and I hope this is somewhat helpful. BTW, you didn't ask for this advice I'm about to give you, but I'll give it anyway. I am a huge fan of Spotify, even though it isn't the highest resolution streaming service. Its' curating algorithm provides me with so many unexpected pleasures that it blows my mind. Perhaps the other streaming services are equivalently capable. I don't know. The UI is also completely intuitive. The Orchid renders it wonderfully.
Best regards,
Markus

Hi Glenn,
I saw this late too, after the new years. Not being familiar with your current environment, essentially possibly some kind of media server to plug into your DAC -or- streamer player with UpNP and client software to connect to it. There is no graphical user interface for the MHDT Orchid DAC itself, it's a native DAC that processes digital input/output signal. It's not a player or streamer. Something else needs to be able to present the music, files, or streaming service provider to you in an organized way (folders or playlists) via your mobile phone or iPad/padlet, small laptop, or computer screen. Have you looked at music streamers or media server players yet by chance?

Thanks for the replies. I hate software. But, eventually have to get a handle on all this. No hurry.

I don't think you need to worry about software
 

Of course, it depends on what you want to do.

I don't have very much on a hard drive, though I do have some. When I want to play that I use the (probably not state of the art or even very good) Windows Media Player via the laptop I have connected for streaming.

One of my favorite discoveries after installing the Orchid in my system is the pleasure of streaming Spotify. It has allowed me - at 67 years of age - to continue to discover new music and explore the horizons, so to speak. It's easy. The music (since you control what you listen to and that, in turn, informs Spotify what kind of music or vibe you want more of) is great. The interface is a piece of cake and (importantly for me) has ZERO FRUSTRATION. It just works.

Hello guys, I'm relatively new to the forum and have read with interest on the topic of the MHDT Orchid and the Abbas dac. I'm hoping for some insight and advice in order to make my decision.

I have owned the Orchid for around 2 years now (running stock with a change of tube to a Mullard 7308 with an adaptor) and am looking for a possible upgrade.

I have been researching the following 3 Dacs as a possible replacement to the Orchid.

1. SW1X Dac III Standard
2. Abbas DAC 2.3 SE / 3.1 SE
3. Wells Audio Cipher DAC

I was almost dead-set on 1 of the Abbas options until I read a post where FloridaBoy wrote that the Orchid and Abbas are more similar than dissimilar.

Where I'm from (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), it's practically imposible to hear these non-mainstream dacs in action.

Would love to get some feedback from members who have been able to compare these dacs. If it's not worth the upgrade then the funds will be spent elsewhere in the chain.

wenhaw... Welcome to AA! :wave:

Thanks for the welcome Masterlu.

Hopefully some members can chime in on my inquiry.

Still awaiting reply from Abbas audio.