Eastern Electric Minimax Tube Dac (32-bit dac) - Page 63

JH13 only, no speakers?  That will change the preferred op-amp, tubes a lot obviously.  Siemens early long-plate 5814A sounds very similar to Siemens silverplates, and I tried 49990 followed by Siemens 5814A and it was certainly extremely nice.  However, since I am currently running a nicely modded tube preamp, 49990 followed by 49990 is not lacking any "body" via the tube preamp, yet retaining extreme speed and clarity.  That's the great thing about EE DAC, so many possibilities and adjustability.  

I must say the Tungsram E80cc has a completely different take on sound compared to the Siemens, so give that a go..

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVU 

Unfortunately, in test after test, day after day, for several days now, I consistently prefer the silverplate. I get annoyed with myself and swear I must be mistaking something, and tear it all apart again, but the difference is obvious to me.  The bass is better, the midrange is better, the treble is better, the soundstage is better, everything is just nicer and I don't hear any obvious tradeoffs.  I'm running the 49990 duals for the I/V, with nothing in the 7/8 SS output stage and the Siemens silverplate.  Probably because the JH13s are dark, and my TWcu cable is dark as well, this combo really brings everything into perfection.  I don't know if I just got lucky on the tube or what, but after like 20 different variations, I'm now totally happy with this and may actually be quitting head-fi for a while to concentrate on LISTENING. 

It is always great to find a combi that you like best! The configuration on mine now is close to perfect so I am exceptionally wary to making any minute changes to it.

Jon, I can't wait to try your E80cc.  I might also look out for an amperex (philips, etc) e80cc, since they're supposedly quite rich in comparison.  But yeah, I live in an apartment building and my wife and I work a lot from home, so the combination made me sell my old vandersteen tower speakers years ago. It's closed headphones for me or nothing, I'm afraid. 

Mr. Scary, thanks for the offer.  I actually bought one brand new the other week, but was really unimpressed by the sound. Not that the tube is unimpressive - I'm sure it's quite good for many setups, but for mine in particular, it just didn't do anything. I felt like it was nearly identical in tonality to the all 49990 SS, but just a bit worse in every area.

uelover, I agree completely.  Although I have to admit a great fondness for the low-level tinkering that the EE allows, even if I don't actually need it. 

And the pain (esp in your wallet) when you know you can look for a better sound. I have just ordered set of Burson discrete opamps for my minimax DAC. 2x duals and 2x singles, hopefully these are the last upgrading I do for this DAC. Then again the only opamps I havn't tried would be the DEXA discretes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by essencez 

And the pain (esp in your wallet) when you know you can look for a better sound. I have just ordered set of Burson discrete opamps for my minimax DAC. 2x duals and 2x singles, hopefully these are the last upgrading I do for this DAC. Then again the only opamps I havn't tried would be the DEXA discretes.

I have serious doubt that there will be enough current for 4 pieces of burson hdams to run concurrently in the minimax.

Quote:

Originally Posted by uelover 

I have serious doubt that there will be enough current for 4 pieces of burson hdams to run concurrently in the minimax.

 

Hmm thanks for the fair warning, when I asked if the single slots were compatible they gave me this link as a reply. Even though the picture is the new upgraded verion of the Minimax DAC, but I am sure thats both the single and dual Burson opamps slotted in.

And I've read multiple reviews on Dual Bursons + Pair of single DEXAs and was most likely to go down that path if Burson had not given me such a good offer for a set. I'll definitely watch out for a drop in volume when I test them though.

Still hoping the current would be enough, I've removed the tube if it helps (probably not though).

Quote:

Originally Posted by essencez 

 

Hmm thanks for the fair warning, when I asked if the single slots were compatible they gave me this link as a reply. Even though the picture is the new upgraded verion of the Minimax DAC, but I am sure thats both the single and dual Burson opamps slotted in.

 

And I've read multiple reviews on Dual Bursons + Pair of single DEXAs and was most likely to go down that path if Burson had not given me such a good offer for a set. I'll definitely watch out for a drop in volume when I test them though.

 

Still hoping the current would be enough, I've removed the tube if it helps (probably not though).

 

The Minimax plus has got two separate transformers. I am not sure if there are more current available for the opamps though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobsherman 

Hi,

 

Are you still using the 2604s? I happen to like them also.

 

regards

Bob

This was a long while back. After thoroughly testing out most of the popular tweaks on the Minimax, overall I found the LME49990 to be the best opamps and the Psvane / Siemens Silverplate to be the best tubes. With these, the Minimax leans a bit towards the bright side, but has by far the best technical performance compared with other opamps/tubes.

I haven't tinkered with the Minimax in a few months. I also got one of these DACs for an audiophile buddy and he ended up with the same conclusions/setup as me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shahrose 

This was a long while back. After thoroughly testing out most of the popular tweaks on the Minimax, overall I found the LME49990 to be the best opamps and the Psvane / Siemens Silverplate to be the best tubes. With these, the Minimax leans a bit towards the bright side, but has by far the best technical performance compared with other opamps/tubes.

 

I haven't tinkered with the Minimax in a few months. I also got one of these DACs for an audiophile buddy and he ended up with the same conclusions/setup as me.

I do like those LME49990's very much, especially driving tubed preamp or amp.  After using EE DAC Plus with its own asynch USB input and via soundcard coax output, it was a shocker to try it on firewire-to-spdif converter inside Weiss DAC202.  Shocking how much difference the interface makes.  Although EE's own USB input is asynchronous and M2Tech oem, there is certainly more performance to be squeezed with better interface.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L 

I do like those LME49990's very much, especially driving tubed preamp or amp.  After using EE DAC Plus with its own asynch USB input and via soundcard coax output, it was a shocker to try it on firewire-to-spdif converter inside Weiss DAC202.  Shocking how much difference the interface makes.  Although EE's own USB input is asynchronous and M2Tech oem, there is certainly more performance to be squeezed with better interface.
 

 

I don't doubt it. Having owned the stock HiFace (that's used in the EE Minimax DAC Plus), I thought it was clearly inferior to the jkeny MK1 HiFace. Just to put it in perspective, the MK1 was superseded by the MK2 and now the MK3, which is way ahead in performance compared to the former two. (I owned all of these so I know first-hand).

Quote:

Originally Posted by uelover 

The Minimax plus has got two separate transformers. I am not sure if there are more current available for the opamps though.

After searching around for a while it seems the discrete opamps should be fine. Wayne who provided a EE Minimax mod service stated that: "The rails for the op-amps on the EE MiniMax DAC are +- 15 volts. They are limited to about 200 ma."

And each Burson discrete operate on max of +25v at 19ma per module which makes a total of 6 modules just under the max power EE Minimax can drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrScary 


Make sure you state that works in your signal chain. I have tried your setup and it does not work in mine... too many variables.. Your post gives the impression that everyone should do this..
Everyone; signal chain is different to some degree especially if you run a Tube amp then you just pile on the variables.. Your post gives not information but as to what you have done.

The results were the same no matter which amp or headphones I used. My recommendation focuses on technical performance. Ofcourse, sound signature (tone) will depend on what other gear you're using with the DAC, and personal preference will dictate the choice there.

I'll repeat that those 3 components lean towards the bright side, but give the best technical performance, IME.

(As for my signal chain...people are free to check my profile. That's what it's there for).

Quote:

Originally Posted by essencez 

After searching around for a while it seems the discrete opamps should be fine. Wayne who provided a EE Minimax mod service stated that: "The rails for the op-amps on the EE MiniMax DAC are +- 15 volts. They are limited to about 200 ma."

 

And each Burson discrete operate on max of +25v at 19ma per module which makes a total of 6 modules just under the max power EE Minimax can drive.

Nice to hear that. The guy who modded my minimax advised me not to go for 6 burson opamps because he measured the current on my unit and told me that they will not perform optimally. But whatever the case is, I will not bear to switch my Mullard 10M for anything else. It just sounds too good =D
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shahrose 

The results were the same no matter which amp or headphones I used. My recommendation focuses on technical performance. Ofcourse, sound signature (tone) will depend on what other gear you're using with the DAC, and personal preference will dictate the choice there.

 

I'll repeat that those 3 components lean towards the bright side, but give the best technical performance, IME.

 

(As for my signal chain...people are free to check my profile. That's what it's there for).

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrScary 

Make sure you state that works in your signal chain. I have tried your setup and it does not work in mine... too many variables.. Your post gives the impression that everyone should do this..
Everyone; signal chain is different to some degree especially if you run a Tube amp then you just pile on the variables.. Your post gives not information but as to what you have done.

I too don't like the LME49990 and Psvane. No matter how 'technically competent' they are to be able to reveal everything in the music, I don't enjoy my music with them - I am just listening to sound.