[mrarroyo]

 
 
 
Those who have been members for a while may remember how much I have enjoyed the Minibox-E and MiniBox-E+ portable amps, these were at the top of my list. When I tried the AD797 op-amps (2) in lieu of the AD8610 op-amps (2) in the MiniBox-E+ I felt it climbed to the top of my list of the best portable amps.
 
Well the MiniBox-ES is IMO far better than its predecessors and it can be bought now for less than what the MiniBox-E+ was last being sold for. How about that for a short and to the point impression! Although the picture in the site is not correct you can find the MiniBox-ES at: http://www.head-direct.com/product_detail.php?p=15
 
The impressions of the unit were made starting with a 5.5 Gen iPod which I modded with a 240 Gb HD and a larger battery. The line out dock is an older unit made by ALO, called “Six Shooter”. This line out sports two silver wires per channel thus its name. For headphones I used mainly four: ATH-ESW9, Westone 2, Yuin OK-1, and UE TripleFi 10. As far as music it was courtesy of:
 
      
 
 
Since some may want a bit more detail you may ask what makes this amp so good? Well, the words that first come to mind are detail/clarity and smoothness. Many amps offer excellent detail at the cost of being harsh or grainy, that is not the case with the MiniBox-ES. The level of micro detail and instrument separation is off the scale and yet the amp retains its composure in presenting the music with smoothness and musicality that I would not normally expect at under $200.
 
The background is very “black” and the soundstage is both wide and deep. Is there anything I would change? Well, I listen at very low volume so even though there is a gain switch on the back I would prefer a single buffer per channel instead of dual. BTW, the volume pot tracks quite well and I did not hear any channel imbalance. Lastly the batteries last about 12 hours of continues use, which should increase with only one BUF634 per channel. For the record this is a loaner unit, thanks Fang for the opportunity. I did a comparison with five other portable amps, one costing twice as much and IMO the MiniBox-ES was the better sounding unit.  Here is a pic of the amp in use.
 
 

 

[aangel]

many thanks for your impressions miguel, has the minibox es the button "sfor"?, is it possible to see a picture from the back of minibox es?...
 
i love minibox e+, the second version...

 
with hope

 

[mrarroyo]

Hi there, the ES version does not have the SFOR feature. I have loaned the ES to daveDerek and skylab, shoot them a PM to see if they can take a picture of the ES's back. Cheers.

 

[alphaphoenix]

I very much enjoyed the predecessor.  Thinking about picking up the ES as head-direct now includes the RE0 for free for the same price until end December! They still need to update the photo to the current model as it's misleading.

 

[aangel]

in the picture i can´t see the "p - s" button, hasn´t the new minibox this function miguel?...
 
with hope

 

[mrarroyo]

Not that I recall, the only switch it has is a gain switch. However I can't check because Dave has the amp. Sorry.

 

[Mad Max]

E+ doesn't have a gain switch.  So they removed the 75-ohm switch?  I didn't think it was a bad feature, but whatever.
I like the red buttons better. 

 
And a free RE0 now?  Ridiculous.  (In a good way.)
 
Edit: you didn't hear sine sweeps in the middle of your music with 797?  XD

 

[EraserXIV]

what exactly are the differences between the E+ and the ES? I thought that some versions of the E+ contained the OPA627 already
 
are there any differences between the es and an e+ with a rolled OPA627?

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

Not that I recall, the only switch it has is a gain switch.

 
correct.
 

 

[EraserXIV]

Mrarroyo, I know you don't have it ATM, but can you elaborate on treble extension from memory? I know a lot of amps (even expensive ones) have a slight roll off in treble. Would you say the ES has this?

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

E+ doesn't have a gain switch.  So they removed the 75-ohm switch?  I didn't think it was a bad feature, but whatever.
I like the red buttons better. 

 
And a free RE0 now?  Ridiculous.  (In a good way.)
 
Edit: you didn't hear sine sweeps in the middle of your music with 797?  XD

 
The E+ I had was the earlier version with the up/down switches and it had both the SFOR and the P to S switches.
 
 


Quote:

what exactly are the differences between the E+ and the ES? I thought that some versions of the E+ contained the OPA627 already
 
are there any differences between the es and an e+ with a rolled OPA627?

The ES has more power due to 3 buffers per channel, this causes the batter to last only about 10-12 hour of full time use.
 
The extension is excellent in either version with the ES being a tad more open, clear, and "musical". It is one heck of a bargain IMO. Cheers.

 

[Mad Max]

http://www.head-direct.com/product_detail.php?p=15#
 
Updated pics, w00t!.  No more bass boost?
Toggable gain is really nice, but bass boost should've stayed.  =\

 

[imackler]

Does anyone know how the Minibox ES compares to the Fiio E7? Is one more neutral than other? I've read that the E7 is gently warm. I'm leaning toward getting one of the two to go with either a ER4P...

 

[Mad Max]

ES should still be tuned for ER4, I suppose, so warm and bassy.  Very transparent, to boot.  It should smoke the E7 and it does my E5.

 

[daveDerek]

i did get to spend a little time with it and listened via various phones (eg. W2, JH13, ESW9, and a few others) and compared it to various amps (hornet, protector, pico slim, zenhead). there were too many variables for me to sort it all out in the time i spent with it, but i can say that it is a nice sounding unit. it's form factor is better suited to an ipod classic than nano, if you were wondering. unfortunately it's battery life isn't all that long, which may or may not be an issue depending upon your useage.