Eastern Electric's new tube DAC using ESS Sabre??

I wasn't saying much, though I would have liked to. My article has just been published on Dagogo, and suffice to say I find the Minimax DAC quite enjoyable.

I do not think most people understand the importance of the development of the ESS ES9018 Sabre Reference 32 bit chip. Not all chips are created equal, not even ESS chips. One needs to pay attention to that fact.

I point out in my article how I feel the Sabre chip's performance in DACs like the Minimax will negatively influence Hi Rez downloads. In my observation, the playing field has shifted... again.

Doug,
Are you planning to reveiw the Alona HDMI decoder, and running Blu-ray and SACD converted PCM streams into the Minimax DAC? and unearthing the Holy Grail in the process!!

Jazzybs, I'll have to look into that! Shoot me an email to discuss.

Doug,

I read your review. You were blown by the DAC! I´d like to listen to it myself.

If you don´t mind, I disagree with some of your thoughts. I don´t think a 32 bit DAC makes 16 bit recordings equal to 24 bit recordings at same sample frequency! A 24 bit recording has much more information in it! The fact that a 32 bit DAC can make both recordings 32 bit doesn´t mean they´ll have the same information. The original 24 bit recording will still have lots of more information after conversion and, therefore, will sound much more real.

I think that the conversion to 32 bits is not the only thing that makes the EE DAC special. Actually, the DAC is limited to 24 bit 96KHz at the receiver and is only upsampled to 32 bit 192 KHz at the DAC chip. I´m not even sure it´s what makes the Sabre chip special. The Sabre chip also is very jitter imune and has great performance.

The EE DAC is also said by Alex Yeung, Bill at Morningstar and many others to have a really great output stage apart from the DAC chip. The tube output stage being generally preffered.

If I misunderstood your review or you think different, please don´t get upset, lets discuss.

Guys,

Not sure if you have discovered that the Dac phase switch should be lit red for better sound quality! Found out by accident last night and WOW, what a difference!