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

My bad, I thought that when you said "Alternatively, there’s a lot of incentive to gravitate toward music websites like Rhapsody, or one of my new favorites, Lastfm.com; the final outcome as treated by the Minimax is theoretically better than your typical Hi Rez sound!" that you meant that the final outcome (of listening to lossy mp3s from Rhapsody or Lastfm)as treated by the Minimax is theoretically better than your typical Hi Rez sound.
-Mike

Joaco, ok, if we want to get technical, let's call what's happening to the bits in upsampling interpolation. Interpolation is adding something which wasn't in the original. Perhaps that is a clean enough explanation. :)

I do agree that the value of the EE DAC should not be lost on technical discussions, but center around its sound. It's quite the bargain.

I can see where my previous comment can be misconstrued; I do listen to streaming audio on the big rig, and I did work with it extensively with the Sonos review. However, I try to use music from my collection for reviewing, as I feel it sounds better for assessment.

I'm finding the quality of streaming audio through the Minimax to be so good that I am prepared to start using it as a source. But no doubt I'll look for an opportunity to compare Redbook to Hi-Rez in a controlled test.

...I'll look for an opportunity to compare Redbook to Hi-Rez in a controlled test.

Good! I look forward to reading about your experiences.

i have several reference recording hi rez dvrs. the hi rez format seems to render timbre and space more like a live concert than its redbook counterpart. you can read my review on audiophilia.com .