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Rega DAC vs. EE Minimax vs. Centrance vs. W4S 2

This is a summary of results comparing the Rega DAC against the W4S 2, Centrance Dacmini, and the Eastern Electric Minimax (First version).

The Rega has been running a signal since last Saturday, so according to some reports it may be about 150 hours from sounding it's best. The comparison to the W4S was done with a fully broken in Rega from Signature Sound. Powercord is a Pangea AC-14 (nothing fancy). The main sources were a Oppo DV981 and Macbook pro. System is Merlin TSM-MXr on Skylan stands, Manley Stingray II, MJ Acoustics 150 MK2 sub, Cardas wires.

Vs. Centrance DACmini
First of all...this thing is cool! It's perfect for a headphone system and it's form-factor matches the MACmini. Fed by the Oppo it provided fantastic midrange and smooth highs, but bass was less defined and a bit muddy. There seemed to be just a bit more glare from the DACmini as well, but it had a deeper soundstage than the Rega. The Rega had bass well handled and the soundstage was quite wide, especially on live recordings where it did a great job of capturing the scope of the venue. The owner of the DACmini and I agreed that that it had the Rega beat by a small margin in soundstage, but the Rega was the winner with better bass detail and less glare. Any change of cables or speaker or amp could probably swing the results differently.

Vs. Eastern Electric Minimax
I was excited to hear this unit since it's gotten a ton of good reviews. But...wow, my system did not agree with it. Here was (I assume) a good example of poor synergy. The Minimax sounded overly thick in the midrange (less so with the tube switched out) and this quality made it difficult to focus on it's clearly sweet high end. We tried it with some cheaper AQ cables, but this issue did not go away. My friend says it's quite stunning in his system and I don't doubt it, but in my system it was "thick" much like the modified Jolida 100a CDP I once owned.

Vs. W4S DAC 2
This unit was well burned in and it went up against the Demo Rega I auditioned in my system. The W4S 2 had a Signal powercord while the Rega had it's stock cord. I reviewed the Rega DAC in the review section and I have since concluded that the Rega's "less is more" design approach led to it's superior performance with Redbook CDs. It won mainly based on soundstage where it provided a deeper effect, while the W4S 2 floated a image well, but it was less dimensional. The W4S 2 seemed to extract a bit more detail, but also sounded too bright on some tracks. Once again we concluded that they were both doing a fine job and a change of associated gear could skew results differently. The W4S is certainly more versatile.

After listening to these units in my system and playing with some very pricey CDP's in recent months I've concluded that DAC's and CDP's offer the smallest upgrade range. Good DACs and CDP's are very close in performance so be suspicious when someone says one unit blows away another. As others have pointed out we get into some seriously expensive "diminishing returns" with this gear. I feel that the Rega (and I truly love the Centrance as well) offers great performance in the mid priced DAC arena. It bested the Audio Aero prima I tried and has better soundstage that several other units around the 5K mark. How it performs in a given system will be mostly a measure of the synergy with your other components and nothing definitive should be assumed by reading these findings or any other!

Cheers,

Rob
robbob
robbob OP
273 posts
 
I listened to the EE Minimax in the owner's system along with the Centrance. While the EE is a fine DAC we both liked the Centrance better. There has been no tube rolling and in fact we felt it sounded best with the tube switched out.
The Centrance is an amazing DAC if midrange excellence is your goal. The W4S Dac 2 continues to sound just a bit too bright, but it also extracts detail and that's part of the price on some recordings. After hearing the EE in two systems it would probably be my last choice in the group. Perhaps tube rolling would alter that.
My Rega continues it's long break-in process and is now also partnered with a new Mac Mini running headless with a Ipad controller. When I get my hands on the new Rega Apollo R CDP/Transport I'll be very interested to see how it all stacks up.

Rob
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hi robob:

are you referring to the inexpensive centramce dac sold by audiogon ?

regarding dacs and transports, the arguments for separtates, are in part analagous to the advantages for separates in other components.

dacs can have a tube, whereas most cd players don't. also some transports are servers and avoid the errors accompanied with spinning a disc.
face
516 posts
 
Having heard the DAC-2 in 6+ rigs, I scratch my head when I read that someone found it bright. Something else must be amiss in the room or rig. For example, the source they're comparing it to was warm or lush, the speakers, associated gear or cables are on the bright side, or the room is highly reflective.
tubegroover
2,279 posts
 
I couldn't agree with you more Face although I've only heard the W4S in three systems. I would NEVER consider the word bright in describing this DAC, at least in the context of digital playback. Now when compared to analog they all sound bright in comparison, at least at this price point.
robbob OP
273 posts
 
Perhaps...in relation to the Rega, Centrance and EE, I should modify the observation as the W4S being brighter. The unit was the brightest of the units I heard. My merlin/Manley system is quite good at extracting detail, but I would not ever call it bright on it's own.
The W4S also had the most detail and I have always maintained that detail will exact a penalty on certain recordings. That said, I think the W4S sounds very good. I do believe I've read comments from people who found it bright in their system, but this cannot be applied to ALL systems.
As I tweak and adjust the Rega and get more out of it, everyone should keep in mind that I had no chance to tweak or adjust the other units, so my review of them is quite limited. Owners of these units should sit back and enjoy! Perhaps a carefully adjusted and cable matched EE would best my Rega. Why worry about it....too much good music is waiting!

Rob
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