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EE Minimax Plus DAC vs. Rega DAC

This comparison was done using a Cambridge Audio 840c CDP (as transport) and newest Mac Mini running Pure Music HD files. Cables were Cardas.
The system is my friends: Vandersteen 5a's fed by the ARC DSi integrated amp.

The Rega DAC has at least 300 hours on it now and was using a inexpensive Pangea power cord, which makes it sound a tad brighter than the stock cord. The EE Minimax Plus was 100% stock. The EE Minimax Plus belongs to my friend and has 150 hours on it (aprox).

Out of the Gate:
The Minimax sounded sweeter and a bit more refined (smoother) at the top end, loaded with detail, and yet not fatiguing at all. The Rega sounded flatter, neutral and a bit less engaging to us initially. On the other hand the Rega's midrange and overall image was excellent. The layered effect on classical tracks was better with the Rega and we continue to love it's overall coherent ability to create a soundstage across a wide soundfield. The Minimax Plus still exhibited a bit of thickness, (Easy to spot on male vocals on SE of Tumbleweed Connection or Lyle Lovett' I love Everybody), but it was not on the same distracting level as with the original Minimax. Still, this chesty quality was present much of time and it took some getting used to.

Extended Listening
Using the 840c: The Rega is dryer, neutral. At times we felt it was more accurate, but not always more fun. It sounds very analogue. The Minimax also sounded like analogue and added a sweetness to some old tracks when the Rega just let them all hang out. Fed with older recordings we preferred the Minimax much of the time. A perfect example was Bob Dylan CD's, which sounded a little harsh with the Rega. But when we put better recordings it was a closer race. My friend felt the Rega was creating a sense of realism missing from the Minimax Plus. His exact words: "The Rega makes a live recording sound live while the Minimax sweetens it out and it's just not the same." On the other hand I dug what the Minimax was doing with the highest frequencies. It seemed to have them under control, while the Rega just let them shine through too brightly. If the Minimax was forcing some sonic character at the high end I like it a lot anyway. Both DACs were SO CLOSE that we usually found ourselves having to check which one was on at times. The differences were very subtle overall.

Using the Mac Mini and some HD tracks was a whole new battle. The Mini is well configured with memory and most of the stuff in the BG turned off. Software is Pure Music. The Rega DAC was fed with the Musical Fidelity V-Link convertor since it's USB is limited to 16 bit files. This is a inexpensive convertor and it's far from the top pick. We also used it on the Minimax plus.
After listening with the CDP the Mac sounded as if it had a slight edge to the highest frequencies. At times we weren't sure, but we agreed it wasn't a negative, just different. The Mac produced a dead-quiet blackness between notes that made things sound a bit dark until we were used to it. The Rega and Minimax Plus seemed even more evenly matched as the pairing made the Minimax sound leaner in the midbass, which was something we were liking more and more about the Rega. The Rega still retained an edge in resolving the venue in live recordings, but the Minimax evened things up with it's superb sweet high end yet again. Listening to Eva Cassidy's live album we were both liking the Rega's presentation better. 20 minutes later we were listening to Anne Sophie Mutter (HD) and her playing was sweet beyond words with the Minimax besting the Rega on that recording. Oddly we preferred the Minimax with the tube switched out as we did with the first unit. Bass was better on the Minimax without the tube for us. Male vocals could sound "chesty" even congested on the Minimax Plus with the tube, less so in SS mode. The owner of the unit agreed that his previous audition of the unit agreed with what I was hearing, but said unit had been tube-rolled with some improvement. The Rega's bass was tight and a bit deeper than the Minimax, but we really thought the quality of bass was pretty much the same.

Image and Soundstage
The Rega seems to pursue this goal more than the other DACs we've heard. It really makes the speakers vanish (on SOME recordings). The Minimax tries to match this ability, but comes in short. For studio stuff it didn't matter a lot of the time. On live recordings the Rega had the edge.

Conclusion
It's hardly a fun answer, but....Pick one! I had a slight preference for the Minimax plus and my friend liked the Rega better. Maybe we were just being polite as it was a very even match-up. He likes a lot of live jazz and that's where we agreed the Rega was king. But I listen to some older rock with less than ideal recording efforts and the Minimax did something beautiful to those recordings. It also handled strings in a way that could make a grown man cry. The Rega created a "room" of music...it's ability to expose distances between instruments with precision was very impressive. The Minimax seemed to pursue musicality above accuracy. Perhaps the best way to put it is that the Minimax Plus was more forgiving in his system. If you're waiting for me to declare a winner....don't hold your breath! For my Merlin speakers I think the Rega was the right choice. The TSM's are speakers that expose midrange like few others and the Rega compliments that very well. Another item some folks would want to consider is that the Minimax Plus can be tried with other tubes, but I find the Rega's 5 filter settings of more value.
As I always say, be very suspicious of anyone claiming that the Rega, Minimax or W4S or even Dacmagic are far better than others in their ranges. The absolute truth is that these units are excellent and are not seriously dominated by DACs we've heard costing much more. If you hear these DACs in the same system back-to-back and have the ability to hear small nuances you'll soon learn that they all have strengths and weaknesses, but generally sound quite close. The DAC I liked the least (W4S 2) was still excellent and would be fine in my system. Of course that's not what we read shootouts for. We want a winner, but it's silly to think that everyone would hear what I heard in a different room with different gear. For what little it's worth I prefer the cosmetics of the Minimax Plus over the Rega. It has more of a high end look. As I plan to add the Rega Apollo R CPD/Transport, the Rega stack may even that score a bit. Owners of either unit may take exception to my comments, but I think we all know that either unit can be tweaked by settings, tubes, power cords and so on. The point here was to compare the units initial character. Bottom line: You cannot go wrong with either.

Cheers,

Rob
robbob
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hi rob:

are you not willing to concede that with a particular tube, the minimiax original will be preferred with the tube fs without the tube ?

that is the ss mode cannot sound like the classic tube sound, while a particular vintage tube may come close to the classic tube sound ?

i doubt the ss version will sound euphonic in any way--at least consistent with my experience with solid state players and dac/transport combinations.
robbob OP
273 posts
 

Tubegroover....agree 100%
The W4S DAC 2 and Centrance were in my system for about 3-4 hours. How much time was spent with each I couldn't say. The original Minimax was played for about a solid hour against the Rega, also in my system.
The Rega was transplanted to my friend's system for a mid day comparison with the Minimax plus, but probably not more than 2 hours total. I have been enjoying the Rega DAC for a couple of weeks as it is now my "pick" of the group so far.
I'm certain ALL of these DACs have quite a bit more performance to explore. We were cognoscente of this and always remained aware that we were really comparing initial impressions. Perhaps the W4S would come in first if we lived with it for a while. He's been enjoying the Centrance and Minimax Plus and I've been loving the Rega DAC.

When I say that ALL of these DACs delivered great performance, it's the one statement that I make without reservations of any kind. You get a lot of performance and flexibility from all of them. I'm new to computer audio and all of my doubts have been quickly erased and I have yet to even get into seriously dialing it all in. Folks looking to spend 4-5K on a CD player should hear what a Mac/DAC combo can do when done well. I'm still shocked!

Rob
robbob OP
273 posts
 
Mr. Tennis,

I've heard a lot of tube gear recently. I'm on board with the "tube sound" fully (that's why I own a tube amp and will never go back to SS power), but I don't buy or hear it's advantages in a DAC, quite the opposite. I have heard two other tube DACs which cost quite a bit more than the group being discussed.

I believe there is a expectation for tubes to do certain things for the sound that they just don't do in certain components. There was just nothing better about the tube mode of the Minimax Plus. When the owner tries other tubes I'll report back.

Rob
tubegroover
2,279 posts
 
Rob, I also agree with you concerning tube gear in source components as opposed to amplifying components. I currently have on hand 2 tube DACs and have and heard countless tube gear and have owned exclusively tube systems over the past 20 years, amps and pre-amps. While all tube amplifiers and pre-amps all seem to have characteristics that identify them as tube based there is quite a variation among them with regard to presentation be it SET, PP or OTL. The source components I have heard, 4 to be exact do not necessarily let you know that you are hearing a tube circuit, the Minimax Plus being the best example of the four. Having said that the sound can be "tuned" by changing out tubes.

Mr. Tennis when you refer to "classic tube sound" I can't help but think of the Conrad Johnson gear from the 80's, particularly the PV5 and PV7 pre-amps both of which I owned along with the Premier 3 which was a bit less so. A dark, rich burnished midrange with loose bass and rolled off highs. It never seemed an accident that the light carmel color of their products was a reflection of the sound of their gear, never offensive, always musical and more in line with much of the vintage gear of the 60's, I still have a pair of McIntosh 60's and although heavily modified, still have that characteristic vintage tube midrange bloom. Most tube gear I have heard over the past 10-15 years are more transparent top to bottom and less "vintage" sounding in that regard.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
tubegrover, you make an excellenet point about modern tube gear.

but hypothetically, if you could create the sound of the 60's, as you yhave apltly described, using certain tubes placed in a tube dac, would you concede that no solid state dac could sound that way ?

it is my objection to solid state digital products that i have heard have an unmistakable character that is easy to observe.

i would therefore say, that it is possible to discern the difference between a solid state digital product and one which uses tubes, especially if there are tubes in the gain stage of the dac section.
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