Eastern Electric Minimax Tube DAC w/ 9018?

[Kenobi]

Hi all,

Just curious if anybody has any experience with the subject DAC utilizing the ESS Sabre 32 9018 DAC? Any mod experience to bring this to the next level? Advise and opinions welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Kenobi

 

[qusp]

lose the tubes 😀 haha, nah sorry I hadnt even heard of it till just now. I personally dont think tubes are a good choice for dac outputs, but hey thats just personal taste.

 

[noSmoking]

do you have a schematic?
Put it up if you do = better response!

 

[noSmoking]

so no tubes for you?What outputs do you like ,I am waiting on dac board to come it has op amps out so is balanced trans the best or what do you like?
Thanks

 

[qusp]

discrete solid state mainly ie. mosfets, jfets, transistors even well done high end opamps is more to my taste. tubes can sound good if done well, but still not really my thing especially for source. better for amps and such so you can choose to have the colour or not. I know thats a bit of a cliche, but until big dollars are spent on tubes I do find they colour the sound

transformers are a funny one, I have enjoyed well implemented transformer coupled dacs before (including my own), but once you know what a mess they make of the signal it becomes a bit less appealing. can sound quite good, musical, easy on the ear, euphonic etc, but distortion isnt great and normally neither is DNR. can sound good though, but from a technical standpoint, if that matters to you as it does me, its a bit of a turn off.

 

[Kenobi]

Actually, this EE DAC allows selectable SS or tube output--to please both sides of the spectrum. The reviews are very positive and I should have a unit coming in shortly.

Kenobi

 

[qusp]

hmm the idea doesnt appeal; do one thing and do it well IMO. interesting though, if I didnt already have 3 sabre dacs 😀

 

[Kenobi]

Hardcore response. What do you think of the Sabre 32 DAC since you have 3 of them to play with?

Kenobi

 

[McCrackers]

EE Minimax DAC mods

This thread didn't go anywhere when it was first started.

I was wondering if, besides the volume bypass and tube/opamp rolling, anyone has since attempted modding it.

Seems to me like there's a lot of potential in the power supply and tube output depts. Unfortunately I don't have the experience to attempt this on my own.

 

[mcoaggie]

Wayne over at boulder cable did a series of mods to the original dac. He had some previliged info from alex the designer. Check out audiocircle.
Eastern Electric DAC mods

 

[McCrackers]

I'm familiar with Wayne's work. His latest Level 3 mods cost around $2000.
He's a great guy but is running a business and will most certainly not go into great detail on the "how to" aspect.
With all the talented DIYers over here I was hoping someone could provide some free useful info.

 

[mcoaggie]

Understood. I saw a few threads that wayne was offering pointers to some fellow enthusiasts as well. As far as anything else I've only seen the op amp rolling articles and the fuse replacement stuff.

 

[qusp]

Hardcore response. What do you think of the Sabre 32 DAC since you have 3 of them to play with?

Kenobi

i like it a lot, i prefer it to all other dacs i've tried over the last few years.

3 key areas. AVCC and DVCC power supply quality, direct and short low impedance return for the iv stage, with i2s input preferred.