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I knew that the MiniMax was disappointingly restricted to 16/44.1 via USB. Interestingly, playing back 24/96 and 24/192 hi-rez Aiff files prompted Amarra 2.0 to auto switch to iTunes. iTunes then put out non-native down-sampled data since I hadn't changed the Audio Midi settings. Once I cued up standard Redbook albums again, Amarra reinserted itself just as automatically. Ping pong. Smart. Naturally the MiniMax processed down-sampled hi-rez files without a hitch. You can play 'em, just not in full data density via USB in this first version - unless you insert an M2Tech hiFace or equivalent like the Halide Design Bridge below [limited to 24/96, $450]. That would act as USB-to-S/PDIF converter via RCA or BNC. So I did just that.
Instead of the $150 hiFace which I didn't have, I used my $3.000 Weiss DAC2. Instead of going PC out via USB, I used Firewire. For these purposes, it was the same thing. It inserted an intermediary D/D converter.
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While the MiniMax processed native 24/96 material beautifully, it stuttered with 24/192 data. Those had the signal cut out momentarily but every few seconds. That arrhythmia was accompanied by a flickering signal-lock LED. I seemed to experience reception issues. Alex Yeung "found the same problem a few days ago. When my engineer tested 24/192, he used sample frequencies and it worked
perfectly. The ESS9018 needs to be driven by a high-frequency op amp. Very
likely we did not implement this opamp to the data/specification the 9018 needs to see.
We are already working on it and should have it resolved by next week." |
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(Bill O'Connell explained that when they first formalized the concept for the MiniMax DAC, hi-rez download files hadn't yet proliferated, hence a 24/96 or higher USB specification hadn't ended up on the project brief.) |
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Direct drive: With a 2.5 or 3V max signal strength via its transistor/tube outputs respectively, the MiniMax should drive the vast majority of commercial amplifiers to full power - even my 3V input sensitivity white Trafomatic Audio monos. Because its attenuator operates in the analog domain like most quality preamps, direct drive won't incur resolution decimation at very low playback levels. Naturally there's no additional gain from active preamp circuitry but for many systems without analog sources, the MiniMax DAC could indeed replace a preamp. Here it becomes preferable to converters which offer digital attenuation exclusively. The lack of remote will dissuade some but for $750, the MiniMax already goes beyond the call of duty. A wish list for a later Plus version would definitely include 24/192 USB. Also nice might be one analog input, remote volume and a small LED indicator on the level knob for visual confirmation in the seat. I personally prefer the vintage EE cosmetics on the previous page but with USB DACs very popular right now, Alex—probably and rightly—reasoned that plain black integrates more universally.
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Tube drive: Not as inaudible as my iDecco's,
the MiniMax valve added some very mild midrange enhancements against a very small reduction in transient edge. Even a most upscale TJ Full Music gold-pin substitution didn't stretch the delta of difference. There is some difference and tube rolling should shift it like a joystick in a small circle but the magnitude of change between transistor/tube paths is small. It's easy enough to confirm with just the push of the front-panel button and a very minor offset on the volume pot. If at first you don't hear a difference, that's my point precisely. After a while, you should. But I doubt you'd ever call it significant.
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Competition: As a variable output DAC, my iDecco was more opaque and cloudy and inserted layers of distance. In a high-resolution context like my big rig, the MiniMax was clearly superior. If crystalline clarity, higher subjective speed and a more extreme depiction of recorded space are your poison, the Eastern Electric itself was bested by the pro-arena Weiss DAC whose low-impedance output stage might also have had more raw drive to run the 4-meter interconnect my installation requires.
The basic difference between MiniMax/DAC2 was a good active preamp. The Weiss removed it for crisper more present clarity, energy and lit-up spaciousness. The EE added a few pounds of flesh as good active preamps tend to. Put differently, it added a sprinkling of 300Bness to the push-pull 6P14P-EV/EL84 in my Kaivalya amps. But—vital to these ears and unlike the iDecco—this wasn't a profound tit-for-tat affair. In keeping with the company's house sound as I know it from prior assignments, the MiniMax DAC seems simply voiced for a bit more chewy lushness than the lit-up obviously very resolved Weiss. The Wyred4Sound DAC2 nestles right between these two. It's more translucent than the MiniMax, less so than the Weiss. With each of the others costing twice and then twice again as much, diminishing returns already begin past the EE. In the context of a highly resolved system, the differences are still appreciable enough to justify the next level up to the Wyred (which adds remote control and 24/192 async USB). Beyond that, they become a whole lot more committed and also require a highly resolved system to still matter. On that, my initial plans wanted to mate the MiniMax with a system strategically cut down to its own size. That completely evaporated as relevant when I heard just how well this small box performed with €16.000/pr speakers and €5.500/pr amps.
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From a pleasure listening perspective (hopefully the norm for our readers), the sonic Weiss aesthetic seems more critical of ancillary quality. It's both quickening agent and spot light. The MiniMax tones down the spot light and pace. This doesn't steal much from subjective dynamics and nothing from bass punch. Those aspects seem quite disproportionate to component size and price in fact. They become distinct strong points and apparently are signature traits of the ESS chip. Plus, Alex Yeung clearly knows analog circuit design and how to get what one might vaguely think of as tone. In that ill-defined but intuitively relevant sense, the Weiss doesn't have it. The Weiss is more transparent, resolved and lean. With it, tone must come from elsewhere. To be cute, like certain Oriental noodles in the super market the MiniMax comes bundled with a little flavor pack.
Some of this can be explained in the specs. While the raw Sabre chip operates with 129dB of dynamic range, the MiniMax only realizes 95dB with its transistor outputs, a mere 90dB through the tube. It clearly throws away raw resolution. Weiss meanwhile specifies the DAC2 with an unweighted noise floor of 107dB. That difference should be audible and is.
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Back on 'tone', a perfect demonstrator was swapping out the Kaivalya tube monos for FirstWatt's F5 transistor amp still in direct drive.
The DAC2/F5 combo extremified speed and impact presence. For those listeners who particularly with recorded material not of ECM or m.a. recordings caliber would call the presentation too lean and zingy/zippy, the MiniMax will be literally and figuratively more their speed. We're back at the active preamp function mentioned earlier. Each audiophile has—should have—guilty pleasures. That's music mastered from average to poor. For me it's Arab Pop like Kadim Al-Sahir. Sadly that's often hard as nails. The MiniMax makes that rather more palatable than the Weiss. It's a reminder that raw resolution is a double-edged sword. As you hone it, the path of right(eousness) becomes narrower and narrower. It tolerates less and less casual behavior/material.
USB vs. BNC: With the Weiss providing a reclocked S/PDIF signal (I ran a very excellent $123 Black Cat Veloce cable into the EE's BNC connector), the MiniMax shed a few pounds to get a bit more luminous and a bit less fleshy. It felt like a small DAC2 infusion in fact. Since I couldn't compare USB to S/PDIF from the same source, it's academic to speculate whether the apparent resolution advantage for BNC was a function of the external (DAC2) master clock; less intrinsic jitter between inputs; or a combination of both. In any case, BNC was superior. If/when Alex adopts an async 24/96 or 24/192 USB transceiver, this small disparity could disappear. For now S/PDIF has an advantage. (I don't have AES/EBU digital links so didn't investigate that path.)
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Conclusion: Sonically, Eastern Electric's MiniMax is a first-order realsizer. Functionally, it just misses our associated award by limiting USB data to 16/44.1kHz. With his new DAC, Alex Yeung shows that he hasn't lost his 'golden' touch which made particularly his small preamp and phono stage so very popular. The MiniMax DAC continues tradition to fit right in. Who says you need to be rich to enjoy good sound? |
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Quality of packing: Good. Double-boxed, with impact foam cradles on each cheek.
Reusability of packing: A few times.
Ease of unpacking/repacking: Easy.
Condition of component received: Cosmetically flawless. The review sample couldn't properly stream 24/192 data. This was confirmed by the designer who assured us that it would be addressed quickly by altering the operating parameters of the op amp driver of the Sabre chip.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect.
Waranty: 2-year/90-day for machine/tube respectively, requires warranty card return within 14 days of purchase. Otherwise one year.
Website comments: Eastern Electric's own is very limited. Bill O'Connell's is far better and the one linked to below.
Human interactions: Prompt.
Pricing: Very high value.
Final comments & suggestions: At the time of this writing, USB was limited to 16/44. The designer announced that the next version would address this with a different USB receiver. An unusual highlight feature is the analog attenuator which allows non-lossy direct drive at all volumes. A wish list for a—more expensive—version includes 24/192 USB, remote control, one analog input (for an iPod dock for example), an indicator LED inside the volume knob and (again for iPod-type low voltage devices) a hi-gain switch.
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