[Levi]

The EE DAC is great with $20-40 tube. 

[mfsoa]

I see that someone mentioned RFT - The RFT 12AU7s have always worked very well for me in my VAC pre and amp, and I'm thinking would be good for this DAC as well.

Anyone try a La Radiotechnique? I have a pair - when I see you guys it'd be interesting to pop one in.

-Mike

[Levi]

Thanks Mike.  I have so many tubes that was loaned to me, I developed callus on my thumb and pointing finger from tube rolling already.  LOL.  Maybe Shek will try them.

[goldlizsts]

Hey Paul, It's only money.

I am having a decent tax season, so some client will be buying me a Siemens Silver Plate perhaps.  IF I can find one.  It's hard to get.  I googled, and came up with a German source.  But... that gentleman wants 100 euros.  That's $135.  Insane!?!?!?! 

It's only money! 

[jrebman]

Has anybody tried this dac fed by a bnc hiface into the bnc connection?  I'm sorry, but I cannot take any results obtained with an airport express as anything close to serious as IMO, the AE is perhapsthe worst piece of digital audio gear ever built.  Close anyway.  I'm not arguing the convenience factor, just the performance.

Robin and Gopher, I'm a tube guy and love the ultrasonic Rxs in any place where a damper works well.  Gopher, try the Rx -- it is an easily discernable upgrade from the Halo.  I was very skeptical that it could do any better so bought a couple on Steve's generous return policy, and not only is he not getting them back, he'll be getting orders for more when I can afford them -- for my new amps.

-- Jim

[Bill O'Connell]

Has anybody tried this dac fed by a bnc hiface into the bnc connection?  I'm sorry, but I cannot take any results obtained with an airport express as anything close to serious as IMO, the AE is perhapsthe worst piece of digital audio gear ever built.  Close anyway.  I'm not arguing the convenience factor, just the performance.

Robin and Gopher, I'm a tube guy and love the ultrasonic Rxs in any place where a damper works well.  Gopher, try the Rx -- it is an easily discernable upgrade from the Halo.  I was very skeptical that it could do any better so bought a couple on Steve's generous return policy, and not only is he not getting them back, he'll be getting orders for more when I can afford them -- for my new amps.

-- Jim

OK Jim,

 Herbies Ultrasonic Rx's it is.I'll order one for the DAC and a couple for some 12SX7's also.
 Wayne over at Bolder Cables was kind enough to let me have some of the Herbies( not sure if they were the Halo's or the damper after the Halo's) for the EL156 monoblocks after we showed together at the RMAF. I liked what they did so maybe these Ultrasonic Rx's will prove to be a substantial tweak.  Thanks for the heads up on these.
 Agree on the AE!

[sfox7076]

The AE is not the best piece of equipment made, but it is convenient and for my office system, it is what will work for me.  Is it the worst piece of digital audio gear ever made? Hardly.  I can name many DACs/CD players/DVD players that are worse than the AE and cost far more.  I like the EE DAC and what it offers, do I wish I didn't have to jump through hoops to get it to work with the AE initially, yes.  Is this a flaw of the AE?  Yes.  Is this a flaw of the EE Dac?  Yes.  It is what it is and regardless of which side has the bad implementation, it is clear that the newest AE does not play well with the EE DAC.  I am not saying that either party is going to address the issue (or even should), it is just a fact.  Apple could spend time to fix the issues, but they have not.  The EE DAC implementation could have, had they known of the issue, possibly found a work around.  They didn't.  The only point is that the AE N doesn't work well with the EE DAC for some reason.  For some this may be no issue because the AE is not a "serious piece of audio equipment" that should be used with the EE DAC.  But, for the average buyer from the masses who wants to use an AE, it is.  Again, I like my purchase and it is great for the AE G I have for my office.

[Levi]

Has anybody tried this dac fed by a bnc hiface into the bnc connection? 

Yes.  We listened to a PC Laptop with Hiface using a bnc input.  It sounds good.  I am not truly sold on hiface.  The regular USB connection works just fine since the ESS 9018 32bit Sabre dac has "time domain Jitter eliminator".   

[roscoeiii]

Levi,

Did you have a chance to A/B the HiFace and USB input on the DAC?

-Roscoe

[satfrat]

OK Jim,

 Herbies Ultrasonic Rx's it is.I'll order one for the DAC and a couple for some 12SX7's also.
 Wayne over at Bolder Cables was kind enough to let me have some of the Herbies( not sure if they were the Halo's or the damper after the Halo's) for the EL156 monoblocks after we showed together at the RMAF. I liked what they did so maybe these Ultrasonic Rx's will prove to be a substantial tweak.  Thanks for the heads up on these.
 Agree on the AE!

Hey Bob, I have both the Hal-O's and the RX-9's in my system and while the Hal-O work ok, the RX-9 is a much more refined dampening ring, highly more senstive to microvibrations. Works much better than the EE's dampening cover imho. 
 
Thanks Jim for the conformation, I'm glad it's just not me who loves these Herbie's RX-9 dampening rings . 
 
Cheers,
Robin
 

[jrebman]

Levy,

I'm guessing you didn't do any comparisons of high-res files ((unless they were resampled) through the usb input, and that's mainly where my interest lies.  I'll also have to take a closer look at Gordon's asyync usb-spdif converter -- if it's any near as good as other Wavelength products I've owned, it should be killer.

Thanks,

Jim

[Levi]

I heard the HiFace vs USB and did not hear a substantial jump in performance.  In my opinion, I don't remember hearing a difference or change in sound.  The sabre dac is that good!

[jrebman]

Hi Robin,

I'm guessing the tube cover in the EE dac is more of a shield than a damping device, in fact, the springs in these shields can often make the tubes more sensitive to vibrations.  Sometimes they are absolutely necessary for shielding and have to be left in place, but I found my EE CD player sounded better with them off and some halos on the tubes instead.  Unfortunately, I'm 100% computer driven now and don't have a disc spinner of any kind in the house, but the EE was one of my faves.  I shouldn't say unfortunately as everything is far more convenient now (imagine trying to be a blind librarian with hundreds and hundreds of CDs and albums to sort through when you want to listen to something ) but after countless dac and transport combinations in everything from the $200 to $10k range, the sound has never been better than it is now.

-- Jim

BTW, if you live in a place where you need the tube shield in place, the paint-on Anti-Vibration Magic (AVM) also works well on signal tubes that don't get too hot -- don't use this on your 6h30s, 5687s, or other preamp tubes that run very hot.

-- Jim

[jrebman]

Hey Bill,

When you get the Rx-9s, try playing with the position on the tube.  I found that when running the 6p15p-evs on my Carina that somewhere between 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom and 1/2 way down was the sensitive spot and depending on position I could tune for warmer or brighter presentation.  I'm not sure all tubes will respond like this, but it was really nice being able to dial in just the right balance to suit the room and speakers.  It does take patience, and eventually I made a small template out of a piece of popsicle stick to make sure I got them just where I wanted them and the same on both tubes.

-- Jim

[Bill O'Connell]

Hi Jim,

  I'll give that a try. Thanks

[carusoracer]

My impressions:

Off the top the unit is very, very good. I did not have the chance to try it with the USB computer connection. The configuration I used was RCA/Coax to transport and a Integrated Tube Amp.
-Soundstage: Exceptional
-Imaging: Very Good, I would like to have a touch more air, but still good.
-Dynamics: very realistically portrayed
-PRAT: This is where all of the EE products perform the best
-Sound: The unit can be tailored to any particular sound that you want with the usual PC, IC route , with the added bonus of tube rolling. While I have not settled in with my favorite tube yet, I did roll several others and the results varied as expected. It really takes the meaning of possible permutations to another level.
On a side note, I'm not sure why others did not like the Raytheon Triple Mica. My 55' really took off, as did the 61' Valvo. 
-Packaging: Very good, the instructions manual could be more elaborate for other applications. Boxing and labeling on the unit has a nice touch with the font and dials.
-Overall: My impressions of DAC's has changed considerably. I have listened to several for quite sometime and have not been that impressed. I had always had better luck with a good quality CDP and than modifying the unit.  I can not give good marks for tube rolling endeavors with pin socket...I had a tough time removing tubes and did not want to break a pin on some very old tubes. That did bring cause for concern as I was reluctant to swap. I do understand that the cover can be taken off, but I'm not comfortable with a unit I'm auditioning versus one that I own.

I could say that it comes very close to my reference in many ways and has a easy listening sound. The voicing is very good. Can it stand up to my reference, it really does not matter because it is at a different price point.  I think EE has hit a home run with the ESS Sabre technology and the multiple user inputs at a good, competitive price.

Great company to work with in Alex and Importer Bill!

[Levi]

+2

Agreed!

[Kinger]

I'm curious.......have any of you who own the EE DAC compared it in stock form to the sound of the Oppo 83SE?  Trying to decide on my next upgrade to the chain and am torn between the Oppo or a dedicated DAC with the sabre chip like the EE DAC or the DAC-1 from Wyred.

[goldlizsts]

Final Chapter - Rolling on Bill's  "good old" Tubes - Raytheon JAN-CRP-5814 & Valvo  ECC 186.

First, Bill, the box for the Valvo ECC 186 says Hewlett Packard 7316.  Likely the wrong box was used.

Both of these tubes are pretty good.  I am saying "pretty good" because after playing with the Valvo E80CC and the Siemens Silver Plate, these last two tubes are just good, compared to those two EXCELLENT 2.  I am by no means knocking these 2.  They are also no slouch, only that they are not in the league of the Valvo E80CC or the Siemens Silver Plate.

The Raytheon is clean, but not so magical, just on the polite side.  With the Siemens Silver Plate, the sound just immediately perk up one's ears, while the sound of the Raytheon is just smooth enough.

The Valvo ECC 186 is similar, only that it seems to give a deeper soundstage, harmonically a little richer.  The sound is more attractive.  The tone is firmer than the Raytheon.  I would say both are a tad on the soft side for my taste. 

[goldlizsts]

Hey Paul, It's only money.

Talk about money, I just thought of this.  I am glad I got this EE DAC.  I was supposed to get an Audio Note, just a kit even.  That would likely have cost me $2K.  Glad that the dealer didn't come through for me, so I saved a big bundle $$$  .  I should have thanked him for not doing me the service.  So after researching, and some people's + comments on the Sabre chip, I took a chance on the EE DAC.  It paid off huge!  .  The DAC is now spinning out Bach's violin concertos as I type, with the Mullard CV4003 in the belly.   Wonderful! Wonderful!  What's that, a Jonny Mathis hit!