Should I expect much in swapping out a DAC almost 10 years old?

Kinger · « **on:** 9 Jan 2021, 10:03 pm »

Hi all,

Been a while since I’ve been active on the AC, but having young kids and limited time for listening had me doing other things. Now that the kids are older and my listening location has moved to my unfinished basement I find myself actively listening to music once again.

As the title states my DAC is an almost 10 year old Eastern Electric Minimax Dac. I’m curious if people think that DAC tech has changed enough in the last 10 years to perhaps justify a replacement of it at a price point of perhaps a 1.5k ceiling?

Jon L · « **Reply #1 on:** 9 Jan 2021, 10:42 pm »

You have the original Minimax not Minimax Plus DAC?
Either way, it is a well-built unit using high quality parts, both using Sabre 9018 DAC chips. I regret selling my Minimax Plus to a friend who insisted on it.
With the tube taken out, using solid state output with op-amps changed to good discrete op-amps, its sound quality will be competitive with DAC's within your budget.

Kinger · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Jan 2021, 10:52 pm »

Thanks Jon. I have yet to change the op amps in mine and usually listen via the tube although the difference between the two seems slight indeed.

Kinger · « **Reply #3 on:** 9 Jan 2021, 10:59 pm »

Oh mine is also not the plus as my USB input is limited to red book quality.

Rusty Jefferson · « **Reply #4 on:** 9 Jan 2021, 11:43 pm »

DACs have improved a lot in the past decade, especially in terms of resolution. At your price point, a Chord Qutest would be a good option. You might have enough left over to get a good digital cable as well. I believe Stereophile has a review of the Qutest.

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 12:17 am »

You should hear a difference. Agree with the Chord DAC but also consider a used gen5 Yggdrasil or the Unison Multibit Gungnir DAC. The Gungnir is a no brainer given Schiit's return policy..

jjss49 · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 05:05 am »

i would agree with what has been posted

from your starting point, you will hear a noticeable improvement with a modern dac from chord, (upper) schitt, mhdt or others

many many good ones out there around a grand or thereabouts

fado · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 05:59 am »

I have heard very good things about the Border Patrol DAC but have never listened to one. The price point is about right.

Rocket · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 12:22 pm »

Hi,

If you haven't swapped out the opamps you should give it a try. I have the minimax plus and the pampas provided a large improvement and is easy to do and was inexpensive to do so.

Cheers Rod

JLM · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 12:29 pm »

In terms of specifications there are loads of cheaper DACs that will trounce your EE DAC and be compliant with current higher resolution formats. Topping is a brand that comes to mind.

Had an original EE DAC briefly. Agree that the tube did little good, even swapping it out for their recommended $50 tube made no difference. In my mind a question of the emperor's new clothes.

Kinger · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 01:30 pm »

Thank you everyone for your comments. I suppose I should also point out that I'm probably not necessarily looking for more ultra detail retrieval as I always here people talking about with DAC's, but rather more of that musicality or realness. By looking at my system specs I think it's safe to say I by no means am spending a fortune (at least by audiophile standards) in this hobby, but I feel like what I do have is great for their relative price points. I've been quite pleased with what I've heard via the EE DAC over the years and I'm not slighting it at all, it's more just a question of what might be new or worth the cost in tech 10 years later.

From the reviews I've read the Chord Qutest does have some appeal based on reviewer descriptions of the sound, but the price isn't exactly cheap that's for sure.

rbbert · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 02:07 pm »

If you are willing to go up to $2000-2500 retail (maybe less for lightly used), Schitt, Mytek, Denafrips, Benchmark and others have some premium products that are often cited as “punching above their weight” class. And in most cases the main selling point (true or not) is musicality, which of course means different things to different people.

Maybe your stimulus check (if you are in the US) can allow you to go up slightly in price, because this is a place where a little extra outlay gets you a good return in extra quality.

rodge827 · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 02:11 pm »

A lot of “new” Dac tech comes down to your intended use. If you stream and download very high res music above what the EE can reproduce then upgrade. If you don’t do ultra high rez then do some of the suggested mods and spend the rest on more music. If you purchase a new Dac you will notice a change in sound but is it better? Probably not...just different and is the difference worth the cost?

opnly bafld · « **Reply #13 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 02:28 pm »

Quote from: rodge827 on 10 Jan 2021, 02:11 pm

A lot of “new” Dac tech comes down to your intended use. If you stream and download very high res music above what the EE can reproduce then upgrade. If you don’t do ultra high rez then do some of the suggested mods and spend the rest on more music. If you purchase a new Dac you will notice a change in sound but is it better? Probably not...just different and is the difference worth the cost?

+1

Rusty Jefferson · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 02:36 pm »

Quote from: Kinger on 10 Jan 2021, 01:30 pm

...From the reviews I've read the Chord Qutest does have some appeal based on reviewer descriptions of the sound, but the price isn't exactly cheap that's for sure.

I should have said used, of course. My bad. I see them for $1.2k‐$1.5k used

There is ultra-detailed, and there is improved resolution. They are different, but like all things stereo, you have to experiment. Just before the pandemic, I tried all 3 of the mentioned dacs, the Qutest, the Yiggy, and a Topping DX7 Pro along with some friends and their systems. My system is a secondary whole house type that my wife regularly uses. I let her pick the sound she preferred and she chose the Topping. I preferred the Qutest. Neither of us cared for the Yiggy. But when we took all 3 dacs to the others houses, there was unanimous agreement that the Yiggy sounded best in one of them. The Qutest sounded very good in all 3. Go figure.

rbbert · « **Reply #15 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 04:51 pm »

Quote from: rodge827 on 10 Jan 2021, 02:11 pm

A lot of “new” Dac tech comes down to your intended use. If you stream and download very high res music above what the EE can reproduce then upgrade. If you don’t do ultra high rez then do some of the suggested mods and spend the rest on more music. If you purchase a new Dac you will notice a change in sound but is it better? Probably not...just different and is the difference worth the cost?

I don’t know about the EE unit specifically, but other ESS 9018 based DACs of that vintage are a clear step below the units I mentioned above. How much that matters is an individual decision; despite having home systems costing well into 5 figures I still enjoy listening to 320k AAC files on my Bose car stereo.

rollo · « **Reply #16 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 04:57 pm »

Much improvement has bee n made in 10 years. iFi, Schitt, Mearason. Depends on budget and features desired.

charles

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 06:21 pm »

Here is a Chord Qutest for $1500

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa7g31-chord-company-qutest-da-converters

trackball02 · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Jan 2021, 09:17 pm »

Kinger,
I had a Electric Minimax Plus Dac (not modified) and decided to upgrade to a pro audio DAC, Crane Song Solaris. The new units are 2,000 but I'm sure there are used ones.
In my system, it was a definite improvement over the Minimax. I highly recommend the Solaris. The only drawback is that there is no MQA or DSD compatibility. There are only XLR connections.

The Solaris is just a no nonsense solid unit without the worry that the manufacture comes out with frequent upgrades. I like stability with pro audio. It also has a very good headphone amp.

As far as Topping DACs. I recently purchased a Topping E30 for my home office. It's pleasant, measures well and is great for background listening. The Solaris is superior to the Topping when I rotated the Topping into my main system.

Rocket · « **Reply #19 on:** 11 Jan 2021, 12:48 pm »

Hi,

I still think for a small amount of money you could upgrade the eastern electric minimax and obtain a really nice improvement. If you want to spend more its up to you

.

https://darko.audio/2011/10/burson-op-amps-in-the-eastern-electric-minimax/

https://sparkoslabs.com/reviews/discrete-regulator-and-op-amp-review-eastern-electric-minimax-dac/

Cheers Rod