Eastern Electric DAC

buzz · « **Reply #880 on:** 29 May 2011, 03:05 am »

Quote from: MrScary on 19 May 2011, 03:57 am

New EE DAC features coming in September

Thanks for your interest of our new model MiniMax DAC MKII. You are really fast getting the news.

It is a whole upgrade, it features...

Sabre ES9018...

As the dropout issue has been blamed on the use of this chip, you have decided for me that I will not be waiting for the upgrade. There are just too many other good 24/192 DACs to accept the risk of incompatibly with MAC toslink .

hifimark · « **Reply #881 on:** 8 Jun 2011, 12:14 pm »

To EE:

I bought EE minimax D/A a mont ago.
The Toslink cannot accept 192khz/24bits input
while Coaxial and BNC work fine at this rate.

I would like to have a suggested solution.

The machine's sound is impressive.

Thanks in advance.
HiFimark

roger15ohm · « **Reply #882 on:** 5 Jul 2011, 09:03 am »

Hi guys,

Besides then tube rolling and Opamps upgrades, any other recommendation? How about upgrade the output caps?

Thanks.

rodge827 · « **Reply #883 on:** 5 Jul 2011, 11:36 am »

Hey,

Wayne is selling the modded tour dac $1500.00 obo.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=96068.0

Levi · « **Reply #884 on:** 5 Jul 2011, 12:55 pm »

You can upgrade all the capacitors and replace all diodes. You can also add a cascade current source kit for the tube side and bypass the solid state output caps. I am currently waiting for a power supply upgrade so if you can figure that out, please let us know.

Upgrading the output caps alone does not yield any improvement to my ears.

If you are unsure how to implement all the upgrades above, please seek professional help.

Good luck!

Quote from: roger15ohm on 5 Jul 2011, 09:03 am

Hi guys,

Besides then tube rolling and Opamps upgrades, any other recommendation? How about upgrade the output caps?

Thanks.

slee · « **Reply #885 on:** 18 Jul 2011, 02:38 pm »

Hello everyone. For all that are experiencing dropoffs with your ee dac, I use the aes and toslink inputs only, and have been getting periodic dropoffs since I've put it in my system. A week ago I placed a cardas cap on the unused rca input. I haven't had a single dropoff since. So if you are not using the rca plug, try it. Could be that the nasty rfi/emi are contaminating the single?

rollo · « **Reply #886 on:** 18 Jul 2011, 02:58 pm »

Quote from: rodge827 on 5 Jul 2011, 11:36 am

Hey,

Wayne is selling the modded tour dac $1500.00 obo.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=96068.0

Jump in , a great product. Not a dealer for EE or Bolder.

charles
SMA

Turnandcough · « **Reply #887 on:** 19 Jul 2011, 02:22 am »

A bit off topic but possibly relevant nonetheless.
There's a thread over on Head-Fi discussing the fact that Audio-GD is supplying improperly wired power cords with their gear.

Quote

The cords are wired such that they tie AC mains HOT to IEC neutral. This is a violation against code and presents an increased risk of shock, fire and/or equipment damage.

From what I understand they are wired to Chinese standards and are not compliant to North American standards. I was just wondering if there's any possibility that the AC cable that came with the EE DAC could be wired in the same manner.
I don't want to be an alarmist but I would just like to rule out any possibility of getting zapped or watching my house go up in flames because my DAC's power cord is incompatible with NA standards.

Gopher · « **Reply #888 on:** 19 Jul 2011, 02:46 am »

Doubtful, but its a generic cord anyway. If you've got any concern just use a different IEC cable--most of us hobbyists have draws full of them, many never used as we've got aftermarkets.

It should not be a legitimate concern.

roscoeiii · « **Reply #889 on:** 19 Jul 2011, 03:00 am »

Yeah, let's definitely not jump to the conclusion that this is a problem with any Chinese made piece of gear. Bill and Alex deliver great products and I think the suggestion made without any actual evidence is pretty offensive.

If a Ford car has brake problems would you worry that a GM or Chrystler would have the same?

Levi · « **Reply #890 on:** 19 Jul 2011, 03:21 am »

There is no problem with mine.

I would assume it would be the same for all EE DAC here in US.

Turnandcough · « **Reply #891 on:** 19 Jul 2011, 12:47 pm »

Quote from: roscoeiii on 19 Jul 2011, 03:00 am

Yeah, let's definitely not jump to the conclusion that this is a problem with any Chinese made piece of gear. Bill and Alex deliver great products and I think the suggestion made without any actual evidence is pretty offensive.

If a Ford car has brake problems would you worry that a GM or Chrystler would have the same?

It was by no means meant to be offensive. I'm very happy with my EE DAC just as many Audio-GD owners appear to be with theirs it's just a question of Chinese standards vs North American standards not brand A vs brand B. These DACs are developed, built and tested in China not North America.
Most of the generic cords that I have lying around are made in China also and to be honest I plug/unplug gear so often that I can't say for sure that the cord that I'm using with the EE is the original one.
I guess other than testing the Made in China cords my safest bet would be to go out and buy a Made in USA aftermarket cord. Or I could keep a fire extinguisher close by and use heavy rubber gloves when I handle my Made in China gear.

srb · « **Reply #892 on:** 19 Jul 2011, 01:10 pm »

Quote from: Turnandcough on 19 Jul 2011, 12:47 pm

I guess other than testing the Made in China cords my safest bet would be to go out and buy a Made in USA aftermarket cord.

No, with anyone easily able to become a cable "manufacturer" with no technical expertise requirements, certifications or electrical association approvals, any IEC cord could be potentially mis-wired and the safest bet would be to put an ohmeter on any power cord to determine if it has correct polarity, regardless of the country of manufacturing origin.

Steve

John151 · « **Reply #893 on:** 10 Aug 2011, 02:11 am »

When Bill first posted about the EE DAC, I was dead set against the volume knob - didn't want it in the signal path as I did not think I would ever use it. Well, my Pre-Amp went south on me last night, leaving me high and dry. I was really bummed until I realized that the EE DAC has a volume knob, so anything that runs thru the DAC can be play w/o the pre-amp. I have never been able to get the Motorola/Comcast DVR to work with the DAC, so SB3 and Oppo DVD player only. However, I just switched cable companies today, so I connected the new Cisco box to the EE DAC - works fine after I un-selected "Dolby Digital" in the cable box. So, my little EE DAC is now serving the role of DAC and Pre-Amp. Sweet. Now I need to go and give a close listen to some tunes and see how this set up sounds.

Thanks Alex and Bill for the volume knob that I did not want, but now need!

Gopher · « **Reply #894 on:** 24 Aug 2011, 04:13 pm »

Do you guys have any thoughts transport wise about the Bolder modified Squeezebox Touch vs. a software optimized MacMini?

I've got a Bolder modded EE DAC and Bolder modded Touch now and I'm really preferring the interface of the macmini and I'm 'invested' in this DAC beyond its retail. I thought briefly about jumping ship and buying the new EE DAC with the async usb (for macmini use) but I don't think the plus will perform up to the Level 1.

That said, if I'm listening to primarily 16/44 music anyway and have the same digital cables (Wywire SPDIF & Wywire USB) would it be a silly move to buy replace my Touch with a Macmini? I have spent very limited time with the USB input, but understand it to be inferior to the other inputs.

ted_b · « **Reply #895 on:** 24 Aug 2011, 04:58 pm »

Fred,
The standard (or modded) EE DAC's USB is only average at best, so if you went Mac Mini you'd want to do optical (no, not worth it) or buy a SPDIF/USB converter. No reason to...stick with your SB. Streamed TCP/IP is actually quite a good transport theory. I'm not a huge fan of SB's DACs and analog section, but as a 24/96-or-less transport it's actually very good. Especially since it's modded too.

Wayne1 · « **Reply #896 on:** 24 Aug 2011, 05:09 pm »

What you use with the EE DAC is entirely up to you. There are a few things to consider.

The USB input on the 1st gen EE DAC does not sound anywhere near as good as the coax inputs.

The Mac Mini uses a switching power supply that does degrade the sound. A linear supply can be used with the Mac Mini for an additional charge.

To get the most out of a Mac Mini, additional music player software should be purchased.

A lot of the functions of the Mac Mini should be shut down.

Natively, the Mac Mini will not play flac files.

The Mac Mini will need to use a USB to SP/DIF convertor to interface with the EE DAC. The Mac Mini will be sending noisy power along the USB cable to power most USB to SP/DIF convertors.

All of these "problems" with the Mac Mini can be corrected, for a price.

For higher res 24/176, 24/192 a properly set up Mac Mini with all the options can sound wonderful. But it will cost quite a bit more than the Touch.

For 16/44.1 and 24/96 the Touch, with mods, is one of the better players available.

Gopher · « **Reply #897 on:** 24 Aug 2011, 05:39 pm »

Thanks for the thoughts guys.

I don't really have any qualms with the Bolder SB Touch transport SQ wise, but what I do lust after a bit is the interface of the macmini. Seeing the album art screen savers on my tv, having Genius functionality, using my ipad2 or touchpad as remotes--it just seemed like a slicker option and I suspected it could be an easy/no out of pocket swap.

It sounds like things aren't that simple and adding new PSUs, usb/spdiff interfaces and software (I liked pure music at my buddy's place) would skyrocket the cost and not necessarily be an upgrade... just cooler looking.

Maybe I need to be satisfied with MusicIP taking a full 24 hours to index my library... That and squeezeserver crashing every time I search for new/changed music. Grr

srb · « **Reply #898 on:** 24 Aug 2011, 05:40 pm »

Quote from: Wayne1 on 24 Aug 2011, 05:09 pm

The Mac Mini will need to use a USB to SP/DIF convertor to interface with the EE DAC. The Mac Mini will be sending noisy power along the USB cable to power most USB to SP/DIF convertors.

You may prefer to use a USB to coaxial S/PDIF converter instead of the Mac Mini's optical S/PDIF for potentially better sound quality and/or > than 24/96 capability, but the optical output can certainly be used for up to 24/96 and is most likely a better choice than the EE Minimax DAC's (original version) USB input.

A high quality USB to coaxial S/PDIF converter can later be added particularly if an in-home demo can demonstrate the improved sound quality.

Steve

roscoeiii · « **Reply #899 on:** 24 Aug 2011, 06:11 pm »

Fred,

I love my headless Mac Mini, I control it via my laptop using screen sharing, and there are some great audio players out there for Mac. Both Pure Music and Fidelia are great and reasonably priced.

When I had an EE DAC, the optical didn't always work great with my Mac Mini (an older model). I think that this is because my Mac Mini has some fairly nasty jitter on the optical output (not sure if new models improve on this, but I have also read that outside the first generation of Apple AirPort Expresses, the subsequent Airport Expresses have high jitter issues as well). IIRC, the Sabre chip can be pretty sensitive to jitter. So I would recommend going with a USB-SPDIF converter. With the EE DAC you could use an M2Tech HiFace, with BNC no less. I did that and it worked great. Other more recent converters that have gotten good reviews are the new April Music converter (see the 6moons review) and the Audiophilio converters (also reviewed at 6moons IIRC). And there are others from Musical Fidelity, Audio gd, etc. A number of solid choices at different price points it seems.

But I do really love the MacMini interface options for playing my digital files.