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The Eastern Electric DAC Mods are finally up on the website.EE DAC ModIf anyone is interested in ordering the mod, now it can be done direct from the websight.Lead time is about 2 weeks. If custom work and/or Paul Hynes regulators are wanted, that can lead to 4-8 month back logs.
Just curious... has anyone actually compared the modded EE DAC to a stock unit yet? I thought that a comparison to the base unit's performance was originally the raison d'etre for the tour when it was announced back in August last year.
Read the previous posts.
Musta blown right by me. Did you see one?
Seriously, Levi ( )... apart from all the snideness and smilies ( ), has anyone written up a head to head comparison between the Bolder modified tour EE DAC and the stock unit?
Methinks someone doesn't want to read through the thread... A number of us have offered feedback on it so far. There is also a pro review coming from Mike Peskin in the near future.
Why not hope on the tour list and give the DAC a listen for yourself?
I feel your agony Nick
The midrange besides being clean as a bornagain obsolved of his or her sin has taken on a dimensionality that previously was very good but now the 3rd dimension of presence of performers is touchable.If I had to guess it would be because Eastern Electric (Alex) does not push the tube to its limit, if anything,he tends to run the tubes on the low side of the medium range , where Wayne I believe likes to run the 12au7(in this case) at pretty much it's peak.You can tell , tube life may not last as long but it seems to really bring the tube flavour to the table.
My systems can be viewed in my signature. No need to talk about the stock DAC so I will jump right in.The fuse adds a lot of impact to the lower registers and ultimately the lower Bass. I confirmed this by playing my test tone disc. I knew my Salk HT3's dig deep but since I switched over from solid state to all tubes it is a different presentation The Pavane Tube is a winner in my book. I really liked the way it sounds in the DAC. I tried it also in the unmodded DAC and the Minimax PreAmp. I can not say that the Pavane could beat out some of the exotic tubes I have, but it was a serious contender. In the DAC it was a very, very good fit and made the unit more balanced with clarity in the Midrange.I really wanted to try the Bolder PC on another component as well but have not been able to do it properly with the time constraint.The Modded DAC overall has just more of everything especially when voiced as a package with the Pavane and Fuse. The presentation never seemed forced or overbearing, yet nice and relaxed, yet with presence, detail and dynamics.It could get a little hard and glassy on the ultimate poorly recorded early 80's CD's, but then again nothing seems to be able to cure that problem One thing I did notice on the stock DAC is I can alter the upper top end and some minor siblance with the volume control. I could never play it with knob all the way to max, obviously not the volume of the Amp! With the modded DAC for some reason I could not discern any difference I asked Wayne about it and the mods address the linearity of tube and seem to eliminate the sibilance often associated with gain. Wayne can give the more technical explanation.For the money it is very hard to beat the stock DAC. With the Mods it does take the DAC to another level, especially with the tube and fuse. I like both presentations in the Small bedroom unit. In the Big rig you can hear the differences very quickly, so it does leave the Audiophile wanting that last bit with more options. Great DAC and highly recommended, not only for the product and services from EE and Bolder, but for the outstanding gentleman involved with Alex, Bill and Wayne.Nice Job Wayne!
I am glad carusoracer spoke up first regarding his experience with the fuses in the minimax dac. I too am taking an Acme fuse for a spin in my DAC and heard an appreciable change in sound which I was almost afraid to report. Wayne noted a difference in sound depending on which way the fuse was oriented and marked the fuse, but did not tell me which way was his preference.What I expected from the silver plated fuses was a faster, more detailed sound albeit harmonically leaner. What I experienced was quite different. I tried it first with an end marked by Wayne facing away from the heart of the DAC and I *think* I detected a slight warming of the sound along with bringing a certain fuzziness to it. It felt like there was a touch more body but also a weird diffused/unfocused quality. I may have preferred stock to this configuration.After that I threw in the fuse with marked end facing toward the heart of the DAC and focus seemed better and I think I still heard a slight warming of the sound (which isn't what I expected with silver plated fuses) and perhaps a little additional harmonic development. I also noted things sounding a little more relaxed/at ease as well... Son of a gun, the change of a fuse was meaningful!
I spent a few hours with the modified DAC last night and my first impressions are pretty darn favorable. I could tell right off the bat it was an appreciable upgrade to the stocker in terms of clarity while being weightier/more harmonically developed while having a bolder, more vivid quality. It wasn't quite gelling with the interconnects I used on my stock dac with Siemens Silverplate tube, but after an epiphany, I tried another IC and it balanced things our really well--I ended up listening into the late night.I'll post some more detailed thoughts as I continue to listen, but my first night with it was quite enjoyable.
Levi, leading edge/attacks are damn good and excitement is there in full force, but I need to A/B to really get a feel there as the stock dac is not a slouch in that department. Today what I'm hearing is depth, definition wonderful staging and an uber natural tone. Liquid, bold and beautiful--this thing really jumps up a notch.Wayne, I can tell this modded DAC is driving the tubes far harder then the stock dac--when I was going to roll them before the 12au7 was actually hot and I had to hold off longer than with my stock... What does this mean for tube life? The Pavanes aren't cost prohibitive, but they certainly aren't cheap--nor are the other nice NOS choices.Also, does the tube toggle actually STOP the tube from being powered/killing its life when idle with your mods?Yowser--this thing warmed up/stablized really is damn good... I liked it yesterday, but today I'm fearing for my coin purse.Edit: I should also note this bass hits harder.
The quality of this modified DAC has continued to impress me deeply. I was content with the stock EE DAC, but the Level 1 modifications really do raise the bar appreciably. The inherent musicality of the DAC is still intact but there is just a lot more information being presented... Enough that I'm questioning the true value of my ~$13k analog setup... Enough that I'm in purchase talks with Wayne for mods to my own DAC.I don't like expensive mods--I recognize the value they present for the dollar, but I always had a problem with the residual values of the unit. In this instance, I'm not sure I'd ever need 'better' sounding digital so I think I'm gonna take the plunge in contemplation of retaining this DAC for some time... Now, time to sell off hobby extras to fund these mods!
General consensus - very transparent, fast, and very big soundstage.Then, I've had it under audition in my listening environment for the past few days. With the stock EE DAC, thanks to the virtue of the Sabre chip, the soundstage and detailing ability of the Sabre chip was already appreciated out of the box. With this souped up Bolder Cable version, it's even more impressive. The audition unit has a Psvane in it, so the soundstage was further enhanced because of its somehow wonderful capacity in this department. Because the tonality of the Psvane is, as others have said, just right, not too dense, not too lean, the imaging, along with the soundstaging, was exemplary. The one thing I would like to add perhaps is, if nobody had mentioned (the thread has become so loooong, don't mind my senility!), the modded EE DAC has more energy. Perhaps that's due to the better parts added, and Wayne's upgrade in some departments. The modded DAC I think has a higher output (didn't Wayne say that?). With the stock EE, I'd have to crank the volume up say a couple of notches to match the sound level of the BC unit.My unit has a CV4003 in it, so the one thing I'd like to add is that my unit seemed to be a bit denser in the middle. I am a 6SN7 person, so this quality I don't mind having at all. The Bolder unit is more open comparatively of course. So, I wouldn't mind owning the Bolder unit, with the mods, of course. But... I first have work to do, $800 or not?Oh, almost forgot. I used the power cable that came with the package much of the time. I also discovered, again, the heavy influence a P/C has on the sound coming out of the boxes. I switched my P/Cs around the various units I have (surrounding the Bolder/EE DAC), Cardas, DIY no-name, Harmonic Technology, Audience, in different combinations and alignments, before and after my 2 Ultimate Outlet (HC) boxes. The results were surprising. There was so much variation in the ultimate sound that I was very shocked. One big reason why we sometimes blow so much $$ on this so-called audiophile game, searching for the Holy Grail. I am no expert in this hi-fi game. Those are the words on my take of the Bolder modified EE DAC, IMHO, so to speak.
