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Eastern Electric Tube DAC Aug 7th, 2010 | By Daryl H. | Category: Review, Special Picks We’ve Got Trouble On Our HandsRiding the wave of newly released DAC’s utilizing the 32-bit Sabre chip, Eastern Electric has released the Minimax Tube DAC at a very tempting price. For $750 they’ve put out a DAC that’s both cheaper than the Peachtree Audio Nova and Wyred4Sound DAC-1, but with it’s own unique set of features, the main one being a
bypassable tube amp stage, as well as a phase switch option. Although manufacturing is done in China, Bill and Alex are just one part of the American branch and the ones responsible for North American distribution. After exchanging a few pleasant email exchanges with Bill, we had do the review. Bill seemed extremely confident in his product and this only served to pique my curiosity even more. After hearing Bill’s comments such as “the audiophile industry is in for trouble” and “we’ve got trouble on our hands”, I had to get my hands on this thing. And so the wheels were set in motion for yet another 32 -bit Sabre-based DAC review.
The Package Arrives…Four days later, I woke up to someone knocking on my door. Usually something I hate. Is it the IRS? My landlord? To my delight it was the UPS man holding a package with the words ‘Eastern Electric’ clearly visible on the label. I practically knocked out the UPS delivery guy, as I snatched the package from his arms and took off in my boxers towards my listening station. After I made some coffee, and got myself somewhat put together, I grabbed the box, a butter knife, and I’m sure you can guess the rest. Inside the box, Eastern Electric has included a power cable and a very thorough users manual. After I removed what seemed like 17 layers of bags and styrofoam, I finally unearthed the DAC itself, and I was pleasantly surprised by the build quality. The photo’s on Eastern Electric’s website really do not do this DAC any justice. It is built solidly with aluminum knobs on the front that are hefty, yet responsive, and the buttons and lights on the front give off a very professional, yet fun vibe. Flip the DAC around, and we find 5 digital inputs with toslink, coax, BNC as well as USB support. Quite impressive.
Smooth and OrganicAs I looked all around my coffee table at the mess I had created. Boxes everywhere, packaging material, an empty coffee cup, a butter knife. I decided enough is enough, it’s time to hook this thing up and see if Bill’s claims were warranted. In my initial test, I swapped out the Peachtree Nova, and inserted the Eastern Electric Minimax Tube DAC in the following configuration.
Macbook Alu –> Halide Design Bridge –> Black Cat Veloce Cable –> Minimax DAC –> Lake People Violectric HPA181 (via RCA)
–> Beyerdynamic T1I threw on the Beyerdynamic old warhorse, sat back in my chair, flipped on the DAC and began listening. Upon hitting play, a few a characteristics became immediately evident. The music I was hearing sounded natural and effortless, yet ruthlessly detailed. There was certain level of smoothness unique to the Minimax. The Wyred4Sound DAC-1’s main characteristic is it’s smooth demeanor, but comparing the two DAC’s, the Minimax sounded more natural and organic which I preferred. Listening to Jaga Jazzist – Animal Chin, a chaotic, progressive composition of Scandinavian jazz-fusion, the music sounded just more enjoyable, for lack of a better description. The Wyred4sound was smoother and instruments seemed to be glossy and pretty, but the Minimax was organic, back down to earth, yet still highly musical. Another thing I noticed about the Minimax was it’s handling of bass and lower frequencies. While it was tight and accurate, it had more presence, then the Wyred4Sound DAC and Neko Audio MK2. Is this good or bad? For me, it was excellent as some would consider the two previously mentioned DAC’s neutral or accurate, while I would call them a little bass shy. The Minimax did not let me down in this area one bit.
Tube EngagedAs I continued skipping through various FLAC files in iTunes, I soon realized that the tube was in fact disengaged. Eastern Electric named this the TUBE DAC, so I can only assume it sounds at it’s best with the tube engaged. The Minimax utilizes a single 12au7 tube employed in the amplification stage, not just as a tube buffer but as a true tube output (per Morningstar Audio’s website). The Peachtree Audio also has this lovely feature, but when running out to an external amp, the tube is not utilized. In other words, the tube is only used when using the built in speaker amp or headphone amp, and seeing as the Nova is primarily being used as a DAC hooked up to other sources, this makes the tube very limited in it’s use (or useless). Going back to the Minimax, engaging the tube resulted in a warmer, more laidback sound. Edge’s were softened, tonality changed. I felt like someone had poured syrup down the back of my neck and depending on who you are this could be amazing, or not so amazing. Bill made mention of the versatility of the tube being used with harsh recordings, or for a more relaxing listening session, and this is exactly the impression I got of the tube when engaged. So in answer to my question, the Minimax really does sound at it’s best with the tube engaged.
A Quick Word On The Various InputsFor the sake of the review, I removed the Halide Design Bridge out of the equation. For those who don’t know, the Bridge is a USB to S/PDIF converter, which gives you a “bridge” from your computer to a S/PDIF capable DAC. As Macbooks only do Toslink, the Bridge presents a superior solution for getting those 1’s and 0’s out of your computer and into the DAC of your choice. So, I retired the Bridge for the evening and connected my Macbook to the Eastern Electric via TOSlink cable. The sound seemed to lack bite compared to what I had been listening to. I should mention this is common occurance, as a coax connection is ussualy always the superior option to TOSlink. With that said, it’s not as if the sound was bad by any means, it simply just means COAX was subtly preferable, as it always is. I then tested the Tube DAC’s own USB solution. According to Bill the Minimax utilizes an 48kHz USB design, not asynchronus. What this mean in regards to sound, will be interpreted differently depending on who’s reading this, but my impression after actually having heard it is positive. The Matrix Mini-I seemed to have gap in quality between it’s USB and toslink. The Minimax tube DAC in contrast, did not really have a gap so to speak. I could pick out differences in sound, but I am not sure which of the two inputs I preferred, which should be considered a compliment.
Editor’s Choice? You Betcha!To conclude, the Eastern Electric Tube DAC is an absolute monster. It’s resolving power is off the charts, it handles bass extremely well, and it can take every input known to man. On top of this, I greatly enjoyed the flexibility of being able to toggle between the tube and SS circuitry. While it may sound ‘gimmicky’ or unnecessary to some, I found it an absolute pleasure to toy around with, and there was nothing more satisfying than kicking back, flipping the tube on and just chilling out to the sounds of Greyboy Allstars instrumentals. If I was really being picky, I would knock the Minimax for not having more versatile outputs (no XLR, no balanced), and it’s never fun to have tubes that you can’t see (let us enjoy our tubes and burn our fingers man), but these are very superficial criticisms that do nothing to detract from the Minimax’s true value. The bottom line is this thing is a giant killer. It is the best Sabre-based DAC I’ve heard, which is impressive considering the Peach Tree Audio Nova and Wyred 4 Sound DAC are a few hundred dollars pricier. I will even one-up this by saying the Eastern Electric Tube DAC is the best DAC I’ve heard next to the Red Wine Audio Isabellina, which I felt had a clearer edge. Keep in mind the Isabellina is $1500, where as the Eastern Electric Tube DAC is $750. I cannot recommend it enough, and have awarded it this months Editors Choice award without question. Bill wasn’t so crazy after all!
One Comment to “Eastern Electric Tube DAC”
opiforest says:
August 8, 2010 at 12:25 am
sounds awesome, i might have to check out a used one if any pop up.
question though….you mention 5 inputs, but only have four listed? did you leave out xlr?
