Eastern Electric's new tube DAC using ESS Sabre??

i have the sabre dac and will be reviewing it. have patience.

i recently reviewed the dac on audiophilia.com.

i welcome your feedback.

in addition to the fact that other parts affect the performance of the dac, haveing a 32 bit chip does not guqrantee superior sound. there are other dacs using 32 bit chips, that may not outperofrm dacs having 16 or 24 bit chips.

i liked the minimax and will buy it . the tube provides flexibility to "shape" its sound.

hi mike:

i did briefly hook up a tube preamp but did not notice much of a difference in performance, so i discontinued its use and did not mention it.

i have a reference recording 24/172 sampler and listened to one of the tracks, rachmaninoff symphonic dances, thru the minimax, mentioned in my review (audiophilia.com), which sounded stunnning, better than most other discs i have heard.

according to bill of morningstar audio, the dac will output 24/176.

i have several reference recording hi rez dvrs. the hi rez format seems to render timbre and space more like a live concert than its redbook counterpart. you can read my review on audiophilia.com .

there have been allusions to the house sound of the ee dac. i found that with certian tube gear, the sound was on the warm side.

you can seee what equipment i used on audiophilia.com .

i had both dacs but did not compare them directly. considering the relative prices, i bought the ee dac and was not at all impressed with the neko dac.

i'm not criticizing any aspect of the performance of the neko dac, but there was nothing outstanding about it.

the ee dac is very versatile and offers the opportunity to use at least two different 12 volt tubes, namely 12au7 and 12atz. note, the section of the ee dac that useses a tube is a gain stage not a buffer stage. be careful of the gain of the tube you use. i am not sure that a 12ax7 would work as well, as it is a higher gain tube than a 12au7. you might also try a 12ay7.

i had the opportunity to buy the neko dac, reviewed it and sent it back. you can read my review on audiophilia.com.

my system is a bit attenuated in the highs, so i am currently using an rca 12at7.

it is my observation that the ee dac is not tube sensitive. while changes will occur when subsituting different tubes, i believe the chnages are small and not significant.