Yet another guy seeking DAC advice

[spdif-usb]

The best piece of advice I am able to give you, check out the Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Plus. Don't let its price tag deceive you, please.

 

There aren't many reviews on this unit yet and also I'm a new forum member here but I swear, I do own this unit and I'm so blown away by what I'm hearing I just felt I had to share my opinion. Here's a review I found.

 

http://www.dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=931

 

I can confirm the asynchronous USB input of this DAC completely avoids the jitter problem, so no more expensive worrying about transports and cables.

 

Another important thing I've noticed is the extremely lifelike, organic character of the sound does not appear to be absent when using "lesser" quality source material. What I mean is, the openness and the emotionally connectingness of the sound does not go away regardless of whether you're listening to a CD, a vinyl record transferred to 24/96 FLAC files, a DVD-A or a Blu Ray.

 

The timbre reproduction fidelity and the immense resolution go hand in hand here, so no, this DAC does not, I reapeat DOES NOT sound "overly clinical" nor does it sound in any way artificial.

 

If there's one invisible DAC that reveals the flaws in a preamp, amp or speaker then the Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Plus will be it. Put simply, it's the nail in the skepticist's coffin.

 

Happy Halloween! :-)

 

[spdif-usb]

the trusted reputations of Ayre & Wavelength inspire a good bit of confidence in me

 

Rascal, sorry for my late reply.

 

I can understand your stance on typical "giants" but if there's one good lesson in audio I've learnt the hard way, it must be the fact sooner or later there will come along a "giant-killer".

 

When I said please don't let the price tag deceive you, perhaps I should have added "and don't let brand reputation deceive you either". Trust only your own ears and nothing else. If you have read the review I linked and have read it carefully, surely you must have noticed the author expressing some degree of worry about his own reputation. I know it's always easy for some guy claiming to be "experienced" to write up a gleaming review so in the end it's just asking for more skepticism. Or so it can appear.

 

Right now I am waiting for my Emotiva XPA-2 power amp to arrive. I live in Europe so it's a much more costly affair to me than it is to people who are located in continental U.S. but it doesn't really matter to me because I just know this amp's the one I want and have been dreaming about for so long it's driving me nuts.

 

Mr. Jürgen Röder of Canton replied to my e-mail inquiry regarding the relationship between the amount of amp power the XPA-2 can deliver and the Canton Vento 890.2 DC floorstanding speaker, by saying the Emotiva amp is "totally unknown here in Germany" but it "might work (even, if the power-output is a little bit oversized)".

 

... A "little" bit oversized. I included the link to the product page. Maybe he must have missed the "abominable snowman on steroids" part. Haha!

 

On topic, I believe "synergy" is the magic word we're looking for. What's a good DAC for if we don't have the gear that closely matches it as well as makes everything fit together well with our personal tastes, anyway?

 

As soon as my speakers have arrived too, I'll create a new topic on here. If things plan out just the way, it's going to be flamboyantly intoxicating! :-)