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Rega DAC vs. EE Minimax vs. Centrance vs. W4S 2

This is a summary of results comparing the Rega DAC against the W4S 2, Centrance Dacmini, and the Eastern Electric Minimax (First version).

The Rega has been running a signal since last Saturday, so according to some reports it may be about 150 hours from sounding it's best. The comparison to the W4S was done with a fully broken in Rega from Signature Sound. Powercord is a Pangea AC-14 (nothing fancy). The main sources were a Oppo DV981 and Macbook pro. System is Merlin TSM-MXr on Skylan stands, Manley Stingray II, MJ Acoustics 150 MK2 sub, Cardas wires.

Vs. Centrance DACmini
First of all...this thing is cool! It's perfect for a headphone system and it's form-factor matches the MACmini. Fed by the Oppo it provided fantastic midrange and smooth highs, but bass was less defined and a bit muddy. There seemed to be just a bit more glare from the DACmini as well, but it had a deeper soundstage than the Rega. The Rega had bass well handled and the soundstage was quite wide, especially on live recordings where it did a great job of capturing the scope of the venue. The owner of the DACmini and I agreed that that it had the Rega beat by a small margin in soundstage, but the Rega was the winner with better bass detail and less glare. Any change of cables or speaker or amp could probably swing the results differently.

Vs. Eastern Electric Minimax
I was excited to hear this unit since it's gotten a ton of good reviews. But...wow, my system did not agree with it. Here was (I assume) a good example of poor synergy. The Minimax sounded overly thick in the midrange (less so with the tube switched out) and this quality made it difficult to focus on it's clearly sweet high end. We tried it with some cheaper AQ cables, but this issue did not go away. My friend says it's quite stunning in his system and I don't doubt it, but in my system it was "thick" much like the modified Jolida 100a CDP I once owned.

Vs. W4S DAC 2
This unit was well burned in and it went up against the Demo Rega I auditioned in my system. The W4S 2 had a Signal powercord while the Rega had it's stock cord. I reviewed the Rega DAC in the review section and I have since concluded that the Rega's "less is more" design approach led to it's superior performance with Redbook CDs. It won mainly based on soundstage where it provided a deeper effect, while the W4S 2 floated a image well, but it was less dimensional. The W4S 2 seemed to extract a bit more detail, but also sounded too bright on some tracks. Once again we concluded that they were both doing a fine job and a change of associated gear could skew results differently. The W4S is certainly more versatile.

After listening to these units in my system and playing with some very pricey CDP's in recent months I've concluded that DAC's and CDP's offer the smallest upgrade range. Good DACs and CDP's are very close in performance so be suspicious when someone says one unit blows away another. As others have pointed out we get into some seriously expensive "diminishing returns" with this gear. I feel that the Rega (and I truly love the Centrance as well) offers great performance in the mid priced DAC arena. It bested the Audio Aero prima I tried and has better soundstage that several other units around the 5K mark. How it performs in a given system will be mostly a measure of the synergy with your other components and nothing definitive should be assumed by reading these findings or any other!

Cheers,

Rob
robbob
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hi robob:

are you referring to the inexpensive centramce dac sold by audiogon ?

regarding dacs and transports, the arguments for separtates, are in part analagous to the advantages for separates in other components.

dacs can have a tube, whereas most cd players don't. also some transports are servers and avoid the errors accompanied with spinning a disc.
face
516 posts
 
Having heard the DAC-2 in 6+ rigs, I scratch my head when I read that someone found it bright. Something else must be amiss in the room or rig. For example, the source they're comparing it to was warm or lush, the speakers, associated gear or cables are on the bright side, or the room is highly reflective.
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
I couldn't agree with you more Face although I've only heard the W4S in three systems. I would NEVER consider the word bright in describing this DAC, at least in the context of digital playback. Now when compared to analog they all sound bright in comparison, at least at this price point.
robbob OP
273 posts
 
Perhaps...in relation to the Rega, Centrance and EE, I should modify the observation as the W4S being brighter. The unit was the brightest of the units I heard. My merlin/Manley system is quite good at extracting detail, but I would not ever call it bright on it's own.
The W4S also had the most detail and I have always maintained that detail will exact a penalty on certain recordings. That said, I think the W4S sounds very good. I do believe I've read comments from people who found it bright in their system, but this cannot be applied to ALL systems.
As I tweak and adjust the Rega and get more out of it, everyone should keep in mind that I had no chance to tweak or adjust the other units, so my review of them is quite limited. Owners of these units should sit back and enjoy! Perhaps a carefully adjusted and cable matched EE would best my Rega. Why worry about it....too much good music is waiting!

Rob
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
From your observations Rob I have to conclude that there is a significant difference between the original EE and the Plus. Unfortunately I can't comment on the relative brightness you perceive concerning the W4S compared to the original EE and the Rega but only to the Plus, the OPPO 95, which uses the same Saber ESS 9018 chip and my NOS MHDT Havana. I get why some might prefer NOS over these highly resolving 32 bit DAC's, less extension in the upper frequencies which is on some recordings a double edged sword. The Havana is never offensive and always musically involving with a natural richness but the price is less detail. Interestingly enough I find the W4S has more fullness and tonal density than either the Plus or Oppo 95 in the midrange and more akin to the Havana in this area. What is most stunning with this DAC is the presentation of horn instruments which have the appropriate weight and tone I hear with real horns with subtle detail intact. The Plus doesn't quite get this to the same degree, lighter in comparison but in the upper midrange on up highlights the sense of space in the recording with the natural decay of instruments. Now the W4S and Oppo do this as extremely well too, the Sabre chip I suppose but the upper frequency air and sweetness that you note in the original EE is missing to a degree or two with the DAC 2 and OPPO, obvious tradeoffs. I would say overall that the Plus is more resolving and airier than either of the other two and I'm not too sure I could give up that upper frequency extension and sense of space along with the wonderful sweetness and delicacy, especially on the great recordings but it is a struggle deciding, let me tell you!

Now the differences I hear, actually both myself and my friend in both our systems is consistent, that is the intrinsic characteristics of all these DACs and the OPPO. So my wonder concerning your observations of the W4S being bright. I've heard it described as "cool" in the upper frequencies but bright, maybe compared with the Rega and Centrance and I would concede the Havana which is less resolving at the frequency extremes, certainly not the Plus or Oppo. I find any perceived brightness more related to the recording than the DAC's themselves, just my experience.

Further info on these observations is in order. I am using a JPS digital power cord, Illuminati and Stereovox digital coaxial cable, Stereovox 600 SEI cabling throughout and Stereovox Studio speaker cables. All DACs placed on Stillpoints.
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