elits

Me too had this question about the break in procedure. I decided to do the break in for 10 days. The one day in the tube mode and the other in the ss mode. Every day the sonic quality became better and better and better. After this I changed the stock tube with a NOS RCA and again the sonic quality became better. May be in the future I ll change the opamps and I am sure that the sonic quality will become better(as other owners of the first version have already posted). So expect to be suprised by the amelioration, but the basic sonic character of the dac was already present from the first day.

I totally agree with your last sentence. This is the real question. And this issue is not only economical but psychological also. From the internet reviews I ve red, I believe you that the Audiophelleo is better than the M2tech Asych USB connection which the MINIMAX has. Maybe some time in the future I ll buy a used Audiophelleo 2 or a second hand JKeny modified M2tech. Who knows. Till then I ll enjoy my choice, and i ll stop the hunting of the best dac my money can buy. Besides the MINIMAX gives me the opportunity to test differnt tubes and oppamps. Perhaps, if Iam lucky enough, I ll find a better combination which is closer to the sound I like , or closer to the Metrum Octave sound that you like better. Elias

The cost of Metrum + Audiophilleo exeeds the cost of minimax. I dont think its wise to invest so much money in digital gear, cause in 1-2 years will be outdated. The minimax is still cheaper than others, cause its a Chinese product, but with a fine quality.

Bill, Metrum Octave is a NOS dac. NOS dacs are in a different category than the others. I bought the EE mimimax dac, with the Sabre chip, cause I wanted RESOLUTION. I have a tube amp and I think is the best matching. NOS dacs are for those who prefer musicality, organic presentation and the best timbre reproduction. I think that my amp (Jadis DA-60) gives theese qualities to my soundsystem. So I decided to buy an analytical dac with the best spatial resolution and with an Asych USB input that allows the reproduction of Hi-Res audio files, from my netbook, which is my only source. So, the best dac for everybody does not exists.It depends on ......

I have bought it from the same german distributor, because I live in Europe / Greece. I have started the burning in process since the last 5 days. The first aspect that I was drawn to was how open and spacious the MM dac plus sounded. It has a smooth, laid back, "open" and relaxed presentation. Its sonic quality is refined with clarity and precission. Better than the benchmark dac1 pre which I owned. Great instrument separation in a 3d soundstage. Real reproduction of the recording space. No big differences between the tube and SS output stage. With the tube you can hear better the voices and the wind insruments. Recommended.