Battery powered DAC

Sedond is *special*. Ewe would have to go to his house--I mean--year round vacation ranch!!!

I'd say battery supplies are getting more common in hi-end gear for obvious AC noise reasons. My Merlin VSM's use the battery BAM. Most everyone whose heard it would agree the full on battery mode on the BAM is the most desirable setting available. More transparency, blacker background, etc.

Anyone else see the new Sutherland phono stage advertised in the newest Absolute Sound. For $3K you get a unit that has 16 "D" cells ringed around the circuit board. This guy makes superb gear and I'm sure he felt staying away from AC provided an improvement in sound otherwise he would of done something else.

Thanks Chris--I'll look for the "new and improved" unit to solve the recharging issue.

ROOX: I wish I listened that much, but the fact is, the CD player is on that much for background-- cooking dinner, eating, working after dinner, reading and some real listening, too. I wouldn't want to have to suffer with built in DACs during this less critical listening. I've also got enough stuff to remember without having to make sure I put my dAck! to bed properly lest I harm its delicate batteries.

I'd be interested in a unit with AC power that didn't have to be put to bed every night, and maybe a switch for critical listening to disconnect the AC and run on battery power only.

colin, the stereo chez-sedon typically gets turned on at ~7 am, & doesn't get turned off 'til midnite, later on weekends. even if fm or winyl is playing, everything's always on, & i wouldn't wanna have to be futzing w/whether or not a battery needs charging. but, fact is, the cd *is* on a lot, the wife typically loads 5 discs into the changer & hits "shuffle", and has background music on all day.

i'm not the only one in the house that enjoys the rig - even the kids, 8 & almost 12, use it. fortunately, they are too short to reach the turntable! ;~)

doug s.

Sedond: it's great your family is always involved. At my house, we are used to listening 4-8 hours a day, 12-14 hours on weekends. I know how it is :). I usually have vinyl playing 7 out of 8 hours, but the dAck! has started taking over so it is now CD's on 50%-60% of the time. I used to listen to CD much less (before = NAIM CD5 + Hi-Cap). Obviously, the battery thing doesn't bug me. In practice, running the dAck! for 3 or 4 hours, it charges within 20 minutes - that is less than a single record side. For 5-CD changers, one could say it's almost perfect since going through the set tells you it's time to charge. Funny how usage is strong personal preference in a similar way to sound characteristic.

Against D/IO, I will let you form your opinions without giving you too many preconceptions. Only thing I will say is that I find dAck! more magical in the midrange than full-mod D/IO and while D/IO has fatter stronger bass, dAck! has faster punchier bass. As always, it is up to your tastes.

Thanks for everybody's feedback and will keep all your inputs in mind. Right now at the workbench we have more than enough to keep us busy but keep your eyes peeled. Imagine long-play add-on modules - they are on the distant horizon.

Tom - you know anybody who's heard the Sutherland? I keep seeing ads, no impressions yet. Phonostage is a reaaaal good thing to run off batts, especially for MC. Throw-away D-cells are kind of not-friendly for the environment though. A!I is a little more environment-conscious by virtue of the rechargeables :).

-Chris
http://ack.dhs.org