The best DAC for the money

Hey Bob,

I was on the waiting list for a demo of the dAck! but think they forgot about me. So far, what is your experience with the DAC? My biggest reservation regarding a battery powered DAC is that I leave my system on 24/7. Do you think it as an inconveniece?

I am using the Nixon, and it also has a lot of the attributes that some people who own the dAck! has described on AudioAsylum and AudioCircle. So, I wonder how much of the dAck!'s magic is due to the lack of digital filters or the lack of AC added pollutants.

The dAck! certainly is prettier. I heard Dusty at CI Audio is making a variety of a nonOS DAC too.

Yes. I modified myself. Having someone else do it doesn't make senese to me because I want to know exactly what each parts I put into my player does.

Hi Viggen,
I had almost given up listening to cds before I got the dAck!. I had the MSB linc dac and found it hard to listen to more than a few songs before listener fatigue set in, which had me going back to vinyl my primary source for serious listening.
Since I got the dAck! I find I can listen for hours without any fatigue what so ever.
The battery issue doesn't really bother me to much since I can always listen to a LP while the dAcks! batteries are charging. The manual says it takes 45 minutes to charge but I find they fully charge in about 20 minutes.

Who wants a DAC that needs batteries though?

Knowing that the Dack was built originally using Scott Nixon's boards, I like the Nixon better than ANY DAC I have ever heard except for the Audio Note 3.1x Balanced, at $6000+!!!!

Judging from posts from AudioAsylum, the question remains what makes the AckDack sound as good as it is described. Is it the digital filterless design or the battery?

Either way, Chris Own has described all current production of his Ack! stuff are a departure from Nixon's boards. He also credits himself, post found in AudioCircle, for "properly" designing his new boards which presumes the Nixon DACs are not designed up to snuff.

However, does the difference in design of the board in the Ack! result in a different or better sound than the Nixon? That's the $400 question.