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Digital Drive: REVIEW: Ack!Industries dAck! DAC Processors by Vinnie R.

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REVIEW: Ack!Industries dAck! DAC Processors

24.63.5.168


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Model: dAck!
Category: DAC Processors
Suggested Retail Price: $395
Description: Kusunoki style Non-OS filterless D-to-A converter
Manufacturer URL: Ack!Industries
Manufacturer URL: Ack!Industries

Review by Vinnie R. ( A ) on July 20, 2003 at 18:17:34
IP Address: 24.63.5.168
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for the dAck!


I've owned the dAck! for over a month now (I bought the kit) and am EXTREMELY impressed with it. I owed this unit a "formal asylum review", which I'm not experienced at, but let me give it a try and state my findings.

First, I love the battery power supply actually. Why? Nothing is as clean as these 12V Lead-Acid batteries. You get pure, clean DC that gives you the blackest background that you can get. The graininess that transformers and diodes add in the AC-DC conversion process doesn’t exist. To me, these benefits totally outweigh the fact that you need to recharge the unit after about 4 hours. Actually, you can go 6 hours without a charging, but I guess it isn't recommended. Charging is just a flip of the switch and takes less than 20 minutes. I charged after 2 hours use and it was under 10 minutes. Some may not like batteries, but they really are fantastic for sound quality and it’s no big deal for me.

As for the sound, it really turned my thinking of what redbook CD can do for a big loop! I just love how it makes my cd's sound so good and listenable. Everything just sounds so clean and tonally pure, and there is a total lack of that 'nasty digital' sound that we all speak about too often and contemplate going to vinyl.

Bass is extremely tight and has plenty of punch and body, yet it is not overpowering either. It’s just the right amount for me. The bass is very revealing of the instruments (ex. The rich harmonics of a stand-up bass resonate without coloration, and you can hear that it is wood that is resonating. Cool indeed!)

Mids/vocals are heavenly to listen to. Clarity, transparency, 3-Dimensional, wide and deep soundstage, and all that good stuff!

The highs are, like mentioned above, a pleasure to listen to. You get nice detail and decay of instruments, and absolutely no listener fatigue. I keep pondering how this unit gives me such sweet and detailed highs while destroying that nasty listener fatigue. Sounds more like SACD releases of cd, where the treble is more refined and easier to listen too, especially at louder volumes.

The dAck! website has the details on why the design choice was to use the Kusunoki Filterless approach. I now believe it is THE 'analogue lovers' approach, making CD sound more vinyl-like. You just have to demo one to hear it for yourself.

As for the parts, they are all premium. Auricaps, Caddock, separate Linear Technologies 5V regulators (for each chip, that's some serious regulation!), Analog Devices opamps biased into CLASS-A using cascode FET current sources, a Canare 75-ohm input, beefy power supply caps with great use of bypassing. The money you spend is mainly for these very high quality parts. It doesn't cost $1000 or more because the chassis is pretty basic, but still is handsome, and the power supply uses batteries, so the AC-DC power supply parts are not needed.

All in all, this gem isn't about lots of bells and whistles. It is a minimalist approach yet extraordinary design (like my AKSA amp IMHO) that makes beautiful music. I became more emotionally involved with the music, and I found myself ripping through my collection of cds and wanting to stay up all night listening. It is very obvious that a great deal of time was put into the selection of parts to voice it so damn perfectly. I have no doubt that the dAck can easily compete with units costing over $2,000. If fact, you might prefer it over all the way oversampled, 24-bit, bla bla bla dacs out there and realize that the reason why we find redbook CD so hard to listen to is because we beat the sh*t out if the sound in the D-A conversion process with digital filters and all that other stuff. Keep it simple, keep it high quality, and listen to your design over and over again for musicality and I guess you’ll end up with something that sounds more like the dAck! If you think I’m hyping it up too much, just try a demo of the unit hear for yourself. I’d pay much more than $395 for one, that’s for sure. Couldn’t be happier 

Enjoy!

Vinnie


Product Weakness: NONE
Product Strengths: See above


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: AKSA 55 (modified)
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): APOX-2 Remote Passive Stepped attenuator
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Denon 2800 (modified)
Speakers: Vienna Acoustics Mozarts
Cables/Interconnects: Monster Z1 speaker cable, AudioQuest Sidewinder interconnect (1.5m)
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Jazz, Pop, Rock, Electronica, New Age, Classical
Time Period/Length of Audition: 1-2 months
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Ack!Industries dAck! DAC Processors - Vinnie R. 18:17:34 07/20/03 ( 8)