Battery powered DAC

wow , does this dac sound close to the more expesive Audio note (which has tubes output ).
Can anyone comment . And how close in% does it get as forget about the $ .. Thanks js

pianojoe, i don't have direct experience, but the comments towards the end of the following thread may be of interest to ya:

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=4293&start=10

doug s.

I compared the Nixon with the similar Ack! and immediately chose the Ack!. I have since compared it favorably to the EAD DSP 7000 III and with a very nice and smooth recent Van Alstine. The Ack! runs on batteries, always a major improvement, with the added advantage of no powercord to imrove upon. I've upgraded my Ack! significantly by replacing the 3.3 mF AuraCaps with Dynamicaps, a pair of 5 mF and a .01 bypass per channel. It really opened up and the bass improved big time. I use it with an EAD T1000 with a Mapleshade/Insound Zepher dig link. Extremely open yet smooth, dead silent with wonderfull dynamics; the best I've heard.

Thanks for your contribution Piedpiper. May I ask what are the sonic differences you heard between the Ack and the Nixon? Which Nixon did you audition? And, briefly, what's your system like?

Sold my MF A324 and kept the Ack!Dac. You can search AA and read my review. It's great.