Putting up a poll in this forum does only ask the active, mostly pro FWC members. Of course the result will be absolutely biased. And even more so does the way how the question is formulated. There is a No and a Maybe, formulated such, that I feel very uncomfortable voting for No.
If there has to be a vote, then every member should be asked individually in a neutral way.
As for how the project is evolving, Im very happy for John and how he is setting up the cooperation with miniDSP! After all his work, its absolutely legit and reasonable that he wants to capitalize on his design.
But what happens now is, two separate projects get mixed up:
The MDAC2 was intended to be manufactured in Czech and build by John in his new Lab, which he upgraded for a small production run. PCB production and testing would have happened in an exclusive way by John himself. Every project member gets a one if its kind no-compromise MDAC upgrade.
Things changed, somehow there are compromises with the MDAC case, and without a proper comparison of both units built (Fusion DAC and MDAC2), not even a first listening of the design, SQ gets hyped up.
As it stands now, the MDAC2 is dead, instead the PCBs will be manufactured under miniDSP, additional software will be developed by miniDSP, digital PCB will the designed by miniDSP, assembly will be done under miniDSP. John is promising to overlook the process and UPGRADE some commercially produced units for us.
From my point of view, MDAC2 and Fusion DAC should be handled separately. Finish one project as promoted here:
http://mdac2.referata.com and here:
http://www.lakewestaudio.com/
Then see how the MDAC2 design and the experience of developing it can be used for a business model and a possible cooperation with miniDSP.
Id be much more honored to have a unique PCB upgrade for a very limited group of people and have helped to make it real, than getting a modified commercial product.
After all, having to fund an other project (Fusion DAC), which sells for a high price when finished, is not okay. Id say if there is additional money needed to develop a commercial product, then it is the responsibility of John and how he is able to negotiate with partners. We are at the point, where we helped John design a unique PCB by trusting in his skills, knowledge and endurance to go as fare as we are now. Further enhancements to this work, have to the treaded as a new project, letting everyone choose to support it or stay with what the original MDAC2 project brought to life.
Technology is ever evolving and in a year, an even better DAC will be made, or John has new enhancements, or you name it. If there will be no clear cut and a proper finish of the MDAC2 project, this spiral is going on endlessly.