The essential problem is one of cost - especially in regards to the Advanced clock options, there has been a huge development effort with the clock sections and they have advanced well beyond anything I would have considered when I started the design ( guess the same can be said for the whole design - streamer section etc).
The second issue is I'm not sure WHEN I can offer the full blown FDAC chassis option - with the custom chassis being the stumbling block... so I want to offer as many options as possible within the MDAC chassis as this is feasible in the near-term without the difficulty of sourcing the chassis.
We also need to consider the software aspects, I cannot support two branches of software maintenance and development, so the absolutely bare-bones MDAC which will reuse the existing MDAC front panel will be a onetime affair with no future software development / enhancements, this unit is ONLY offered to meet the lowest cost.
To "Finance" the UI driven front panel for the "proper" MDAC2 and FDAC I've stuck a deal with a local company - I'll introduce them to vendors and suppliers in China (Taking them around China etc.) in exchange, as a form of payment they will develop the FDAC / MDAC2 UI... So I've sold my soul having to return to China for a week or two and in exchange I get the Ui software
- yes I feel cheap
Ignoring the Software development costs, the new front panel adds about GBP200 (the display alone is GBP110 + VAT) - hence the reason there cannot be a common display if there is to be a real bare-bones costed down version.
The best option would be no real interest in the Bare-bones MDAC2, but with the transformers costing GBP350 + VAT, obviously costs have escalated...
The transformers are the audio output transformers and premium quality transformers (a very custom design) do not come cheap...
Its been very painful to developing these transformers, with each spin costing over GBP400. Off the top of my head I can count about 8 spins... that's over GBP3000 in transformer prototypes... I'll be happy when this project is finally over..!