Finish line. We're not yet at the end but already a line is due to Bakoon's finish. It's superlative. No matter the photography, its quality won't telegraph. It must suffice to write that the DAC-21 is put together with extraordinary metal work precision. You'd expect that from Apple or Swiss haute horlogerie. With a small hifi boutique firm, it becomes a surprise extra. The same dedication to detail shows in the charge status indicator scheme. It uses the white x 2, x 4 and x 8 sample rate indicator LEDs. All three of them red means recharge is low. When merely one shows, you're about topped off. When charge is complete, all lights extinguish. It's very simple, effective and elegant. Like the enclosure which is no bigger than absolutely necessary, there's nothing extraneous. Hence no power light. With at least one LED lit white whenever signal is live, there's no need. Naturally no visible fasteners on the front, sides or top, either. And of course the charger wart comes with 5 interchangeable plugs covering the most important global wall outlet configurations. It's Zen minimalism turned fit & chic for Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive. As above so below turns as seen so heard when you fire it up with proper break-in time clocked. If via USB, it'll have already shown up as just DAC-21 in your sound device window. There's selectable support for 384kHz and hog mode. You decide whether to upsample in player software or feed the Bakoon a native diet. Either way, the sonic outcome is elegant in bold Kanji script.

Soo In Chae at the finish line: "We still put equally great effort on our exterior design as we did from the beginning and I still submit all mechanical drawings at 0.01mm tolerances. We have a great partner, possibly the best case factory in all of Korea in terms of quality. They are able to manufacture the near perfect CNC-machined case for us. They also service some big-name clients compared to whom we are a very tiny customer but they say they still manufacture our cases mostly to study new techniques and methods to improve things. We’ve put so much effort and hard work into case finishing starting with them on the AMP-11R that we've co-developed certain 'secrets' which elevate finish quality to our highest standards. Also, I’m quite picky. Some of our quality control criteria are more than twice as stringent as their second most demanding customer, another popular big name. Thanks to these processes, we achieve finish quality far surpassing those of conventional hifi manufacturers. This is something we're very proud of."


Whenever one writes preposterous things like elegant sound, one best qualify meaning, immediately. What does elegance sound like? Likely due to its battery supply which renders the circuitry 100% isolated from the power grid and as such, immune from its variable noise caused by fluctuating loading, the DAC-21 has sounds appear out of silence without any metallic grit or sharpness on the leading edge. Instead of 'zipping' into existence, sounds simply bloom, then vanish with seemingly endless fades for fabulous elasticity. The upshot is a very demonstrable softness that reminded me of the LessLoss Echo's End DAC. Rather than batteries, the Lithuanian uses multi parallel/serial proprietary noise filter cards to likewise 'disconnect' the utility company from its sonics. In either instance, music stood not on its front but back foot; not on the attack but decay; not a stance of male aggression but relaxed female calm. Not forward but laid back. As a result, music seemed to take up more time. It lingered, leisurely. If it were a brook, it'd meander lazily, not rush madly forward. Time felt just a bit suspended. The attentive listener can't fail to notice and settle into the same state. For readers rushed and always short on multi-tasking time, that was it. The actual finish line. Whatever follows here will riff on the same theme with further anecdotal evidence. But the essence has already been covered. If you need one more word to take away, it's purity. Now off you dash into your mad world of busyness. Those of calmer composure stick around.
The white LEDs indicate 44.1kHz for Redbook not DVD or DSD format, 352.8kHz aka x 8 below for receiving an upsampled such signal. Lovers of the Hadouk Trio will delight in their new Fifth Fruit album.
Where on gestalt—blossoms not blades—the LessLoss and Bakoon were virtual stand-ins, on bandwidth the DAC-21 came first. With the Soundaware SD card reader, I could run both decks simultaneously, then switch preamp inputs for instant A/Bs. Very clearly, the Bakoon had more top-end air and extension. With it, more space lit up. Musical energy was stronger and sparklier. The Echo's End was darker and earthier. Not a matter of split hairs, this was the key differentiator between them. It introduced another core element which, atop the bloom already described, creates Bakoon's particular purity. Unlike the duller more matte LessLoss, the Bakoon married transient softness to shininess. That aspect is diamantine. It's a certain brilliance I've called "lit up all over" in earlier Bakoon reviews. It's a full-bandwidth quality. It's not a treble exclusive à la textural discontinuity. It applies to everything. What's not diamantine are the gentle attacks. This unusual duality of soft and hard, of mellowness and brightness, factored in all of my earlier Bakoon encounters. To me it's the Satri circuit's business card. It's what distinguishes it from the harder Swiss school of ultra-wide bandwidth DC coupled circuits. With their ultra resolution, it manages a more organic feel. That's the special sauce.