what is the best, least costly DAC...?

Wait till you hear it with an upgraded PS ! It makes a big difference.

That beeing said, I have just found another DAC, which has all the rights to became a classic - it is Arcam rDAC. It is 50% more than the V-DAC (without the upgraded PSU) but sounds much better than the mighty V-DAC. It actually sounds even better than the V-DAC with the outboard PSU, which pricewise puts this DACs in the direct competition.

The rDAC sounds very fluent, analogue like with a nice texture, and offers a trully AMAZING resolution. HF decays, spatial clues, HF smoothness - the dac sounds so real that it is scary. And that comes from a dCS Puccini CDP owner no less !

The icing on the cake is asynchronous USB 24/96 input with dCS licensed technology !

The rDAC sounds very promising. I'm waiting for my Rega and Arcam dealer to get the Rega DAC that is reportedly coming within the next few weeks to do a side by side comparison of the two. Should be very interesting. Arcam and Rega both make great sounding sources IMO. The Rega will Be $995 vs about $500 for the rDAC, so maybe not the most fair comparison in that regard. The feature set is a little different and the Rega is made in the UK vs China for the rDAC, so it would be stupid to expect the Rega DAC to literaly sound twice as good. Not that that's really quantifiable anyway.

Ballywho -

Why do you doubt it could be dull and lifeless in someone else's system or to someone else's ears? Have you heard my system in my room? Do you have my ears?

I have no prospects of financial nor personal gain here. It amazes me how people can't accept it when something they love isn't everyone else's cup of tea.

It's pretty obvious that it's a great DAC to your ears and many others' ears. I'm not doubting you or anyone else find it anything but dull and lifeless. It's also pretty obvious that not everyone shares your opinion. I know several people who feel the same way about it as I do. I'm not the first one to call Musical Fidelity "Musical Fatality" by any means.

I also considered the RDAC, ultimately I decided to go with the Audio GD NFB11. It utilizes the same ESS Sabre Reference 9018 chip used in many a high end DAC. Intro price on the Audio GD website is rediculous, also includes active pre-amp stage(defeatable)and headphone amp. If if turns out I don't like it there is a big demand for Audio GD products on headfi, their headphone amps are very well regarded. I also have the VDAC so I will be able to do a direct A/B comparison.

I tried the v-dac with better power supply and a matrix mini-i. I was surprised that in my system the matrix was a definite step up, ymmv

Once again...this is a highly subjective hobbie...and I have always found Rega CDPs to be kind of "grey" and void of colour...the polar opposite of their turntables in terms of PRAT, etc...in a nutshell...dull and boring!...cant comment on the v-dac but worth a shot for the price...