I don't see how it gets much better than carbon dosing.[...]
Heheh. That either sounds "too good to be true" or you'll have to define "better".
Cheaper? Keeping a lower stock level and simply relying on your live rock is cheaper. Running a skimmer or ATS is cheaper.
Safer? I never hear of people having problems with skimmers, ATS or lower stocking levels like I hear about with carbon dosing.
Cleaner water? Keeping a lower stock level is perfectly complete. It seems that not a lot of people successfully hit that kind of balance with carbon dosing....many folks that get close end up overshooting and actually stressing/harming their animals.
Easier? Well, I think it's a bit of a stretch to call it "easy" considering how little we seem to know about how carbon dosing even works (theory aside), but pouring some vodka/vinegar into a measuring cup and dumping it in is at least mechanically easy to pull off. Not as easy as doing nothing and just keeping a lower stocking level, of course. But probably easier than cleaning a skimmer or ATS.
Maybe something different? I still suspect keeping a lower stock level will be the way to go when you boil it down to "better". And lower nitrates are only one of a multitude of benefits to keeping a lower stock level.
-Matt