MarkyMark: Agreed.. I was a bit too loud without getting all the facts, can't excuse myself for that. As for the scratch, yeah it was an annoyance, but a quick touch of a black permanent marker has fixed that quite nicely.

Shane55:   Don't bother. After talking more with Benchmark, I got more information about the capacitors they used and nearly all of them are bulged, while others not so much.   Also, after seeing all the pictures you guys have posted, it indicates that indeed Benchmark was correct about...

Shane55 and Amb:   Can you tell me what batch numbers you see on top of both your capacitors? I cant quite make out what it says.   It should be like 8J9J, 8J9H etc..   Thanks

Nonpoint:   It appears your capacitors are bulging as well.   I've also emailed Panasonic to verify if indeed these 50V 1000uF 8J9J batch capacitors did indeed come bulged. It's also possible that specific batch stamped 8J9J came that way, and newer ones don't, since the ones at...

I do have the pictures, its posted in my first post.. Check the imageshack weblink.     Also, I got another response from Benchmark just now, but just after I almost believed them, I got a reply from DigiKey with pictures of the standalone capacitors and they are flat.   Here is what...

Seraphim:   Im currently talking to Rory Rall from Benchmark and this is what he had to say:     "We are examining this further but I was informed that they believed this to be normal and they have looked like this for years as they have been supplied by the factory. But we'll get back...

Nonpoint:   I couldnt reply to your other private message because apparently I went over the limit of 2 private messages per day!   Anyways, I will post it here       Essentially that is correct. The lifespan is greatly reduced. And I dont think anyone would be very happy to...

Hi,   For sure, this unit is getting returned.   Can you please open up your HDR and carefully inspect the capacitors across the whole board? (post pictures too from angles like I have)   I am curious to see if mine is just a bad apple, or this happens across all DAC1 models since...

Hello everyone,   I just received my "BRAND NEW" Benchmark DAC1 PRE last Friday.   My immediate thought about the performance/quality of the built in headphone amp is that it's marginally better than the analog output on the back of my XFI PCIe sound card. (I am using HD-650...