[driftingbunnies]

Has anyone compared this with the bryston bda-2?

 

[CybDev]

Yes I did, as DAC's for my SR-009/SRM-323, back in january/february I think it was.

The BDA-2 is excellent, and not to mention it looks and "feels" a lot classier/highendish.
(It takes a lot more space, design fits with the other Bryston units, it weighs like 5-8kg, and has no headphone out (the BHA-2 I could not get my hands on at the time)

Imo the DAC2 has more features and performs equally well, if not better.
In the end it came down to the BDA-2 or the DAC2 for me, and I chose the DAC2 primarily because of the feature set (and excellent headphone amp, I originally started looking for a DAC/Amp for HD800, got the SR-009 in the meantime and started looking for just a DAC, then decided to keep the HD800 as well etc...).

 

[MacedonianHero]

  Has anyone compared this with the bryston bda-2?

 
I think I answered this in the BDA-2 thread, but I wasn't a fan of the Benchmark DAC2 (it is better than the DAC1 no doubt), but it does suffer from the upper mids glare that's plagued many of the ESS Sabre chipped based DACs. I thought it was on-par with the W4S DAC-2 but a bit less weighty (typical for Benchmark IME). The BDA-2 ranks above the PWD2 IMO and is a good step up in transparency and resolution. I also wouldn't buy a DAC with a headphone amp...I'd rather the manufacturer puts all their efforts and dollars in the DAC and let me worry about the amp. 

 

[driftingbunnies]

   
I think I answered this in the BDA-2 thread, but I wasn't a fan of the Benchmark DAC2 (it is better than the DAC1 no doubt), but it does suffer from the upper mids glare that's plagued many of the ESS Sabre chipped based DACs. I thought it was on-par with the W4S DAC-2 but a bit less weighty (typical for Benchmark IME). The BDA-2 ranks above the PWD2 IMO and is a good step up in transparency and resolution. I also wouldn't buy a DAC with a headphone amp...I'd rather the manufacturer puts all their efforts and dollars in the DAC and let me worry about the amp. 

 
You could have bought the DAC2 L then 

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
You could have bought the DAC2 L then 

 
Didn't need to buy it...I owned the W4S DAC-2....basically the same thing to my ears. Both are pretty good and I would rank them about the same (similar pricing too).

 

[7ryder]

  I was reading a thread on another forum a few weeks ago. Some links to references were also there. The subject covered the info that DSD audio tracks were derived from PCM master tracks. This has me wondering why anyone would want to treasure DSD over PCM.

Here's a pretty short and clear explanation why DSD isn't needed today from Linn (see the first post).   http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=23096
 
Granted there would be some issues for Linn to convert their DS players to play DSD, but knowing these guys and their obsession with music and sound quality (they also own a label and run an online music store with hi-res downloads available) if they thought DSD sounded better, they would have gone that route either during the initial design process or when upgraded products came out.  
 
Given the fact that the Klimax DS player lists for $18K+, they certainly didn't decide not to add DSD playback for cost reasons when it first came out.  They also recently released an upgraded KDS (current owners such as myself could send the unit in to be upgraded to latest spec) and even with the recent industry infatuation with DSD, the upgrade did not add DSD playback.
 
It is also interesting that the SACD recordings that are available on Linn's music site are offered in hi-res FLAC files, etc., not DSD.  
 
As for the Benchmark DAC2 HGC, I'm very happy with mine.  It sounds great on my desktop system with Focal CMS50s and my HD-800s sound great through the headphone amp. I can't wait to see how the DAC2 matches up with the Headamp GS-X MK2 I have on order.
 
Chris

 

[tooloveying]

you are right,I recently e-mailed Benchmark to ask these questions about their new DAC-2.

 

[hekeli]

Originally Posted by 7ryder /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I can't wait to see how the DAC2 matches up with the Headamp GS-X MK2 I have on order.

 
Nice, I'll be waiting for some impressions when you get it... someday.. how much better can it still get?

 

[Vipers]

   
I think I answered this in the BDA-2 thread, but I wasn't a fan of the Benchmark DAC2 (it is better than the DAC1 no doubt), but it does suffer from the upper mids glare that's plagued many of the ESS Sabre chipped based DACs. I thought it was on-par with the W4S DAC-2 but a bit less weighty (typical for Benchmark IME). The BDA-2 ranks above the PWD2 IMO and is a good step up in transparency and resolution. I also wouldn't buy a DAC with a headphone amp...I'd rather the manufacturer puts all their efforts and dollars in the DAC and let me worry about the amp. 

Interesting reading as I use the Bryston BDA-2 with the BHA-1 as my dynamic reference rig and was considering demoing the Benchmark DAC2 with a view of adding it to our headphone room for demo purposes but if the above is the case I think I'll just stick with the BDA-2.
 
I did get a chance to briefly play with the T+A DAC 8 the other day going into the BHA-1, that really did seem to work so I have requested if I can borrow the DAC 8 for a longer listening session, has anyone else tried this combination?

 

[MacedonianHero]

  Interesting reading as I use the Bryston BDA-2 with the BHA-1 as my dynamic reference rig and was considering demoing the Benchmark DAC2 with a view of adding it to our headphone room for demo purposes but if the above is the case I think I'll just stick with the BDA-2.
 
I did get a chance to briefly play with the T+A DAC 8 the other day going into the BHA-1, that really did seem to work so I have requested if I can borrow the DAC 8 for a longer listening session, has anyone else tried this combination?

I found that the Benchmark DAC-2 was good and on-par with the W4S DAC-2. That said, they both suffered from the upper mids shout that I've heard with many ESS chip based DACs. Became fatiguing for me. 

 

[Vipers]

This is why I liked the T+A DAC 8 has it has different filters, all quite subtle, but one setting definitely seemed to help smooth out the mids whilst retaining the top end detail, it was only a brief listen, around 1 hour, but it intrigued me enough to ask for a longer demo.

 

[johnnypaddock]

I've got a question about the headphone amp gain... I've been running the DAC2 with my HD-600's, and it sounds good to my ears. I've got it on the factory default jumper setting, -10db gain. Does anyone think that the HD-600's would benefit from a higher gain setting?  Most of my listening doesn't get much higher than 12:00 with the current setting. I just don't know a lot about this in general, in terms of what to listen for. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[StudioSound]

  I've got a question about the headphone amp gain... I've been running the DAC2 with my HD-600's, and it sounds good to my ears. I've got it on the factory default jumper setting, -10db gain. Does anyone think that the HD-600's would benefit from a higher gain setting?  Most of my listening doesn't get much higher than 12:00 with the current setting. I just don't know a lot about this in general, in terms of what to listen for. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

They recommend the volume be at 11 o'clock or higher for optimal sound quality. If it can get loud enough, you may even want to switch the jumpers to -20dB.
 
At -20dB, I often find myself with the volume at its lowest setting with my MDR-7520 though. I wish there was more attenuation available for those of us with sensitive headphones/hearing.

 

[yfei]

Hi,
 
Did you compare DAC2 with DA8?     Could you please share your impressions?    I am deciding between DA8 and DAC2.
 
Thanks!
 
 
Quote:

My DAC2 should arrive tomorrow. I will try to do some comparison between DAC2, gungnir and Yulong DA8

 

[Bmac]

  They recommend the volume be at 11 o'clock or higher for optimal sound quality. If it can get loud enough, you may even want to switch the jumpers to -20dB.
 

I believe that is only recommended when using an analog source since the DAC2 has a hybrid volume control (analog pot for analog sources and digital volume control for digital sources). The analog pot will be massively inferior to the digital volume control in tracking and noise, and channel imbalances will be greatest at either end of the volume spectrum, hence the recommendation to keep the analog pot above 11:00. When using a digital source and the digital volume control then the position of the volume knob should be irrelevant; tracking should essentially be perfect and contribute no noise at any position.