Benchmark DAC1 now available with USB

[Pepsi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EliasGwinn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Peter, EDIT: I just noticed that you are asking about the 650's, not the 800's! We have the 650's here for personal use, and we sell the 650's as a companion to our DAC1 models. They work very well with the DAC1. We have MANY customers who use the 650's with their DAC1 and are very satisfied. I can give you two more things to keep in mind: 1. The HPA2 (Benchmark's signature headphone amp that is built into all DAC1 models) has more then enough power to sufficiently drive any pair of headphones. 2. The engineers at Sennheiser use the DAC1 to listen to their headphones I hope that helps, Elias

Yes the amp does have the sufficient energy to drive any pair of cans, but there is always better, and that built in amp will never sound as good as my WA5, but nonetheless this is truly an AMAZING dac, I love this thing.

 

[EliasGwinn]

Thanks for the kind words, friends.

Btw, I am working on a very cool project right now. I can't tell you much about it, except that it is NOT a Benchmark product, but you all will LOVE it.

I wanted to give the head-fi crew an early heads-up because this thread has been very fun and lively. I haven't mentioned the project publicly anywhere else...yet...

All the best,
Elias

 

[FallenAngel]

Tease!

 

[peter73]

Quote:

that built in amp will never sound as good as my WA5

Maybe because it was not meant to sound like your WA5. But "better" or "worse" is a higly subjective statement. Check this article from the bibile of audio subjectivism.

 

[Mark DeB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkyMark /img/forum/go_quote.gif So do the DVD-S77 and DVD-S97. Can be had cheap on ebay. The thing to bear in mind is that you will only get the unadulterated digital output when there is no copy protection set. For DVD-A, that means no copy flag and a disc without a watermark. For DVD-V's, no CSS protection must be set. For 24/96 stereo DVD-A's that are protected, you can consider getting around it by making a DAD (DVD-V) disc. Use DVDA-Explorer to get the data then use something like DVD Audio Creator to make the disc. Even if the data has a watermark, it won't matter because no checking is done for a DVD-V's.

Thank you for that information. I don't know DVD Audio Creator, but LPLEX can be used to create the files for a DVD-V, and Nero can be used to burn it. (For more info, see Tool to put 96/24 PCM in a DVD - iTrax HD Audio Forums, which explains how a conversion from WAV to WAV in Foobar--a kludge--may be required to get LPLEX to work.)

Thanks again!

 

[islewind]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pepsi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes the amp does have the sufficient energy to drive any pair of cans, but there is always better, and that built in amp will never sound as good as my WA5

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter73 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe because it was not meant to sound like your WA5. But "better" or "worse" is a higly subjective statement.

Well said. Consider that when Sennheiser debuted the HD800 at CES last year, they chose a $6000 Meitner CDP and the Benchmark DAC-1 for the associated gear.

 

[asmagus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EliasGwinn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Peter, (...) 1. The HPA2 (Benchmark's signature headphone amp that is built into all DAC1 models) has more then enough power to sufficiently drive any pair of headphones. (..)

So quantity is good but what about quality of HPA2? Will it fit 24-32 Ohm headphones?

I can't find info about used in B. DAC op-amps, about power etc. Can you provide more info?

 

[Pepsi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter73 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe because it was not meant to sound like your WA5. But "better" or "worse" is a higly subjective statement. Check this article from the bibile of audio subjectivism.

Of course, some may enjoy the sound of the built in amp, no ears are the same. I can see where you misunderstood me, and those are my apologies for not being clear, i just meant to say i preferred the sound of my amp rather than the Dac1's built in, therefore the sound is better to me. To others? It could be complete rubbish, so to each his own, i was only sharing my opinion.

 

[anetode]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmagus /img/forum/go_quote.gif So quantity is good but what about quality of HPA2? Will it fit 24-32 Ohm headphones? I can't find info about used in B. DAC op-amps, about power etc. Can you provide more info?

The HP amp's output resistance is .01ohms, so it shouldn't have any trouble

 

[music_man]

i think the dac1's headphone amp is the best at being neutral. super dry. crystal clear. when people want "better" i think they are looking to an amp that does something to the sound. the dac1 tells the truth. to be honest it is the reference in much of the high end mastering industry. as well as the dt880 pro. people that don't like this stuff are "audiophiles". this is engineer approved! there is nothing wrong with that either. i am simply pointing out the difference in sound signature. it is not meant to wow you. please do not take this as an insult as i do not mean any.

not to mention what is really amzing is that the dac1 is first and foremost a dac. the headamp is a bonus. one of the best bonus' you will ever be getting imo. i listen to a different amp at home because it pleases my ears. i work as an engineer, i play as an audiophile. for reference material i would look to the dac1.

music_man

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

The DAC1/pre is grossly over-engineered. They took a no-limits approach to the design and built a unit that has noise, distortion and jitter levels well below what is audible. What comes out of the thing is as transparent as it gets. You can do different, if you have that odd approach to hifi that uses electronic components like eq to tweak sound to taste, but you can't do better, you can only prefer other. And if you do prefer "other," I'd suggest picking your color in transducers, where color really can't be avoided anyway. Or a good eq.

P

 

[anetode]

You can find products with better jitter measurements, with better snr, with more extravagant engineering, etc. You just won't hear any improvement. Benchmark has been testing the market and edging the prices up with incremental DAC1 upgrades, so even they can throw more money and more features at the device.

 

[music_man]

phelonious, does that apply to the current spec base model dac1 as well? i mean not pre,hdr,usb etc. you put a "/" in your statement so i am assuming it does?

well i couldn't be more pleased with it. i switch sometimes between a dac1 and a da924 in my own systems just because i have two stereo's and preffered to get two different products. they are most certainly "competing" products to me. how much does the dac1 cost again? yeah, thats what i thought. to say it is a bargain is like saying albert einstein was smart lol.

no offense to lavry, it is one heck of a dac as well. it is just designed in a manner that makes it very expensive. the thing about the lavry is it will most likely last a lot longer because of the "oven". if that is important to some people. even when it is newer the oven probably keeps things in better spec. especially if you constantly power it down. so they are both great products imo.

music_man

 

[himiagg]

I have the same problem posted by Xxtest83 on 07-19-2009, #2647 (page 177).
I bought my DAC1 HDR in November 2009, and noticed very soon that the balance is shifted to the left at lower volumes (9 to 11 o'clock).
I confirmed this by measurements using SPL meter first, and then by measuring the output at the XLR outputs, at 1 kHz, on 100K resistive load.
I played a 1kHz sine wave from a CD, using coax digital connection, and measured Vrms with Tektronix TDS2002B oscilloscope. Maybe this is not the best setup to measure the channel tracking, but this is what I got:

Position| L-R
(o'clock)|(dB)

5|-0.42
4|-0.48
3|-0.55
2|-0.44
1|-0.12
12|0.27
11|0.73
10|1.32
9|2.44

So my question is the same - is it something typical for this design or the pot is defective?

At night, I would listen to my system at about 9 o'clock potentiometer position. That's when channel imbalance is getting quite annoying to my ears. At day time though, sometimes, I would go to as high as 2 o'clock (which is about -3 dBFS, accordingly to my measurements), with some recordings.

My gain jumper setting is default (-20dB). I tried to set jumpers to -30 dB attenuation, to shift the working range of the pot, but it is clearly too quiet, especially for some recorded material which is recorded at somewhat lower levels (for example, Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly", or even quieter, "Rachmaninoff performs his solo piano works"/"A Window in Time").
Basically, at -30dB setting, I'm loosing about 7 dB of usable range at the top.

Here I have to say that besides this channel tracking issue with my unit, the DAC1 HDR is absolutely marvelous piece of audio equipment, I love the sound (which I guess is no sound of its own)!

But what can be done to remedy this channel tracking problem?

 

[music_man]

it is a known fact that almost any analog pot has channel differences at the lower end of it's range.if you then have to crank it at the 30db i don't know what to tell you.

yours still seems a little odd. i am not getting that difference out of the multiple dac1's(standard) we own. not that much at least.

i'll just wait for mr. gwinn to answer.

music_man