[masterchoi]

Thank you EliasGwinn,

I'll just turn power strip off when necessary.

I have one more question regarding dac1usb performance. I heard from few members here states that "premium power cord" and "premium power conditioner" will improve dac1s performance noticeably and will benefit more than other dacs. Is that statement true? or will it at least change characteristic?

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by masterchoi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I heard from few members here states that "premium power cord" and "premium power conditioner" will improve dac1s performance noticeably and will benefit more than other dacs. Is that statement true? or will it at least change characteristic?

This is not true. The power supply is designed such that it will maintain optimal performance even in drastically poor power conditions (i.e, large noise injected on power rails, 120V line voltage varying between 90V and 150V, etc). We have done extensive testing, both listening and measuring, and we have found that the performance will not vary based on external power conditions.

All the best,
Elias

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Would Benchmark consider making a USB only DAC? I am hoping for something smaller and cheaper!!!

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prog Rock Man /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would Benchmark consider making a USB only DAC? I am hoping for something smaller and cheaper!!!

Hey Prog Rock Man,

I feel ya...but, unfortunately, it wouldn't be much cheaper or smaller.

The biggest expenses are the engineering/designing time, the power supply, the chassis, the 3-D circuit board, the chips, and the 5-year warranty. These would all be included in any product we make.

Anything saved by removing the non-USB inputs would be spent to design a new circuit board without those connections. ...i.e., stepping over a dime to pick up a nickel...

Also, the size wouldn't change either, without significantly increasing the cost to re-design the chassis.

Now, we could make something that was smaller and cheaper, but it wouldn't perform as well. We could put an off-the-shelf power supply, USB solution, DAC system, and volume control...but we'll leave the cheap stuff for someone else to make.

All the best,
Elias

 

[poo]

Hi Elias,

I posted this elsewhere in the forum, (thread here) but would love your feedback when you can please:

I've been using a pair of Unique Melody custom Shure SE530 IEMs with a Benchmark DAC1. Sounds great, but the Shures are far too sensitive for the HPA2 attenuation steps.

I presume the cheapest way around this is to make a cable between the Benchmark and my Shures with a resistor in it? Is this likely to impact on sound quality in any way? I find the HPA2 as it is about 3 or 4 times louder than I would like it to be for the SE530. What resistor(s) should I be using to make such a cable?

Is there a better way to achieve what I'm trying to do?

Thanks

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by poo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi Elias, I posted this elsewhere in the forum, (thread here) but would love your feedback when you can please: I've been using a pair of Unique Melody custom Shure SE530 IEMs with a Benchmark DAC1. Sounds great, but the Shures are far too sensitive for the HPA2 attenuation steps. I presume the cheapest way around this is to make a cable between the Benchmark and my Shures with a resistor in it? Is this likely to impact on sound quality in any way? I find the HPA2 as it is about 3 or 4 times louder than I would like it to be for the SE530. What resistor(s) should I be using to make such a cable? Is there a better way to achieve what I'm trying to do? Thanks

Hey there, poo...

I highly recommend NOT putting resistors between a set of headphones and any headphone amp. The reason is that it will increase the source impedance, which will diminish the damping ratio - a major factor in the quality of a headphone system.

The HPA2 has less then 0.1 ohm output impedance. This optimizes the damping ratio. The proper place in the circuit to attenuate is before the amplifier. Because of user feedback such as yours, we included a 10 dB attenuation option in the DAC1 USB and both a 10 dB and 20 dB attenuation option in the DAC1 PRE and HDR.

Best,
Elias

 

[EliasGwinn]

Hey there, 'Head-Fi' friends!

A few weeks ago, I told you that I was working on something really cool, and I was really excited to tell you about it. Well, I can finally tell you...

I am producing a new video series about making recordings!! Each video documents a set of talented collaborators (musical artists, recording engineers, recording studio, Benchmark) as they attempt to completely produce a recording in one session. This harks back to the days of the early masters at Atlantic, Stax, Sun, Decca, Parlaphone, etc, who made several immortal recordings, each one completed in a few hours.

Each video begins with a glimpse into the recording session and ends with the mastered recording. The series is called "Masters From Their Day", which is a double entandre: the mastered recording from their one day in the studio; and also an homage to the artists, engineers, and producers from those seminal years..the 'masters from their day'.

The videos are available at Masters From Their Day | Home, and there is a free lossless download available from each session.

Please take a moment to watch the first episode and leave a comment. The project will only continue if people are showing interest, so simply watching and discussing would be a major show of support.

Thanks so much!!

All the best,
Elias

 

[wgb113]

Sounds cool Elias! I'll have to check it out when I get home.

Bill

 

[masterchoi]

Hello Mr. Elias

It was excellent performance and great project!

 

[EliasGwinn]

Thanks masterchoi!

wgb113, I'm excited to see what you think!

Best,
-Elias

 

[Bmac]

I watched the Masters From Their Day video Elias. Pretty cool. I thought the audio quality (and the video quality for that matter) was quite good. I enjoyed the performance and the music as well.

I'm not sure how closely this type of session correlates with what it was like to make a recording back in the day, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and am looking forward to the next installment.

Plus, when the trombone player had his dreads up while playing (about 6:22 in) he kind of reminded me of a young, bearded Bette Midler for some reason which made me laugh.

Good job!

 

[Bmac]

Just a side note Elias, and certainly not a big deal, but it would be great if the downloads were available in other more popular formats like flac as well.

 

[masterchoi]

Also when I try to download, it open within quicktime plugin in the safari web browser. Is there any way to download it as file?

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bmac /img/forum/go_quote.gif I watched the Masters From Their Day video Elias. Pretty cool. I thought the audio quality (and the video quality for that matter) was quite good. I enjoyed the performance and the music as well.

Thanks, Bmac!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bmac /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not sure how closely this type of session correlates with what it was like to make a recording back in the day, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and am looking forward to the next installment.

Yeah, we aren't trying to duplicate the classic recording methods...just revisit a few of the parameters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bmac /img/forum/go_quote.gif Plus, when the trombone player had his dreads up while playing (about 6:22 in) he kind of reminded me of a young, bearded Bette Midler for some reason which made me laugh.

HA!! Thats funny...

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bmac /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just a side note Elias, and certainly not a big deal, but it would be great if the downloads were available in other more popular formats like flac as well.

We plan to offer FLAC, ALAC, and WMA-Lossless soon. So many things to coordinate, this has taken a back seat. But anyone should be able to play the AIF files that are available and convert them to their favorite formats.

Thanks again, Bmac.
-Elias