[Bach-Fan]

I have read of people using the DAC1 in a home theatre setup. Given that the DAC1 is two-channel and most home theatres are 5.1 channels (or more), how in the world could this possibly work? And how would one go about setting this up using the DAC1?

 

[Quaddy]

i use the dac1 pre in my 'home theatre', well its a small bedroom rig, where my only speakers are audioengine stereo (2.0) A5's

i dont require 5.1 in my room, although the main living room has 5.1 speakers in.

i am feeding my freesat box, my Archos 7, my samsung LCD and blu ray player all to my dac1 via stereo analogue inputs. as all of those devices are HDMI, i simply output one analogue RCA connection from the TV which gets its feed from all the other devices, into my analogue in on my DAC1 which gets fed out to my headphones and speakers.

also feeding it my music devices: rega jupiter, SPL phonitor, off ramp turbo 2, sony D-VE7000S

no idea how people that need 5.1 are utilizing it, m,y guess is they are using it as an input/output 'switch' for multiple devices

but if you are a fan of stereo, then its great

 

[doggiehowser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bach-Fan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have read of people using the DAC1 in a home theatre setup. Given that the DAC1 is two-channel and most home theatres are 5.1 channels (or more), how in the world could this possibly work? And how would one go about setting this up using the DAC1?

I use a hifi pre-amp with a HT bypass input.

For hifi,

Duet/Wadia iTransport feeds DAC1
DAC1 feeds Bel Canto Pre3 pre amp
Pre3 feeds Bel Canto REF1000 power amps
REF1000 drives the Thiel CS2.4 SE speakers

For HT
Oppo/S550/XA2 feeds Onkyo AVR
Onkyo AVR drives center/side/surround
AVR front pre-out feeds the Pre3 HT bypass input (Pre3's pre-amp functions disabled so in effect goes direct to REF1000s and CS2.4)

 

[Xxtest83]

I have a Lehmann BCL Pro (with XLR inputs) connected to the XLR outputs from my DAC1 HDR, but since i plan to buy active speakers soon (probably K+H o300), the XLR outputs have to get free.
Do you think it might be possible to hear a difference when i feed the Lehmann amp through a Cinch-XLR cable from the Cinch-output compared to the XLR-XLR connection?

 

[Roseval]

A RCA to XLR plug won’t break the bank so you can try this at marginal cost.

A lot of components are single ended internally. To make them balanced you need a balun to create balanced output. Maybe removing this component from the chain by going RCA yields an audible effect.

 

[Xxtest83]

Would it hurt the amp (or even the DAC1) if i connected it from RCA to XLR? The amp has not a balanced out but a single ended. My guess is that this version has XLR inputs just because it is more common in studios (pro version).

What about a XLR Splitter? It is galvanic splitted between in- and outputs, whatever that means.

 

[Roseval]

<<The amp has not a balanced out >>??
If you mean DAC 1 RCA out to amp XLR in, this in general works good.
As it is a DAC 1 you might use the volume control starting at zero for safety.

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bach-Fan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm no audio engineer, but this seems like an incompetent test. Instead of feeding the DAC1 HDR a line-level source, he fed it a source that was already amplified - and therefore beyond what the preamp circuitry was designed to handle. Elias am I right about this?

Its hard to say without knowing his signal levels. Calibrating signal levels is an essential part of assessing the performance of a piece of audio gear. He doesn't mention his process for setting levels, so one can only speculate.

All the best,
Elias

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Flintstone /img/forum/go_quote.gif I noticed that PS audio doesn't recommend connecting the balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA audio outputs at the same time for their Digilink III so am I to assume that Benchmark is doing something different in their design to allow this?

Hmmm...How much do they charge for that thing?!?

I don't know enough about their product to say for sure, but it's surprising that they wouldn't design it with autonomous outputs.

Atb,
e

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BitPerfect /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Audio Critic, long an advocate of measurement-based audio reviews, has just reviewed the HDR. I don't think you could ask for a more favorable review. http://theaudiocritic.com/plog/index...Id=40&blogId=1

Now this is an example of a knowledgeable reviewer...and NOT just because he likes the HDR

. Peter Aczel is a no-B.S. 'engineer' in the truest sense of the word...someone who's not afraid to dig into the nuts-and-bolts to understand the gear under review.

Atb,
e

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bralk /img/forum/go_quote.gif For large scale reproduction you need large speakers. I can recommend ATC SCM 100 ASL or perhaps the SCM 50 ASL depending on your listening environment. cheers Tom

ATC makes incredible speakers, but be prepared to write five numbers on your check! (worth it if you've got it)

Atb
-e

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runkby /img/forum/go_quote.gif If i have the cd player on, but paused, if i raise the volume to max I hear a static noise when using the rca connections, but when I connect the cd player with the ditital coax connection the static seems to go away. What could be the cause of this?

Noisy analog electronics in the CD player. If its only noise with the analog connection, its a tell-tale sign that the analog outputs of the CD player are noisy.

All the best,
Elias

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runkby /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have both the Sennheiser HD 650 as well as the Denon AH-D7000 headphones. When I use the hdr with the sennheisers it seems like there may not be enough power to fully drive them? I understand that the 650's are hard to drive in addition to being 300ohms but is that just how the amp is or is there something I can do to adjust the settings to get more output on the volume.

The headphone amplifier in the DAC1 HDR has a customizable gain-range. The factory setting is -10 dB (+14 dBu max output). In other words, you have 10 dB of additional gain available.

The manual has instructions for changing this, and I can help you as much as you need.

All the best,
Elias

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by all300b /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dear Elias, I am yet another new Benchmark DAC1-pre owner as of last night. I am currently running the DAC into an outboard dedicated pre-amp and then to a power amp that happens to have a lot of gain. I have needed to keep the output on my source gear low in the past. As I expected, the standard -20db factory setting on the Benchmark is not quite enough. Which do you recommend would sound better: - the -30 db settings run in fixed output - the variable output with the pot turned just a few clicks If you think they sound very close the variable output is more convenient as a general volume control because the DAC is easy to reach right on top of my rack while the pre-amp is inside. Thanks very much. Sincerely, Bryan

Hello Bryan,

You will get the best performance from the variable volume control when it is positioned between 11:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock. If the output is too high in the current configuration to operate at those positions, I strongly recommend moving the output attenuators of the DAC1 PRE to 30 dB.

Let me know if I can do any more to assist you.

All the best,
Elias

 

[EliasGwinn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bach-Fan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have read of people using the DAC1 in a home theatre setup. Given that the DAC1 is two-channel and most home theatres are 5.1 channels (or more), how in the world could this possibly work? And how would one go about setting this up using the DAC1?

For a 5.1 DAC1 setup, you would need a source that sends three seperate digital signals to three seperate DAC1's (e.g., one for L/R, one for RL/RR, and one for C/Sub).

Or, as someone else pointed out, you can use another A/V pre-pro for your 5.1, then bypass it's internal D/A for 2-channel (stereo) and pass the digital signal to the DAC1 HDR. When in 5.1 mode, the front L/R analog outputs will go into the analog inputs of the DAC1 HDR, which is driving the amplifiers. OR, the output of the DAC1 can feed analog inputs of the pre-pro.

We have customers who have all of these types of setups.

All the best,
Elias