[Kurt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunwar Bull's eye ....

Hmm. What you write after that, is actually the same I did. So I don’t quite understand the “Bull's eye” after quoting me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunwar BTW Kurt how long before the Dynahi balanced ships mate? That and DAC1, boyh I am drooling here thinking of it.

I guess at least 3 more weeks. The factory that does laser cutting the front plate has work and "one-piece" order’s have to wait. Did you see the first pic’s?
http://photo.head-fi.org/showgallery...0&ppuser=12129

Those waiting times are torture.

Do you know a answer to my question about the better DAC?

Edit: Link corrected.


TIA

 

[kunwar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt Hmm. What you write after that, is actually the same I did. So I don’t quite understand the “Bull's eye” after quoting me. I guess at least 3 more weeks. The factory that does laser cutting the front plate has work and "one-piece" order’s have to wait. Did you see the first pic’s? http://photo.head-fi.org/showgallery...0&ppuser=12129 Those waiting times are torture. Do you know a answer to my question about the better DAC? Edit: Link corrected. TIA

I gave an example of a piece of music I heard that describes what I experienced in terms of the sound from the 2.
That is if someone happens to want a reference for music to listen to.

Yep checked out the pics, very nice indeed.
As for a DAC that could beat either of the 2 mentioned, you would have to start looking in the 5-10K range

There aren't that many options going around here in Aus in terms of really high end DAC's
There are high end players from Meridien, Linn, Accuphase etc. but not that variety in dacs.
Someone I know at a mastering studio does have an Electrocompaniet & a ML 30.6 but I have never auditioned it for long enough.
They are very impressive pieces of equipment thoough.
Something like that would kill the upgrade bug for good.
Of course you would need something like the DALI Megaline to bring everything out of them.
Now that is one hot pair of speakers.

Something else I will point out right away, the DAC1 is a monitoring DAC more or less for mastering, the same sound might not appeal to someone wanting a coloured signature eg. smoother decay across the spectrum.

 

[KR...]

I have seen many older Meridian DACs for sale on ebay and audiogon for $500 and even less. Are these DACs worth it or are they too outdated to even think about buying anymore?

 

[TrevorNetwork]

I absolutely love my DAC1. Crazy fast, crazy detailed, very transparent.

 

[bootman]

For under a grand, another NOS option is the dAck!

http://www.ack-industries.com/

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorNetwork I absolutely love my DAC1. Crazy fast, crazy detailed, very transparent.

Ditto. But everyone probably already knew that

 

[rnhood]

I was never bowled over with the Benchmark. I purchased one of these based on the many good comments of late. Beside it sat a dcs Elgar/Purcell rig to compare it to. Now, I realize this is hardly fair never-the-less, what I can tell you is that music with the dcs rig simply started, evolved and decayed in free space exactly where the instrument or vocal was suppose to be placed. It is holographic with that "reach-out-and-touch-me" perception. It also has a liquid or analog like flow to the music that borders on being seductive.

The Benchmark Dac 1 on the other hand, strikes me as being squeaky dry and a little steril by comparison. Very lively and dancy though. Reasonably clear and dynamic with good extension. Not as three dimensional as the dcs but, this could be confusing at times because, when music was complex the Dac 1 did seem to do a very good job of unraveling textures. The size of the soundstage was also very good with the dac 1. Overall however, I just did not think it in the same league as the dcs rig and, rightly it should not be as the dcs is much more expensive. But it is a good dac and, when you take price into account the dac1 is a bargain.

Oh, and the Bel Canto dac2. I agree with the comments above. Overall, I prefer the Bel Canto dac but, most of my music is simple and, shall we say, uncomplex. Probably equipment synergy plays a role too. Much of todays eqiupment is very good with synergy and subjective preferences playing the judgemental role.

 

[tiberian]

the benchmark is a very sibilant dac

, otherwise it is great, anyone who doesn't believe source makes the greatest difference in the system will be converted when they try out the benchmark.

 

[tiberian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorNetwork I absolutely love my DAC1. Crazy fast, crazy detailed, very transparent.

the dynahi sounds remarkably similar to the benchmark dac to my ears

.

 

[stryker]

The Ack! dAck! is a very nice DAC for the money but I think it needs a clock-modifed transport to really sound its best. It sounded great out of my L3 Music Hall player.

There was some good feedback on it from Hirsch's meet back in June of this year, I think. Unfortunately, at that meet, the transport was a Wadia 301--not exactly a budget transport!

 

[clarke68]

Quote:

After listening to the sample files put out by mytek, I would say I preferred the mytek over the benchmark fwiw.

Quote:

The Benchmark DAC1 was not a good fit.

Quote:

The Benchmark is a nice Dac but the Bel Canto was better in many ways.

Quote:

I was never bowled over with the Benchmark.

Quote:

the benchmark is a very sibilant dac...

I'd say the Benchmark is now officially the flavor of last month. Any bandwagon hoppers out there wanna sell me your now out-of-favor DAC1 for $400?

 

[strohmie]

See, for under $1000, I prefer building my own DAC...

(still need a few parts though)

For the price range I'd generally recommend a non-oversampling DAC. The Ack and Scott Nixon are good DACs despite their simplicity...seem to recall they're both based on the TDA1543. The one I'm building is TDA1541A-based. That, and you can spend the $500 you save on another pair of headphones.

 

[tiberian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarke68 I'd say the Benchmark is now officially the flavor of last month. Any bandwagon hoppers out there wanna sell me your now out-of-favor DAC1 for $400?

used benchmark dacs on audiogon are probably around 800 (if you can find one).

 

[Natsuiro]

Does anyone know if the mini-dac can run solely on USB power? Also how would the the headphone out compare to the benchmark? Also how sensitive is the mini-dac to source if I'm not using usb? I guess these questions are mainly directed to Tiberian haha.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarke68 I'd say the Benchmark is now officially the flavor of last month. Any bandwagon hoppers out there wanna sell me your now out-of-favor DAC1 for $400?

It's been the flavor of every month since July for me