Well I certainly appreciate all of the responses. I knew I could count on you guys as always. What got me even discussing this was seeing a pre-owned Benchmark for sale on another forum. I think a couple of you didn't notice that I already have the V281 FE which I am extremely fond of. I knew the HPA4 would sell quickly and it already has sold when I checked back. A couple of hours after the original post I started thinking, what am I thinking here? No matter how good the Benchmark is, there's no way I could ever sell my V281. I started thinking what do I do then, put it on a shelf? That would be ridiculous, it's far too good for that. All of your learned opinions have reinforced to me that I've had the right headphone amp/preamp in the Violectric all along. Many thanks to all
i got both. cant choose which is better but v281 is slightly on the warmer side with good slam on the bass section while hpa4 are more linear, transparent. I didn't sell my v281 as I love it dearly. the only way to go is to go nimbus etc but v281 is still one of the best amps ever made period.
Irony, isn't it? In general sense, things that measure well should also perform well technically, but when it comes to audio(phile), many things don't seem to work as expected. This is also true with DACs and many headphones I've tried. Maybe it's the way we perceive sound?
I agree. You want some type of pleasing distortion profile. Whatever that is that you like. It’s almost like the complete absence of distortion sounds artificial. I also thing there is something to feedback (or feed forward in this case) smearing transients. The thing I liked about the benchmark was you could listen as low or loud as you want and it sounded exactly the same, and to me - wasn’t fatiguing at all - probably because of absolutely no distortion. That doesn’t matter much if you don’t like the sound to begin with.
One more point. A lot of people like the Benchmark, and it’s gonna depend on your headphones as well. I didn’t like the sound, but that doesn’t mean you won’t. Benchmark has a 30 day trial which I very much appreciate. You can look for other people opinions directionally regarding what sound you are looking for - but as always - I’d recommend demoing if you can - to see what you like. At the very least you’ll learn something about your preferences, I have with both gear I liked and gear I didn’t. Also, you could try one of the cheap THX amps to see if you like that flavor.
Totally agree with the above suggestion - try out the Drop THX AAA 789 to get a huge portion of the Benchmark experience for a far lower price. It's not quite as good, but close enough to tell you whether you will enjoy that type of signature or not.
For me, I find that I quite like the 789 for what it is, but do not think the Benchmark is worth the significant increase in price. The 789 is great to have in an arsenal of several different amps for variety, though I personally wouldn't want it to be my only option.
Irony, isn't it? In general sense, things that measure well should also perform well technically, but when it comes to audio(phile), many things don't seem to work as expected. This is also true with DACs and many headphones I've tried. Maybe it's the way we perceive sound?
IMHO the idea our currently available audio measurements actually measure the sound of music is pure confirmation bias.
It's more likely any measurements that capture the subtle characteristics of music that please human ears don't yet exist.
Reality reminder:
In the early 1980s the first CD players came out and CD audio was hawked under Philips' ludicrous slogan, "Pure, perfect sound--forever."
In truth, early players & discs sounded terrible, most of all when played on big, well-designed 2-channel systems with above average resolution (I had one such). Those early CD vs LP contests were painful to listen to.
Anyone with the nerve to state the obvious ("CDs sound like s**t') was drummed out of the corps by the measurement crowd's big gotcha, "Bits are bits."
Only years later was jitter measured & correlated to bad digital sound. Decades of tech development have largely removed jitter from the equation & digital sound has improved. But the haunting thought remains that any timing irregularities anywhere in the digital chain can corrupt digital sound--and current jitter reduction technologies might not actually erase jitter, just greatly reduce it.
Plus jitter is only one of the factors that can degrade a digital chain...
The X-Files famously stated, "The truth is out there." The important part in that is "out there" -- as in "not here, not yet."
One more point. A lot of people like the Benchmark, and it’s gonna depend on your headphones as well. I didn’t like the sound, but that doesn’t mean you won’t. Benchmark has a 30 day trial which I very much appreciate. You can look for other people opinions directionally regarding what sound you are looking for - but as always - I’d recommend demoing if you can - to see what you like. At the very least you’ll learn something about your preferences, I have with both gear I liked and gear I didn’t. Also, you could try one of the cheap THX amps to see if you like that flavor.
Let's not forget that the big Benchmark amp is physically beautiful. I've seen & heard them at shows. Each time I badly want them to sound as good as they look...
IMHO the idea our currently available audio measurements actually measure the sound of music is pure confirmation bias.
It's more likely any measurements that capture the subtle characteristics of music that please human ears don't yet exist.
Reality reminder:
In the early 1980s the first CD players came out and CD audio was hawked under Philips' ludicrous slogan, "Pure, perfect sound--forever."
In truth, early players & discs sounded terrible, most of all when played on big, well-designed 2-channel systems with above average resolution (I had one such). Those early CD vs LP contests were painful to listen to.
Anyone with the nerve to state the obvious ("CDs sound like s**t') was drummed out of the corps by the measurement crowd's big gotcha, "Bits are bits."
Only years later was jitter measured & correlated to bad digital sound. Decades of tech development have largely removed jitter from the equation & digital sound has improved. But the haunting thought remains that any timing irregularities anywhere in the digital chain can corrupt digital sound--and current jitter reduction technologies might not actually erase jitter, just greatly reduce it.
Jitter is only one of the factors that can degrade a digital chain...
The X-Files famously stated, "The truth is out there." The important part in that is "out there" -- as in "not here, not yet."
I'm sure all of this makes perfect sense and I'm think I'm absorbing most of it. However I watched some three stooges episodes only a few hours before reading this, so it is a bit of a transition
I'm sure all of this makes perfect sense and I'm think I'm absorbing most of it. However I watched some three stooges episodes only a few hours before reading this, so it is a bit of a transition
Totally agree with the above suggestion - try out the Drop THX AAA 789 to get a huge portion of the Benchmark experience for a far lower price. It's not quite as good, but close enough to tell you whether you will enjoy that type of signature or not.
For me, I find that I quite like the 789 for what it is, but do not think the Benchmark is worth the significant increase in price. The 789 is great to have in an arsenal of several different amps for variety, though I personally wouldn't want it to be my only option.
Completely agree to this. I'll say one more time: THX AAA is pure hype, Period.
Also what many don't know (and the so called "reviewers" don't point out) is that the HPA-4 does not have a true balanced output. Infact I'm not sure if any of the THX amps have a true voltage balanced output. Benchmark discloses the same in their article on "busting audio myths". If you're looking for some chuckles you can read the article here:
Needless to say that most of the content here is BS. What intrigues me though is that how well the marketing team at Benchmark works with these "reviewers" in keeping this fact hidden in plain sight. Check out this review on ASR:
See how there is no clear mention of the fact that the HPA4 is not a true balanced amp at all? Just "the TRS is the same as XLR" and thats it. For a site that focuses on objectivity over subjective opinions, this raises eyebrows. The plot thickens when you actually read the V281 review on the same site:
Again, no points for guessing which review seems sponsored. Although the 281 comes recommended as well, there was nothing the reviewer could do to put it down (although his posse does try. Read the whole thread); speaking volumes on how good the 281 actually is: both on paper and in real life.
What I'm emphasizing here is that the HPA4 (much like it's "THX AAA" bretheren) is just overhyped stuff. Not saying that the measurements are not good but I don't care if the same does not translate to performance.
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