[tunes]

I am searching for a USB DAC for my computer / head phone rig. I don't care much about a DAC/AMP combo since I plan to buy a separate headphone amp.

I have narrowed down my search to three DACs:

Benchmark DAC 1 USB $1275

Bel Canto e.one DAC3 $2495

Wavelength Cosecant USB DAC v3 $3500

The concern I have is that in both Stereophile reviews of the first two DACs, the USB performance was inferior to the input using S/PDIF and AES/EBU sources. There was no good explaination for this in the articles but may have been in part related to setting the iTunes preferences correctly. The Bel Canto seemed to have higher marks than the Benchmark DAC 1 USB but not by a differential of $1200. Furthermore, the 24/96 capable USB option is still not out yet.

Has anyone heard all three yet to comment on differences in performance using the USB input and lossless files off a MAC computer?

 

[cconnaker]

I suggest getting the DAC1 USB for an audition. They have a 30 money back guarantee if you don't like it.

These DACs are going to make different impressions on you based on your system. I don't think an opinion by someone else here is really going to help that much. But hey, I am interested in what others have to say as well.

 

[Scrith]

The USB input into the Benchmark DAC1 USB is great. I've personally tested it vs. just about the most expensive USB to S/PDIF converter out there (an Empirical Audio Off-Ramp Turbo 2 w/ Superclock 4) and they sounded equivalent to both my ears and my wife's (who had no idea what equipment she was testing). I ended up selling the Off-Ramp Turbo 2 as a result.

I sometimes get the feeling that the Stereophile guys haven't quite figured out all the intricacies of computer audio just yet.

 

[cconnaker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scrith /img/forum/go_quote.gif I sometimes get the feeling that the Stereophile guys haven't quite figured out all the intricacies of computer audio just yet.

I always feel that way

 

[Maniac]

Regarding the USB @ 24bit/96KHz sample rate, I've personally searched high and low, and I've yet to find one that is as well integrated as the ones that can only do 16bit 32/44.1/48KHz. The ones on the market that can do higher sampling rate are usually a custom job that includes custom chipset/firmware and driver.

It is interesting that no company that I could find had come up with an updated version of their USB audio chip.

 

[cconnaker]

Benchmark DAC1 USB is not custom.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maniac /img/forum/go_quote.gif Regarding the USB @ 24bit/96KHz sample rate, I've personally searched high and low, and I've yet to find one that is as well integrated as the ones that can only do 16bit 32/44.1/48KHz. The ones on the market that can do higher sampling rate are usually a custom job that includes custom chipset/firmware and driver. It is interesting that no company that I could find had come up with an updated version of their USB audio chip.

The Benchmark uses custom firmware, but is "driverless", AFAIK.

 

[Maniac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cconnaker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Benchmark DAC1 USB is not custom.

Well, from the photo, it looks like a Ti chip that does the receiving, but there's also a Xilinix CPLD/FPGA that does some custom functions that I'm not too sure about. Then it seems that the data is passed to the ASRC chip then onto the DAC.

I personally would love to know the one chip that could do it at 24bit/96KHz tho, as I've really tried to find it and couldn't find one that is at least somewhat on-par with the PCM270x series.