Benchmark DAC

[Kobus]

All our new guys hear so much about this little "masterpiece".

What does it cost and

what does it look like?.


Thanks

Kobus

[Mukaudio]

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/

This site has specs, pictures, prices, and ordering information.

Mark.

[aud19]

Also do a search on here, there's numerous threads on it and a couple of bigger and very informative ones

[Kobus]

Thanks

[norpus]

All our new guys hear so much about this little "masterpiece".

What does it cost and

what does it look like?.


Thanks

Kobus

I use one - it doubles as my preamp as well as my DAC for the cd transport
Analogue cables straight into my power amp and onto the 802D
Very clean but very manual

Looks are simple, half sized rack pro gear, but the sound is clean.

[JDH]

I use one - it doubles as my preamp as well as my DAC for the cd transport
Analogue cables straight into my power amp and onto the 802D
Very clean but very manual

Looks are simple, half sized rack pro gear, but the sound is clean.

I have the Benchmark DAC 1 connected to my Rotel AV pre using RCA and also XLR direct to my Rotel RB-1080, I use the volume control on the DAC however I fine tune the volume using the Digital volume control on my CD transport (using its remote). Sounds great with my HD600 headphones too.

Prior to purchasing the Benchmark DAC 1 I also investigated the Musical Fidelity X-DAC v3 and CEC DA53, for me the Benchmark DAC 1 was the better unit in terms of sound quality and features, however it ended up being the most expensive, but still better overall value.

[pearsall001]

I had one in my system for the 30 day trial period. I could not justify spending $975 for the DAC1 because for the life of me I couldn't hear any difference at all in my system. I sent the unit back. I got my refund w/ no problems at all. Sometimes you have to wonder if guys tell themselves they hear a difference just so they can justify their new purchase. Not worth it in my book.

[aud19]

I had one in my system for the 30 day trial period. I could not justify spending $975 for the DAC1 because for the life of me I couldn't hear any difference at all in my system. I sent the unit back. I got my refund w/ no problems at all. Sometimes you have to wonder if guys tell themselves they hear a difference just so they can justify their new purchase. Not worth it in my book.

Perhaps the rest of your gear and/or your ears couldn't discern the difference....? Just because it wasn't worth it to you doesn't mean that's the case for everyone else

[ThomasW]

I've owned/auditioned multiple DACs. And the DAC1 was the only unit that provided a significant audible improvement in any system I put it in. It's vastly better than the stock DACs in my $3200 SCD-777ES

[jim777]

What about the Grace Design m902? Anyone tried that one?? Stereophile liked it better than the DAC1 (but it costs 75% more).

[JDH]

Perhaps the rest of your gear and/or your ears couldn't discern the difference....? Just because it wasn't worth it to you doesn't mean that's the case for everyone else

That's what I was thinking too. With the DAC 1, I find I can hear more of the background detail, instruments and vocals more clearly. I must admit I was using a Yamaha HD1300 CD recorders internal DAC prior to the DAC 1 so the difference was always going to be noticable with a dedicated DAC.

[Shawn Parr]

What about the Grace Design m902? Anyone tried that one?? Stereophile liked it better than the DAC1 (but it costs 75% more).

I haven't heard the m902 personally, but if the design philosophy is the same as used in their 801 mic preamps then it has to be top notch.

Michael Grace is very serious about quality, and while his stuff is not the cheapest around, it tends to blow away everything in its price range, and many things above, when it comes to sound quality.

I mentioned in another thread that I did a test of different sampling rates (up to 192). Also involved in that test was an 801 preamp. It was amazingly transparent and pure. We popped the top to see what was happening and it was extremely well built. For one example all the knobs were actual stepped attenuators with discreet high quality resistors. Those components alone could cost an end user up to $1000 (I have a DACT CT-2 stepped attenuator for volume control in my studio and it cost over $200, and was well worth it).

It would be very interesting to hear from someone lucky enough to compare the m902 to the DAC1.

[DifferentLee]

I use the Benchmark DAC1 on live to 2 track minimalist recordings and really like it. It can playback 24/192 discs as well. It is a step up from my SCD-777ES redbook sound quality but not a huge step.

[whoaru99]

I had one in my system for the 30 day trial period. I could not justify spending $975 for the DAC1 because for the life of me I couldn't hear any difference at all in my system. I sent the unit back. I got my refund w/ no problems at all. Sometimes you have to wonder if guys tell themselves they hear a difference just so they can justify their new purchase. Not worth it in my book.

Similar situation for me. I returned one as well.

I thought I heard differences in nearly all cases; some improvements, some differences I felt were not improvements.

Bottom lines was the same though - didn't seem worth it to me.

I may try the Lavry Engineering DA-10 though. Some reviews I've read seem to indicate a somewhat different sound that addresses what I felt I didn't like about the DAC1.

Lavry has 15 day money back....

The biggest thing about stuff like this is that one person's "big difference" may not be someone else's idea of a "big difference".

[alebonau]

The biggest thing about stuff like this is that one person's "big difference" may not be someone else's idea of a "big difference".

thats very true but there are also other factors at play. For instance I've demoed it twice on my system(second time was over a period of 10 days) now and really theres no significant difference vs my 10 year old musical fidelity valve dac - well not significant enough to justify me spending money to buy one.

And then again I have seen it make quite a significant difference over a rotel 1072 in one system and to illustrate the point further & counter that have then heard it make little or no difference in another system with the exact same components (source/pre/amp) with the only difference being a different brand mains speaker.

So I think apart from say a persons perceptions there is also system matching and systems resolving ability that has a say as to how much a difference a component like this makes.

All the more important to make sure you do an inhome demo on a component liek this before purchase to make sure it gives you what you want and make your own mind up whether you feel the upgrade is justified in the improvements it brings.

Keep inmind too, if there is no significant difference its nothign to stress about, it jsut means your probably better off spending your cash on some other aspect of your system just now for greater gains. Or just saving the cash for somthing else unrelated or just more CDs to get more enjoyment out of your system.