Just picked up a Benchmark DAC1 Pre

nspindel

Auditioning it to replace one of these:

http://littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=814&sid=4d4fc5e086d0d4d9117dcef6c97852c6

The little dot sounds fantastic, and at $259 + $45 to ship from China, this has to be the best-bang-for-the-buck balanced dac you can get. But I'm hoping to find a jump in sound quality with a dac that costs 6X as much, so I'm looking forward to giving it a try tonight.

Source is a Squeezebox, then going balanced out to a tube preamp/headphone amp, then into a Krell amp, then to my SDA's.

Anyone want to give me any words of wisdom about what I'm in for with this new bad boy?

heiney9

nspindel wrote: »

Anyone want to give me any words of wisdom about what I'm in for with this new bad boy?

It's a little forward and dry from what I've read from owners on the forum. Definitely not a warm sounding unit. Atleast not in the rigs of these owners and a couple others. Doesn't mean it's not a nice unit, in fact it gets a lot of praise. You'll just have to see based on the synergy with your gear. Krell in general is a little dark, so maybe these will mate really well together.

Ask Ricardo or Steveinaz.

Be sure to post your impressions.

H9

steveinaz

I have the DAC1 PRE, you might want to try Blue Jeans Belden 1694A digital cable with it--very neutral.

Give it a good 40hrs of break-in before listening critically. Enjoy. There's been a Benchmark in my system for over 7 years now. I've tried to replace it with Placette passives TWICE, and the placettes have been sold--what's that tell you?

If you're using balanced out from the DAC, do some reading, I've heard you should change the defualt (XLR output) strapping to the 0dB output level for best results. I believe it ships in the -20dB position. This is a well known tweak for folk's running balanced. My facts might be a little screwy so check for yourself.

My systems is: C.E.C. CD-3300--->Benchmark--->Parasound HCA-1500A--->Fritz Carbon 7's

The DAC1 PRE has the new opamps throughout, suppossedly a "significant" upgrade from the Basic DAC1 (non-USB). This was to address some reports of tilted treble--to be honest, I don't really notice any difference from my original DAC1...maybe a tad smoother, I didn't find fault with the originals treble, so who knows?

nspindel

Good to know, thanks Steve. Going to use this Signal to start:

http://signalcable.com/silverresolutiondigital.html

steveinaz

I've used the signal cable basic coax with it before with real good results. Signal cables XLR's are excellent too. I'd recommend sticking with copper conductors on the Benchmark--but, what the heck, give it a shot.

IMO, that's a hell of a DAC; black background, and resolving to the nth degree. There's dozens and dozens of professional reviews on that unit, all of them very positive. Enjoy! Stereophile called the preamp section "...as good as it gets".

Ricardo

It is a great unit, but I did find it a bit sterile and missed my tubes. I also found it to emphasize the bass a bit too much.

I bought it and gave it the 30 day trial but decided to return it.

BlueFox

Other than being butt ugly, it is a good DAC. I had one minor issues with it as a pre-amp, but it was later addressed, for more money. The gripe, which is fixed in another model, is the lack of a remote control. I really got tired of getting up to change the volume up/down, switch inputs, etc. So, I bought another pre-amp with a remote, and used the DAC Pre as a DAC.

As a DAC I could only compare it to the original DAC1. From a sound perspective I cannot remember any difference. However, the basic DAC1 does not have a SPDIF RCA input, just BNC, but the Pre does have an RCA input.

Later, I upgraded to the Bryston BDA-1 DAC, and to be honest, I like the Bryston a bit better. The DAC1 is a bit more detailed (harsh?) compared to the Bryston, but I did not realize that until getting the Bryston. On the other hand, I am sure there are plenty of DACs out there that make the Bryston sound harsh.

steveinaz

If you've ever heard a Bel Canto, they're practically twins, sonically. It can be neutral to a fault, depending on your system synergy. I found that in preamp mode it is more punchy than when ran at line level. It's neutrality is a good mate with my warm leaning speakers.

Ricardo

Here's the thread I wrote a little about my experience:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104768&highlight=benchmark

On3s&Z3r0s

steveinaz wrote: »

...The DAC1 PRE has the new opamps throughout, suppossedly a "significant" upgrade from the Basic DAC1 (non-USB). This was to address some reports of tilted treble--to be honest, I don't really notice any difference from my original DAC1...maybe a tad smoother, I didn't find fault with the originals treble, so who knows?

Dammit, why do they have to keep improving these things... the upgraditis is making me hyperventilate! I have the original DAC1 (haven't heard the PRE), and I get what people mean when they say tilted treble... at least tilted relative to other DACs I own. I also have a cheapo LiTe DAC-AH (8x NOS) that has been extensively upgraded with good caps and LME49710 op amps.

By comparison, the AH is smoother top to bottom and warmer in the middle. I think it pairs well with some of my cheap NAD amps, but the Benchmark pairs well with my B&K, which some people say is also a darker amp, so maybe the B&K and Benchmark smooth out each other's rough spots. The Benchmark definitely images better and is more detailed than the AH and has an absolutely dead silent noise floor, but it is significantly brighter, and I'm hoping tweeter upgrades to my SDA's will help tame things down a bit, because it can be shrill with the SL-2000's IMO.

I recently did an A/B of the Benchmark versus the little HRT Music Streamer II (there's another thread reviewing that USB DAC), and I have to say I was pretty freaked out at how good the HRT was. Like you said I was thinking the Benchmark costs 6x what the HRT does, so the Benchmark has to be head and shoulders over it. But I think maybe the HRT is the best overall of all three. The imaging is slightly different, but I find it to be on par, and there's no hint of the Benchmark's skew toward the treble.

Anyway, I hope we're not giving you any buyer's remorse. The Benchmark (even my early one) is an awesome DAC and it's gonna stay in my 2-channel system for the forseeable future. (The HRT is for a PC-based office system.) I'm definitely curious to hear how you like it versus the Little Dot, so come back and give us the full report if you got the time. I like to run balanced into my B&K and had been curious about the LD.

nspindel

Got it all hooked up and burning in.

Forgot to mention that I'm using the Signal XLR's as well. Signal Magic Power for it as well. All my cables are Signal, even my balanced Senn 650 cable, Frank made one up special for me.

Initial thoughts are that it's more revealing and spacious than the Little Dot. Listened to the beginning of MFSL version of Alan Parsons I Robot. The whizzing and whirring of the synths in that recording seemed to be coming from all around me, rather than at me from the front. Overall, though, it seems thin, but I know the thing needs to burn in a bit. The Wolfson-based Little Dot had a warmness to it that I'm not seeing yet from the Benchmark, but I've not done much listening at all yet.

I think it ships from the factory with the gain set to -20db when you disable the volume. That's a lot lower than the Little Dot, I do want to open it up and switch the jumpers around to get more gain. I used to listen through the Senns with the volume at 9:00 or 10:00, now I'm at 2:00 or higher. No reason to need to head that hi.

Hopefully it'll start opening up a bit tomorrow. I'm planning to either love it outright, or reserve making a decision till Tuesday and give it the respect it deserves while I'm burning it in...

Bassphil

Congratulations on the DAC. My friend has a Benchmark and it sounds good in his system. You might want to try experimenting with coaxial cables. I brought my Analysis-Plus Yellow Oval cable over to his house, and it definitely made it sound better than the cable he was using.

nspindel

Ok, about 30 hours into burn in, there's no doubt it's a keeper. "Side 2" in vinyl-speak of Abbey Road did it for me, but then MFSL version of Rush Moving Pictures sealed the deal. This thing kicks ****.

nspindel

I am humbled by the Benchmark. Little Dot DAC, you have served me well. For the money, you are an amazing piece of equipment. It's not even fair to put you up against gear that is 6X your cost. Alas, I have done exactly that, and so now we must part ways. Fare thee well, I have enjoyed our time together...

steveinaz

The Benchmark tells it like it is---excellent source material, excellent results. It's not a wart hider. I think people get too caught up in the hype, and expect it to completely transform their system. I love mine, thats why I have stuck with it for 7 years. Very few (if any) products, at any price, can touch the Benchmarks measured performance.

nspindel

So the moral of the story is... Get lots of good sounding music :-)