Benchmark Transport, would you buy it?
steveinaz
Posts: 19,536
If Benchmark Media built a redbook transport, following the styling/materials used in the DAC 1; added remote control and a Coax, AES-EBU, and Toslink output, would you buy it, and and what price?
Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
Post edited by steveinaz on
Comments
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Nope. At any price.
Let the flame wars commence..........~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Since I already have 2 Dac1s, the answer is no, but it would be a killer CD player. Especially if they added multiple digital inputs so that it retained the versatility of the Dac1. $1500 is a fair price since that is the price of the Dac1. Lower is better, of course.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Since I have no idea what your talking about I gotta say no. I've got a lot to learn on this subject.
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No, I wouldn't buy it, 'cause I'm poor. But I would be very interested in seeing such a model. No doubt it'd be a solid piece.George Grand wrote: »
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[Home Audio]
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Since I already have 2 Dac1s, the answer is no, but it would be a killer CD player. Especially if they added multiple digital inputs so that it retained the versatility of the Dac1. $1500 is a fair price since that is the price of the Dac1. Lower is better, of course.
I'm talking straight transport--no built in DAC's.Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2 -
There is zero, zip, nada in the "true" transport realm--sub $1000. Why this is, I have no idea. I pitched the idea to Rory Rall, VP of Benchmark in a recent email. If Benchmark built it, I'd be all over it; probably at any price south of a grand.Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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I'm talking straight transport--no built in DAC's.
In that case no. Any transport that provides error free bits to the DAC is fine. Before I got my current SACD player, I was using my 1999 DVD player as the transport for the Dac1. Worked great.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
I voted no due to the fact media centers today are the way to go. And they have been compared to transports and sound as good and in some cases better. Not to mention you can have your entire collection on hard drive and not worry about scratches and storing all those jewel cases.
DanDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I voted no due to the fact media centers today are the way to go. And they have been compared to transports and sound as good and in some cases better. Not to mention you can have your entire collection on hard drive and not worry about scratches and storing all those jewel cases.
Dan
Me too.Sharp Elite 70
Anthem D2V 3D
Parasound 5250
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NO, I would wait until you bought it, wanted to upgrade, and sold it to me used.
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No. If they are considering making a transport, why not just make an all in one unit? Why add an extra cable to the mix if it's not needed? If they decided to make an all in one unit, it should also have digital inputs, that seems to be the newest trend for versatility."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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No....No...NoLinn AV5140 fronts
Linn AV5120 Center
Linn AV5140 Rears
M&K MX-70 Sub for Music
Odyssey Mono-Blocs
SVS Ultra-13 Gloss Black:D -
Of those who answered NO, would you own a redbook transport of any kind?
I don't want an all-in-one, if I wanted that, I'd a bought a $2000 CD player instead of external DAC. Both DVD "transports" (or so-called) I tried, stunk. A Denon DVD-2910, and my Panny BluRay. Niether could compete with my CEC.Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2 -
I answered "no". After having dealt with a transport/DAC setup I think what the Cambridge offers and many of the Cary offers is ideal: One unit for your CD's, but digital inputs for other sources like your DVD player, etc. Best of both worlds if you ask me. Not dissing the Benchmark or anything because I know it sounds good, but one less box, power cable, etc. to futz with is fine by me, and it looks cleaner in the rack too.
WesLink: http://polkarmy.com/forums
Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK 42" HDTV | Polk Audio SDA-SRS's (w/RDO's & Vampire Posts) + SVS PC+ 25-31 | AudioQuest Granite (mids) + BWA Silver (highs) | Cary Audio CAD-200 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Wyred 4 Sound STP/SE Pre | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Cambridge Audio azur 840C--Wadia 170i + iPod jammed w/ lossless audio--Oppo 970 | Pure|AV PF31d -
Of those who answered NO, would you own a redbook transport of any kind?
I already own multiple CD transports that work fine with the Dac1. If my current transport (SACD player) breaks I have 3 DVD players, and 2 CD players, sitting in boxes waiting to get back into the game. Consequently, for me, there really is not any compelling reason to buy another transport.
As a side-note question, when did the CD standard name start becoming the preferred way to refer to CDs? It's just more letters to type.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Both DVD "transports" (or so-called) I tried, stunk. A Denon DVD-2910, and my Panny BluRay. Niether could compete with my CEC.
Hi Steve,
Can you please explain how the DVD players lacked against the CEC? I thought that the BE Dac's pretty much made the quality of the transport obsolete due to their jitter reduction. In my research, better transports gave subtle improvements. I plan to use a DAC1 with a Denon 2900, I hope it does not stink.
Venom -
No, really wouldn't have a need for one. One of the reasons (besides it's incredible sound) I went with my present CD player (CA 840C) is it's ability to let you use it's superb DAC's when using a music server. That is one feature that I'm sure I'll be using down the road when music servers are main stream & the way to go. Stand alone players, transports, DAC's will all be dinosaurs...just like a TT."2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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No,I use a universal player for DVD-V,DVD-A, SACD and as a transport to feed my external DAC for redbook.Testing
Testing
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I use my Pioneer Elite Sc-07 as a external DC for my cd playback, it's outside of my SACD/DVD AUDIO/CD player and I send it over HDMI. I like that.
DanDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
A seperate transport in this day and age would have a very limited market. Monarchy tried that years ago and abandoned it fairly quickly. IIRC, the single unit they offered was sub $1K.
I wouldn't be interested simply because I have gone the Squeezbox/music server route and so far it has worked out extremely well. It's an intersting idea and would certainly appeal to their hard core DAC crowd, but beyond that it's a very hard sell to the casual audiophile.
Hell, even seperate DAC's are a hard sell and it's only because of computer server type systems that some companies have come back in vogue...........of course you HAVE to offer a USB port now.
just my .02c
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!