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Digital Drive: REVIEW: Benchmark DAC-1 DAC Processors by bilbobaggins Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it. |
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Digital Drive: REVIEW: Benchmark DAC-1 DAC Processors by bilbobaggins Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it. |
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151.207.240.3
Model: DAC-1 Category: DAC Processors Suggested Retail Price: $850 Description: professional mastering DAC Manufacturer URL: Benchmark Manufacturer URL: Benchmark
Review by bilbobaggins ( A ) on September 22, 2003 at 07:11:27
IP Address: 151.207.240.3Add Your Review
for the DAC-1
Benchmark Dac1I’ve been meaning to post my thoughts on the DAC1, but my attention has been diverted as I purchased it shortly before the war in Iraq and by interest in a variety of DIY projects. In addition, I have not been frequenting AA very much lately – as I’ve weaned myself away from the equipment addiction. Further, I wanted to do a variety of comparisons in order to have a more measured evaluation of the unit after the initial excitement wore off. I tried the DAC1 in my audio system and HT system and with both the coax and toslink inputs. First the main system, the DAC1 sounded better than the internal DAC’s in a Thule CD150B, with better bass extension, weight and a feeling of a clean soundstage. It’s intent as a mastering DAC was clearly evident as even on casual listening, it’s openness in the mids and bass coupled with the clean treble allowed the mixing and effects to be clearly evident with a variety of CD’s. For instance, listening to Shania Twain’s “UP†Cd, I could clearly hear the use of flanging and other chorus effects. Listening to more audiophile fare, such as from Chesky records, Stereophile, and classical music, I was very pleased with its crystalline presentation when combined with the Thule. I found this presentation very engaging and unfatiguing.
My main system is in the same room as my exercise equipment and its drive, rhythm, pace and bass slam were highly appreciated during workouts. I’m a former guitar player so these characteristics are those I highly value in music. Other than the digital section, I used a DACT CT-101 passive attenuator hardwired to Chris Venhaus DIY silver interconnects, to a Pass Aleph 30 and B&W P4’s. Other amps on hand were YBA 3a DT and B&K ST-140. Digital cables were DIY Belden 1506 coaxial cable w/ Canare plugs and the Sound Professions fiber optic glass toslink that have both been favorably reviewed here. The difference between the cables was pretty small in absolute terms. The coax connection is via BNC and a Bnc-Rca converter connector was provided. By the way, the coax input can handle both SPDIF and AES/EBU. AES/EBU can also be handled by the XLR type input. The benchmark was tested as stock from the factory, which means that the preamp section was set for some gain -- I forget the exact amount. The gain is adjustable by use of internal jumpers – I did not touch them. You can easily have set the jumpers for no gain, but I did not try that as of yet. Hence, its use in my system with a passive attenuator was beneficial in providing some additional gain from the source. The Benchmark does have a built in volume control which can be bypassed, which I did for the vast majority of the time. The built in volume control has a somewhat softer bass and is warmer sounding than the DACT with the DACT in the fully opened position.
In the main system, I also used the DAC1 with a Cal Labs DX-1 and NEC CD 601 (external CD-rom drive that has been getting some attention on AA as a budget transport along with the 602). Comparisons with the Cal Labs vs. the Thule were that Cal-Labs was more extended in the bass but without as much punch and softer sounding in the midrange, i.e. mids had a more “warm†sound where the details were present but not as laid bare. The NEC is a great budget transport but didn’t impress me all that much in absolute terms (but hey I paid $15 shipped on ebay so I can’t complain) – it did sound fairly similar to the Cal Labs – more so than the Thule.
The sound from the headphone outputs was also highly agreeable. I used Sennheiser HD 535’s, Grado SR-80 and Sony MDR-7506. The Grado’s offered the presentation that was most similar to the Thule –Benchmark – Pass – B&W combination with an open midrange and punchy but not so extended bass. The Benchmark also seemed to ameliorate a tendency for an upper mid – lower treble emphasis that I’ve noticed when using Grado’s with midfi headphone circuits. I’ve noticed this coloration of the Grado’s with solo piano music. This tendency of the Grados does lend additional excitement to pop/rock music.
What about other DAC’s? The internal DAC’s of the Thule I liked much better than when feeding a stock MSB link Dac (the original, totally stock). Similarly, the Benchmark was a substantial step up over the Thule. Hence, I didn’t even bother comparing the Benchmark to the MSB. Hi-Rez?, the DAC1 will accommodate up to 24/192 sources. I don’t have any Hi-Rez recordings but the James Taylor DVD-V Live in the Beacon Theater does have a 24/48 PCM track that does sound very good with the DAC1 in my HT system. I think the Philips 963a DVD-V and SACD player would make an intriguing combination with the DAC1, as it can produce a digitally upsampled output.
Some time ago, while my DAC1 was backordered, I posted the question if a DAC has very low jitter, will that make different transports sound more similar or more different?
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=digital&n=59416&highlight=bilbobaggins&r=&session=
So far, my experience with the different transports is the ones I’ve tried sound pretty different.
Before and after I ordered, I emailed quite a few people who had experience with the unit, including Bob Katz, John Marks and other mastering engineers. The consesus was very positive. Magnetar, is another inmate who ordered the Dac1 at the same time and with whom I’ve exchanged emails. He didn’t like it in comparison with his highly tweaked Audionote 1.2 (non-oversampling) -- considering the mids bleached out and missing the natural warmth of his tubed DAC. I don’t disregard his opinion, as it reflects his sonic tastes but perhaps this could be ameliorated by transport matching. On the other hand, the consensus from the mastering engineers was very positive. One of them did an A-B comparison, with some other mastering engineers present, where they recorded an acoustic guitar and voice in the room and played it back. They did a shoot out comparison with 4 other pro DAC’s, including the Apogee PSX-100 (http://www.audiorevolution.com/equip/index.html, scroll down to the bottom under accessories for review) and Alesis Masterlink (http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?605), the results where that the DAC1 was THE closest representation to what they heard in the room – with the Alesis being the worst of the bunch and the Apogee placing 2nd. If this is your holy grail in music reproduction, then I suggest you consider the Benchmark. Based on how other pro dac’s have drawn raves and a following from the AA crowd, including the ART DI/O after modding and the M-audio superdac and the presence of Weiss at or near the top of the digital foodchain, it was clear to me that a pro DAC like the Benchmark should not be disregarded. Plus, IMHO it is very aesthetically pleasing for a pro dac.
The benchmark does have a lot of surface mount components on its circuit boards and thus does not allow for as much tweaking as the ART. It’s use of integrated circuits (op-amps) may be a turn off for some. However, based on the acclaim that the 47 Labs Gaincard has obtained, audiophile stereotypes such as downrating op-amp designs clearly require reevaluation.
So in conclusion, I am very pleased with my purchase of the Benchmark DAC1. I rarely like to buy anything new anymore, as I’ve started to really get into DIY and the used market. However, this is one purchase I don’t regret in the least. It’s ultra flexibility in connectivity, portability, integral headphone outputs, 5 year warranty as well as sonic quality make it a great value for the price paid. Furthermore, its use of BNC inputs allow for a higher quality digital connection than RCA’s.
Product Weakness: very little for the price Product Strengths: bass, connectivity, openness, flexibility in use, headphones, value
Associated Equipment for this Review: Amplifier: Pass Labs Aleph 30 Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): DACT attenuator or bult in attenuator Sources (CDP/Turntable): Thule CD-150B Speakers: B&W P4 Cables/Interconnects: Chris Venhaus DIY IC , Audioquest Crystal Biwire speaker Music Used (Genre/Selections): jazz, classical, pop, rock, country Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Jon Risch AC filter Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
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Topic - REVIEW: Benchmark DAC-1 DAC Processors - bilbobaggins 07:11:27 09/22/03 ( 0)
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