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I completely agree on the Benchmark.

Posted by hfavandepas on August 31, 2011 at 10:05:46

In Reply to: Thanks for the input.. posted by Audio Pharaoh on August 31, 2011 at 07:42:11:

Hi Audio Pharaoh,

You must have a good system and also have good ears ! You exactly pin point at the weak points of the Benchmark DAC. I also agree the Benchmark sounds a somewhat ‘shrill’ and a little harsh.
This is also the general opinion amongst audio engineers (see reviews in producer magazines).
But in a (mostly heavily) dampened acoustically environment like a mastering room, this negative aspect does not spring to attention that easily as it does in a (undampened) home environment.
The Dutch distributor (Helios) once auditioned too me a modified Benchmark with a better clock. In that modified copy the ‘shrillness’ and ‘sharpness’ where absent.

Since you have good ears, a tast for good sound quality (as this is acquired !) and probably also a good setup that reveals any flaws in a DAC, you really should put some effort in trying too audition some high quality interfaces from makes of : Prism, Metric Halo, Weiss, Lavry, Apogee (only the Symphony I/O !). May be also the new Lynx Hilo (which I have not heard myself yet, as it is not available in The Netherlands yet).
No matter what connection method used, I guess you might like the sound quality from one of those high quality (professional) audio interfaces very much AT GIVEN PRICE.

Provided that you do not hate too operate a computer or a notebook as your music source, these audio interfaces might perfectly bridge the gap between your computer and your HiFi system. Especially viewed from price/performance ratio perspective. As most streamers are still somehow (one way or the other) linux based computers in disguise.

I really (still) have a lot of sympathy for brands like Linn and Naim. They really put sound quality first. I’m also really exited about the announced merger between Focal and Naim. I don’t know, but I really hope, that they will manage too stay connected somehow with younger clientele that are used to do everything with their PC or smartphone.

Mark

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