Benchmark DAC-1

nathanm · « **on:** 18 Sep 2004, 05:10 am »

Click here for a big freaking photo of the Benchmark!

The Benchmark DAC-1 is a fine piece of engineering, as it should be for $975! Some may call this inexpensive, I call it a good chunk 'o dough. Although I have not decided if it is worth all that to me in comparision with my existing setup, you can tell when you pick it up that you're not being short changed. The DAC-1 definitely means business. A stylish black aluminum faceplate and powder coated case, grippy knurled volume knob (with superfine detents) and firmly clicking switches inspire confidence. It's half a rack space wide which is a size I really like. I am not terribly fond of big 19"x13" gear if it doesn't need to be that large.

The inputs and output setup is very flexible. You get both RCA and balanced XLR outputs. Internal jumpers allow for reducing the XLR output voltage so you don't blow yourself to kingdom come if your amp is a gainy bastard. I ran it into my Cary Rocket-88 which is a low-gainy bastard, so all was well.

By far the coolest part of this thing are these two little holes on the back of the DAC containing "10-turn trimmers". I dunno how they work exactly, I've never encountered such a part before; but let me tell you, I'd want a whole fleet of these things for every analog source! You stick a jewelers screwdriver in there to turn the pot, but it doesn't just make a 300 degree swath (or whatever) like a normal pot, you keep turning and turning the thing and it S L O W L Y and superfinely raises or lowers the volume. The manual specs' "2db per rotation" although it seems finer than that. Granted the fact that you must turn them using a screwdriver does suck, but man if you want to talk about matching channel balance, these little suckers are the cat's pajamas. It's the finest controler I've ever encountered, I wish my guitar tuning knobs had this extreme of a ratio! So with these suckers and your trusty SPL meter you WILL get each speaker dead nuts matched. What a difference THAT little detail makes too!

With the aforementioned trimmers I was able to match the DAC-1 to the analog output of my Shanling CD-T100 CD player. If you don't or aren't able to do that, any comparison will likely be biased in favor of louder component. This happened to me too; bone stock the DAC-1 was about 4db louder than my Shanling and I did definitely think the DAC-1 was much clearer sounding. The ear is so easily tricked! I had the digital coax digital going to the DAC-1 and it's RCA analog outs as well as the analog solid state outputs of the Shanling going to my Monolithic PA-1 passactive doodad. From there the music journeyed to a pair of SATANIC PARAMETRIC EQUALIZERS (the horror, the horror) which I swear on a stack of Absolute Sound back issues are used ONLY to notch out the egregious 40Hz bass boom in my room and nothing more! From there the signal is split, with the EQ output going to the main speakers (Tannoy DMT-10s) via a Manley Stingray and the rest goes to an active XO box driving a pair of VMPS new Larger subwoofers (and one Slightly Not So Larger As The Other One model

) driven by a QSC PLX amplifier.

As usual the overall sound of my setup is so utterly majestic and beyond reproach, the envy of all who dare hear it; that the sonic differences between the Shanling's internal DAC and the Benchmark DAC was minimal. Both sounded magnificent with only subtle shadings of euphonic gloriosity differing between the two. For example, what I thought was a strawberry seed stuck between Diana Krall's front teeth on the song "Lover, You Have Betrayed Me And Must Die" when listening to the Shanling output turned out to be a small piece of kiwi fruit rind through the DAC-1. Now that's what I call high resolving power!

The manual states that you might think there is lower midrange missing, apparently a testament to the jitterlessistic nature of the product. As the power of suggestion is very...well, powerful, this was also what I heard. The shanling seemed a bit darker and soft whereas the Benchmark was crystal clean like wind blowing off the glaciers.

However the Benchmark does something the Shanling can't, which is decode digital PCM audio up to a whopping 192KHz\24bits. Crikey! Luckily they stuck a demo DVD in the box to shill such high res albums. For this I switched over to my cheap-as-dirt Toshiba DVD video player which is The Little DVD Player That Could. The demo disc is from some label called AIX Records and at first glance it appeared to be bland audiophile dreck the likes of which you use to impress your friends when they come over and when they leave immediately stick in an unmarked paper sleeve somewhere at the bottom of your CD drawer. However, further listening proved to be fruitful and some gems were extracted, namely "This Endris Night" by a bunch of folks with mad phat vocal pipes and black turtlenecks. For the DVD\high res audio I had to switch over to the living room system which consists of Gallo Nucleus Solos driven by a Cary Rocket-88. The DAC-1 fed the XLR inputs of the Cary directly. This was quite an impressive result, with some of the best sound I've gotten in there. I think I pressed the poor Cary into clipping for the first time when that one counter tenor dude got a little feisty. Anyway, listening to this made me think that higher resolution audio is definitely a Good Thing. But like always, when you compare gear like this you always reach for the audiophile tripe which sounds freaking excellent no matter what.

As for technical merit the DAC-1 was flawless. When it lost its digital signal it muted - no pops or noise or anything. Yank the power cord and plug it back in and it ramps slowly back up to full volume. No glitches caused by static discharge that I could tell. Plus it's smart, you feed it a digital signal and it knows what to do with it. No monkeying around with buttons to change the sample rate. Like I said before, it's all business. You can choose between running straight analog out tweaking by those trimmers, or you can use the front panel volume knob to control a direct hookup to your amp plus it's got two headphone outs which sound awesome on my HD600s (still no bass on these damn things). Overall, I'd say it kicks much ass and of course has mucho amazing measurements spelled out in the manual. Plus the manual is spiral bound. Smart.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Sep 2004, 01:18 pm »

As always, an amusing read! Sounds like this is a "full assed" build quality.

Does it rock the music that you like?

Mark in Canada

ampgalore · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Sep 2004, 04:28 pm »

Interesting read. As a previous Benchmark DAC1 owner, I must say I am impressed with your review.

nathanm · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Sep 2004, 07:28 pm »

Quote

Sounds like this is a "full assed" build quality. Does it rock the music that you like?

Yes to both. I just get frustrated that I can never hear any meaningful difference between these components. Like why shouldn't two completely different circuits made by different people sound different? Well, all I can say is that when you get those levels matched and throw the switch between the two nothing happens. At most I may have felt the DAC-1 had a little tighter bass, but I wouldn't put money on being able to tell them in a "DBT". So I guess that both Shanling and Benchmark have done their jobs right and the signals are being properly transferred and they both sound damn nice. I might have to plug in my CD walkman and put that against the DAC-1. Cripes, if that still sounds similar I give up, no more source component tomfoolery for me.

Now I'll have to get some friends in and see if they can hear anything.

ampgalore · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Sep 2004, 07:42 pm »

For what it is worth, I did put up my trusty old Sony CD walkman against the Benchmark. The result, let's just say the CD walkman is now in permanent exile from the amp.

nathanm · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Sep 2004, 07:33 pm »

Might have to scratch that bit about high res digital. Now I am not even certain if my DVD player was putting out 96 or 192 KHz or just downsampling to 48KHz. (It would be nice if the DAC-1 told you what signal it was receiving) The more I read about it the more confused I get. I'm starting to understand what my uncle meant about being completely flabbergasted when he went into an electronics store. The industry is doing a bang up job of making sure we're all confused as hell. It's becoming harder to tell just what exactly you're listening to.

ampgalore · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Sep 2004, 11:51 pm »

48khz, no way those lawyers are going to let us listen to high res music at 192khz digital out.

orthobiz · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Sep 2004, 01:07 am »

OK, ampgalore, as a former owner of a Benchmark DAC1, clue us into what you're doing now with D to A and why.

I received mine today. It is one solid little unit. Lots of jacks, switches. Incredible manual with build RevG outlined and all the previous builds A-F with the name of the engineers, like the guys are artists signing their work. This is one serious company!

Got my new RCA cable to hook up the Tosh 3950 but NO RCA going into the Benchmark. And just as I start looking through Parts Express to find the connector, I read through the manual and lo, and behold, a BNC to RCA adaptor is included! Bless you, Benchmark.

On to some testing and comparisons...
My Musical Fidelity Line Buffer is in the mail...

biz

Enrico · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Sep 2004, 01:25 am »

nathanm, that was a very good read. Are you a professional writer? If not you do a good job of faking it.

nathanm · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Sep 2004, 06:16 pm »

Quote from: Enrico

nathanm, that was a very good read. Are you a professional writer? If not you do a good job of faking it.

Thank you. No, I'm not a professional writer in the sense that I get paid to do so, but that could change. For instance, if everyone who reads this post were to simply send me 10 bucks then I'd be a professional!

(just kidding...or am I? Come on, send me money dammit!

)

I am not so sure this DAC makes much sense to keep unless I can figure out what players out there actually cough up a proper high res digital out. Then one would have to wonder if the DAC-1's conversion is superior to the one internal in the player and if it makes sense to add on another 1000 bucks to an already pricey DVD-A player. Hmmm...

ampgalore · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Sep 2004, 08:36 pm »

Almost all high res players downsamples digital output to 48khz. You will get better resolution audio signal through the analog outs.

Certain players, such as the Philips 963 will output upsampled redbook CD digital signal.

Other redbook players will output 16bit digital out.

I couldn't justify the cost of keeping a $1000 DAC around, when my CD player gives me about 80% of the performance. But once prices drop to around $500, I'll probably buy another one.

nathanm · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Sep 2004, 08:54 pm »

Quote

Almost all high res players downsamples digital output to 48khz. You will get better resolution audio signal through the analog outs.

Doh! What's the point then? I thought it was only SACD's DSD-stream which Sony was being a prick about? Are there any DVD players which don't do this and give the full digital out?

So if Benchmark's primary customer is pro audio then where is the 96 and 192KHz PCM data coming from? DAW worksation? Can you even get an un-messed-with high res digital off a commerical release? I dunno, the DAC-1 is a good product but the dudes on the "Input" side ain't holding up their end! It doesn't seem to make sense for audiophiles to use this DAC since you're better off with the stock analog outs anyway.

I do know I WON'T get better audio from my DVD player's analog outs, they are rather distorted and grungy. It must be broke. The coax digital is fine though.

ampgalore · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Sep 2004, 09:14 pm »

Some high res players do indeed output unaltered high res digital signal, but that's mostly through proprietary digital connections.

The main use of the Benchmark DAC1 is for redbook play back, not high res playback.

nathanm · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Sep 2004, 09:34 pm »

Quote from: ampgalore

The main use of the Benchmark DAC1 is for redbook play back, not high res playback.

Then why bundle it with this DVD demo disc, half of which is completely useless for a 2-channel DAC?, (i.e. the 5.1 channel mixes) It's like, "Oh great, I bought this new thing, and here's a disc showing off what it can do...oh wait, well it can't do THAT, and it can't do THAT, but hey it also does what you already, uh could do before you bought this thing."

Hmph. Weird marketing choice IMO.

orthobiz · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 12:26 am »

Hey amp and nathan:
I'm loving the initial sound of the DAC1 hooked up to my Toshiba 3950. I'm confused. Is this Benchmark a good thing or a bad thing or an unnecessary thing. Am I experiencing the placebo effect? I don't have any Diana Krall, so I can't tell what kind of fruit she has between her teeth but everything else so far sure sounds sweet!

biz

ampgalore · « **Reply #15 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 01:28 am »

I have since sold my Benchmark DAC1, so everything I am telling you is strictly from my memory, so take that with a grain of salt.

I feel the DAC1 is designed primarily for redbook playback, for that purpose, I feel it is a superb piece of equipment.

When I had the DAC1, I still had my 10 year old Yamaha CD changer. Compared to a 10 year old player, the DAC1 was like heaven. But was sonic euphoria worth $1000? I didn't feel it was.

I have since sold both my old Yamaha CD changer and the DAC1, and purchased a new 24bit Yamaha HD jukebox. The DAC1 was sold before I acquired my new 24bit player, so I couldn't really do a comparison. And my memory of the DAC1 sound was not reliable.

But I have been happy with my new 24bit player.

Will I purchase the DAC1 again in the future given the opportunity? Most likely, but definitely NOT at $1000. Perhaps when the price drops down to $500, I will pick it up again.

zybar · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 01:41 am »

Quote from: ampgalore

I have since sold my Benchmark DAC1, so everything I am telling you is strictly from my memory, so take that with a grain of salt.

I feel the DAC1 is designed primarily for redbook playback, for that purpose, I feel it is a superb piece of equipment.

When I had the DAC1, I still had my 10 year old Yamaha CD changer. Compared to a 10 year old player, the DAC1 was like heaven. But was sonic euphoria worth $1000? I didn't feel it was.

I have since sold both my old Yamaha CD changer and the DAC1, and p ...

Ok, if the Benchmark is a superb piece of equipment, produced sonic euphoria and was like heaven, I have a hard time believing a Yamaha jukebox player is in the same league....Yes, I know you didn't do a direct comparison, but this still doesn't quite sound right.

George

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #17 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 02:02 am »

Hey amp. I've read a whole lotta your posts here and on head-fi when you were going through that crazy audio binge. You bought that accuphase integrated, new speakers, benchmark dac-1, all sorts of gear, and now you're selling it all off like a month later. This leads me to think that you're a little weary of the whole audio game. Maybe you feel a bit disenfranchised over the whole thing. I think it's best to keep this in mind when reading your comments. I also have not really heard my system transform in a monumental way through any of my purchases, so I may be closer to your position than I think, (for example, I think my emu 1212m which receives raves from head-fi members but I think sounds about the same as my sony scd-ce775 changer, and even about the same as my onboard sound,) but I'm still playing the game - and so are most of the other people here on this board, I think

ampgalore · « **Reply #18 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 02:13 am »

Well, one thing is for sure, I am done with headphones. Still have my Sennheiser HD600, and will most likely keep them for a while.

I am more into speakers nowadays. Purchased a new HD jukebox, new floor standers. I am happier now with my speaker setup than I was with my old headphone setup. Still miss the Sony CD3000 from time to time, but that's about it. I now see how foolish it was to spend $900 on a small headphone amp.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #19 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 02:49 am »

Did you get the grace 901 dac/headamp too? Jeez, I forgot about that one

I'm also much happier with my speakers than I ever was with headphones.

What I'm trying to say is that you may be somewhat jaded by all these purchases with only minor improvement in sound. I hope it's not the case. I will get to hear the benchmark dac-1 and compare it with some other dacs before the year is out, with any luck.