BMC PureDAC now available

tdangelo · « **Reply #40 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 05:37 pm »

well, the Mytek was better than the PWD MK II w/bridge but the Mytek sounded a bit processed when compared to the Exa - the Exa was more musical and engaging - also more transparent. I was using the Mytek via fire wire because it sounded better than with USB. I used to get drop outs frequently with DSD even though firewire is supposed to be more robust and was on it's own card in my PC. With the Exa using USB I never got a drop out or skip - same as the BMC. It's really hard to explain differences with words because I'm not good at that.. To my ears and in my system the BMC is the equal of the Exa in everything but price and I can see the display from my seat

Oh, the Mytek was not good using it's analog or digital volume control - not at all... I like a really simple system with the least cabling I can get away with so one of my top priority's is volume control from the DAC.

jackman · « **Reply #41 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 05:40 pm »

Thanks for the fast response. It sounds like I need to give this one a listen. It would be great to have a DAC/Preamp and simplify my system. The fact that it has DSD is a huge plus.

If anyone in Chicago area has this DAC, the BMC, please give me a PM and I'll stop by with beer or wine for a quick listen. Will bring along some Hi Rez music on HD's.

Cheers,
Jack

ted_b · « **Reply #42 on:** 12 Oct 2013, 02:41 am »

Weird about DXD hiss. I have several ESS based DSD DACs and none exhibit DXD hiss from 2L downloads.

Personally I did not like the Vega's internal volume vs my Concert Fidelity (Vegas was a great DAC, regardless). But then again I don't like any DAC volume control except my former Antelope Gold (and interested in the Antelope Platinum and the SOtM 1000 dc/pre based on feedback).

PeteG · « **Reply #43 on:** 12 Oct 2013, 09:09 pm »

Just a FYI at RMAF, Vapor Audio has the BMC PureDac playing with the Joule Whites and Moon Audio has one in CanJams with headphones to use.

zybar · « **Reply #44 on:** 12 Oct 2013, 09:23 pm »

Quote from: PeteG on 12 Oct 2013, 09:09 pm

Just a FYI at RMAF, Vapor Audio has the BMC PureDac playing with the Joule Whites and Moon Audio has one in CanJams with headphones to use.

Have you had a chance to hear that setup Pete?

George

PeteG · « **Reply #45 on:** 12 Oct 2013, 11:03 pm »

Quote from: zybar on 12 Oct 2013, 09:23 pm

Have you had a chance to hear that setup Pete?

George

Yes, listened to a couple different headphones with the dac (Moon Audio) and it was very nice. Vapor Audio’s set- up (Joule Whites/BMC gear) was very good but a little more detailed sound than I like, but that’s just me. Will listen again tomorrow.

standub · « **Reply #46 on:** 13 Oct 2013, 03:45 pm »

I got to hear the Mytek, exasound, and PureDAC at RMAF. If you want a DAC for stereo and use only PCM cuts I would get the Pure. If you want DSD I would get the exasound since it will handle about any format you throw at it, including this mythical creature called double DSD. Also as a home theater multi channel guy the exasound e28 is a very interesting product.

PeteG · « **Reply #47 on:** 13 Oct 2013, 07:53 pm »

Quote from: standub on 13 Oct 2013, 03:45 pm

I got to hear the Mytek, exasound, and PureDAC at RMAF. If you want a DAC for stereo and use only PCM cuts I would get the Pure. If you want DSD I would get the exasound since it will handle about any format you throw at it, including this mythical creature called double DSD. Also as a home theater multi channel guy the exasound e28 is a very interesting product.

PureDac does double DSD and DXD too.

mav52 · « **Reply #48 on:** 29 Oct 2013, 08:35 pm »

Anyone purchase this DAC yet.

tdangelo · « **Reply #49 on:** 29 Oct 2013, 11:13 pm »

Quote from: mav52 on 29 Oct 2013, 08:35 pm

Anyone purchase this DAC yet.

I have had one for a few weeks now and am enjoying it.

Vapor Audio · « **Reply #50 on:** 30 Oct 2013, 01:21 am »

Quote from: tdangelo on 29 Oct 2013, 11:13 pm

I have had one for a few weeks now and am enjoying it.

I've had mine running for a couple weeks as well and am impressed. My thoughts are it's very fleshed-out, very transparent ... but also smooth and non-fatiguing. The room where I have it running is sounding better than it ever has.

barrows · « **Reply #51 on:** 30 Oct 2013, 03:44 am »

Quote from: ted_b on 12 Oct 2013, 02:41 am

Weird about DXD hiss. I have several ESS based DSD DACs and none exhibit DXD hiss from 2L downloads.

Personally I did not like the Vega's internal volume vs my Concert Fidelity (Vegas was a great DAC, regardless). But then again I don't like any DAC volume control except my former Antelope Gold (and interested in the Antelope Platinum and the SOtM 1000 dc/pre based on feedback).

Ted, et al: The ESS has a lot of different ways it can be implemented. One problem that can rear its head with very high sample rate PCM are digital artifacts if one is using the re-clocking/ASRC and OSF features of the ESS chip. For good performance with 352.8/384 sample rates in ASRC, OSF on mode (the way most use the ESS chip) the masterclock really needs to be >90 MHz or so, but many use a lower clock speed. I am not surprised that some ESS implementations may have noise problems with 8x rates, and others work perfectly; the noise is probably due to insufficient filtering at lower clock rates with the ASRC and OSF running too "slowly".

mav52 · « **Reply #52 on:** 30 Oct 2013, 01:12 pm »

Quote from: Vapor Audio on 30 Oct 2013, 01:21 am

I've had mine running for a couple weeks as well and am impressed. My thoughts are it's very fleshed-out, very transparent ... but also smooth and non-fatiguing. The room where I have it running is sounding better than it ever has.

Thanks,, did BMC ever say what DAC chip they are running

tdangelo · « **Reply #53 on:** 30 Oct 2013, 01:36 pm »

according to this German review:

http://www.audio.de/testbericht/b-m-c-puredac-im-test-1544279.html

it uses the ESS ES 9018. I used Chrome to translate from German to English.

mav52 · « **Reply #54 on:** 31 Oct 2013, 03:19 am »

Quote from: tdangelo on 30 Oct 2013, 01:36 pm

according to this German review:

http://www.audio.de/testbericht/b-m-c-puredac-im-test-1544279.html

it uses the ESS ES 9018. I used Chrome to translate from German to English.

thank you tdangelo for the link

yyz · « **Reply #55 on:** 11 Nov 2013, 05:16 pm »

Quote from: Vapor Audio on 30 Oct 2013, 01:21 am

I've had mine running for a couple weeks as well and am impressed. My thoughts are it's very fleshed-out, very transparent ... but also smooth and non-fatiguing. The room where I have it running is sounding better than it ever has.

This weekend I spent all of it researching DACS and I narrowed it down to warm sounding DACS. I am doing desktop near-field listening with KEF LS50's into a Parasound Halo A23 amp. So far the research has yielded the following DACs:

NAD M51
Benchmark DAC2 D
Bel Canto ($1300 version)
BMC PureDAC

Can anybody chime in with their thoughts on how the BMC would sound relative to the others on my list?

Thanks.

ted_b · « **Reply #56 on:** 11 Nov 2013, 05:29 pm »

Quote from: yyz on 11 Nov 2013, 05:16 pm

This weekend I spent all of it researching DACS and I narrowed it down to warm sounding DACS. I am doing desktop near-field listening with KEF LS50's into a Parasound Halo A23 amp. So far the research has yielded the following DACs:

NAD M51
Benchmark DAC2 D
Bel Canto ($1300 version)
BMC PureDAC

Can anybody chime in with their thoughts on how the BMC would sound relative to the others on my list?

Thanks.

This post shows how far Benchmark has come with their newer DAC, the DAC2D, to be actually listed in a "warm" category! The DAC1, to my ears, was brutal. But many respected friends with great ears love the new B-Mark, so this is good news.

I'd add the Sonore eXD DAC, and the Chord QuteHD (esp with a linear ps) to the list. Both under $1800

(Note: I'm sorry I can't answer the main question of your post; I have yet to hear the BMC in any context).

wisnon · « **Reply #57 on:** 11 Nov 2013, 07:13 pm »

The Nad is considered neutral, not warm! It also can't do DSD like many of the others you list.

geowak · « **Reply #58 on:** 11 Nov 2013, 07:38 pm »

It's surprising to me how many people desire added "coloration" to their sound? I like neutral, but many would consider this too clinical or brutal? Just goes to show how the perfect sound is in your head, not what comes out of a system.

yyz · « **Reply #59 on:** 12 Nov 2013, 01:36 am »

Well after 1 day of research I decided to buy the Benchmark Dac2HGC. I got a decent deal on a trade in of my Benchmark DAC1. I specified warm in my post because I am going straight into my amps from the DAC and if the DAC is harsh I am hearing it.

As an side note, I also have a Emotiva XDA-1 ($199) and it was much more "musical" as they say than my DAC1 on the same computer based LS50 system. I would listen to that DAC for hours on end while I worked (FLAC|JRiver|Toslink). However, I knew that I was missing a lot of information in the music. I switched over to the DAC1 from my other system when I had to move the Emotiva to another room. The amount of detail in the music was huge with the DAC1 but it had a harshness that was getting right into the ears. It would not work for long term listening on the computer based system. Interestingly enough the same DAC1 connected to my BAT VK 42-SE (solid state) pre-amp was not fatiguing.

So I dumped my DAC1 and got the DAC2 for my desktop. I will likely need another DAC in 12 months when I upgrade the big rig. I will be paying attention to the BMC PureDaC to see what people think of it.

I had no time to do any detailed DAC research since I am working a second job in my home office and I need my desktop system to be working ASAP so I can be productive.

Thanks for the suggestions. It helped me pull the trigger on the DAC2.