[renewutz]

Has anyone heard the new Benchmark-preDAC - it´s the third generation, after the DAC-1 and the DAC-1 USB. Must be better than the two before.

René

[Sonny]

Yes, it is very good...
Transparent and almost like a passive...

[likecoiledsteel]

I was looking into this but have never heard it. It does not have a remote or a home theater passthru circuit, that is a deal breaker for me.
Steel

[TONEPUB]

Sound wise, it's not really much different than the other two (I've owned both and am currently reviewing the Pre version)

The best part of the DAC -1 Pre is that it now has an analog input, so the person that builds a system around it that isn't all digital could use a phono preamp with it.  It's something I've been hammering on them for for some time (as I'm sure plenty of their customers have too).

Funny you should mention the remote thing, that was my end comment in the review that will be out soon!  But you can only have so much for 1500 bucks!

Either way, it's a great product and very much worth the money.

[Sonny]

Sound wise, it's not really much different than the other two (I've owned both and am currently reviewing the Pre version)

The best part of the DAC -1 Pre is that it now has an analog input, so the person that builds a system around it that isn't all digital could use a phono preamp with it.  It's something I've been hammering on them for for some time (as I'm sure plenty of their customers have too).

Funny you should mention the remote thing, that was my end comment in the review that will be out soon!  But you can only have so much for 1500 bucks!

Either way, it's a great product and very much worth the money.

Looking forward to the review...
but come on now, for $1500, you should get a remote control...  I mean if OPPO can build a great DVD player and sell it for $170 with all the software it can play, and a remote, so can Benchmark...I think the key here is the size of the DAC-1 pre...too small to have a remote, they would have to get a bigger box...again, I don't think they are targeting audiophiles with this, but am sure they are thinking about it!!!

T

[JLM]

Isn't Benchmark primarily into professional equipment?  (That would explain the lack of remote.)  Besides many don't want to pay for non audio performance enhancing features or possibly introduce an "unnecessary" source for noise.

The comparison to Oppo isn't really fair.  Oppo has much poorer build quality and much bigger numbers of units built to gain economy of scale advantages.  Plus its always much easier/cheaper to travel the first 80 or 90% of the quality path compared to the last 10 - 20%.

[bacobits1]

I have the DAC1 (non usb) and like it. Some here don't. It's very good.
I bypass the Pre anyway it sounds better as stated in the review.
That is only if you already have a Pre. As far as the remote we need to get off our fat asses anyway.

D

[Housteau]

I did like the Benchmark USB version that I had the chance to use in my system for a while.  But, I went with the Monarchy NM24 which I found more musical using the tube DAC section, and it had a line in for its preamp section.  I thought that the SS DAC part of the Monarchy to be very similar to the Benchmark.  If the new Benchmark DAC 1 Pre had been available back then, I may have had a harder choice to make.