On 6/5/04 12:10 PM, in article Nfmwc.48861$eY2.47832@attbi_s02, "Stewart
Pinkerton" wrote:

And, it is *not* the bleeding edge. You have to go to EMM labs (another pro
gear house) for that.

Hmmmm. *Very* arguable, IMNVHO, as the technology in the Benchmark
unit exceeds anything I've seen touted by EMM (aside from number of
channels, of course!).

I have not tested the EMM labs stuff - though some friends I know from my
early days in broadcast equipment swear by them for recording and playback.

I will admit, though, they *are* doing work with PCM at 24 bit and 192kHz
and some DSD where this will matter a lot more.

With plain old CD - while the Benchmark may not be bleeding edge (I will
agree that it is arguable) it certainly will be more than most people will
even need. Though it is pretty tempting for a good DAC + headphone amp.

While I do believe technology has imprved, my NAD C541i is a darn good
machine - I haven't found anything so much better than I would be able to
justify purchase - unless it would be the Benchmark since that would have
use in my back studio and in the front listening area!

On 5 Jun 2004 14:04:49 GMT, Bromo wrote:

On 6/4/04 7:01 PM, in article , "Stewart
Pinkerton" wrote:

At the
other end of the scale, the absolute pinnacle of D/A technology is
undoubtedly the remarkable Benchmark DAC-1, which sells for less than
a tenth of the price of say the Mark Levinson 'Reference' DAC, yet
massively outperforms it. Heck, it costs less than some people spend
on *cables*!

Isn't it a great piece of equipment? I think the real nice thing about it,
is that given a sufficiently well recorded, large CD collection, it is
totally justifiable, especially if you have no intention (like me) of
switching formats!

I also do a bit of home recording, and it would be nice to hear the master
in relation to the 'mix down' to 16/44.1 to make sure I got it right.

Also, it uses a new chipset (not Crystal, which has been used by most high
end 'dross' as you put it for the last round of development) - I would
expect other high end companies to follow suit - I don't know about them
keeping the price low, though!

I think that the other nice thing about this particulr desig is that the
distortion is so darn low as it is unmeasurable by the human ear - and even
at maximum output.

Oh well, I listened to it, but haven't scraped the money together to buy one
- yet.

Having investigated the matter more deeply, I am even more impressed
by this unit, and I'm now casting about for a good supplier to create
'My Last CD Player' with a 'big boys toy' transport and the DAC-1,
secure in the knowledge that the *sound* quality cannot ever be
surpassed - and indeed the numbers are not likely to be, either.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering