Background:
I used both of these DACs in the same system same/set-up. The system is: Mac Mini> toshlink> DAC(both as the preamp and DAC)> W4S ST500 > Thiel CS2.4 speakers. I owned the Benchmark DAC1-HDR for about a 1 ½ years. The goal of changing DACs from the Benchmark to the W4S DAC2 was to darken my system a little. It worked but I lost a good bit of what the Benchmark does well in the process.
The following comments are all comparing the toslink input only on a mishmash of HD files and red-book lossless files:
Tonal Balance:
I guess I should start with tonal balance because this is what I wanted to change in the first place. I have been listening to a lot of hard rock (some would call it metal) and my Thiels/Benchmark combo have been wearing out my ears, but I throw in some audiophile stuff too. As a whole the W4S is a good bit darker and thicker throughout.
Highs,
The highs on both are pretty detailed. The W4S has less sparkle but it is pretty close but the benchmark has more details. Tonally the W4S is a good bit darker, some may like this some may not.
Mids,
The W4S lacks resolution in the mids compared to the Benchmark. With female vocals I could melt into the Benchmark and never think twice about it. On hard rock the Benchmark got a little glary while the W4S never steps over the musical side and does not seem to have inherent glare. So there is a trade off here, I feel the W4S needs to be played a good bit louder to find all the details in the voice that the Benchmark had in spades. But at the same time the W4S is a little more relaxed and hides the glare that is on my rock CDs.
Bass:
I should say I really like my bass to be just right and I am hyper critical on the bass The bass is better on the Benchmark. It goes deeper and hits harder. It has more control and less bloom. When I think about the benchmarks bass words like clean, fast, extended, detailed, come to mind. The W4S bass is not bad but it is more round (think tube vs solid state here) it lacks the low-end extension and slam the benchmark had. It has more mid bass and less low bass than the benchmark I am sad that I lost the 30hz-ish punch the Benchmark gave me.
Soundstage:
Here the Benchmark wins by a landslide. I have read reviews where they use the W4S as just a DAC (bypassing the digital pre) and they claim the W4S has a wider stage BUT that is not what I am getting in my system. The Benchmark is much wider with its stage out much farther than my speakers and with the W4S the stage ifs firmly between my speakers. Maybe the issue is the digital pre of the W4S compared to the analog volume of the Benchmark but that is just a guess.
I asked my wife to come down and listen to the W4S. I did not tell her anything about how it sounded. Her first words were it sound so small followed but your system sounds muffled and I have to sadly agree .
Toslink summary:
All in all both are good units and I am being very critical. The W4S is a little more round in that it lacks the low-end bass slam and the ulta crisp highs of the Benchmark. I feel this pushes the vocals a little forward on the W4S. I feel both units are pretty detailed, they may be equally detailed but the more forward highs of the Benchmark make the details more apparent.
At the end of the day I feel the Benchmark is more true to the source and the W4S sound has a little more tuning toward the designers tastes. I stand by my comment in the thread that got all this started for me. Those that do not like the Benchmark cant handle the truth.
I did achieve the slight tonal coloration I was looking for in my system, rolling of the upper mids and highs a bit. I am still on the fence about whether the trade off in bass slam and soundstage was worth it. I will move my speakers around a little bit later and see if I can get some of my soundstage back (less toe in and maybe a wider stance).
As a side note, I think a lot of what type of sound you like comes from listening volume. The balance and detail of the Benchmark is great for anything south of 80db but as I push the volume it becomes hard/bright with a hint of midrange glare. Where the W4S is a little dull (less bass slam, highs dont snap) at low volume and comes to life at the 80db and up levels.
I will post on the USB later in the week. I still need to install the driver and move my equipment around to make room for the DAC2.
I used both of these DACs in the same system same/set-up. The system is: Mac Mini> toshlink> DAC(both as the preamp and DAC)> W4S ST500 > Thiel CS2.4 speakers. I owned the Benchmark DAC1-HDR for about a 1 ½ years. The goal of changing DACs from the Benchmark to the W4S DAC2 was to darken my system a little. It worked but I lost a good bit of what the Benchmark does well in the process.
The following comments are all comparing the toslink input only on a mishmash of HD files and red-book lossless files:
Tonal Balance:
I guess I should start with tonal balance because this is what I wanted to change in the first place. I have been listening to a lot of hard rock (some would call it metal) and my Thiels/Benchmark combo have been wearing out my ears, but I throw in some audiophile stuff too. As a whole the W4S is a good bit darker and thicker throughout.
Highs,
The highs on both are pretty detailed. The W4S has less sparkle but it is pretty close but the benchmark has more details. Tonally the W4S is a good bit darker, some may like this some may not.
Mids,
The W4S lacks resolution in the mids compared to the Benchmark. With female vocals I could melt into the Benchmark and never think twice about it. On hard rock the Benchmark got a little glary while the W4S never steps over the musical side and does not seem to have inherent glare. So there is a trade off here, I feel the W4S needs to be played a good bit louder to find all the details in the voice that the Benchmark had in spades. But at the same time the W4S is a little more relaxed and hides the glare that is on my rock CDs.
Bass:
I should say I really like my bass to be just right and I am hyper critical on the bass The bass is better on the Benchmark. It goes deeper and hits harder. It has more control and less bloom. When I think about the benchmarks bass words like clean, fast, extended, detailed, come to mind. The W4S bass is not bad but it is more round (think tube vs solid state here) it lacks the low-end extension and slam the benchmark had. It has more mid bass and less low bass than the benchmark I am sad that I lost the 30hz-ish punch the Benchmark gave me.
Soundstage:
Here the Benchmark wins by a landslide. I have read reviews where they use the W4S as just a DAC (bypassing the digital pre) and they claim the W4S has a wider stage BUT that is not what I am getting in my system. The Benchmark is much wider with its stage out much farther than my speakers and with the W4S the stage ifs firmly between my speakers. Maybe the issue is the digital pre of the W4S compared to the analog volume of the Benchmark but that is just a guess.
I asked my wife to come down and listen to the W4S. I did not tell her anything about how it sounded. Her first words were it sound so small followed but your system sounds muffled and I have to sadly agree .
Toslink summary:
All in all both are good units and I am being very critical. The W4S is a little more round in that it lacks the low-end bass slam and the ulta crisp highs of the Benchmark. I feel this pushes the vocals a little forward on the W4S. I feel both units are pretty detailed, they may be equally detailed but the more forward highs of the Benchmark make the details more apparent.
At the end of the day I feel the Benchmark is more true to the source and the W4S sound has a little more tuning toward the designers tastes. I stand by my comment in the thread that got all this started for me. Those that do not like the Benchmark cant handle the truth.
I did achieve the slight tonal coloration I was looking for in my system, rolling of the upper mids and highs a bit. I am still on the fence about whether the trade off in bass slam and soundstage was worth it. I will move my speakers around a little bit later and see if I can get some of my soundstage back (less toe in and maybe a wider stance).
As a side note, I think a lot of what type of sound you like comes from listening volume. The balance and detail of the Benchmark is great for anything south of 80db but as I push the volume it becomes hard/bright with a hint of midrange glare. Where the W4S is a little dull (less bass slam, highs dont snap) at low volume and comes to life at the 80db and up levels.
I will post on the USB later in the week. I still need to install the driver and move my equipment around to make room for the DAC2.