I s Benchmark the "Benchmark"

I like my DAC1. It sounds better now that I use USB from JRiver instead of sourcing from a CD player, but there could be many reasons for that. I haven't tried much else, but I feel confident that Benchmark gets it right and is a great neutral unit to build around. If I'm going to color or flavor the sound,I'd rather do it with other components. Seems like on the bench, Benchmark is the benchmark. My upgrade will be to DAC2.

I have Benchmark DAC1 with updated Op-amps. It works
well with my warm sounding speakers. According to
Benchmark's technical Director John Siau it was purposely
designed not to sound warm, but rather natural. Warm
sounding gear can be wonderful with voice or guitar but
can, in worst case, make percussion instruments (with
complex harmonic structure) like piano to sound out of
tune.

In addition DAC1 has strong jitter suppression making
sound cleaner, than many, including me, got used to.
Initially it sounded so clean that I listened if
instruments in the recording were not missing. Because
of that many call it clinical, sterile sounding suitable
for sound engineers and not for the audiophiles. In the
recording studio test all people agreed that Benchmark
DAC1 sound was the closest to original performance, but
it wasn't their favorite DAC.

First DAC1s sounded little thin because of NE5532 Op-
amps. Around year 2000 Signetics factory burned down.
Texas Instruments bought license and made larger die,
fuller sounding chips. I replaced them with even better
sounding National Semiconductor Op-amps, that newer
Benchmarks use. Also, output impedance on RCA outputs
was too high making it less than perfect in some systems.
Benchmark corrected this (revision).

To me it is a fantastic sounding DAC while, according to
reviews DAC2 supposed to be even better. I use it
without preamp - straight to power amp. There might be
better performing DACs but Benchmark is very good for the
money.

As for Benchmark being Benchmark - sound is a very
personal thing and is also system dependent. Some people
love DAC1, others hate it.

Benchmark and any other products that have a their roots in Pro Audio are going to be as accurate as to the best of the company's ability . How it translates with your equipment no one can say . If you are trying to achieve a system as accurate as possible it is a good start .