@kijanki I have not owned a dac other than the Schiit Modi 3+ for a few weeks and a dragonfly for my iPhone for about a year. I do not have much experience with dacs. The dragonfly makes Tidal sound great. Especially with MQA over Grado SR 80 headphones. I don't know which camp I am in. The NHT speakers are very clear with a slight harshness in upper midrange every once in a while. Not much though. Enough that I wondered if a dac with some coloration would not be good for this particular set up. I read that Benchmark does not believe there is a big difference between their models, but users seem to think so. Maybe that's why I could pick up the DAC 1 so cheap. The 2 and 3 are out of my price range. Do you have any experience with the Bifrost 2? Thank you for replying.
Alternate to Benchmark Dac 1?
Over the last few weeks I put together a system for my mother. NHT C-1 speakers, Rega Brio 2017 amp, and a Benchmark Dac 1 as a source. The Dac 1 is better the the Schiit Modi 3+ I tried before it. If I were buying for myself, I could try this and that for a long time. However, since I am buying it for her, I will have limited opportunity to audition things. The question I have is what would be a good alternative to the Benchmark? As I understand it, the Benchmark is known for being accurate, while others are considered less accurate but are like for certain qualities they have. I was able to get the Dac 1 for $365. What would be a good alternative at $600 or less (new or used) that would represent a different sound? The benchmark is very clear, lacks distortion, and made sense of Zooropa and other albums which have a lot of complex mixes. I was impressed. I would just like to try something that may have a bit more warmth before we settle on something. She is 72 and will probably have this from now on. By the way , the NHT C-1 speakers seem to very neutral, like the Benchmark. I guess I'm thinking something with a little "warmth" or "character" might be worth a look.
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- 12 posts total
- 12 posts total