I second the Benchmark, but I strongly disagree with:
"Asynchronous upsampling DACs like Benchmark DAC1 have very strong jitter rejection and transport should not make any difference as long as it is "bit transparent" (no DSP, no volume control etc.). With Benchmark you can use even cheap DVD player (great traction) and cheap coax or Toslink. Rejection of jitter (that is already at about -60dB) is at frequencies of interest (kHz) over 100dB - impossible to detect. In fact Benchmark is clean/transparent to point of being too clean (sterile)."
Bits are not just bits. The more involved I become with digital, the more I discover it is like analog. Even the net effect of "getting it right/better" has similar traits to having a turntable/arm/cart set up properly.
The Benchmark usb and up versions have not change to my knowledge. Furthermore, the Benchmark is sensitive to cords, power and fuses...
"Asynchronous upsampling DACs like Benchmark DAC1 have very strong jitter rejection and transport should not make any difference as long as it is "bit transparent" (no DSP, no volume control etc.). With Benchmark you can use even cheap DVD player (great traction) and cheap coax or Toslink. Rejection of jitter (that is already at about -60dB) is at frequencies of interest (kHz) over 100dB - impossible to detect. In fact Benchmark is clean/transparent to point of being too clean (sterile)."
Bits are not just bits. The more involved I become with digital, the more I discover it is like analog. Even the net effect of "getting it right/better" has similar traits to having a turntable/arm/cart set up properly.
The Benchmark usb and up versions have not change to my knowledge. Furthermore, the Benchmark is sensitive to cords, power and fuses...