Benchmark dac - why such diverging opinions?

06-20-11: Lindisfarne
Macdad-What does "strindgent" mean? I'm puzzled. Let me check The American Heritage Dictionary.

Professor Lindisfarne, I bet your pupil meant to use the word “stringent” and mistakenly typed a “d.” Of course, the word “strident” would be better used. Shall we go back through your threads and posts professor?

I believe that most of us understood what Mac meant….I know I did.

Doh!

With all "legendary" products you will get the extremists out, trying to prove to everyone that they have something far far far superior.

The DAC1 received near universal acclaim from pros and it got glowing reviews from many.

1) It measures beyond repute
2) Modestly priced (perhaps one of the first affordable "pro" quality DACs)
3) Golden Ears like Doug Sax liked it (Sheffield Labs)
4) Their asynchronous clock virtually eliminates the bug bear of all digital systems => jitter (and measurements prove it)

All the above makes it a target to try and shoot at.

Perhaps those who spent more are upset that something so modestly priced can be reputed to perform so well. Although some are no doubt genuine concerns from people who did not read the manual and ended up overdriving the inputs of their consumer preamp (would obviously sound terrible) with the much higher pro level audio outputs of the DAC1. Others may have such a room or such an eclectic setup that they need a very specific sounding DAC in order to compensate for peculiarities elsewhere in their room/setup.

Anyway, for whatever reason, it is nearly always like this with a product that becomes an iconic. Like with used Nikon lenses and used Toyota's, it is interesting to note how the DAC1 holds its price better than many other components. Meanwhile many of today's poster childs will be tomorrow's basement bargains. That should tell you something.

"If you had a very "warm" sounding system; high efficiency horns, tube pre and SET amp, the brightness might mellow"

None of the above and no brightness. Extended highs and very clean natural sibilants. Benchmark was purposely designed to sound neutral and not warm. Very low noise floor and strong jitter rejection makes Benchmark very resolving uncovering any shortcomings of the system.

Judging by some Audiogon opinions Benchmark is the worst audio component ever - being at the same time Stereophile "2004 Products of the year Editor's Choice" among many other awards. Amazing!

I bought one & love it. Why? It pumps out awesome sound quality when I play music from my PC laptop through Itunes, internet radio stations & my CD player (Sony SCD333es). It worked first time I plugged it in with no techno work involved. Truely, plug and play. In my system the depth of the mucsic, bass estension and treble are spot on. What other people think, go figure...
Oh yeah & I like the blue light too.
Have fun, John

Shardone, I actually bought one of these a few back due to some glowing reviews on here by many, including yourself. I have a question for you though; looking at your gear, pretty much anything would sound it's best running through that rig. Have you tried any of the newer DAC's to compare them to what you currently have?

1) Wyred DAC2
2) Bryton BDA-1
3) Eastern Electic Mini DAC
4) Berkeley Alpha
5) PS Audio Perfect Wave

I would be shocked it you didn't like any one of those better.

I hated mine, tried many afterward, maybe it just didn't match well with my gear, I had the problem with the AWESOME (all caps Linds-fart) McIntosh 501's. Great amp, sounded like crap with my gear. Went to a buddies system and lit up his B & W's like nothing ever has.

Fact is though, on A'gon it seems that most comments about the Benchmark DAC's have been negative.