Behringer as DAC?

Actually there are two digital inputs: one AES/EBU and one S/PDIF optical. As Eldartford already mentioned, you can place the DEQ2496 between your digital source and your preamp, or you can feed the digital output to a DAC of your choosing, or use the built-in DAC's of your preamp if it has them. As I've mentioned in another post, I was testing this unit as a potential replacement for the Z-Systems RDQ-1 in a high-end audio system due to it's greater number of parametric EQ bands and greater overall flexibility. I wasn't actually expecting it to sounds as transparent as the many times more expensive RDQ-1, but was shocked that I was wrong (at least using it without any DA conversion; I have not tried it's DACS). What you don't get is the robust build quality of the more expensive 'audiophile' processors. I agree that it's definitely worth the $300 for the unit, but don't agree with Eldartford that it's worth it to spring for the mic and cable, although for just a few bucks more you might want to give it a try. I didn't think the auto-correction feature works very well.

Smeyers...Just curious... but what exactly is the problem you experienced with the autoequalization process? It works perfectly in my system. And the build "robustness" seems OK to me. After all, this is pro sound equipment built to withstand the rough handling of road trips.

If you dont want to use the DACs in the Behringer and you place it between the cd player and the preamp using the analog input then you are not using the DACs in the Behringer. Is this correct?

Abrahavt
...If I understand your question, that is NOT correct. The DEQ2496 has an analog to digital converter (ADC), digital processing(equalization and lots more), and finally a digital to analog converter(DAC) for output. It has provision to bypass the A/D converter (if you already have digital to input) and to bypass the DAC if you want digital output. Either, or both.

It also makes coffee :-)
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Eldartford, to answer your question, I found the EQ that the unit provided upon correction to sound very unnatural. The sound was muddy, hard, and nasal after correction. You might say that my ears need adjustment, and although this might be true, I was still not at all happy with the sound after adjustment. Although not perfect, I found using the Rives CD with a RS meter measurement to be much closer to what I was hearing. I then used to parameteric EQ bands of the Behringer to make corrections. I also wonder why the Behringer only uses the graphic eq portion of the unit to make corrections, since the center frequencies of the bands are static. You are only going to be able to be so precise with graphic eq.