Comparing SN DAC to Benchmark DAC1?

Avole, Rotf, have you tried the one's that Steve Hoffman remasterd? ( DCC gold cd's ) they are a bit hard to find but his job on "Living in the Past" " Aqualung " and "Original Masters" I find much much better than the newer remasters. Worth seeking out if you are a fan. ( esp Living in the past )

here is a very funny 2 part clip of Steve describing a " small " problem with the original master tape for the track " Aqualung"

http://www.eqfuentes.com/englishsite/contentseng/techno...anandjethrotull.html

and part 2

http://www.eqfuentes.com/englishsite/contentseng/techno...lungtapetrouble.html

enjoy

and to keep this somewhat on topic, ... I like Dacs.

cheers

quote:

Originally posted by haroldbudd:

and to keep this somewhat on topic, ... I like Dacs.

cheers

Which are the 5 that you own?

Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Tibbs:
IMV that's a bit like saying Manchester United is an OK soccer team, or Lewis Hamilton is an OK driver.

I've got a 'Benchie' and I wouldn't go back to my CDX/CDPS if it was handed back for free.

A friend who uses the Benchie claims it's great for him because he applies a slight EQ on audio signal afterwards and prefer to start with something more *neutral*.

A CDX or any Naim players have their own flavouring which I don't mind at all.

quote:

A friend who uses the Benchie claims it's great for him because he applies a slight EQ on audio signal afterwards and prefer to start with something more *neutral*.

I'm not averse to applying a spot of EQ after my BM DAC as well -- courtesy of my olive Naim amps (a 102/250 is not exactly 'neutral' after all). Works for me!

Mr Tibbs

quote:

Originally posted by jazzfan:

quote:

Originally posted by haroldbudd:

and to keep this somewhat on topic, ... I like Dacs.

cheers

Which are the 5 that you own?

Thanks.

Hi Jazzfan,

1) Metric Halo ULN2 .... stunning sound, my fave, pricey but loaded with features, top AD and DA and pristine pre's
2) Apogee Duet ..... portable,bus powered for easy location recording, great for price
3) Focusrite Saffire ..... soon to be sold, not bad at all, but do not need it, slightly bettered by the Apogee
4) " The Beresford " ... had to try it, silly cheap and ugly but good boogie factor, surprisingly good for price, but can easily be bettered , leaving it with girlfriend when I move to Berlin

5) the Built in Dac in my MacBook Pro .... no comment

as you can see, I have to kill two birds with one stone as I need AD as well as DA for studio stuff, ( I heard the makers of " that other Dac " also make a matching AD unit that is quite good.....hmmmmmm. I will try the Naim 'NADAC' when it comes out, should be very interesting

I could give more detailed sonic info on each if you like, but maybe we should start another thread for that !

Dacs are like Cartridges, a lot depends on Personal taste and what you are using it with. Tried the Benchmark for a few days, really great detail but found it lacked ummm body? punch? involvement maybe.....but if it works great for someone else in their system, great, I can see that easily.

I only have one Cart,.... for now anyway


cheers

Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard about either the Metric Halo or Focusrite before - there seems to be a huge range of alternatives out there where DACs are concerned. I'm using the "other DAC" and am very happy with it, but also keen to find out more about what else is available.

quote:

Originally posted by avole:

quote:

I dont own one but have heard a few and alot of Dacs.
So no need to do puzzles.
You stream yours and thats not as good as plug in cable in the first place.
How many Dacs have you tested? or owened?

Munch, the streaming makes no difference.

Sorry but IMO you are wrong.
Sending music through the air at this time 2009. Does not sound as good as sending it down a cable.

Which why I'm thinking sticking a USB thingy directly into, say a NaimUniti, promises to be pretty good and sans SM-PSU.

For the DAC set-up, I'm thinking iPod Touch/iTransport-Never Connected into Naim DAC - not a hard disc or SM-PSU in sight

Got to be worth a try - especially as I've seen an iTransport in black, which is very important, of course.

I hope the Linn Radikal doesn't have a SM-PSU or it'll have to be Never-Connected too.

Oh well, the proof will be in the audition - back to the The Decemberists on ye olde CD.

ATB Rotf

Rotf,
The next time you are in London for a few days.
You must come down for a whole day for a change and hear the Active 200s with a propppper setup Macbook Lavry Dac system.
Bring the CDs i dont have from HMHB and enjoy.
Even bring one of your Macs.
Stu

Just auditioned a Music Hall DAC today. No UK availability and $600. This so far has been my next favorite to the SN via a good dig in of the moderately priced DACs. Also has USB AES/EBU and a tube . Can switch between native input freq or upsampling to 96k or 192k. Best in native and got no disagreement from the factory rep. 192 overall better than 96 but best without upsampling. Headphone jack was pretty good too.

What was interesting was that when we used a dig cable also supplied for audition, they were more different than better and worse. When we used a Naim DC-1 cable, both improved significantly but they were no longer very close with the SN clearly better. When I hear things like this I understand where some of these audition discrepancies arrive from.

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
Rotf,
The next time you are in London for a few days.
You must come down for a whole day for a change and hear the Active 200s with a propppper setup Macbook Lavry Dac system.
Bring the CDs i dont have from HMHB and enjoy.
Even bring one of your Macs.
Stu

Very kind - I'll let you know when I'm passing - not been to London for ages. Love to hear the LP12 through an active system; will you have the DC motor soon?

BTW you have all the HMHB stuff that is available digitally - it's only some vinyl only tracks you may not have. I could bring those.

ATB Rotf