Randy Myers
Well-known member
- Thread Author
- #1
I just received my Benchmark DAC2 HGC to replace the NuPrime DAC-10H. I am very impressed with NuPrime as a company and their CEO Jason in particular and will never say anything but good things about the company, however I have been having an issue with the DAC-10H in my system. It has become apparent that the issue can probably not be resolved currently. I am not 100% convinced that the issue is not a defect in the unit itself, but I decided to go a different direction.
I did considerable research including talking directly with engineers and representatives from other companies. Benchmark came away impressing me the most, both reviews and speaking with one of their engineers. I like the way that they emphasis neutral non-colored above all else. Also that they are designed as professional grade gear and according to their engineer are used in many recording studios.
The Benchmark DAC is rated as comparing to some of the best available. It plays all my PCM files and DSD files perfectly with no clipping what so ever (that I have noticed anyway). The unit very much has an industrial look and feel to it. Even many of the over all settings, such as the XLR output gain, are set with jumpers on the main board. Very much in the vain of industrial, or professional gear if you will. Even the lights which display the resolution of the file being played are done in what I would consider industrial method. The bit rate lights either a 16 bit or 24 bit LED, the resolution lights either 44 or 48, the word length is either off, 2x or 4x. Therefore the 24 bit, 48 res, and 4x word length would be lite to indicate a 192 kHz file. Very much industrial orientation. It also displays the signal coming from the Remedy (for Redbooks) correctly as 96 kHz, which the NuPrime never did.
I am sure there is a break in period needed, but so far the unit is very smooth and natural sounding with no digital glare that I can notice. There is no indication of clipping what so ever and the most neutral and natural sounding of the eight different DACs that I have tried along this journey. I fully anticipate that the sound will open up even more with time breaking in the unit.
The Benchmark also has two analog inputs, one to run my SACD through and another if I decided to later add a turntable (phone preamp would be needed). They use a specially designed Hybrid Gain Control (HGC), utilizing an actual volume knob
.... I also love the motorize volume control and the metal remote! Benchmark highly recommends not using a separate preamplifier unless a specific value added feature would be added. In fact the cover of the owner's manual calls the unit a "Reference Stereo Preamplifier".
Overall I am impressed so far with the unit. Features and sound quality is very good and very functional. I fully expect the unit to get even better with time to break in!
I did considerable research including talking directly with engineers and representatives from other companies. Benchmark came away impressing me the most, both reviews and speaking with one of their engineers. I like the way that they emphasis neutral non-colored above all else. Also that they are designed as professional grade gear and according to their engineer are used in many recording studios.
The Benchmark DAC is rated as comparing to some of the best available. It plays all my PCM files and DSD files perfectly with no clipping what so ever (that I have noticed anyway). The unit very much has an industrial look and feel to it. Even many of the over all settings, such as the XLR output gain, are set with jumpers on the main board. Very much in the vain of industrial, or professional gear if you will. Even the lights which display the resolution of the file being played are done in what I would consider industrial method. The bit rate lights either a 16 bit or 24 bit LED, the resolution lights either 44 or 48, the word length is either off, 2x or 4x. Therefore the 24 bit, 48 res, and 4x word length would be lite to indicate a 192 kHz file. Very much industrial orientation. It also displays the signal coming from the Remedy (for Redbooks) correctly as 96 kHz, which the NuPrime never did.
I am sure there is a break in period needed, but so far the unit is very smooth and natural sounding with no digital glare that I can notice. There is no indication of clipping what so ever and the most neutral and natural sounding of the eight different DACs that I have tried along this journey. I fully anticipate that the sound will open up even more with time breaking in the unit.
The Benchmark also has two analog inputs, one to run my SACD through and another if I decided to later add a turntable (phone preamp would be needed). They use a specially designed Hybrid Gain Control (HGC), utilizing an actual volume knob
.... I also love the motorize volume control and the metal remote! Benchmark highly recommends not using a separate preamplifier unless a specific value added feature would be added. In fact the cover of the owner's manual calls the unit a "Reference Stereo Preamplifier".Overall I am impressed so far with the unit. Features and sound quality is very good and very functional. I fully expect the unit to get even better with time to break in!
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