Benchmark DAC3

Nice to see you again Tom. I am very glad you are enjoying the DAC3. I thought it was a fantastic unit!
 
Thanks Randy - glad you are loving W4S DAC - a wonderful pice for sure.

Welcome to the forum Tom, thank you so much for joining.
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Thanks Joe. I'm embarrassed to say I joined in 2013!
I'll definitely be more active here, and hope I can contribute.
 
Hello All, first time poster here!

I am about to do some upgrading of my audio chain that has developed over a number of years. As it stands now, it consists of an Aurender N100H that feeds into an R2R DAC, La Voce S2, from Aqua HiFi. The DAC is connected in balanced mode to a GS-X Mk2 that feeds via its pre-amp section an Odyssey Khartago power amp with the Kismet upgrades. Speakers are ATC SCM 11. All in all, I am quite happy with my system, except that I'd like to replace my GS-X Mk2 with a proper pre-amp. I am thinking, of course, of the new Benchmark HPA4 that seems to be available soon.

However, I keep can't stop thinking about Benchmark's DAC3 L1. It has outstanding reviews and measurements. And it attracts me because it has the perfect balance between functionality and performance. At Benchmark's website they even suggest of using the DAC3 directly in conjunction with a power amp. So, wouldn't this be the perfect minimalistic system? A Benchmark DAC3 going straight to my power amp? So, my question is: does anyone use the DAC3 (or DAC2 for that matter) with a power amp and thereby omitting a pre-amp? My apologies if this question has been raised already in the forum, but browsing through all the pages of this forum is a bit time consuming.

Any comments highly welcome!
 
Randy had a few different versions of the DAC, I'm sure he will weigh in here.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 
Hello, and yes I did have both the DAC2 HGC and DAC3 HGC. They are excellent units. I used them both as DACs (and headphone amps) and I had used the DAC3 HGC as a pre-amp, straight to power amps. It performed well and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

I have moved on for a few reasons. First off I wanted to try the highest level ESS chip, the 9038. Benchmark uses the 9028. Also, DSD has become very important to me, the higher the better. Benchmark has chosen to support only DSD64. This is very good, but I like DSD128 and DSD256. I have since moved to the T+A DAC 8 DSD which not only supports DSD512, it also supports going up to a base clock of 48 (versus the standard DSD clock of 44). With HQPlayer I over clock everything up to DSD512/48, which is 24.6 MHz... If you have no interest in DSD above DSD64 then without hesitation I recommend the Benchmark!

Also, I have decided that I prefer using a dedicated pre-amp in my system.
 
Thanks for putting things straight with regards to the DAC3. I understand your point of being able to process DSD up to 256. This is indeed a knockout criterium. I myself am not at all into DSD, so the Benchmark DAC3 fits the bill very well. I also see your point of preferring a dedicated pre-amp, and that's exactly what interests me!
What you say is that the DAC3 is good enough to be hooked straight to a power amp. That's good to know. However, I am thinking of getting Benchmark's new pre-amp/headphone amp, the HPA4. It looks like a fantastic pre-amp, particularly what Benchmark went through to set up an excellent volume control. If I'd buy a HPA4, the DAC3 would be exclusively used as a DAC, but what I read here, it seems to be a great one!
 
It looks like a pretty cool little unit. If you get this little unit then you probably don't need a headphone amp and extra pre-amp functions built into the DAC. Therefore the DAC3 L would probably be your best choice. Get the pre-amp with remote and the DAC without (options on their website).

Tell Rory I say hi! :)
 
Will do that, I am asking him a lot of questions. Poor Rory must think: not again the guy from Switzerland :D

I guess I'll be ordering the DAC3 L relatively soon, and the HPA4 mid/end August. I am really curious comparing the DAC3 L with my Aqua La Voce S2. It's a great DAC, but I somehow got very much drawn into the Benchmark products.
 
The good thing with the Benchmark is the available trial period.
I had a DAC3 HGC for a trial. As a pre the volume control was neutral and with 2 analog inputs it worked well.
But using it as a DAC/pre, in my system and to my ears, it didn't work. The DAC imparted a a mild hardness/whiteness to the upper mids that I found tiring.
Take this with a grain of salt, as I am a tube aficionado. And went back to enjoying my Lampizator. YMMV
 
Randy Myers said:
Hello, and yes I did have both the DAC2 HGC and DAC3 HGC. They are excellent units. I used them both as DACs (and headphone amps) and I had used the DAC3 HGC as a pre-amp, straight to power amps. It performed well and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

I have moved on for a few reasons. First off I wanted to try the highest level ESS chip, the 9038. Benchmark uses the 9028. Also, DSD has become very important to me, the higher the better. Benchmark has chosen to support only DSD64. This is very good, but I like DSD128 and DSD256. I have since moved to the T+A DAC 8 DSD which not only supports DSD512, it also supports going up to a base clock of 48 (versus the standard DSD clock of 44). With HQPlayer I over clock everything up to DSD512/48, which is 24.6 MHz... If you have no interest in DSD above DSD64 then without hesitation I recommend the Benchmark!

Also, I have decided that I prefer using a dedicated pre-amp in my system.
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Just saw this at Computer Audiophile: Topping fully balanced DAC with the newest ESS 9038 chip. Might be interesting. Sorry if this DAC is mentioned in a Benchmark DAC3 forum!

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/...dual-ess9038-xlr-dac-wusb-optical-coax-inuts/
 
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