Benchmark DAC3

Welcome Praxis, and it is nice to have another Benchmark DAC3 user here. It appears as if the units are selling very well. They list on their website that because of high demand the DAC3 HGC shipping may be delayed a few days and the list the DAC3 L as currently being sold out. Dang, that was fast!

After a few days the DAC3 should smooth out very nicely for you. I think mine is wonderful.... the DAC is fantastic (do wish that they would support DSD128, but not a huge deal), the pre-amplifier is amazing, especially for such a small unit... with my equipment is rivals the Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE that I used to have. I also believe with higher more discerning other pieces of gear this may not be the case.... but with my level of equipment I can see why Stereophile gave the DAC2 an A+ rating....

Did you get the HGC model or L model. I needed a headphone amplifier and the HGC has their top headphone section, which is pretty amazing with my Sennheiser cans!
 
Just joined the forum to discuss the DAC 3. I placed an order for the L model, should be here first week of February, can't wait.

AFAIK the difference between the HGC and the L models is the headphone amp, am I right? I will be using mine as a DAC + preamp, that's why opted for the L model.
 
Rockin_Zombie said:
Just joined the forum to discuss the DAC 3. I placed an order for the L model, should be here first week of February, can't wait.

AFAIK the difference between the HGC and the L models is the headphone amp, am I right? I will be using mine as a DAC + preamp, that's why opted for the L model.
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From my understanding they are identical units other than the HGC adds the headphone amplifier (a darn good one actually). I use mine as the main control center for my system... Pre-amplifier, DAC, and headphone amplifier. It is kind of funny being the main controller component and so small surround by these other pieces that dwarf it :)...

I am sure you will love the DAC3! Benchmark is amazing gear, pure accuracy... the equipment just gets out of the way and lets the music flow... it does not get discussed in these forums as much as it deserves... I guess this is for a few reasons.

First off the industrial design... used in many professional applications... they do not put glitz and flash in their gear. But quality and sound to die for...

Second they do not have tons of models with a wide range both in features and price. They offer only a few models with distinctive differences. Only one amplifier...

Third, even though they compete with equipment many times their price, they may be too "cheap" to be worthy of consideration by many in some forums. A great example of how they compete way above their price point is the DAC2 HGC was given an A+ rating by Stereophile mag. It was the lowest price of any DAC receiving this rating... the average price of the others was well over $7000.
 
Thank you all for the warm welcome! Like many of you, I have been through a few dac's but never wanted to pay mega-bucks as the technology seemed to keep changing. What I did do over the years is bought used high-end stuff like a Tact 2.2XP and Audio Research DAC7 and new less expensive gear like the Arcam irDAC, PeachTree DAC it and the Halide DAC HD. The BenchMark HGC DAC 3 is the most I have ever paid for a DAC though I do have a ARC CD player. After a week burning it in, I can say without a doubt that the DAC 3 is by far the best digital I have ever heard in my system.
 
Sounds like you have tried several different DACs. I also tried a few different ones myself. My list is as follows.... McIntosh, Teac, Dell, Pono (portable), Marantz (spinner), Wyred 4 Sound, NuPrime, Benchmark DAC2 HGC, Benchmark DAC3 HGC. Yes, the DAC3 HGC is by far the best!!!
 
Has anyone tried the DAC3's HT bypass? I'm looking at what my next upgrade might be. I have a dedicated theater in my basement but I listen to music about 70% of the time. Currently I'm using a HTPC streaming to my Emotiva XMC-1 or I can send the computer out via USB or toslink to a Little Dot dac I then analog to the XMC...I've thought about picking up a preamp with HT bypass, but the DAC3 might meet my needs to up my DAC game and also get a top notch pre...
Thoughts?
 
I have not tried the HT bypass. I use mine in a 2-channel only system. However I am sure it works completely as advertised!

deviate2112 said:
Has anyone tried the DAC3's HT bypass? I'm looking at what my next upgrade might be. I have a dedicated theater in my basement but I listen to music about 70% of the time. Currently I'm using a HTPC streaming to my Emotiva XMC-1 or I can send the computer out via USB or toslink to a Little Dot dac I then analog to the XMC...I've thought about picking up a preamp with HT bypass, but the DAC3 might meet my needs to up my DAC game and also get a top notch pre...
Thoughts?
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Wow... very nice review!!! And he heard pretty much what I heard when comparing the DAC2 HGC against the DAC3 HGC.
 
The question l would like to pose is do you need a separate dac? Is it not better for compatibility to build it into the music player like Lumin do or build it an integrated amp?
 
I guess it depends on how you configure your system. Since I have not, and probably will not purchase a separate purpose built music server then a DAC is rather important. I have been able to create my own music server that I feel rivals many of those sold as purpose built.

The Benchmark configuration currently works perfect for me. Having the pre-amplifier which also adds an analog stage with to notch latest generation DAC and a high end built in headphone amplifier for me is ideal.
 
alto said:
Randy, you have the SST amp. Did you try their pre with dac?
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I had thought about it, but never actually tried one. At one point in time EJ had talked about loaning me one to check it out, but we never followed through. Also at the time, the SST pre with the DAC option and the added remote moved it to a different price point. Actually about double that of the Benchmark.

Also I do not believe that the latest ESS chips are being offered with the SST pre-amplifier yet. However I do know that they are being offered in their W4S lineup, so I assume it is only a matter of time before the upgrade makes it to the SST line. Being modular certainly has this advantage.
 
Randy Myers said:
I had thought about it, but never actually tried one. At one point in time EJ had talked about loaning me one to check it out, but we never followed through. Also at the time, the SST pre with the DAC option and the added remote moved it to a different price point. Actually about double that of the Benchmark.

Also I do not believe that the latest ESS chips are being offered with the SST pre-amplifier yet. However I do know that they are being offered in their W4S lineup, so I assume it is only a matter of time before the upgrade makes it to the SST line. Being modular certainly has this advantage.
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Give EJ some time, he will have the SST Pre humming with the new ESS chips.
 
Hello, I recently bought a Benchmark DAC3 L that I have been very much enjoying. I have a question for Randy regarding his experiences with using a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery with a DAC3.

In a nutshell, I have been putting together a computer driven system that uses USB chain to feed music to the DAC3 from a laptop. One of the components in the chain was a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery powered by a 9V TeraDak LPS. Strangely, the Recovery has had a significantly negative impact on the sound quality of the system, making it muddy, muted and muffled. Without the Recovery, the system sounds fantastic (including while using the other items in the USB chain besides the Recovery:a Jitterbug, iFi iPurifier2 and Singxer F-1 DDC).

I'm wondering if there may be some incompatibility somehow between the Recovery and the DAC3 -- possibly the reclocking in the Recovery conflicting with the UltraLock jitter elimination mechanism described in the DAC3 manual. Alternatively, i'm wondering if my Recovery may in some way be defective.

In any event, I saw from Randy Myers' tagline that he has both the DAC3 and the Recovery, so I'm interested in hearing his thoughts, assuming he has experienced using the Recovery with the DAC3.
 
I do have a Recovery inline with my DAC3. It works extremely good, but I can't honestly say that I have tried the DAC3 without the Recovery. I will try that sometime soon.

I replaced a DAC2 HGC with the DAC3 HGC and heard huge improvements, therefore I assume the Recovery is doing it's job. I will check it out without the Recovery though.

Empire_City_Denizen said:
Hello, I recently bought a Benchmark DAC3 L that I have been very much enjoying. I have a question for Randy regarding his experiences with using a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery with a DAC3.

In a nutshell, I have been putting together a computer driven system that uses USB chain to feed music to the DAC3 from a laptop. One of the components in the chain was a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery powered by a 9V TeraDak LPS. Strangely, the Recovery has had a significantly negative impact on the sound quality of the system, making it muddy, muted and muffled. Without the Recovery, the system sounds fantastic (including while using the other items in the USB chain besides the Recovery:a Jitterbug, iFi iPurifier2 and Singxer F-1 DDC).

I'm wondering if there may be some incompatibility somehow between the Recovery and the DAC3 -- possibly the reclocking in the Recovery conflicting with the UltraLock jitter elimination mechanism described in the DAC3 manual. Alternatively, i'm wondering if my Recovery may in some way be defective.

In any event, I saw from Randy Myers' tagline that he has both the DAC3 and the Recovery, so I'm interested in hearing his thoughts, assuming he has experienced using the Recovery with the DAC3.
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