New CD Player

[venkatcr]

venkat, my take is that it is a true Pro Audio Dac.
i personally found it lacks the Lushness with voices that makes vocals apealing but does everything else right (i wonder how it would sound with an SET) ...most reviews call it thin and neutral. I suppose thay all mean the same thing !

I would consider this is somewhat of a oxymoron. On the one side, as audiophiles, we are unhappy with any change to sound signature. We expect the equipment to be completely transparent and not add any of it's own signature to the signal. On the other hand we do not like a DAC that has been proven to be completely transparent. The DAC1 and its siblings have been tested to pass the signal without any change in sound signature, so if there is an issue it will most probably be somewhere else.

When I heard the DAC1 at Audire, as I said before, I was blown away by its openness and clarity. At the same instant, Sharath brushed it off saying he has heard better DACs.

Hmmmm, we will always be subjective to our own subjectiveness. !!

Cheers

 

[gobble]

Venkat

Did you not find it dry and sterile? A few reviews I read mentioned this as one of the drawbacks... Was it lush and musical to your ears with the right body? it may also depend on what one is accustomed to hearing daily. if it improves on that, one might tend to like it on a short listen of a few hours

Regards

 

[odyssey]

I would consider this is somewhat of a oxymoron. On the one side, as audiophiles, we are unhappy with any change to sound signature. We expect the equipment to be completely transparent and not add any of it's own signature to the signal. On the other hand we do not like a DAC that has been proven to be completely transparent. The DAC1 and its siblings have been tested to pass the signal without any change in sound signature, so if there is an issue it will most probably be somewhere else.

When I heard the DAC1 at Audire, as I said before, I was blown away by its openness and clarity. At the same instant, Sharath brushed it off saying he has heard better DACs.

Hmmmm, we will always be subjective to our own subjectiveness. !!

Cheers

Hi Venkat
IME, very very few people like transparent and neutral sound. I will be getting a new DAC end of this week - a highly regarded studio DAC, I will post my experience when I have heard it a bit. I heard the benchmark DAC 1 and didnt like it much either, I felt it was devoid of any emotion (dont know how to translate that part technically)

cheers

 

[looser]

do consider

bluenote
marantz 7S1

 

[looser]

Sidvee, why don't you consider a hard disk based system with a good DAC? More and more, at the price points you are talking about a good DAC plus FLAC/WAV files are beating CD Players hollow.

Cheers

Sir, i will never agree on this

 

[sachi]

I am looking at finding an Arcam DIVA 92..supposedly very good implementation and some rare chips in them..if you know anyone with this CDP..hit me up..

Oh as for CDP, how about the Plinius CD-101

Aero Capitole MK2?

 

[arj]

I would consider this is somewhat of a oxymoron. On the one side, as audiophiles, we are unhappy with any change to sound signature. We expect the equipment to be completely transparent and not add any of it's own signature to the signal. On the other hand we do not like a DAC that has been proven to be completely transparent. The DAC1 and its siblings have been tested to pass the signal without any change in sound signature, so if there is an issue it will most probably be somewhere else.

When I heard the DAC1 at Audire, as I said before, I was blown away by its openness and clarity. At the same instant, Sharath brushed it off saying he has heard better DACs.

Hmmmm, we will always be subjective to our own subjectiveness. !!

Cheers

very true..most of us are somewhere on that line connecting a Pure Music Lover to a Pure audiophile (Shades of greay..depending on what is the dark side).

at the risk of slightly contradicting my own earlier post, in the end it depends which system you hear it in. if you hear it in a system which was "optimised" for a bel canto..the Sound will seem thin..on the other had if you listen to a bel Canto on a system optimised for a bnenchmark, the latter may just sound a bit too slow !

but again on the testing of signals..most tests can measure the distortion but i dont believe Pitch and tone can be measured. 2 speakers can both measure Ruler straight and neutral but they can sound just the opposite in terms of Fleshing out the tones or the timbre. (I believe Speed, forward/laidback and capability in detailing could be measured)

interesting article here.
http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=insights&content_id=11&pagestring=Do+Measurements+Matter

 

[square_wave]

Folks,

A very transparent DAC = emotionally involving and analogue sounding! It can never be cold and clinical. Cold and clinical is another kind of distortion like lush and warm!

There are lot of gear which are voiced as "dry and sterile" and they Masquerade as "transparent! It is just another kind of marketing!

The Benchmark DAC has not been proven to be completely transparent. If that is the case you do not need DACs from DCS. Like Arj mentioned, there are other factors which affect the sound. I do not know if they can be measured or not.

Good gear meet spec but most importantly they go beyond the obvious! That makes all the difference!

For example, if you change the power supple design in a DAC, the sound completely changes. The measurement remains the same !

 

[prem]

I have heard the Benchmark extensively. It throws up a lot of details but its weak on harmonics. Hence many may find it analytical.

 

[sidvee]

Guys, my further opinion after seeing various responses on the benchmark ,having owned it for 2 years or so: Sterile, clinical - no warmth to the sound (I am a tube lover so I may be biased here), but at the same time, as mentioned by others, very transparent and resolving - I have heard details more clearly with this dac than others. IMO it is a classic case of comparison between tube and solid state gear (or in this case pro audio vs consumer audio), I guess it is missing most of the pleasing colorations that, at least to my ears, sound musical. In fact I am quite sensitive to tube vs solid state, especially with my current DAC, the MF XdacV8 which has both tube and ss settings, I can immediately tell when the tube setting has been engaged, that I feel the music flow is more lush and relaxed (where as when stereophile measured it they found ss to be the best). I agree that measurements are not the only guide to good sound. Anyways I found a buyer for my benchmark so I will be moving on (or back to tubes - using my future ayon cd player as a dac as well) and back to my favourite- MF dac's.
Cheers
Sid

 

[psychotropic]

how much is the ayon setting you back by? roughly?

 

[venkatcr]

Sir, i will never agree on this

Though you are welcome to disagree, I am curious about your statement. Can you elaborate a little?

Cheers

 

[Vandal]

^Sidvee, nice post. I think it's very important for anyone reading an opinion to understand that sound is personal and subjective, for nobody's tastes are quite alike to another's.
Although not on loudspeakers, I've experienced tubes VS SS on headphone amps, and have sampled a wide range of amps. I like both, and depending on the music will choose one over another. Although, while tubes are generally considered warm and lush, there are some exceptions where tubes can sound very transparent although not truly neutral (but neutral for tubes). One example is the Woo Audio 6SE.
Cheers.

 

[sidvee]

how much is the ayon setting you back by? roughly?

Apprx. 1.6 lac is the retail for the CD1S.
I believe retail in US is $3900.
Cheers,
Sid