DAC2 DX Review & Bench Test - John E. Johnson, Jr., Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
DAC2 DX - "Had Some of the Lowest Distortion of any DAC We Have Ever Tested"
"Listening to my music collection via USB was a pleasure with this DAC. It had a very musical sound, reminding me of a Class A triode tube amplifier. When you check out the bench tests, you will see why."
"The DAC2 is one of the few D/A converters that can handle intersample overs without DSP overloads or analog clipping. DSP overloads occur in most DACs and these cause bursts of non-harmonic distortion. Some DACs avoid the DSP overloads but still exhibit analog clipping of intersample peaks. In contrast, the DAC2 cleanly reproduces intersample peaks. This seems to be a big issue from an audibility standpoint when listening to CD-format and MP3-format sources."
"I have used Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man as a test track more than any other. That is because it has everything: tremendous dynamics (it’s an early Telarc disc and there is no compression), very loud percussion, blaring brass, and whatever else you want to throw in there – it’s just a great recording."
"The sheen of the gong and bright overtones of the brass were stunning through the Benchmark DAC2 DX. This may be an old DAC in HiFi time, but it is certainly up to date in sound."
"The Benchmark DAC2 DX represents a product that was initially released several years ago. They perfected it over that time by small changes and addition of features. The result is a DAC that has virtually inaudible distortion, and a full set of codecs, all at a price of less than $2,000. This compares to some other DACs that are new and unproven in reliability. It makes sense to put aside that, “Got to have the latest and greatest,” attitude that most of us have, and consider a DAC that has had several years to work out all the bugs and really deliver a superior sound."
- John E. Johnson, Jr., Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
Also in Reviews
AHB2 Review - Constantine Soo, Dagogo
"The AHB2 bridgeable stereo amplifier ... was the topic of a recent discussion between American electrostatic panel speaker manufacturer Sound Lab’s president, Dr. Roger West, and me."
"In our discussion, he related his highly positive experience in driving even his largest, $55k Majestic 945 panels with the $7,000 pair of Benchmark Media AHB2 monoblocks, along with the $3,050 LA4 Preamplifier and factory XLR cables."
"Dr. West described the AHB2 as a class AB design using “feed-forward distortion reduction [thus removing] any possibility of pushing the margin of safety of a standard feedback loop, used in most amplifiers, into an unstable oscillatory mode.”"
"He further shared with me that “this is of most concern on powerful musical transients. The distortion of the amplifier in the balanced mode is astonishingly low even at just below the clipping level of 380 watts.”"
"The prospect of the AHB2’s specified distortion level of 0.00015% or lower when at full volume is comical at first glance, but upon actual audition the impact of the achievement is very audible from medium-high listening levels and upward."
"It was unlike any other sub-$20,000 amplifier I have auditioned."
"My audition of the Benchmark Media AHB2 amplifiers underscores the reason Dr. West is so taken by it, and confirms the design is best described as a watershed moment in the high-end audio industry."
- Constantine Soo, Dagogo
DAC3 Review - Jerry Del Colliano
"Benchmark is a stalwart brand in pro audio, but has carved out a very respectable niche in the audiophile world with their diminutive but powerful components."
"The audiophile world sometimes looks to the professional audio world for enlightenment, especially on the digital side of things, and Benchmark Media is one of the companies that we put high on a pedestal."
"They are hardcore digital engineers freezing their asses off in upstate New York as they come up with some pretty innovative ways to get your varied digital sources sounding as much like the master tape as possible. Thank you for your service, gentlemen."
"If you really want to hear what your music sounds like in today’s streaming-driven world, this might just be the DAC that you need to test out."
- Jerry Del Colliano, Future Audiophile
DAC3 & AHB2 - System Review, Trevor Butler, The-Ear.net
"I began with the DAC3 HGC and AHB2 powering the glorious Morel Avyra 633 three-way floorstanders."
"This pairing created a full-bodied sound which brought the recording to life."
"Notable from the off was the bass from the DAC3 HGC and AHB2."
"Wow! It was deep, tight and conveyed a real feeling that the electronics were in charge of the transducers."
"Involuntary foot-tapping confirmed the timing ability and the overall presentation was spot-on, the Benchmark electronics created a fluent sound across a vivid soundstage; performers evident both tonally and spatially in an easy-to-believe presentation that brought the performance close."
"The Benchmark’s ability to retrieve deep-down detail and display it so well across the soundstage, with accurate positioning and convincing layering, made for a glorious re-creation of the recordings."
"To my mind the AHB2 is an amplifier with no obvious characteristics of its own: the level of transparency is sublime."
"Above all, the improved transient response performance stood out in a presentation that was not only lively but incredibly fast and revealing. The attack and decay displayed was awesome and not something I expect at this price point."
"The Benchmark DAC3 HGC and AHB2 are cracking products, sonically superior to a lot that’s available and well priced."
"They are superbly designed and built to an extremely high standard."
- Trevor Butler, the-ear.net