DAC2 HGC Review - Steven Plaskin, Audio Stream
DAC2 HGC - "Sonically as Neutral a DAC as I Have Ever Heard"
"The Benchmark DAC2 HGC is sonically as neutral a DAC as I have ever heard. It borders on a somewhat light sonic texture with absolutely no digital hardness or extreme brightness. The sound is quite detailed and well defined with no warmth or added richness. One attribute of the DAC2 HGC I enjoyed was its very well defined and articulated bass."
"Playing Jane Monheit’s The Heart of the Matter 24/88.2 (HDtracks) I found that the Benchmark DAC2 HGC did a fine job of focusing Jane Monheit’s voice in the studio soundstage with exceptional clarity. This is a wonderful recording with Jane’s voice highlighted with a slightly up-front presentation. The interplay of the strings, flute, guitar and voice were beautifully reproduced by the Benchmark in the song "When She Loved Me". Each of the instruments were reproduced in their own acoustic space with no blurring of Jane’s voice."
"A fine example of what the Benchmark DAC2 HGC can do when it comes to reproduction of the sonic space of a recording was with the Chesky Binaural+ release C.C. Coletti Bring It On Home 24/192 (HDtracks). This recording captures the acoustic space of the room with a deep and wide sonic presentation of the vocals, guitar and percussion. C.C. Coletti’s blues vocals were floated in this acoustic space with excellent focus as were the accompanying instruments. The Benchmark DAC2 HGC was able to reproduce the three dimensional feel of the acoustic space on this recording."
"What I enjoyed most about the Benchmark DAC2 HGC was the way it handled native DSD files. DSD playback added richness to the sound with additional midrange weight that added realism to the reproduced music."
"This is the first DAC I have reviewed for AudioStream that is priced under $6,000. While my initial expectations were not great, I was surprised at the level of sonic and functional performance offered by the DAC2 HGC. The DAC2 HGC was a pleasure to listen to with PCM and especially with native DSD files. Its acoustic honesty and functional precision was easily observed and appreciated. No doubt, John Siau and his team have designed a DAC that does not have to make any apologies to DACs costing considerably more. At its price of $1,995, I consider the DAC2 HGC to be a solid value."
- Steven Plaskin, Audio Stream
Also in Reviews
Benchmark System Review - Ricky Dasler, Living Sound, New Zealand
"With over 40 years as an audiophile and more than half those years as a hi-fi retailer, I feel I’ve finally put together a stereo that ticks all my sonic boxes. Those being in order of priority, dynamics, scale, tonal accuracy, fatigue free resolution and soundstage."
"For the last 25 years I’ve been fortunate to have a dedicated listening room. I use acoustic treatments from Real Traps, Vicoustic and Primeacoustic."
"My Benchmark components consist of the DAC3 B (connected to a Naim NDS streamer), LA4 line amplifier and two AHB2 power amplifiers run in bridged mono mode. All cables are Benchmark too."
"The Benchmark gear in my system has brought what I have wanted in my list of sonic priorities as listed above and then some. They have delivered way beyond what I thought could be possible in my system in my room."
"I’m delighted and stunned daily as my vast music collection comes to life on a whole new level."
- Ricky Dasler, Living Sound, Nelson New Zealand.
Benchmark Converters at Abbey Road - Geoff Pesche
"What are the Latest Advancements in Mastering?"
"Geoff Pesche weighs in on how the mastering team at Abbey Road Studios achieve first-class results." - Mix with the Masters
"The biggest sonic improvement in mastering in the last 5 or 6 years is D/A and A/D converters and that's very very important - what you have at the front and the back of the chain."
"We use fairly new Benchmark converters front and back."
"Abbey Road like a uniformity between the rooms so all of the rooms have the same A/D and D/A conversion."
- Geoff Pesche, Mastering Engineer, Abbey Road Studios
DAC3 Review - Alan Sircom, hi-fi+
"A Damn Good, No-Frills Digital Converter"
"Benchmark Media Systems’ no-nonsense approach to all things audio is rare today."
"Uniformly Good"
"This is a DAC that’s uniformly good at everything. It resolves well, has good imaging properties."
"It makes a balanced, honest sound that allows you to sit and listen to music for hours. That is what makes Benchmark’s products consistently popular with audio engineers. You don’t want ‘bright’ if you sit at a mixing desk 10 hours a day. "
"Leave No Trace"
"It also has the latest version of Benchmark’s jitter attenuation system (UltraLock3) and doubles down on the digital demon with its multi-mode asynchronous USB system."
"Benchmark also uses the distortion compensation facilities built into the ESS chip to reduce second and third order distortion."
"The net result is a DAC that delivers lower distortion, lower noise, less passband ripple, faster signal switching and locking onto signals and a more linear frequency response."
"The Benchmark Media Systems DAC3 B is very much in the ‘leave no trace’ school of good audio."
- Alan Sircom, hi-fi+