DAC2 HGC - Test Report, Steve Holding, Newport Test Labs
DAC2 HGC - "Better Performance than DACs Ten Times its Price"
"Distortion was exceedingly low at all levels and frequencies ..."
"At a recorded level of - 20 dB, the only harmonic distortion component visible on the spectrogram is a single third harmonic at -125 dB (0.0000562%). This is exceptionally good performance, unequaled by any DAC I've ever seen."
"... but look at the noise floor ... it's more than 140 dB down, including at low frequencies. Superb performance."
"The Benchmark DAC2 HGC also revealed superb performance in the area of intermodulation distortion... the two test signals at 19 kHz and 20 kHz have only single side-bands at 18 kHz and 21 kHz, and these are down around -117 dB (0.0001413%). At 1 kHz, where every DAC I've ever seen has produced some unwanted output, the Benchmark DAC2 HGC has no output at all - the perfect result."
"Frequency response was extraordinarily flat - so much so that Newport Test Labs 'zoomed in' on it ... this makes it relatively easy to see that the Benchmark DAC2 HGC's frequency response extends from 20 Hz to 20 kHz +/- 0.01 dB ... almost unbelievably good."
"Channel separation is outstandingly good, being better than 130 dB across almost the entire audio band, diminishing only at 20 kHz where the lab recorded it at 110 dB ... again one of the best figures I've ever seen at this high frequency."
"Channel balance, too, was exceptionally good, with just a 0.014 dB difference between the left and right channels."
"Phase accuracy was within measurement error almost all the way across the audio band, with a slight 0.24 degree error at 20 kHz."
"It was good to see that the DAC2 HGC has a de-emphasis circuit which will activate for those CDs that require it, plus that the circuit is very accurate, being perfect at 1 kHz, and a stunningly good 0.078 dB at 16 kHz."
"Superb: I have used that word a number of times to describe the results returned by the Benchmark DAC2 HGC, and there is really no better word to describe its overall performance as well.
"I have analysed the test results of a half-a-dozen of the world's best DACs, most of which sell for more than ten times the price of the DAC2, and across almost all parameters tested the performance of the Benchmark DAC2 HGC equals or exceeds that of every single one of those DACs."
"This is digital audio engineering at its very best."
- Steve Holding, Newport Test Labs, Australian HiFi
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