DAC3 DX - "Will bring the studio to your home audio system."
"Benchmark’s DAC3 DX DAC is designed for recording and mastering studios, but it is a great product for consumer use as well."
"The Benchmark Media DAC3 DX is the successor to the DAC2 DX. The differences between the DAC3 DX and the DAC2 DX are (1) active 2nd harmonic compensation, (2) active 3rd harmonic compensation, (3) lower THD+N, (4) lower passband ripple, (5) improved frequency response, (6) faster PLL lock times, (7) faster switching between inputs, and (8) adjustable calibration."
"For the bench tests, I have moved to using much more sensitive measurements with the Audio Precision ... the distortion is so low, it is beyond the Audio Precision’s capability."
"With the digital test signal at minus 5 dB, the distortion peaks are below minus 130 dBr (Figure 6, below)."
Figure 6
Hymn to the Virgin, available from 2L in Norway by download, has become one of my go-to albums, not just because I love it so much, but that I now have all the nuances in the memory portion of my auditory cortex, so I know if anything is missing. Well, nothing was missing.
"This Naxos album has Frank Bridge’s String Quartets Nos. 2 and 4, along with the Phantasy Quartet. It includes piano with the strings. The soundstage was perfect, the deep resonant piano tones were wonderful, and the strings were easily separable."
"Guitar is a wonderful test for any audio system. The transient peaks that occur when the strings are plucked make the difference between sounding live or sounding like a recording. The DAC3 DX was able to handle all of the transients perfectly in this Linn Records album of Francesco Corbetta’s La Guitarre Royalle."
"Hiromi is one of the finest jazz pianists I have ever heard. Her best album, in my opinion, is Brain, on Telarc disc."
"Her lightning fast fingers, combined with a fine jazz drummer, were an easy job for the DAC3 DX. If you are a jazz aficionado, you should purchase this album."
- John E. Johnson, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
Read the full review (includes Audio Precision measurements) →
"The afternoon before the start of the show I ran into John Siau of Benchmark Media Systems. He says to me quietly, “make sure you stop in our room, we have a surprise!” With curiosity suitably piqued, Co-Editor Jim Clements and I paid a visit ..."
"The results were pretty astonishing. A stable, enveloping stereo image that was devoid of any distortion whatsoever."
- Carlo Lo Raso, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
"Sound was extremely well-integrated and controlled, and the bass memorable."
"The Note received signal through the introductory version of the company's Liquid Cables. Each cable contains 27,000 wires. The company's introductory Elephant memory player joined Benchmark Media's AHB2 power amps, DAC3 B D/A processor, and interconnects."
"With the aid of a forthcoming DEQX HDP4 processor that's due in the fall, the system sounded super on a 16/44.1 file of the famed rendition of Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, recorded by Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra for Reference Recordings."
- Jason Victor Serinus, Stereophile Magazine
"Laufer Teknik - The Note line array - The most immersive listening experience I had the entire show."
"There is no sweet spot because everywhere is the sweet spot. Even behind the speakers sounded incredible!"
"SVS Subs doing the low end work and Benchmark 380 watt class H monoblocked amps driving the arrays."
"I spent an extended amount of time in this room."
