DAC3 Review - Mark Marcantonio, Tone Audio
DAC3 HGC - "At the Top of its Class ... Highly Recommended"
"Listening to a 24-bit piano solo of Dick Hyman’s Thinking About Bix, the DAC3 HGC reveals both the expansive smoothness as well as the energetic impact this unit gives the listener. The tickling of the ivories in “Ostrich Walk” is packed with playful jabs."
"I’m immediately struck by the way the depth presented by the current model immerses you in the recording, high or low resolution in nature. One of my favorite go to tracks, Handel’s Saul, HMV 53: III. Allegro with its luscious woodwinds leading the violin melody is beautifully rendered."
"Having put the DAC3 through its paces with a wide range of tube and solid state amplifiers for The Audiophile Apartment, as the core of a high performance, yet highly compact system, the DAC3 is a charmer, indeed."
"The three-dimensionality is the best I’ve achieved on my reference system."
"Other playlist favorites achieve the same degree of sonic involvement. Even Bob Seger’s classic live recording of “Turn The Page” has more front to back energy than expected. Seger’s vocals have a smoothness that shouldn’t be available from a 1970’s concert recording. This is a special digital product indeed."
DAC3 HGC - Includes the HPA2™ Headphone Amplifier
"As a headphone amp, the ability to set the output level makes the DAC3 HGC a versatile performer, allowing whatever headphones you have at your disposal to perform at their best. From an easy to drive pair of Grado’s, to power hungry HD series Sennheisers, the DAC3 HGC handles them all with ease."
"Benchmark’s years of studio experience comes in handy, as they understand the importance of matching the available level of gain to the intended device."
"Those not needing headphone capabilities, can save a few bucks by choosing the standard DAC3 L model."
"FYI, the quality of the headphone amplifier included in the DAC3 HGC is way better than anything you’ll find for three hundred bucks, so if you’re even considering a headphone amp, this is money well spent."
Tone Audio Exceptional Value Award
"Since the introduction of the original DAC1, Benchmark has set the industry on its ear, providing a true reference quality DAC at an easily approachable price. While the cost has more than doubled, so has the performance. We gave the original DAC 1 our first Exceptional Value award in issue 3, and the current DAC3 HGC is an equally good value, earning this award again in 2017."
- Marck Marcantonio, Tone Audio
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+