DAC3 Review - Michael Zisserson, Future Audiophile
"At 37 years strong, Benchmark has been making studio-grade electronics that are as transparent and neutral as one could ever ask for."
"The DAC3 series has amazing measurements that Benchmark is thrilled to boast about on their product page. And they should be proud. Signal preservation is the name of the game if you want absolute sonic transparency, and they hit their design goals, hard. Much of this is thanks to the new ESS ES9028PRO chip."
Hybrid Gain Control
"Analog inputs are handled analog, and all digital inputs are handled digitally. Approaching attenuation this way preserves each type of signal in the best way possible."
"All volume in the digital realm is handled by a 32-bit active gain control that plays to the end game of preserving all the dynamic information in the music."
High Headroom Digital Processing
"Commercial digital recordings can contain information that causes clipping in audiophile DACs. Typically, these distortions can be attributed to the top-end sparkle in the sound some audiophiles like, but in reality, it is distortion. The DAC3 HGC’s High Headroom DSP eliminates clipping artifacts that are inherent in the conversion process, mitigating this problem."
HPA2 Headphone Amplifier
"Do you need to use a pair of wired, audiophile headphones now and again? The HPA2 headphone amplifier drove the snot out of my Grado SR80’s. The HPA2 headphone amplifier in the DAC3 HGC is designed to deliver the full rated performance of the DAC, even with dual, power-hungry headphones connected."
Built in the USA
"Designed, built, and tested in the USA. Precision, consistency and quality require production control. Benchmark keeps a tight grip on their product through the manufacturing process which assures nothing but the best quality possible."
Uncolored
"The DAC3 HGC does not color the sound of your audio. It is a studio-grade piece of audiophile equipment that can be used by recording engineers and mastering artists alike to flesh out all the musical detail they wish without having to worry about the sonic signature of their equipment."
Professional Audio Component
"The DAC3 HGC is a professional audio component used to make, monitor, and engineer the very recordings we love. All of what is prioritized in the DAC3 HGC has been developed with laser-like focus for this purpose."
Listening to the Benchmark DAC3 HGC
"When listening to digital recordings with odd-ball spatial queues intentionally built into the music, such as “Sail” by Awolnation, the soundstage extended WAY beyond the loudspeakers in both the vertical and horizontal planes. It was very cool because those hard to reproduce queues were so locked-in by the DAC3 HGC, they were presented nearly as good as my $10,000 Bricasti M1."
"If the space is engineered into the recording, it’s there, if it is not engineered in, it is not there with the DAC3 HGC."
Final Thoughts
"The Benchmark DAC3 HGC is a pro audio DAC with audiophile appeal that allows a look into your music as a recording/mastering engineer would hear it. While there is a lack of romance in that statement, there is a huge up-side to the DAC3 HGC. This up-side comes in the form of music appreciation on a very honest, and deep level that would appeal to musicians and those who listen to and work with live instruments. The ability of the DAC3 HGC to keep the integrity of instruments, and the recording, make the listening experience one of honesty, rather than an experience that is euphonic and romantic."
- Michael Zisserson, Future Audiophile
Read the full review at FutureAudiophile.com
Also in Reviews
DAC3 - Award Nominee - Best Digital Audiophile Product of 2024 (Cost No Object)
2024 Nominees
- Benchmark Media DAC3 B DAC, $1895
- Bricasti M3 DAC, $6000
- Bricasti M19 CD-SACD Player, $10,000
- T+A DAC 200, $7620
- Weiss Engineering Helios DAC, $21,995
"There was some debate about whether anybody can hear the differences above a good Chi-Fi DAC like the Topping D90. Unless you are missing most of your high-frequency hearing, you can hear where a high-end DAC makes a difference."
The Bricasti M3 is a great example of that performance in a $6,000 DAC."
"The Benchmark DAC3 B is an audiophile DAC, with pro audio roots, that punches way above its weight."
LA4 Review - Mike Prager, FutureAudiophile.com
"Benchmark Media Systems made its reputation in both pro audio and audiophile circles by designing gear with extraordinarily low noise and distortion, and selling it at reasonable prices."
"What Makes the Benchmark LA4 Preamp So Special?"
"A high-quality volume control is much of what makes a superior preamp shine, and the Benchmark’s volume control is outstanding. The Benchmark LA4 uses a bank of precision resistors switched by gold-contact relays to set volume in 256 steps of 0.5 decibels each."
"If accurate reproduction is your wish, you won’t find a preamp with meaningfully better objective performance than the Benchmark LA4, especially one made in the United States at anything near the LA4’s price."
"Very few preamps at any price reach the LA4’s level of objective performance."
"On the subjective end of things, the Benchmark LA4 preamp puts the lie to the old audiophile myth that neutrality means clinical, cold, or sterile sound. Instead, here neutrality means musical, involving sound, with precise, stable imaging, a sense of space (if one is on the recording), and exceptionally truthful timbres."
- Mike Prager, FutureAudiophile.com
AHB2 Review - Mike Prager, Future Audiophile
"For years, the audio world acknowledged one main contender (at least at sub-five-figure pricing) for the quietest, cleanest, most neutral power amplifier around. That was the Benchmark AHB2, whose specifications are still, for all practical purposes, unsurpassed, even by today’s excellent Class-D amps."
"10 years after its release, the Benchmark Media Systems AHB2 stereo power amp is still a standard-bearer in clean, neutral sound in the audiophile world."
"I greatly enjoyed having a pair of AHB2s in my system – their purity, neutrality, and seemingly unlimited power provided a clear window on the music and a lot of joy."
"I especially appreciated the AHB2’s smooth, well-integrated treble, free of splashiness or grain, and its natural reproduction of the human voice."
- Mike Prager, Future Audiophile