I was wondering if any one has any experience with Benchmark DAC-1. They are highly recommended at some message boards for redbook cd playback. I have a good Rotel RCD-1072 player, but somebody suggested that the DAC-1 would further improve its performance - word per word - it will make a good cd player sound awesome. However the cost (USD 975) makes it hard to purchase... Any thoughts for DACs in general?? I have heard that the one from Music Fidelity is good as well.

EDIT: I forgot - they mention that DAC-1 offers no jitter. Anybody know what it means?

thyname, try this link
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=8084&highlight=benchmark+dac-1

Link

Link friend

Thanks for the link AudioFan, funny, but it is there on Htguide/club Rotel where I first learnt about Benchmark DAC-1. Funny too, this full, final review from Jon there never came...

$985 for a DAC. They must make a sick(at least $800) profit.

It's a very matured technology, not something that should take up almost $1000 in your system. Any halfway decent quality company can put a good DAC in their players, especially rotel since they're expensive products themselves.

I'd bet not one of the supporters of that product ever did a blind test. I also bet that in every measurement, this measures no more thasn 1% better than 99% of the other DACs out there. Even where any well designed DAC is worse(and a well designed one rarely will be), the difference would barely be noticeable on test tones themselves, much less actual music. Same as with people who get ubermonster cabling, same as with people who buy krell amps.. it's "audiophile magic".

Think of what you could get for that price.. two b-stock STF-3s, factory outlet m80s, or a factory outlet ep500, a huge amp, room treatments, you could be on the way to an upgrade to a good 5.1 system

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Think of what you could get for that price.. two b-stock STF-3s, factory outlet m80s, or a factory outlet ep500, a huge amp, room treatments, you could be on the way to an upgrade to a good 5.1 system

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You are right, I better save that money for later when I build my HT on my future home... I can't even add a sub at my apartment right now, they will kick me out for neigbors complaining...

Skerdi, I think that Thasp's comments are well-reasoned. Alan has pointed out here several times that DACs are now a mature technology; while slight differences in measured specs still exist, even very inexpensive DAC chips available to manufacturers in quantity for as little as $1 each(check the Texas Instruments, Cirrus Logic, etc. sites)exceed the requirements of human ears and the program material to be reproduced. What might have been a useful concern about DACs 10 or so years ago is now an outdated and meaningless concept. There're a lot of great things that make a real difference that can be bought with that kind of money.