Colin Reilly Wrote: > I am unclear as to whether the DAC1 upsamples or not. I know it is > supposed to be a 192 Khz 24 bit DAC, but I assume only if one is > feeding it the appropriate signal. I am reasonably pleased with the > sound I am getting, but it is nowhere near the quality of my vinyl > source. I say sound, because to my ears that is exactly what it is, > not music, and not like the feeling that the musicians are playing > together that I know I can get from vinyl. Sometimes it sounds just > like a wall of sound, and pretty hard and edgy. Of course CD quality > plays a part I know. Some are atrocious. I use Naim gear with an SB2 and a DAC 1. Even with the SB2 linear PSU the sound can be harsh and clinical when compared with my Naim CDX or vinyl (other Benchmark owners have shot me down in flames for saying this though!). However, I have got used to the detail and have not found any reasonable alternatives yet (it's not easy to try out a variety of DACs!). I am pretty sure that what I require is a non-oversampling DAC (the Benchmark is an oversampling DAC) but the ones I have heard so far sound a bit muggy in comparison to the Benchmark. I think I'll wait for the Transporter now (but how do I get to hear that?). If it's good enough I should be able to sell my Dac1, Naim pre-amp and SB2 with linear PSU.
Saying that I have a number of Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MFSL) and Analogue Productions CD remasters and these all sound fabulous. Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto - Getz Gilberto [1963.MFSL Ultradisk] and Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon [1973.MFSL Ultradisk] are especially stunning. Ripping directly from vinyl does nothing to improve the sound (as you might expect). I do find it exasperating that (due to bad mastering I presume) many of the CDs I have sound absolutely terrible on my set-up. I can't bear to listen to long time favourite Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures and have to play it instead on my computer or iPod for it to be enjoyable. MC -- ModelCitizen Squeezebox2 > Benchmark Dac1 > Naim NAC 82 > Naim NAP 250 > Shahinian Arcs. Music catalog: http://modelcitizen.mine.nu/music.txt ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ModelCitizen's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=446 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=25957 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
