ANALOG vs DIGITAL - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

This is the second time we’ve
reviewed a Benchmark product,
or perhaps the third. In
UHF No. 75 we reviewed the
original DAC1, and we expressed considerable
enthusiasm for it. In the next
issue we reviewed it again, but this time
as a headphone amplifier (perhaps you’ve
noticed the twin headphone jacks). Once
again, we were enthusiastic, giving it a
second-place finish against an expensive
competitor.
Now comes the Benchmark DAC1
HDR, which looks quite a lot like the
earlier one (which remains available),
but which adds two major features.
For one thing it has up-to-date chips,
with the 24-bit/192 kHz resolution you
expect today. For another, it’s not only a
converter but also a preamplifier. Check
the rear view on the next page, and you’ll
see that one of its half dozen inputs is one
for an analog source. Ready for the best
of both worlds?
On our cover you can see the HDR
along with its handsome remote control,
which reveals how much thought has
gone into the creation of this well-built
unit. Here’s but a single example. We
initially assumed that the button marked
“dim” referred to the brightness of the
display, but wait a minute — there is no
display, apart from six blue LEDs which
indicate the selected input (they all light
34 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
Listening Room
Benchmark HDR
up only when the unit is muted). So
what does “dim” mean? Push it, and the
preamplifier dips in volume to a preset
soft level. The HDR remembers your
selected soft level, too. Push the “mute”
button, and the volume dips smoothly to
your selected “dim” level, and then goes
to zero. All preamplifiers should work
like this. Do you suppose Steve Jobs was
moonlighting?
There are two possible ways of thinking
about the HDR. Yes, it’s a DAC with
an integrated preamp, but then again
you can think of it as a preamp with a
built-in DAC. Oh, and don’t forget that
built-in headphone amp too.
Benchmark Media claims that its
unique circuitry can deliver jitter-free
output even from a source that contains
jitter. It also claims to deliver jitterfree
24/96 kHz performance via USB.
We continue to consider USB to be a
convenience, to be used when no other
connection is available, but Benchmark
is not just throwing it in to fatten up its
feature list. Note that the USB circuit
in our reference converter is very much
an afterthought.
Did we mention that the HDR has no
display beyond the six blue LEDs? That
means it won’t confirm the resolution
that it is operating at. Plenty of other
DACs have the same omission, and some
users won’t care, as long as music comes
out the other end, but we’re insecure,
and we would like to be able to keep an
eye on the odometer.
At the rear of the unit is a switch
labelled “fixed” and “variable.” That of
course refers to volume. In “fixed”
mode, it bypasses its volume control,
and in that mode the HDR is just a
DAC, albeit one with multiple inputs.
In “variable” mode it can be used
as a full-blown preamplifier. It was
obvious that we would have to try it
both ways.
Initially, then, we used the “fixed”
setting, and set out to discover whether
this DAC1 is good enough just as a DAC.
We had of course reviewed the older
unit, but since then our own reference
system has improved considerably, as
has digital technology in general. We
selected several CDs and listened to
them using our Linn Unidisk 1.1 player
as a transport, with an Atlas Opus digital
cable from the Unidisk’s digital output
to the coaxial input of our Moon 300D
converter. We then substituted the
DAC1 HDR for the Moon, and listened
again. This comparison minimized the
variables, since we used exactly the same
cables, including the power cable, on
both converters.
Our first selection was the Pauline
Viardot-Garcia art song Haï Lully, from
soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian’s Analekta
album (AN 2 9903). This is an especially
terrific song from a great recording. If
we bring it along when we’re touring a
show, we are beset by people wanting
the CD number (we just gave it to you,
above).
Both our reference converter and
the Benchmark did well with it, but, as
often happens, the two renditions were
not the same. Detail was certainly not
lacking, though Gerard thought the
words (which are in French) were slightly
clearer with the reference. Bayrakdarian
seemed to be at a certain distance from
us, and yet we could hear her breathe
between phrases. The near-silences at
the ends of syllables remained gorgeous.
“Everything is lighter and brighter,”
said Toby, “and the piano has less