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  1. Thanks for all the replies. The possible flaw I have considered with long term listening comparisons is the different moods and feelings that any listetner will feel over the course of a week or two. Have you ever noticed that music sounds better at night than it does first thing in the morning? The same way an athlete warms up his muscles to play sports, I believe the same applies to our hearing. I find music almost always sounds better after coming back from a work out. There are also variables that can affect how a person feels through out a week, different levels of stress, you might have a head ache one day, you might feel a bit stuffed up one day. If your system sounds better or worse to you through out a week, how do you really know that it's the new component? It may just be one of those moments when every thing falls into place and a synergy exists between the listener and the music. The way I see it my eyes can tell me 100% of the time that the color blue is different than red so if my ears can’t discern the difference immediately between two audio components at different price points than the higher priced component isn’t worth it. I am however definitely open and looking to spend dollars on meaningful improvements to my system. Just my two cents.
  2. So after reading all the rave reviews on the Benchmark Dac1 I decided to upgrade my 10 year old MSB Linc Dac III, and purchased the Benchmark just over a year ago. When I connected it to my system I found the sound to very dynamic and punchy, closer to live than I had previously heard. I was a little burned out on comparing equipment at the time and decided not to worry about comparing the MSB to the Benchmark and just enjoy the music. An upcoming move has made it necessary to slim down on my equipment and the MSB is being picked up tomorrow so I thought before it goes I should compare the two to see how much better the Benchmark really sounds. I used a JVC DVD / DVD Audio player as the transport and connected the SPDIF to one dac and the coaxial digital out to the other. I have an Adcom GFP 750 pre amp which can switch between inputs seamlessly with out any interruption in the sound which I find a good comparison tool. The power amps are Bryston 7BSt's and the speakers are Harbeth Super HL5's. When switching between the two I was surprised to find almost no difference in the sound at all. There might have been a slight difference in character but I doubt I would be able to pick out which DAC was playing in a blind test. I then reversed the SPDIF and coaxial to see if that made a difference but it didn't. I also tried switching to the analog out of the JVC DVD player and noted a slightly thinner sound but again, I don't think I could pick out which was playing in a blind test. I was really hopping to hear better sound from the Benchmark to validate the purchase price. I also have a speaker selector switch and can easily hear differences when I compare different speakers, so although I may not have golden ears, I believe I can hear differences in sound. Has any one else tried a similar comparison? Has anyone compared different DAC's by switching instantly between the two? I believe that even a couple seconds delay in switching can make it difficult to tell if what you are hearing is something you expect to hear or in fact are hearing. Brian
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