dkalsi

LeCe, Could you please shoot me an e-mail at dkalsi(at)gmail(dot)com and I will resend you the message. Thanks, Dhar

Lece, I just sent you an e-mail regarding the mods. Please let me know if you received it. Thanks, Dhar

All, Thank you for your recommendations - I really apprecaite you guys sharing your experience. I went ahead and purchased a Music Hall 25.3 per Lece's recommendations and because I was able to find one for a somewhat reasonable price ($450 shipped). For those who may be interested, I will post my thoughts on the 25.3 once I receive it and give it a listen for a few days. I will not compare it to the Benchmark DAC1 because I never took the time to set it up properly. I'll just be sharing my overall thoughts of the DAC. Once again - Thanks.

I have a lead on a Music Hall 25.3 for $440. It's tempting. I understand the 25.3 is the same thing is the 25.2 - but allows for 24/96 via USB. Since that feature is something I have no use for - maybe I should also keep a look out for a modified 25.2? But $440 for the 25.3 seems temping - almost $160 below my budget and probably $200 below average selling price for Benchmark DAC1. Tempting...tempting...tempting.

I am embarrassed to admit that I did own a Benchmark DAC1 USB at one point - and I wasn't really "Wow'ed" by it - and I too felt that the sound was "dry" - HOWEVER- I'm guessing this was only because I never set it up properly - just plugged it in into my XP-based Toshiba laptop - never messed with any of the setting, kernel setup, etc. etc. So my aforementioned review of the Benchmark hold little weight. I'll be more than happy to give it a second try. I just want to make sure I consider others while I'm looking

All - Thank you for the recommendations(please keep them coming). Lece - I will certianly look into the MH DAC25.3 - I noticed that you still have the BM DAC1 (per your signature). Could you please share how the two DACs differ? My current system consists for the following: DIY JBL 4345 Clones (Modified with Yuichi A-290 Horns+JBL 2441 drivers) The speakers are bi-amped with Plinius SA-100MKIII on the top end and McIntosh MC-7270 on the bottom end. Crossover is Marchand XM-9. Preamp is Herron VTSP-1 (or sometimes a Django TVC). Although I absolutely love horn-based speaker systems (mainly because I love the dynamics), I cannot stand "bright" top-end. I personally like more "musical" sounding gear than "detialed". That is part of the reason why I love my Plinius amp - it has a very warm top-end (much more so than some of the tube amps I have tried). Sorry about the bable - I just thought I share a little bit about my system and my preference before asking for recommendations. Thanks, D

Yes - Unfortunately, I have already bought (and installed) Lynx card. The only reason why I considered the Lynx was(i) positive reviews from members here and (ii) because it only cost me $200 from local Craigslist Ad. I'm sure there are many other better options than the Lynx AES16 card at $650 - but I felt at $200, the Lynx becomes pretty competitive (not necessarily the best, but still competitive). All in all - I have $800 invested in my music server (including the aforementioned cost of the Lynx). So...I'm trying my best to be a bargin hunter and not to exceed $650 as my cost for a DAC. The 24/192 feature of the Benchmark is pretty tempting - but I have limited to non-existent music in that format. So, any recommendations for good sounding DAC that supports at least 24/96? Is the Beresford TC-7520 any good - appears to have decent user reviews? Thanks, D

I'm currently in the process of building a music server around the Lynx AES16 card. On the music server side, everything is ready. I am now looking to purchase a DAC - I was hoping to spend anywhere around $550 - $650 and perfer to buy used (from Audiogon, Ebay, or fellow forum members). I do not wish to spend more than $650. Do anyone have any DAC recommendations around this price? I've been eyeing some Benchmark DAC1 (the non-USB versions) that can be had around $600. Please share your thoughts. Thanks in advance, -D

I know many here like to use SSD drive in their music server system so I'm posting what I thought is a good deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16820227461 60GB SSD for $124 is not bad right?

All, I ask the following question because a fellow forum member has offered a Benchmark DAC1 USB to me for $900. Is there anyone out there who has used the Benchmark DAC1 USB with the Lynx card? I understand that the USB connection on the DAC1 is not nearly as good as the Wavelenght - but I will not be using that input if I acquire the DAC1 USB. Is the general consensus here that the Wavelenght Proton via USB input sounds better than the Benchmark DAC1 via AES input (fed from Lynx AES16)? If so, then I will go ahead and sell my Lynx card and try to acquire a Wavelength Proton.

Paugust, You should be able to use it. I copied the following from another thread: Hi Guys! I was just getting around to making a post about what happened. THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN SOLVED!! Yahoo!! Now, my solution may only apply to my situation, but you'll know if it applies to you after a few minutes of reading. In my case, the problem turned out to be an impedance mismatch. The AES 16 sends out a 110 Ohm signal through the XLR outputs of the 1604 cable. The Benchmark Dac 1 Pre, unlike the Dac 1 and Dac 1 USB does not offer an XLR input. In fact the SPDIF inputs are 75 Ohm, 1Vpp (standards AES3-id and SMPTE 276M). What I needed was an impedance transformer. The one that worked with the cables I had on hand was a Canare BCJ-XJ-TRB Impedance Transformer, Digital Audio, 110 to 75 Ohm, Female XLR to Female BNC. It's about 3 inches long, has a Female XLR connector on one end at 110 Ohms and a Female BNC connector on the other, operating at 75 Ohms. I connected it to the end of the Output 1 Male XLR connector on the Lynx 1604 cable (the one with the 4 ins and 4 outs). I happened to have a male BNC to female RCA adapter already on hand, which I connected to the other end of the adapter and finally, I connected a nice digital SPDIF cablet to the RCA female from that adapter. What a mess!! But, it works, and I'm told that since it stays in the digital domain, the signal is intact. This took EVERYONE to figure this out. Lynx, my dealer, Benchmark, and me. I found the Canare myself. The Lynx tech, who was very willing to help out, and knows alot about their work with Reference Recordings, when they put together their reference system for their new HrX recordings (Lynx AES 16, Media Monkey and Berkley Dac), was great. I'll give you his contact info at the end. He initially worked with me to get the drivers properly installed. It was then that I mentioned that, after reading the DAC 1 Pre's owner's manual again, that the Benchmark was looking for 75 Ohms (See page 12 in the owner's manual if you have a DAC 1 Pre), and it appeared that the Lynx was sending out 110. Now, the card came with an XLR to SPDIF (RCA) adapter cable, but he verified that it stayed in the 110 Ohm domain. He was frankly puzzled that the Benchmark was looking for 75 Ohms and wasn't even sure that this was true AES/EBU. But we need to remember that all these products were designed for Pro Audio applications, and Benchmark is using a spec that is not used much in Pro audio, if at all, apparently. So, the dealer, a pro audio shop, and Lynx, both thought it was not a technically recognized spec. Anyway, a light bulb went off in both of our heads at about the same time, while on the first call. He even found one solution while on the phone- somewhat expensive, but it would work. Meanwhile I then communicated our phone call to the dealer, who called Benchmark to see if they had a solution. While I was waiting, over the weekend, for their reply, I found exactly what Benchmark wound up recommending. If this sounds like your situation, this should solve it. The guy from Lynx, who walked me through the driver install on the first call, is very helpful and willing to help. Here's his contact info: Paul Erlandson Lynx Studio Technology, Inc. (714) 545-4700 X 206 He has been great. Here's the link to that particular impedance transformer I found - http://www.fullcompass.com/product/258528.html. About $22. Here's the link to Reference Recording's reference system setup, all of which applied, except for the DAC itself - http://www.referencerecordings.com/HRxSETUPS.asp I'd like to thank my dealer, Eric Dahlberg at JRR International Music Shop. He hung in there with me to the very end! Eric Dahlberg JRR Shop PH: 949-553-1022 FX: 949-263-1818 http://www.jrrshop.com http://www.justroots.com I originally called him only about the sound card, but he is a Benchmark Dealer, so I wound up ordering both from him.- all over the phone. Personal service IS still alive, and we BOTH learned a lot! One last thing. After I got it working, I was still a little unsatisfied because other audiophile friends of mine kept telling me I needed to use the ASIO drivers on the Lynx card for better sound. But I kept having trouble getting anything higher in resolution than Red Book CD to play with ASIO. I could get WAV OUT to work, but what I'd read was that ASIO bypassed all the ugly (sounding) stuff in Windows, like KMixer. But I re- read the Reference Recordings thing and noted that they actually recommended WAV OUT as well. So, I called Paul at Lynx again and he indicated that Ref Recordings recommended the older version of the Lynx Mixer because it used WAV OUT version 1, which is much like ASIO in its ability to bypass all the Windows controls. Follow those directions on Reference Recordings link exactly and you will have the older Wav out and get the benefits of using it. He DID give me some things to try out for the ASIO as he was not sure why I was having the problems. I'm still working on that, but, at this point, I'm in sync with Reference Recordings, and that's good enough for me - I've been working on this since mid summer, so I'm just happy to have it finally all working. Paul is patient and he's knowledgeable about what we audiophiles are trying to do. If you have SPDIF inputs on your DAC, like me, nothing will work until you get the impedance (and its cabling) sorted out, and once I did, all the other stuff was small stuff. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions! Daina

Thanks Ajax. Despite the way it comes down in text - I want you to know that I respect your suggestions and am thinking hard about the Proton. I don't mean to sound stubborn about the Lynx AES16 at all. Per your recommendations, I think I might just sell it. I was really hoping that someone would chime in and say: "Hey Dhar, I too use the Lynx AES16 with Power Mac G5 and ______ DAC and have had excellent results. The ______ DAC can be had for less than $1,000 and is an excellent match for the Lynx G5 card." I guess it is not that simple. :-).

Ajax, You are absolutely right that I do not NEED 24/192 and that 24/96 should be good enough. I was just thinking that it would be nice to have that option given that my Lynx would allow it. To be honest, I think it is more than likely that I may not be able to tell the difference between 24/192 and 24/96. It guess I was really hoping to try the Lynx card before I decide to sell it right back. I acquired it last week from e-bay and have not even installed it in my system yet. I could sell it right back for the price I paid, but was really hoping to try it at least once. I purchased it for $416 shipped, and it came with two Lynx CBL-AES1604 and one LS-ADAT interface card. I'm thinking I could sell the two cables for $50 (for the two together) and the LS-ADAT for $150 (i.e., total sale price of $200) = which would effectively make the cost of my Lynx AES 16 $216 (

I definitely agree with your comments above.Unfortunately, I do not have much experience with DACs and hence have no clue which one DAC sounds better than the other. I am open to suggestions though :-). Also, I just bought the Lynx card off e-bay (less than a week ago). I think I paid a fair price for it ($416 shipped). I would love to make use of it. I understand that it mates well with the Power Mac G5. I would like to try the LynxAES16 + G5 combo for at least a year before I try something else. Not trying to be stubborn here, but just want to make use of it while I have it. Plus, while it is not necessarily considered the end-all/be-all best setup, the Lynx + Power Mac G5 has some favorable reviews here on this website. Lastly, I just sunk another $150 for memory upgrades in my G5. So...in the short run, I think I will refrain from selling the Lynx. Do you know if I could get a cable for the Lynx that would output Coax as oppose to AES (

I am really looking hard at the Benchmark products. I think it is their cheapest model (just the DAC1) is going to be the best one for me. My goal is to use the AES output from my Lynx card. I just found out that the Benchmark DAC1 Pre and the DAC1 HRD ---- DO NOT have AES inputs. Only the DAC1 and the DAC1 USB have AES inputs. And because I will not be using the USB - it makes sense to by the DAC1. I will keep a lookout for those on Audiogon. At the same time, I am also looking for other DACs that have AES inputs + 24/192 capabilities. Cheers, Dhar