Benchmak DAC2HGC Sampling Rate Lights

[yyz]

I recently purchased the Benchmark DAC2HGC and I have put in 3 nights of listening so far. It is a big improvement on my old DAC1 which I traded in. My question is regarding the LED lights which show sampling rates. I am currently using the DAC connected to a old DELL desktop with USB 1.1. I have my CD collection converted to FLAC via DBPowerAmp. When I play a FLAC of a CD that I converted the lights on the DAC2 show the following indicators turned on (or lit up), USB | 24 word length | 48 | 2x. Which indicates 24/96 sampling rate. I am confused as to how that could be when the source of the FLAC is Redbook CD's. The following link contains a graphic with similar LED settings as what I am describing. Everything Audio Network: Exclusive First Review!Benchmark Media DAC2 HGCDigital-to-Analog Converter

[Daudio]

yyz,

 

What program are you using to play the FLAC ? I use iTunes, and it always outputs the same resolution unless I change it. Perhaps your program is setup to output 24/96 and upsample/downsample, no matter what the source resolution is.

 

Also, could you have ripped your CD's to a higher resolution ? Check your dbPoweramp settings.

[yyz]

I am using JRiver on Windows for playback.

 

I was not aware that you could up-sample with dBPoweramp. I would think this would not be a recommended practice.

[kurb1980]

I have the Benchmark DAC2 HGC and what you described got me thinking. Couple of things to consider...

 

The sample rate and bit depth in DBpoweramp correct?

If so can you verify the metadata to show the correct sample rate and bit depth?

I would check the output of audio in Windows?

Then check your settings in JRiver to make sure no upsampling is occurring?

 

Ideally your led's should display 16 (blue) 44 (blue) if they are not then somehow it is getting upsampled before it reaches the DAC. Thus resulting in the 24 (blue) and 48 (blue) I hope you find your answers within this?

[andyv]

I have a Benchmark DAC2 HGC and use it with JRiver Media Center 19 - it's an absolutely superb DAC imo. The 'correct' lights always light up for me. I use it under Windows 8 and use the Benchmark ASIO driver - JRiver say that if you have the ASIO option, it is to be preferred.

 

First thing I would check in your case is whether or not you have configured JRMC to be bit perfect. When you are playing a track there should be a little Audio Path icon in the JRiver header bar just under and to the left of the search box. This will light up blue if JRMChas been configured for bit-perfect output. You can click on it and JRMC will tell you the modifications, if any, that the audio is being subjected to.

 

Sounds to me like you may have got an Audio Setting in JRMC that is affected by a Windows Audio setting, so Windows is upsampling to 48 - quickest fix would be to select WASAPI Exclusive Mode in JRMC to bypass Windows. JRiver have changed how this is set between versions 18 and 19. But if you can, I think Benchmarks custom driver is worth going for - apart from anything else it gives you 24/192 and DSD capability.

[yyz]

Thanks for all the input. Some investigation has led me to the culprit. My Windows 8.1 sound properties was set to 24 bit 96000 Hz. If I change that setting to something lower the DAC reports the change accordingly. However, I went to the Benchmark web site to do more research and found the following Setup Guide for Windows 7:

 

Windows 7 Audio Playback - Setup Guide - Benchmark

 

It states:

[h=4]Set "Default Format" to the highest sample rate and word length (bit depth) that your playback device is capable of (96 kHz for Benchmark USB interfaces)[/h]

• Win 7 will convert the audio if the sample rate is not matched. However, the performance is of such quality that we still recommend this setting because it will maintain the highest bandwidth possible. To set this, right-click on the 'speaker' icon in the system tray (near the clock), choose "Playback Devices" and continue as follows
  

 

I also upgraded to JRiver v19 today. I am having trouble with the WASAPI Output mode setting. It doe not work. It was interesting that when I first upgraded the JRiver and went back to the Options I saw "Benchmark WASAPI" listed. After a couple of restarts of JRiver I no longer see Benchmark listed with WASAPI. I will try reinstalling the Benchmark Driver again.

[yyz]

I am thinking that the issue I see with the WASAPI Output mode maybe related to me using USB 1.1. I am getting a USB 2.0 PCI card on Monday and I will install that first then re-install the USB 2.0 Benchmark driver. Hopefully JRiver will then work with WASAPI or ASIO as was mentioned above.

[andyv]

Hi yyz - with JRiver 19 and the ASIO driver installed, when I select Options > Audio in JRiver I have two relevant Audio Devices in the dropdown:

 

Benchmark_DAC2 ASIO Driver [ASIO] and

Benchmark DAC2 (Benchmark DAC2 USB Audio 2.0) [WASAPI]

 

They both work. I select the first. I'm guessing you should have a variant of the second for your USB1.1.

 

I may be wrong, but if you have WASAPI selected, messing with the sample rate at the Windows level shouldn't come into it - JRiver runs the show - but don't forget to tick the "Exclusive Access" box in JRiver Device Settings. The settings in the Benchmark manual may still be relevant if you use the DAC outside JRiver - say for Spotify.

 

Hope you get it going!

 

If you do get the Benchmark driver installed you may care to know - it's not in the manual - that if you click Device Settings in JRiver Audio Options you will see an "Open Driver Control Panel" button. If you click it you'll get a further set of options related to the driver - mostly to do with buffer size and streaming mode. The "Extra Safe" one seemed a good bet to me.

 

Hope you get it all working - it's an absolutely tremendous DAC, been listening to mine all day.

[yyz]

Thanks again for the great advice.

 

I was mistaken earlier when I said that the JRiver 19 did not work. When I installed v19 over my v18 it looked like I was running v19 since the About box confirmed v19. However, it turned out I was actually running some of the bits for v18.

 

I went to my windows 8.1 Start Screen and launchedv19 from there. I had do an upgrade purchase with JRiver for $22 for v19. Now when I launched v19 the drivers show up as I described earlier. I am now getting sound output from the Benchmark_DAC2_ASIO driver. The led lights are showing the correct sampling rate since Windows audio settings are being by-passed. Now I just got to get the USB 2.0 PCI card for 192.

 

The benchmark DAC2 is superb. I upgraded from the DAC1 just recently. I have the KEF LS50 speakers on my home office desktop. I was using the Emotiva XDA-1 DAC with that at first but I knew I was leaving a lot of information behind. The DAC sounded good in the sense that it was non-fatiguing. I switched out to my DAC1 from the main rig to my KEF LS50 system. There was tons more detail but it was immediately fatiguing. I guess I never really noticed it before on the main rig because my BAT VK-42SE preamp smoothed out some of the harshness. Now with the DAC2 connected directly into the amp, Parasound Halo A23, I have the incredible detail along with a non-fatiguing sound. The best of both worlds.

 

I am going to listen to music all day today.