Benchmark DAC Thoughts

Happy to chime in! I'm currently a very happy owner/user of a Benchmark 3BDAC and an Audiolab 6000 CD Transport. (I stream through an Auralic Aries G1). I find everyday that it sounds true and fantastic. You will hear more differences between recordings than the equipment that is playing it back. Be aware this DAC is pro gear. Abbey Road still has 30 or more DAC 1's I'm told. I WILL say for streaming with ethernet connection, do yourself a big favor and add a Network Acoustics ENO filter. And, Benchmark told me and I'm here to confirm it....connection between the DAC and the Audiolab will sound the same whether it's Toslink or SPDIF.

Congratulations! I (obviously) think you have made a great choice. I should tell you a few other things. I know you were looking to upgrade your speakers from an earlier post. I have the Vandersteen Treos CT you were considering. I also run my signal through a new Audible Illusions 3B tube pre- amp and then to a Parasound A23+ solid state amp. All wires are Audioquest. I also listen to a great deal of Americana, acoustic jazz and classical. I was in the music business for over 30 years and have played guitar for over 50 years. My wife and I love Shawn Colvin. I own a Martin Custom Shop 0000-28 similar to Shawn's. I was just listening to her Live CD again the other night after a long layoff. The entire album was breathtaking! I know what that guitar sounds like in person. That is why I am telling you all this. I'm sure you don't need to know this, but I realized in this discussion, like most discussions on the internet, you have no idea about the background or experience of the people posting replies to your questions. The Benchmark is built like a tank...because it has to perform in recording studios for hours on end with no breakdowns. Also, the most important engineering is not the dac chip... it's the input (jitter control) and the output stage. This is a pro piece of gear, period. It's not etched, sterile or whatever...the recordings are that. This is not a "flavor" control...it has been designed and built to do a job for us and it does that, EVERYDAY, with no editorial opinions. Now, that may not be what people are looking for...great! There are plenty of options out there. Please feel comfortable with your decision and check out Sara Jaroz....I'm sure you already have. ("Bury Me In Bones" is pretty great too! and  "Twist Of Fate")

DoubleYY...credit to you for looking for a good synergy fit for your DAC 3B. That’s exactly what we all should be striving to do, right? Funny after my first post, I was listening to an Igor Markevich recording of the the Tchaikovsky 5th on the new box set of his Phillips recordings. Wow! the strings were strident and hard to enjoy. Great overall performance through. This is why I’ve been so focused on the quality of re-issues lately. I don’t expect the Benchmark to fix this problem. It may trace back to the original digital transfer/mastering. EMI (and Sony to a lesser degree) do a really good job of addressing these remastering issues. I also want to clarify that I only provided the biographical and system information to give our OP some context for evaluating my opinions. I only post on these questions when I think I have some direct user experience of what the OP is looking for. I know you are, quite rightly, thought of as the Benchmark maven on this site for your personal experience and enthusiasm for the brand. I know that you appreciate what they do. I can say, especially after listening to some Brad Mehldau and Sarah Jarosz tonight after the Markevich is... I will need to change my listening position on a case by case basis.....not my DAC......and fortunately, I can do that. Keep on listening!