Benchmark Dac1 vs Ack dAck

I own the aCK! and I can say after owning the Classe DAC-1,Theta GEN Va and the Dodson 217 MKII that it is the best DAC I have owned.It is very open, smooth and has the least glare and fatique of any DAC I have heard.Good luck. Mark

Get hold of an Ack! dAck! is what I say. The thing that realy stood out for me was the immense improvement in dynamics, making music come pretty close to 'live' music. Relatively low price, built like a tank. Shame about the long waiting list, but quite understandable.

I just finished auditioning both of these, and the punchline is, the Benchmark went back for a refund and the ACK! is staying!
The Benchmark is a great DAC, no doubt - I can see where it garners rave reviews. It is highly detailed, very transparent, very exciting listening. But after awhile, its relentlessly detailed presentation gives you the proverbial digital headache. I started listening less & less. It would be great for studio use though.
The ACK! on the other hand reminds me more of my trusty VPI turntable and records - everything's there, and everything just sounds right, just like music should. No glare, sweet but not sugary, nicely balanced, dead quiet. And, you can listen for hours on end - you have to drag yourself out of the listening room because it's time to go to work. Bonus - it's half the price! Worth the wait.
In my modest system - Quicksilver monos, B&W CDM NTs, McCormack passive pre - it was no contest at all. Good luck & good listening!
p.s. If you love good female vocals, check out Christine Kane's latest CD at www.christinekane.com Fantastic!

Anyone have any idea which transports works well with dAck!?
Thanks.

I'm using with an old JVC XLZ 1050TN, a cheap Sony DVP655 SACD/DVD player, and an Adcom 750. With the Sony, there is some slight popping sound out of the speakers when you load a disc, otherwise the three sound virtually the same to me - I can't tell any difference. The Ack does not seem to be picky about transports!

I also have a dAck! and am delighted with it. It's much less hashy than the EAD DSP 7000 III that I had, which is no slouch in this area; beautifully silent background and no power cord to upgrade. I'm using it with an EAD T1000 with a Mapleshade/Insound Zepher dig link which is naturally open yet gorgeously smooth. It doesn't work at all with my Alesis Masterlink as a transport. The SPDIF output of that is not a true SPDIF and the ack doesn't see it at all. I did upgrade the output coupling caps, replacing the 3.3 mF AuraCaps with a pair of 5 mF DynamiCaps bypassed with a .01, totalling 10 mF per channel. This totally ameliorated my reservations about the bass of the stock unit and improved everything else as well.