Unforgiving DAC or add Tube Preamp??

Actually there are many dac's that should outpeform the Benchmark, we had one traded in years ago and the  sound was okay, many commercial dac's are focused on neutrality so they can sounnd bland.

The other issue are you turning your dac off, digital should be left on 24/7 

Are there different filter settings?

How are you feeding the dac, good usb cable or cheapie, running a laptop or desktop or a dedicated server?

Are you using Roon or Jriver which can allow you to upsample or turn PCM into DSD which sounds smoother.

What cabling are you using? 

Did the sound go from good to worse did you change anything or is this just a realization that you don't like the sound.

We are digital experts we sell most of the best dacs on the market, from Mytek, Naim, Nad, Aqua, Nuprime, T+A,  and a few others. 

We would agree that the Benchmark should go, we will be getting a sample of the new Ifi DSD pro a $2500 dac that is getting rave reviews for its soundstaging and musicality. 

Herb Richart in Stereophile compared the Ifi DSD pro to dacs from $2k to $7k and felt the Ifi was amazingly good, and the Ifi uses minature tubes.

We will be comparing the Ifi DSD to the wonderful Mytek Brooklyn. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Jond why would the OP seek out dac’s that are nearly impossible to hear?

The Electro stuff is good but lacks many of the features people want and the Remiyo was very good but does not have the resolution of today’s more modern dacs we had one it was very good in 2008.

The Ifi DSD pro has both tubes and burr brown dac chips at $2500 including streaming and a heaphone jack seems like quite a bargain again we haven’t heard it but the reviews from six moons and stereophile pitt this little $2500 dac vs really expensive dacs and the OP can get a demo of the product it is currrent and can be demoed.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Jond boy are you wrong, we have consistantly found that newer dacs invariably outperform older ones and in many times the newer units are less expensive. 

The Remiyo dac was superb in its day it is very likely that a new Dac like the Ifi DSD would just blow it away in terms of all the performance traits like imaging, depth of sound field, clarity and musicality. 

Used to sell the Audio Note Dacs and they were impressively musical, howerver, when you hear really good digital you have both the musicallity and the resolution that makes music sound more realistic. 

Then you miss the ability to actually go into a store or order a few different pieces and then see which one of these products sounds good 

The used world means you are always chasing ghosts of what was good years ago, when newer value oriented dacs like Schitt, and Denefrips and IFI and T+A dacs would probably embarrass some very expensive dinosaur products. 

Caveat Emptor, If we could afford it a brand new car would always outperfom the older model, sure the older car is older and cheaper but is it as good of course not in everything the world evolves.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Sure Jond please believe that a 2003 VW Passat handles as well, gets as good fuel economy, has modern convenience features, and has better acceleration than a similar modern car.

Hey by your analogy an nice old muscle car is a better car then a Tesla, try to outrun an electric motor. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ