Unforgiving DAC or add Tube Preamp??

My advice to you would be to use more than one dac. I’m sure the Benchmark is superb for good recordings. And there are a few out there. With Tidal it’s rather easy to find them. Use another dac, maybe one with tubes in the output stage, for all the trash recordings we also like to listen to. And, music is fatiguing (at louder levels). Why try to remove that? Why would you want a fine recording to sound mellow?

Using a good eq. you could also take down the 3-4 khz freq. a little. I believe the harshness is often found there.

Any thoughts on the Moon 280D with MiND2 streamer? I’m about to make an investment. 

Just discovered Colter Wall "Songs of the plains". Absolute reference acoustical recording. Deep double bass. 3D. 2018. Wouldn’t sound harsh on anything. They didn’t do recordings like this in the past.... Perfect for the Benchmark :-)

The Border Patrol DAC is the answer for listeners put off by digital harshness. To my ears it comes closer to analog than any others I have heard. You may have the ongoing debate in recent issues of Stereophile magazine. Opinions about Border Patrol VS. Benchmark are sharply divided, but those who don’t care for the Benchmark sound quality love the Border Patrol. It is limited to 24/96 if that is a concern for you. I use mine for playback of my ripped CD collection.

@vivahifi
Have you heard the LAB12 DAC1 SE? That’s the most analog sounding DAC I’ve heard? But I have never had the chance to listen to Border Patrol DAC. Would have been interesting.

I ended up buying a Modwright LS 100 tube preamplifier.  This willl allow me to try out a  variety of stand alone DACs as currently I am dependent on the Benchmark as my preamplifier (no preamp) which limited my dac options.  
I should have it hooked up by end of weekend.  Hopefully the preamplifier tubes will have some sort of desirable effect. Maybe the clarity of the Benchmark Dac and Tubes of the Modwright pre will be a winning combination.