https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/threads/benchmark-dac3-hgc-£2-449.114435/
A review of the Benchmark DAC3. I have the DAC2 that Benchmark say sounds the same. The review and especially the comparisons with Chord TT and QuTest mirror my own experiences having had the QuTest at home and taken my DAC to a Chord Dealer to hear the TT. Some people are not keen on Benchmark and I wonder if it was a synergy thing as it’s a musical thing but clearly doesn’t sound like a valve DAC.
I am one of those not keen on the Benchmark DAC 1 HDR, which is not to say that there is anything wrong with it.
For my hearing there is something, along with Hegel, mini DSP SHD, that I find slightly distracting. Perhaps a bit too precise, a bit too hifi, which is doubtless good news for many if not most folk. I prefer the Chord approach and have been very satisfied with the naturalness of m scaler into TT2 to the extent that i don’t even think about the sound as such anymore.
The Benchmark I have doesn’t have galvanic isolation which may be part of the problem for me, Shame really as it is a fantastically useful item with its additional analogue in. Whatever the oddities of the way I hear, Benchmark do make exceedingly good equipment, doubtless excellent in a studio environment, but not for me in my home environment.