Is the Benchmark HPA4 still worth it these days?

[TuteTibiImperes]

With how far advances have come with other amps in recent years, is the Benchmark HPA4 still worth it for a TOTL amp?

For my personal use came I’ve been using a Schiit Ragarok 2 as I wanted something that could fully power my HE6se and work with speakers, but I’ve since upgraded to an LCD-5 which isn’t as power hungry and I’ve been planning on upgrading my speakers to some JBL 4367s and wanted to get an AHB2 to power them so the HPA4 as a preamp would make sense. DAC is an RME ADI-2 DAC.

More generally though is the HPA4 still a worthwhile purchase given lower-priced headphone amps coming in at much lower price points with performance that rivals or even exceeds it?

 

[doug]

What other HP amps are you referring to? My HPA4 is superb, btw. But it does play in a Benchmark stack.

 

[TuteTibiImperes]

What other HP amps are you referring to? My HPA4 is superb, btw. But it does play in a Benchmark stack.

It’s the main one I‘m considering. A remote is a must and the relay ladder volume control is a big plus, I don’t know of any others that offer that.

On the cheaper end I could look at the SMSL SP400, Topping A90/A90D, or Singxer SA-1 and just use the remote and volume control on my RME.

I need to keep the RME because it’s my EQ device.

 

[SoundsGood2Me]

My HPA4 was the upgrade path on my RME ADI-2pro and I've had no regrets. The ADI's balanced and headphone outputs can both operate at +24dBu which the HPA4 can accept, and now the HPA4's fully balanced stepped volume control can accept an un-digitally attenuated DAC signal and attenuate it in 256 steps! Perfectly matched!! And the HPA4's headphone amp is better than the RME, IMO.
Additionally I now have a pair of ABH2's running bridged to my Tannoy Saturn S10s that sound absolutely stunning.
Seriously, just the upgrade to running un-attenuated thru the DAC made a huge improvement, and the amount of resolution is astonishing.
I got the HPA4 before the ABH2s and just that amp alone floored me, so I was kinda hoping for a similar improvement with the Benchmark power amps. Unfortunately the power amps were not as mind blowing because my speakers aren't all that and room modes, but it's still revolutionary how much detail is available even thru CD. I now have 2 systems (HP and Speaker) that I can instantly tell when hi-res media starts playing, and it was worth buying SACD and hi-res downloads!
TLDR: HPA4 is worth WAY MORE than $3k, bite the bullet.

 

[Endibol]

Interesting question @TuteTibiImperes .. If you look at the specs of the line-amp section of the HPA4 it is not unique anymore. For instance the Topping Pre90 has essentially the same specs. So sonically I would expect them to be very, very similar.
I recently purchased a Benchmark DAC3 and an AHB2 (power amp). The only (theoretical?) drawback with this combination is that the DAC volume control is digital, so the SNR gets worse at lower volume levels with digital input signals.
That's why I want to try out a pre-amp with analogue volume control "in between" the two units. Now I could of course take my Topping Pre90 for this purpose. However, I decided not to do this and to test an HPA4. Not just for technical reasons like the absence of limited in/outs and balance control (which I never use anyway) or the expected lack of quality of Topping products by some ASR-members.
No, my decision is based on just one practical reason ( the poor remote control performance) and a number of partially emotional reasons:
- The combination of Benchmark and Topping products would simply look ugly.
- I love Benchmark's approach of honest information, great white papers and articles published on their website, extensive manuals, all accompanied by modesty.
- Benchmark's help desk responds quickly and with a great level of detail and attention (not just brief to get rid of you).
So although the HPA4 is more than 6 times more expensive than the Topping (here in Europe at least), I expect that I will choose the Benchmark...
The HPA4 will arrive in a couple of days. I am very curious whether I will hear any difference at all by adding this unit.

 

[Killingbeans]

The only (theoretical?) drawback with this combination is that the DAC volume control is digital, so the SNR gets worse at lower volume levels with digital input signals.

That was in the old days. As far as I understand, modern chips are designed to avoid those rounding errors (or at least make their influence ridiculously tiny).

ESS used to have a presentation of the subject on their web page, but it seems to be gone now

Here's the PDF though:

 

[blueone]

The only (theoretical?) drawback with this combination is that the DAC volume control is digital, so the SNR gets worse at lower volume levels with digital input signals.

My understanding is that digital volume is adjusted in the internal 32bit DSP words, so I doubt SNR worsens significantly within the normal range of the volume control.

 

[TuteTibiImperes]

Interesting question @TuteTibiImperes .. If you look at the specs of the line-amp section of the HPA4 it is not unique anymore. For instance the Topping Pre90 has essentially the same specs. So sonically I would expect them to be very, very similar.
I recently purchased a Benchmark DAC3 and an AHB2 (power amp). The only (theoretical?) drawback with this combination is that the DAC volume control is digital, so the SNR gets worse at lower volume levels with digital input signals.
That's why I want to try out a pre-amp with analogue volume control "in between" the two units. Now I could of course take my Topping Pre90 for this purpose. However, I decided not to do this and to test an HPA4. Not just for technical reasons like the absence of limited in/outs and balance control (which I never use anyway) or the expected lack of quality of Topping products by some ASR-members.
No, my decision is based on just one practical reason ( the poor remote control performance) and a number of partially emotional reasons:
- The combination of Benchmark and Topping products would simply look ugly.
- I love Benchmark's approach of honest information, great white papers and articles published on their website, extensive manuals, all accompanied by modesty.
- Benchmark's help desk responds quickly and with a great level of detail and attention (not just brief to get rid of you).
So although the HPA4 is more than 6 times more expensive than the Topping (here in Europe at least), I expect that I will choose the Benchmark...
The HPA4 will arrive in a couple of days. I am very curious whether I will hear any difference at all by adding this unit.

Thanks for the reply. I’ll look forward to hearing your impressions.

I think I will end up with one, but it will take some time now as Ian flooded my home and I have to get that handled first.

 

[Endibol]

That was in the old days. As far as I understand, modern chips are designed to avoid those rounding errors (or at least make their influence ridiculously tiny).

ESS used to have a presentation of the subject on their web page, but it seems to be gone now

Here's the PDF though:

Thanks, interesting presentation. The question now is whether or not the process described in the ESS-presentation is employed in the Benchmark DAC3 with its ES9028PRO chips.
If that's the case it wouldn't make any sense at all to add an HPA4 to my DAC3/AHB2 combi from the SNR-point of view if I understand correctly.
I wonder what @John_Siau has to say about this.

 

[Killingbeans]

The question now is whether or not the process described in the ESS-presentation is employed in the Benchmark DAC3 with its ES9028PRO chips.

I'm pretty sure it's standard practise in all of their chips.

The PDF is from 2011, and the 9028PRO was their flagship chip until the 38PRO took over. It would have been senseless not to implement that part

If that's the case it wouldn't make any sense at all to add an HPA4 to my DAC3/AHB2 combi from the SNR-point of view if I understand correctly.

Correct. Personally I wouldn't bother, unless you need some of the other functionality you get from the HPA4.

 

[Hemi]

Is the HPA4 pricey? Yes. Is it heavy? Yes. Is it a top performer? Not anymore.
But there aren't many headphone amps that can be mounted in a rack. It was a big selling point for me.