Review and Measurements of Benchmark DAC3

[dallasjustice]

What does any of this have to do with my original post?

It doesn’t have anything to do with your post because you’re under the erroneous impression that the DAC3 has 14 bits of resolution.

 

[RayDunzl]

@amirm

What's the difference between a linearity measurement where the left end of the measurement goes down (-dB) versus one that goes up (+dB)?

 

[derp1n]

It doesn’t have anything to do with your post because you’re under the erroneous impression that the DAC3 has 14 bits of resolution.

 

[dallasjustice]

Amir posted that just to match the output voltage between the topping and the benchmark. To do that, he had to greatly reduce the DAC3’s output. It helps a lot if you start reading at the beginning of the thread.

 

[tobes]

FWIW, it's already been pointed out that there appears to be an error in the comments on the above graph: 92/6 = 15.3 bits, not 14

 

[derp1n]

Amir posted that just to match the output voltage between the topping and the benchmark. To do that, he had to greatly reduce the DAC3’s output. It helps a lot if you start reading at the beginning of the thread.

I read and understood it thoroughly, to the best of my ability. I suggest you do the same. None of your responses have been useful, relevant, or correct with respect to the remark I made in the first instance.

FWIW, it's already been pointed out that there appears to be an error in the comments on the above graph: 92/6 = 15.3 bits, not 14

Yes, Amir should fix the notation on the graph. However 14 vs 15 bits is somewhat academic when cheap DACs are showing 17-18 bits in a similar test.

 

[Thomas savage]

Where’s my bloody tea?! Get along amir , and don’t forget the digestives like last time..

No matter how much you berate amir he never learns , he’s a terrible man servant ..

 

[Dialectic]

Where’s my bloody tea?! Get along amir , and don’t forget the digestives like last time..

No matter how much you berate amir he never learns , he’s a terrible man servant ..

I do fear that we will have to ask Amir, his highness, the king of audio, to resolve the argument between Messrs. Justice and Derp1N.

 

[gvl]

I feel this has a chance to become another "Yggdrasil" thread.

 

[dc655321]

@derp1n are you a fan of purr1n, aka Marv, over at SBAF?
I ask because of the shared (but inverted) avatar...

 

[tobes]

@derp1n are you a fan of purr1n, aka Marv, over at SBAF?
I ask because of the shared (but inverted) avatar...

He seems to be suggesting he's the 'anti-purr1n' - lol

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

Don't know if I'd call it a 'sad showing', since measurements from the balanced outputs are excellent. However I agree that the unbalanced measurements are not what I'd expect from Benchmark (I own the AHB2 amp) and quite puzzling given given their pursuit of perfection in measurements.
Without undermining the results, given that Amir was unable to enter calibration mode from the usb input I wonder if this sample may have been faultly in some way? It would be interesting to test another sample and see if the results can be corroborated.
I can't see anything in JA's Stereophile measurements that would indicate the above issue - but maybe he didn't do a similar test from the unbalanced outputs?
JA's comments on resolution are more similar to Amir's balanced result:
"When the DAC3 decoded dithered 16- and 24-bit data representing a 1kHz tone at –90dBFS, the increase in bit depth dropped the noise floor by more than 30dB (fig.5), indicating that the Benchmark's resolution is at least 21 bits. This is as good as a DAC can currently get!"

I see also that JA tested the 'HGC' version which is slightly different in that it parallels 4 channels of the 9028 dac vs 3 channels for the 'DX' version that Amir tested. Though this is unlikely to influence the unbalanced linearity in isolation, maybe the other differences between the models has compromised the unbalanced outs in favor of the balanced outputs?

I recall recent less than stellar measurements of another DAC using the SE outputs (can recall the name) and the manufacturer was thoroughly pilloried, tarred and feathered and dragged through the mud by the group.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

That's why we need Amir HRH to resolve the controversy and then lock down the thread.

So people should not be able to discuss things on a discussion board?

If you have no interest the thread maybe don't read it, instead of trying to control the discussion. If there is an error all Amir would have to do is retest if he has time and then correct it. Why should anyone take issue with that?

 

[tobes]

Amir posted that just to match the output voltage between the topping and the benchmark. To do that, he had to greatly reduce the DAC3’s output

I don't think so.
Benchmark actually specs the unbalanced outputs of the DAC3 at 2Vrms in bypass mode - same as D50.
But Amir was getting 3.1Vrms - is this because it wasn't in bypass mode?
I'm wondering if running the unbalanced outs at higher than their nominal output may have effected the result?
Oh, went back and saw this graph - https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...k-dac3.3545/page-4#lg=attachment13393&slide=0

Linearity is worse in calibrated mode, which makes sense I suppose as the output is lower.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

He seems to be suggesting he's the 'anti-purr1n' - lol

 

[amirm]

@amirm
there is a typo in the linearity graph. -92db is 15 bits, not 14 bits.

Thanks. I fixed it.

 

[amirm]

I feel this has a chance to become another "Yggdrasil" thread.

I hope not! DAC3's unbalanced output is much better:

One channel on DAC3 is pretty good, losing only 1 dB of accuracy at -120 dB. The other is about 3 dB off. The Schiit Yggdrasil on the other hand, goes off the rails by -120 dB, singing its own tune.

 

[Thomas savage]

I do fear that we will have to ask Amir, his highness, the king of audio, to resolve the argument between Messrs. Justice and Derp1N.

There will be disagreement, it’s healthy. Males are naturally competitive ( and aggressive), this shows at times in the way they compete for the supremacy of their ‘ POV’on the forum. I would be creating a ‘ artificial ‘ space if I were to eradicate this , that space would end up being dysfunctional a bit like giving us a lobotomy.


I know it’s common now for us to hide away in controlled social spaces free from challenging discourse and indeed anything that’s not a pure reflection of our own veiw but it’s not healthy, especially not for men imo.im told Women thrive on consensus (outside of sexually motivated competive behaviours) , try to avoid conflict at all costs but the result of that while being useful in some areas of life is not all that great for getting to the truth of things.

So your all free to robustly disagree the readers will hopefully form their own opinion (consensus) , I and a few others will lighten the mood now (levity is a great tool) and then. It’s how we have setup the forum and imo it’s the best way.

I do sympathise with those who find these robust exchanges a little discouraging and possibly a bit stressful to read as I do too but boys will be boys.

As long as we are discussing the measurements and their resulting effects it’s all good..

 

[Thomas savage]

There does seem to be disparity between the balanced outputs and SE wrt this device (im sure I remember folks suggesting this could be true of other devices we have tested) so maybe it would be worth looking at this phenomenon in other devices , Speculate on the causes and god forbid conduct some listening tests on a extreme example to see if these discrepancies are audible.

 

[Blumlein 88]

There does seem to be disparity between the balanced outputs and SE wrt this device (im sure I remember folks suggesting this could be true of other devices we have tested) so maybe it would be worth looking at this phenomenon in other devices , Speculate on the causes and god forbid conduct some listening tests on a extreme example to see if these discrepancies are audible.

Pssssst..........................don't tell Cosmik about the listening tests.