EXIF68
Active Member
Hello Forum,
this summer I was looking for a 2nd DAC because my older on has to go to the living room and support there the Flat-TV with its digital output. This was an excellent Benchmark DAC1 (The Original). After a few seeking in 2nd hand sources I found a really cheap Benchmark DAC2-D. The seller said it works well and so I ordered this device for a few hundert bucks.
After the package was here I have tried the DAC2. It works but the pot was not moving by the remote control. The sound of the pot-motor was heritable but the pot itself doesn't move. Also manual operation of the pot was heavy. Much to much force was needed to operate the pot. My first thought was, the pot is defect. Outside of the device was nothing to declare wrong. So I wrote an email to benchmark media for the replacement of the motor pot in the DAC2. After a few days I get the answer from benchmark media, that the replacement of the pot would be very difficult due to 22 soldering points on the mainboard. That for real was huge. But im a little bit familiar with soldering and so I have asked for the price and conditions for selling and shipping of a new pot.
In the meantime I was opening the device and take a look into it:
From the first look nothing special to see. But if you look closer you can find this:
What the hell was happening here? The plugs for the headphone and also the motor pot makes a twist to the left. The mechanical tension to this parr's was huge. So I immediately removed the front plate of the device, connected the device to the grid and put it on: And what I mentioned was becomming true: The pot worked well without the front plate and surprise surprise the connectors for the headphone are now with our tension to the left side.
So I have removed the front plate completely of the device and was going to my workshop and corrected the deformation of the thin aluminium housing of the device. Easy work. Addionally oiling the motor pot axis with a special oil for electro-mechanic parts.
After the housing was okay I put the device together and was ready for test. But due to the job no time for this. a few weeks later I was having time for testing the device and what the hell was this: No operation any more. The device was dead. Holy shit. Then I was reopening the device and first measured the power supply on the motherboard: Zero Voltage!:
Next mail to benchmark media. They said that the power supply is not avialiabe anymore due to RHOS-Conformations... so what to do? I was removing the power supply from the housing and tased a look to this device. It seems to be a so called "standard equipment", a purchase device. Then I was looking in the internet for a replacement but I have nothing found with the same measurements and output.
2nd chance was removing the power supply completely and using an external power supply for the necessary DC-voltage. Found a usable switching power supply for a few bucks and ordered this part. in the meantime I was making a Plexiglas Interface on the back of the device for a DC-Connector and build that in.
No big job for wiring and no big job for building in the DC-Connector. From outside it looks now like this:
More or less "Original" would I say.
After then, mail to benchmark media and the answer was that this external power supply is not supported by benchmark media. But this was okay. The correspondence with benchmark media was really good. Not many manufacture do this in that way. 5 Stars for Benchmark.
After then building the device together:
Switching on an the device works as it should: Motorpot is now working fine and the sound is also really good. A long way for a small device. the way was a little bit stoney but the result is more than positive.
Greetings from Austria,
Walter
this summer I was looking for a 2nd DAC because my older on has to go to the living room and support there the Flat-TV with its digital output. This was an excellent Benchmark DAC1 (The Original). After a few seeking in 2nd hand sources I found a really cheap Benchmark DAC2-D. The seller said it works well and so I ordered this device for a few hundert bucks.
After the package was here I have tried the DAC2. It works but the pot was not moving by the remote control. The sound of the pot-motor was heritable but the pot itself doesn't move. Also manual operation of the pot was heavy. Much to much force was needed to operate the pot. My first thought was, the pot is defect. Outside of the device was nothing to declare wrong. So I wrote an email to benchmark media for the replacement of the motor pot in the DAC2. After a few days I get the answer from benchmark media, that the replacement of the pot would be very difficult due to 22 soldering points on the mainboard. That for real was huge. But im a little bit familiar with soldering and so I have asked for the price and conditions for selling and shipping of a new pot.
In the meantime I was opening the device and take a look into it:
From the first look nothing special to see. But if you look closer you can find this:
What the hell was happening here? The plugs for the headphone and also the motor pot makes a twist to the left. The mechanical tension to this parr's was huge. So I immediately removed the front plate of the device, connected the device to the grid and put it on: And what I mentioned was becomming true: The pot worked well without the front plate and surprise surprise the connectors for the headphone are now with our tension to the left side.
So I have removed the front plate completely of the device and was going to my workshop and corrected the deformation of the thin aluminium housing of the device. Easy work. Addionally oiling the motor pot axis with a special oil for electro-mechanic parts.
After the housing was okay I put the device together and was ready for test. But due to the job no time for this. a few weeks later I was having time for testing the device and what the hell was this: No operation any more. The device was dead. Holy shit. Then I was reopening the device and first measured the power supply on the motherboard: Zero Voltage!:
Next mail to benchmark media. They said that the power supply is not avialiabe anymore due to RHOS-Conformations... so what to do? I was removing the power supply from the housing and tased a look to this device. It seems to be a so called "standard equipment", a purchase device. Then I was looking in the internet for a replacement but I have nothing found with the same measurements and output.
2nd chance was removing the power supply completely and using an external power supply for the necessary DC-voltage. Found a usable switching power supply for a few bucks and ordered this part. in the meantime I was making a Plexiglas Interface on the back of the device for a DC-Connector and build that in.
No big job for wiring and no big job for building in the DC-Connector. From outside it looks now like this:
More or less "Original" would I say.
After then, mail to benchmark media and the answer was that this external power supply is not supported by benchmark media. But this was okay. The correspondence with benchmark media was really good. Not many manufacture do this in that way. 5 Stars for Benchmark.
After then building the device together:
Switching on an the device works as it should: Motorpot is now working fine and the sound is also really good. A long way for a small device. the way was a little bit stoney but the result is more than positive.
Greetings from Austria,
Walter
