Wadia 170i and Benchmark Dac1 - anyone try it?

When I knew I was going the route of using an iPod, I researched the "best" way to store files and I quickly learned that there are many opinions on this. This led me to do a couple comparisons myself comparing AppleLossless, WAV and AIFF. In the end, I could hear no difference between them.

Having done this, I am comfortable in my choice of using Apple Lossless and saving space. If others feel there is a difference, it does not sway me.

FWIW, here are a few quotes...

"As expected, the iTransort sounded like the DAC to which it is connected. I store my music on my iPod using Apple Lossless, which provides perfect bit-for-bit accuracy to the original with about a 40% reduction in storage requirements compared wit uncompressed WAV files. In listening comparisons between the iTransport and the CDs from which the music was ripped, I thought the iTransport had a slight advantage" -- Robert Harley, TAS Issue 186

"...You're actually given 3 options in iTunes---Apple Lossless, WAV and AIFF---which preserve digital files losslessly. Any of these deliver CD-quality music." -- Steven Stone, TAS Issue 183

hi, sorry to pour gas on a fire but I have tried the wadia
and the the cd transport was much better. I was very suprised because all the good buzz about the wadia, however
in the system that I heard it in , it wasnt even close !
this was ripped in apple lossless, and wav might be better
but have not tried wav yet. the system I heard in on consists of revel studio2 ,rogue apollo mono amps, top simmoon pre amp, belcanto dac3 belcanto cd2 as transport.
I guess you will have to try one in your own system to know how the wadia really sounds, good luck, ChrisSain

You are not pouring gas on a fire, there is nothing wrong with sharing your experience. That said, something doesn't seem right. (I am not doubting your results, just questioning the why.) I question this based on the many ways I tested things myself and the experience of many others.

11-12-08: Teddy_bear
"Dave, maybe you are getting old :)"

Hah Teddy, I think you're half right, but I think that the reason my Wadia sounds so good with lossless is the reclocking and upsampling routines of my excellent DAC, which is also applied to CD. The Benchmark and Bel Canto are excellent DACs at their price points, but they are not at the very top echelon of performance.

There IS a message here and it's the old YMMV. The subject of this thread is Wadia with Benchmark. There's much evidence here that this combination will not be superior to a good stand alone CD player (I haven't tried to discover the range of CD players we're talking about here) and/or Lossless may not sound as good as WAV. I expanded the thread by throwing in my experience with my Playback Designs player/DAC and Brianmagrarcom threw in his experience with his PS Audio Digilink. We both had very positive experiences with Lossless via iPod.

The cause for the differences might be a number of things, including differences in reclocking and/or the presence of an upsampling routine, or not. I suspect that all the observations here are valid and accurate, demonstrating that different downstream equipment can yield different results with the same sources.

Hmm, I've got an old Digilink in a closet, I wonder...no, I'm too lazy. ;0

Dave

The Benchmark and Bel Canto are excellent DACs at their price points, but they are not at the very top echelon of performance.

The subject of this thread is Wadia with Benchmark. There's much evidence here that this combination will not be superior to a good stand alone CD player

I think the question was actually what transport to hook up to DAC1 and if there are any differences. The answer seems to be that DAC1 sound is independent of transport & cable & digital input provided the "bits" arriving at the DAC1 are the same (at least many people report this and it is what Benchmark vehemently claim).

Now what "sounds" better or best is, IMHO, a whole other can of worms, which includes the subjective preference of the listener. Certainly a different D to A converter and analog output stage of another high end CDP (removing DAC1 from circuit) is going to sound slightly different - just the same as different DACs will sound slightly different.

Subjective sound preference is hardly "evidence" in the same sense that test results made on the Benchmark DAC1 demonstrate it to be jitter immune and hence transport & digital cable independent (provided there is bit transparency). Note that DAC1 test results say nothing about subjective sound quality - the DAC1 while transport independent may sound terrible to some people. My advice would be to simply listen yourself and buy something more "top echelon" in that case.