How good is Benchmark DAC1 comparing to......

For those that put more trust in reviewer's ears, there is a review in the newest issue of Sensible Sound that many should find interesting. Interesting in that they decided employ the double-blind listening approach in the interest of objectivity.

In a nutshell, the reviewers simply could not tell the difference between the Benchmark and a discontinued Sony XA20 machine.

Be sure to catch this issue if you are interested in one of the more objective reviews of the Benchmark floating around the audiophile press.

Sensible Sound also has, for years, maintained that there is no difference between amplifiers, among other strange opinions. Nonsensical Sound.
If they can't hear a difference, then then there is something wrong somewhere and it ain't with the Benchmark.

"Be sure to catch this issue if you are interested in one of the more objective reviews"

What is the deal with these people that have nothing better to do than try to discredit a product that has more objective reveiws than any other dac in history from the toughest critics in the world, i.e. Studio engineers. The sensible Sound is pushing a philosophy that nothing matters and its all personal bias. Is that objective? Why do they exist?
Nealhood,
Do you own a Benchmark? Do you know anything about its different set-up configurations. What do you have to do with this discussion? Knuckleheads like those S.S. subjective reveiwers just throw it in a system and spew away to affirm their philosophy which is self-serving unscientific/nonexhaustive.

This thread is lame.
I'm moving on to create a new thread where those who have a Benchmark and a clue can discuss and get the most from their extremely intellegent purchase...adios

Dna, I have not yet shared with you the one major configuration change that has elevated the performance of the benchmark to truely worldclass status.

Let's blow this popsicle stand.

i had the Benchmark DAC-1 in my system and it is an excellent DAC for the money. it has great highs, but it is thin in the midrange and bass regions when compared to all the DACs i've had an opportunity to hear in my system. those include the MW lev2 modded P-Tech P-3/A, the EA modded P-Tech P-3/A, the Dodson DA-263, the Dodson DA-217MkII, and the Dodson DA-218.

"No one is claiming that the Benchmark DAC1 is the world's greatest reference dac in absolute terms...the DAC1 provides, at its relatively modest price, superb performance on an approximate par with much more expensive dacs, e.g., in the $5-$10,000 range."

for $975 IMHO, the DAC-1 is a GREAT sounding DAC - WAY better than it has a right to sound. all the other DACs i compared it to were alot more money w/ the exception of the MW LII P-tech P-3/A which is $1200 still 23% more than the DAC-1. in comparison to the MWLII p-3/a, the DAC had more openness and transparency across the highs. the midrange was a bit harder sounding and the bass lacked a bit of articulation. the magnitude of these differences was so small that it took repeated a/b comparisons to determine. then i conducted a single blind test on a friend who did not know which DAC was being played and my friend came away with the same opinions of the 2 DACs that I had.