iMac to DAC via 3.5 mini-phono jack/RCA IC?

'Bright' is an accurate description of how I would describe the Benchmark USB DAC1. So bright in fact that I analogized it as; "the walls of my ears were being stripped, like solvents to paint". It was simply a case of being outclassed by the rest of my system, as were the other USB DAC's. I could hear their limitations, like bad digital transfers viewed on a 1080p plasma.

I used a high-end silver power cord with my iMac, plugged into a Walker VelocitorS. I like to keep my system simple. Shortest path possible. Avoiding all the extra cables and devices and power cords....

I've tried several times running the IMac into my Hydra-6. Everytime I do i get an improvement in dynamics. blacker background, blah blah blah, but it always tilts the upper frequencies too much. Regardless of powercords on the IMac or Hydra, the amp I'm using, ICs on the DAC, etc. At least I've convinced myself I'm not full of sh#t or hearing things, because it's definitely a constant.

i had the same opinion about the benchmark dac. stereophile loves it because they probably get $$$$$ for advertisements. there are many other dacs out there that are much better. i liked my old cal audio sigma II tube dac better and that was $200.

for my music server system, i isolate the computer from the music by using the airport express units. i also have hooked up my mac mini and now a 24" imac using optical cables to jitter devices. using optical cables, you isolate any computer noise that would be possible to transfer thru copper.

i also have played with the sooloos system. what a waste of $$$ IMO. you get a decent interface and thats about it. my iphone remote app does a better job at presenting music anywhere in my house than the sooloos does. and when you cost out the sooloos system with the appropriate setup to make it fault tolerant (raid setup), able to perform backups, whole house server, terabytes worth of storage, you are approaching $20k+ and it contains a terrible dac (that might be updated by now). again, IMO.

for my music server system, i isolate the computer from the music by using the airport express units.

I don't know, every time I try the Airport Express into a DAC (Museatex Bitstream, Benchmark, Lavry, and some others) it was downright unlistenable - talking about bright and edgy.

I didn't like the first version of the Benchmark either and had similar complaints - however the USB version is significantly better and at least through the USB have no complaints about bright and edgy anymore. Compared to much better DACs (and especially analog), I would rather describe the DAC1USB as two-dimensional, veiled, and lacking tonal color and texture.

I go directly from the IMac to the Processor (Krell HTS7.1) with a 37' run of Toslink from Lifatec and IMHO it sounds really good. I agree with those that want to keep it simple.