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W4S DAC2 vs Benchmark DAC1 my observation

The thread "Benchmark dac - why such diverging opinions?" inspired me to sell my Benchmark DAC1-HRD last week and give the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 a try... short story... I think the Benchmark is a better piece of equipment.... long story you may like the W4S DAC2 better.

I have a good bit of information to write and it will not all fit into this first post. I will post two parts as I go through the process. The first part will be comparing the toslink which is my preferred input and the second part I will get into details on the USB.

Please note I do not have a preamp and both units were used as a stand alone preamp.
james63

Showing 2 responses by jerico

jerico
131 posts
 
Hi James - very nice writeup.

I have both a W4S - primarily used in my headphone system - and a Benchmark DAC1 USB currently used in my main system, which tends to the bright side. Last weekend I swapped the W4S into my main rig, and found it very appealing (this via USB, against the Benchmark's USB). It had a similar amount of detail, and a nice even balance, but a bit more of a natural sounding vibe to me - voices were a bit more earthy, highs present but not piercing, that kind of thing.

I couldn't leave the W4S there unfortunately - WAF and all that. I think it is an awesome DAC but man, it is rather fugly! ;)

As an aside, I'm going to try out a Wavelength Brick in the big rig - see how that goes.
jerico
131 posts
 
Hi James - I did have the Benchmark wired via TOSLINK at one point, but it was a while ago, and my system has changed around since. Originally I had been running it from the output of an Airport Express, which I thought was pretty bad relative to running it direct from my laptop via USB. BUT I never tried running it directly into my laptop via TOSLINK - I honesty never even though of it!

Nowadays I don't use the laptop at all, but use dedicated Mac Minis (2 - one in my living room speaker setup and another in my bedroom headphone rig), both direct via USB.

One of these days I'll dig out my TOSLINK cables and swap around a bit.

How many hours do you have on your W4S? I found mine needed a good amount to open up - I'm probably at around 150-175 hours and it has become very pleasant to listen to.

I should have the Brick in a week or so!
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