2. pc-audio
  3. 1218732999

Citypulse Audio DA2.03e II vs. Benchmark USB DAC1

I had recently bought a Benchmark USB DAC1... it was good, but without a power switch, or a remote, it was always on & overall, I didn't think it was worth $1300 ... I just received my Citypulse Audio DA2.03e II USB DAC & i got to say, it is AWESOME! It smokes the Benchmark in every way!! I run it directly into my AMP & bypass my PRE. The sound is UNREAL & the quality of the unit, honestly, you would never think it was Chinese... Even the brushed aluminum remote is nice! For $550 from audio magus dot com, there isnt a better USB DAC on the market... (Using Sunfire pre & amp with B&W 804 speakers & now a Citypulse DAC)
jbnachman

Showing 2 responses by jmudrick

jmudrick
12 posts
 
I haven't heard the Benchmark but I'm a quite happy owner of the 2.03e's predecessor the 7.2x with some modded caps and power supply (by Discovery Hi-Fi in Bangkok). I bypass the Citypulse's volume pot. Long, long break-in period but sounds terrific to me. Primary source is FLAC/Winamp/ASIO4ALL to a Trends UD-10 transport.
jmudrick
12 posts
 
I have a very occasional loss of connectivity via USB, but very rare. Yeah with lots of USB dacs out there now it's perhaps a box and connection more than necessary these days but it sounds good to me.

No preamp for me, I run a modded Trends 10.1 as a power amp only, using Endler attenuators to control volume. Just picked up a NuForce Icon also and will see which amp I prefer when I get back home to Asia.
More to discover