I didn't choose the Benchmark because of any knowledge that it was better, or worse, than a USB DAC. I picked it because it looked like a pretty attractive combination of several things I wanted.
Because of the option for multiple inputs, I assumed it would work well in experimenting with a hard-drive based system while retaining the ability to use a conventional transport and I couldn't be happier with how that works. Even though I have all my music on the hard drive, I still find myself playing CDs pretty often.
I wanted to do that experiment without adding a lot of complexity to the system and the Benchmark's small size lets me perch it on the same shelf as the transport and just flip a switch on the front of the Benchmark to toggle between the inputs from the hard drive and the transport.
I was pretty sure the Benchmark was a good DAC because the reviews of it have been uniformly very positive but I didn't really care if it was absolutely the best solution from an electromechanical perspective. I'm sure there may be better options from any one of several perspectives and I wouldn't even claim I made the best possible choice but, for now, I'm really happy with it.
Because of the option for multiple inputs, I assumed it would work well in experimenting with a hard-drive based system while retaining the ability to use a conventional transport and I couldn't be happier with how that works. Even though I have all my music on the hard drive, I still find myself playing CDs pretty often.
I wanted to do that experiment without adding a lot of complexity to the system and the Benchmark's small size lets me perch it on the same shelf as the transport and just flip a switch on the front of the Benchmark to toggle between the inputs from the hard drive and the transport.
I was pretty sure the Benchmark was a good DAC because the reviews of it have been uniformly very positive but I didn't really care if it was absolutely the best solution from an electromechanical perspective. I'm sure there may be better options from any one of several perspectives and I wouldn't even claim I made the best possible choice but, for now, I'm really happy with it.