Voltage conversion in Wyred4 Sound DAC

Gnanasekhar, electronics equipped with switching power supply will often operate over whole voltage range. One example might be Benchmark DAC2 that operates 88-264V 50/60Hz.

I have older version - DAC1 but it is not universal (linear power supply).

Not only that Benchmark DAC2 has switching power supply but also
has many of them inside. It uses main +12V switcher and then
DC/DC converters to create +/-18V. I don't know of linear power
supply that can operate from 88 to 264 VAC without any switch and
at the same time to be able to operate up to 373VDC.

services/dac-modification/benchmark-dac2-
modification/>http://mysoundaffairs.com/modification-
services/dac-modification/benchmark-dac2-modification/

Look at the picture - perforated metal box in front is Switch Mode
Power Supply.

[url]http://www.audiostream.com/images/112613benchmark7.jpg[/url]

According to Benchmark Technical Director John Siau Benchmark was designed purposely not to sound warm but neutral instead. Warm sound works wonderful with voices or guitar but not so great with instruments that have more complex harmonic structure like piano or percussion instruments. Overly warm gear can, according to John Siau, make piano sound like out of tune. Benchmark is very smooth and resolving. Because of that it can reveal deficiencies in the system. It revealed bright sounding aluminum dome tweeters in my previous speakers but sound wonderful with my current speakers that have well implemented soft dome tweeters.

Benchmark DAC1 is not bright. It was used in many studios for its neutral performance. Covering bright system deficiencies with warm DAC is the worst thing you can do.