Benchmark Dac 1 vs Bel Canto Dac 2 ?????????????

The Bel Canto is the more musical DAC here. The Benchmark is very analytical and thin sounding in my opinion. Everything John Atkinson recommends sounds this way if you take a look at his recommended component history. I think his Class A rating is a bit over zealous.

There is a reason you see so many of them hit the classifieds weekly and are advertised as only a couple of months old. They can sound very fatiguing which is definitely not what this hobby is all about..

Anyway, I don't think you could go wrong with a Bel Canto DAC-2, A Musical Fidelity Trivista 21, or an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 used here on Audiogon. But the best way is to audition, audition, audition in your own system with your music..

BTW:(I own an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 and love it)

Good Luck,

Chris

How do I know the version, does it say on the back or is there software upgrade

Change the power cable on the benchmark and everything changes. I can not empirically (personally) comment on a comparison between the Bel Canto and the Benchmark so maybe this post is not really helpful. However a change in my power cord (Shunyata Diamond Back) to a Harmonic Tech Fantasy 10 power cord absolutely changed the sonic signiture of the Benchmark from one of thin-ness to one of full bodied roundness. Hey I don't get it...but it happened.

Isn't this hobby fun!

Best wishes

Charlie

It's called the ole placebo effect.I participate(from time to time) in collecting data on control vs real vs placebo.We see this kind of thing all the time.The mind is a powerful tool and people are just sooo convinved by things they perceive but it is simply not based in reality.
You,I and everyone else rely and insist on these methods in every other area(Ie. prescription drugs etc).Yet audiophiles reject this very same validation techniques when it comes to audio.Audiophiles are a very strange lot.

I owned the Bel DAC2 and now own the Benchmark. The Benchmark is far superior to the DAC2; I don't know what you people are hearing.

Contraire to comment the DAC2 images better -- I found the DAC2 to bunch images together. Two guitars were as one guitar. I do use tube preamps with the Benchmark. I will admit I was not enamoured with the Benchmark run straight in the power amp. It did sound thinner and drier. Maybe it mates with only tube preamps, which it does very well and is a first class performer with clarity, detail, separation and a liveness that is musical in a defined way, not in a lush way.