Benchmark DAC-1

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

After reading all the reviews of this product, I really want to
purchase one. However, I can't figure out how beat to hook it up, and
I'd be interested to see whether there's something I've missed.

Currently, I have some outboard preamps and a sidecar desk (12 ch Neve
Melbourn) feeding to a patchbay and normalled to 16 channels of RME
A/D/A which are connected to Nuendo.

The outputs of the A/D/A are fed to a patchbay and normalled to the
line ins of the Melbourn. Outputs 15+16 are sent to another patchbay,
which serves as my monitor selection. I have DAT, CD, Phono etc up on
this patchbay, and the main output of the patchbay is normalled to a
NHT passive volume control and to PMC AML-1 speakers.

Monitoring for those recording is normally done using the aux/cue from
the sidecar.

What I'd like to do is to send the digital output of Nuendo straight to
the Benchmark, and connect the speakers to the Benchmark. All would be
well and good, except I now have no analog inputs. I can connect the CD
digitally, but I can't play the turntable or mix down on the Neve (I
sometimes use it for stem mxes or for drum mixes).

I could connect the output of the benchmark to a patchbay, but then I
would have no way of controlling the volume of the turntable, unless I
put a passive volume in line with the speakers, but I'd rather not have
yet another thing in line.


Why doesn't the Benchmark have an analog input? The Presonus Central
Station would be a better fit for functionality, but the converters
would probably be a step down from what I have now.

Am I missing something? Should I be looking at something else?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <1111937749.144136.131920@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> huwgareth@my-deja.com writes:

> After reading all the reviews of this product, I really want to
> purchase one. However, I can't figure out how beat to hook it up, and
> I'd be interested to see whether there's something I've missed.

> Why doesn't the Benchmark have an analog input?

To answer your last question first (since it's easiest to answer),
because it's a D/A converter, not a monitor switch. The three
different digital inputs allow you to monitor sources with different
physical interfaces. Since the input connectors needed to be switched
to the converter input anyway, it doubles as an input selector. But
it's not universal - you can't use it to select between three AES/EBU
sources, for instance, without converting two of them to other
formats.

> What I'd like to do is to send the digital output of Nuendo straight to
> the Benchmark, and connect the speakers to the Benchmark. All would be
> well and good, except I now have no analog inputs. I can connect the CD
> digitally, but I can't play the turntable or mix down on the Neve (I
> sometimes use it for stem mxes or for drum mixes).

What you need is a switch between the D/A converter and your speakers
so you can select the analog source that feeds the speakers. Your NHT
passive volume control immediately ahead of the speakers will serve as
a volume control for everything. It can be cheap, or it can be
expensive. Or you can build your own (cheap or expensive).

> The Presonus Central
> Station would be a better fit for functionality, but the converters
> would probably be a step down from what I have now.

The Central Station is indeed meant exactly for that purpose. You
could use that as your speaker switch and master volume control, and
use the Benchmark converter (rather than the digital input of the
Central Station) for monitoring your digital sources. What you want is
something that's easy enough to custom-build but too expensive for a
mass-market manufacturer to make and sell. Price out the switches from
Coleman Audio if you want to get an idea of what quality costs.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <1112018414.708665.250090@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> huwgareth@my-deja.com writes:

> Well, I see your point, but a D/A converter doesn't have a volume
> control or a headphone output, which the DAC does. I would have thought
> that feeding in an analog signal into the path prior to the volume
> control would have been easy and would have greatly extended potential
> uses of the thing.

Well, I suppose so, but the company has to make some decisions. While
it wouldn't add much in the way of parts cost, it would add parts,
which would require more space on the chassis, and probably require a
larger box. I think the intended application of the headphone
amplifier is for on-location recording (which goes along nicely with
its size and form factor), where monitoring is often done on
headphones because there's no alternative for speakers. As I
underestand from reviews, it's a pretty substantial headphone
amplifier capable of high volume with any headest, and adding very
little distortion. It's useful to be able to hear a digital output on
phones so you can hear what your A/D converter is actually doing.

> But perhaps the attenuation happens in the digital
> domain rather than analog?

I'm not sure, but I doubt it. That would decrease the resolution of
the signal that you're monitoring, which would at least partially
defeat the purpose.

> So I guess that, as Paul pointed out, I should get the switch, and feed
> the output of the Benchmark and the output of the volume control to the
> switch.

It's certainly the simplest solution with the least potential for
mucking up the signal (provided you get a decent switch). And it's an
easy project to build if you have the tools. Making something like
this helps you to understand why the cost of a finished product is
substantially more than the cost of the parts that go into it.

Yes, the Crane Song Avocet is an elegant solution, and I can see where
the cost of a couple of Coleman boxes and a Benchmark A/D converter
could be getting close to the $2800 that the Crans Song costs. I know
that Bob Katz is a big fan of the Benchmark A/D converter, and his
high praise for the Avocet in a review that he wrote a few months back
indicates that you don't have to worry about compromising the quality
of the D/A converter with it. But unless someone shows evidence of
being nutty (whicy you don't) I'm not the sort to immediately fire off
a $2800 solution when a $5 switch might do the job.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo