Since southern climes are rapidly migrating north, there is no reason not to
move to Rochester! Please join us. It's a great place, getting better every
year. As white-collar jobs are more 'portable' now, and work is going where
the people are, rather than the other way around, our old cities are
becoming more attractive. It is my blue-collar people who are left out of
that, a deeply worrisome situation.
It's not just patriotism; Benchmark rocks. An older version such as you just
sold, with an interface like the M2Tech USB-SPDIF dongle, will create a very
high-quality computer audio playback system for way under $1k. My DAC1 feeds
rebuilt Dynaco Mk. IIIs, so I'm neatly bookending the hi-fi era.
The VPI family got smaller recently, with the passing of Sheila Weisfeld.
She and Harry kept the faith during those dark days of the digital '90s, and
VPI currently seems to be doing okay. Shure, IIRC, moved production to
Mexico and dropped their audiophile models. Stanton moved to FL, but
reported results are very poor. Soundsmith joins Grado as the only good US
maker of phono cartridges, AFAIK. They are also in your region. Don't know
if Peter Ledermann does custom styli, but he does build/repair/modify a wide
range of cartridges. They usually have a long waiting list.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tom Fine
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2012 8:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Benchmark DAC1 Silver faced, plus original packaging
and manual
I for one can do without DSD downloads. I have several SACD players so I can
enjoy that niche medium
as long as it exists.
As for DACs, I love the Benchmarks. I'm upgrading my studio to a Lynx Hilo
because it's got more
functionality than the Benchmark ADC/DAC combo. However, in my living room,
I'll stick with the
Benchmark DAC1 Pre HDR. That's a great-sounding preamp/DAC/headphone amp.
Niche electronics companies can do well in NY, if they can find people who
will live in
post-industrial rustbelt areas like Syracuse, and don't mind a very cold
winter and many gray days
throughout the year. The state has finally gotten the message that they need
to provide economic
incentives, and there is still a skilled, veteran workforce (although it's
aging out). Almost all
electronics companies today (except for the most tweaky hand-wired tube
fare) outsource their boards
(many to China), so it's more an assembly business these days, with most
parts coming from China or
Taiwan even if the boards are stuffed in the USA. There is good metal
fabrication all over the US,
and it does save some transportation money to source the heavier stuff like
chasis and packaging
locally. I pass through Syracuse a couple of times a year, and keep meaning
to set up a visit to
Benchmark. I'm curious as to how extensive their operations are.
Carl, I think ART and Whirlwind are based right in yoru neck of the woods,
but not sure how much
manufacturing they do locally.
There are several audio firms in NJ, including VPI (which is still very much
a family business). And
don't forget Grado, still based in Brooklyn (and, I think, the only US
manufacturer of phono
cartridges, unless Shure still manufactures in USA, I thought they had moved
all their lower-end
stuff to China; there also might be a couple of very high-priced few-off
cartridge manufacturers or
modifiers working in the US).
Also worth mentioning, David Josephson and Wes Dooley still make microphones
in the USA, including
US-made diaphrams and ribbons. Does Royer make all their mic pickups here
too?
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Pultz" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2012 7:53 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Benchmark DAC1 Silver faced, plus original packaging
and manual
And, as I understand it, Sony fixed the next version of Playstation so you
couldn't rip SACD with it. Besides Channel, there are a few other outlets
providing legitimate DSD downloads, but I think the market can be considered
nascent at this time. There are, however, a growing number of dacs that
support DSD conversion.
Of small US companies, Mytek beat Benchmark to market with a DSD compatible
dac. They have been rivals for some years; a small NYC company vying with a
small Syracuse NY company. Once an important center of high-tech research
and manufacturing (all of the original color television picture tubes were
made in the GE plant in Syracuse), Benchmark is the only producer of
finished electronic products I know of in my old home town. It's one of the
rustiest of the infamous American rust-belt.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Shai Drori
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2012 2:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Benchmark DAC1 Silver faced, plus original packaging
and manual
Sacd players do not have a digital out of DSD by design. There are no DSD
burners either. The idea behind it was so that there will be no way of
ripping the files and sharing them. Another dumb idea from the folks who
haven't realized yet a few things about computers.
Shai
Sent from my ringing donkey
On 2 бреб 2012, at 01:28, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I don't see what that does different from the DAC1Pre. Where can you get
something that streams DSD? SACD players don't, do they?
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Pultz" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2012 6:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Benchmark DAC1 Silver faced, plus original
packaging and manual
>
>
>> Tom, did you see that they've released a DAC2? Drool, drool, want!
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tom Fine
>> Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2012 6:12 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Benchmark DAC1 Silver faced, plus original packaging
and
>> manual
>>
>> For sale, an excellent condition, unscuffed and perfectly working
Benchmark
>> DAC1. Just like this one
>> that recently sold on eBay:
>>
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Benchmark-DAC1-Digital-to-Analog-Convertor-Silver-Fa
>> ce-/110963108676
>>
>> Except this one comes with the original box and manual. Also included is
the
>> BNC-to-RCA adapter for
>> the coaxial SPDIF input.
>>
>> $575 with free shipping to USA addresses.
>>
>> Ping off-list if interested.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
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