BENCHMARK DAC3

Benchmark has released its new DAC3 digital-to-analogue converter, which features ESS Technologies’ ES9028PRO converter chip, which offers active THD compensation. The new DAC3 builds on the previous DAC2. It maintains the same form factor and feature set as the DAC2, but adds the higher performance available from the new ES9028PRO D/A converter and also adds the following improvements: active 2nd harmonic compensation; active 3rd harmonic compensation; lower THD+N; lower passband ripple; improved frequency response; faster PLL lock times; and faster switching between input signals.

The DAC3’s circuitry uses an advanced high-headroom digital filter design and a high-sample-rate asynchronous USB audio interface. All inputs are fully isolated from interface jitter by Benchmark’s latest ‘UltraLock3’ jitter attenuation system. Internal digital processing and conversion is 32-bits and this processing includes 3.5dB of head- room above 0dBFS to prevent the DSP overloads that commonly occur in D/A converters that don’t have headroom above 0dB. The balanced analog output is fed by four balanced 32-bit DACs whose outputs are summed to improve performance and give a 6dB reduction in noise. ‘ It is rare to find a converter review that does not draw comparisons to the DAC1 or the DAC2,’ said John Siau, of Benchmark. ‘ Benchmark converters are in daily use in many of the world’s finest recording studios and mastering rooms. Benchmark converters are also enjoyed by thousands of audiophiles. Benchmark has raised the bar again… the DAC3 defines a new reference.’

All digital inputs on the DAC3 support native PCM or DSD conversion so there are no DSD to PCM or PCM to DSD conversions—both DSD and PCM are both natively converted to analog. As on the DAC1 and DAC2, the new DAC3 has adjustable lowimpedance passive attenuators on the XLR outputs to optimise the interface to the power amplifier. ‘ The importance of proper gain staging cannot be overemphasised,’ Siau told Australian Hi-Fi Magazine. ‘ When audio stages are properly matched, each component in the audio chain is able to operate at its optimum signal level, and the system performance is significantly improved so you can enjoy pure music without any coloration from the electronics and hear the music exactly the way it was heard in the studio, and exactly the way the artists intended.’ For further information, please contact Sound & Music Promotions on (03) 9555 8081 or visit the website at www.sound-music.com