What is missing from the Benchmark line-up?
What is missing from the Benchmark line-up?
Submitted by psykostx on Tue, 2009-08-11 05:16Hey, I just ordered a DAC1 (probably got the last one) after using this great little tool a few times. I love how you can bring it anywhere and discover the true colors (no pun intended) of pretty much any device with a digital output. However, I noticed that there is something missing from the Benchmark lineup that would make the DAC1 even better....
Why can't I pair my DAC1 with a Benchmark speaker selector?! Just a simple balanced XLR input that feeds an attenuation pot (or mute switch) and a 3-way selector for the 2-pair of outputs and RCA jacks (it could be a mirror image of the DAC1, and look a heck of a lot nicer than the blank plate) ...I would pay $500 for a Benchmark speaker selector that racks up with the DAC1 in a heartbeat! I know you would use only the best possible components and think of every possible source of distortion/signal loss and eliminate it...especially because the other brand's alternatives are either junk or overpriced junk! Get on it guys!
The ever annoying yet always right,
-Jon
PS: If you like my idea, make sure I get some form of credit, or you can pay me off by smothering me with free gear ;)
EDIT: Also, maybe I should have said "Line Selector," but "Speaker Selector" sounds cooler....really consider it, it would make the DAC1 into a full featured monitor controller!
Good suggestion
Hey Jon,
This is a great product suggestion. Would you be using it for pro audio (studio) applications, or in a home system?
To be honest, it's hard to keep a box under $500 without building it overseas and using cheap materials...especially with a long warranty.
Keep the suggestions coming!
All the best,
Elias
First of all, thank you for
First of all, thank you for replying promptly! I would be using this item in a professional studio. I am not suggesting anything digital, just a sort of passive switch for the balanced analog XLR line out. I think this would be easy to accomplish with a few very high quality components and the proper design with minimal solder points. While the DAC1 uses very complex logic to acheive its perfection, this device could easily take a minimalist approach, keeping the signal path all analog using very reliable components and achieve a signal path that adds absolutely no distortion or noise to the DAC1's output. It can definitely be done, and I hate to say that if you don't do it, I'm going to drill some holes in my blank panel and get to work! In a half rack unit with no digital components there should be no problem pricing it around $500-600, and I bet you sell more of these than you do blank panels, at higher profits!
Also I would really like to thank Benchmark for being one of the few companies that treats its products like actual logical electronic devices, and not magical voodoo black boxes. This, besides the fact that I live in NY, is what prompted me to choose Benchmark over other 2-ch converters (which were also slightly higher priced, but that is inconsequential to me personally, when a device embodies perfection it is always the better choice, to me). Benchmark details their manuals with the logic behind their circuits and even allows for a degree user serviceability (and calibration), which is something I have not seen in a long time. If most other company's products were opened by their end-users, I think most of the users would be appauled (as long as they understood the basic principles behind electronic devices). I have bought many "boutique" electronics devices, which turned out to be low-toleranced, untested, and filled with electrolytic capacitors instead of solid caps (where applicable)! I used to use my Luxman LV-103 (know any good repair shops, I still do miss her beautifully smooth solid capacitor sound...most people think it is the tubes, but they aren't even getting signal unless you use the "tone-in" control) as my quality benchmark (or "reading glasses" as I like to call my more transparent devices), but now I use my Benchmark DAC1! Thank you!
Also, Seriously consider the monitor selector!
Best Regards,
Jon