I had been using MBL's network-connected N31 CD player/DAC ($18,680 with Roon Ready module) before installing the DAC3 B. I found that the MBL's minimum-phase filter gave the best balance between detail and listenability. The MBL offers an excellent sense of drive and low-frequency impact, but when I replaced it with the Benchmark, both these aspects of the music seemed enhanced. Whether it was an orchestral bass drum or a kickdrum, electric bass guitar or acoustic double bass, the MoFi speakers seemed to acquire more low-frequency weight without losing definition. The locked-tight, bass-and-kickdrum groove on a DSD64 file of Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen" (from Gaucho, A&M/ Analogue Productions) steamed along like a locomotive. To quote Donald Fagen: "Nice!"

With the DAC3 decoding the bits, my attention was held from the opening "Symphony" to the closing "Amen" 136 minutes later. The images of the solo singers, the original instruments, and Christ Church Cathedral Choir were all superbly resolved and stably positioned. The soundstage was deep and stable, the soloists palpable, especially the divine-voiced soprano Emma Kirby in "Thou Art Gone Up On High." I heard no fatiguing "Mackie lines" in the sound, no thrusting forward of detail. The solo trumpet in "The Trumpet Shall Sound," for example, seemed natural, not thrust forward.

Perhaps there wasn't quite the sense of ease I had become used to with the MBL processor, but the fatigue-free wealth of recorded detail was a consistent factor in my auditioning of the DAC3 B. That remained true after I replaced the Parasound monoblocks with a Benchmark AHB2 stereo amplifier. (To cope with the DAC3's high maximum output level, I switched the AHB2's input sensitivity to the lowest setting.)

I concluded my May 2004 review of Benchmark's DAC1 by calling it an "audiophile bargain." The same applies to the DAC3 B. Highly recommended for Class A+ in Stereophile's Recommended Components, along with the DAC3 HGC, which Benchmark says sounds identical.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereophile

Since for substantial portions of the review period I used the DAC3 B in tandem with the LA4, comment on its “sound,” or lack thereof, is in effect folded into what I’ve said so far. In the areas of tonal neutrality and transparency, the B sounds like every other Benchmark I’ve heard, which is to say neutral and transparent. But the DAC3 also has new conversion processing, which is said to make for a 3.5dB increase in headroom above 0dBFS, in turn preventing the DSP intersampling overloads “that commonly occur in other D/A converters.” This increase in headroom, plus lower noise and distortion figures than previous Benchmark DACs had, is said to result in subtly improved sound. 

When I told a friend I was reviewing Benchmark’s new LA4 preamplifier and its latest DAC, he said, “Damn good company, damn good products—but they take all the fun out of it.” I sounded this idea, somewhat obliquely and from a different perspective, four years ago in my review of the AHB2 power amp, where I wrote that I wasn’t sure I could in good conscience recommend it to a certain kind of audiophile. This is because it is “only” a “precision instrument designed to perform the precisely defined task of reproducing music and sound accurately, which it does essentially to perfection,” a statement that also applies to these two new products. There are no tonal anomalies you can enthuse. 

Link do recenzji: Benchmark DAC3 B – The Absolute Sound

スピーカー環境ではどうだろうか？MacBook ProをトランスポートにDAC3 BとLA4を組み合わせ、パワーアンプにAHB2を用いて、モニターオーディオPL300Ⅱに接続した（図：接続④）。ヘッドホン環境での好結果に期待値が上がるが、想像通り同傾向のサウンドが得られた。

帯域バランスについては聴感上フラットで、全帯域の音のスピードが整っている。ホセ・ジェイムスでは、等身大のヴォーカルが前方に定位して、マスタリングのクセと思われる音像の小さな移動感さえ秀逸に表現する。ジョン・ウィリアムズは、奥行や高さが正確に表現されたサウンドステージが眼前に現れる。しかも適度な抑揚表現も兼ね備えており、分析的一辺倒に聴こえないのは興味深かった。

今回試した5機種に共通する最大の魅力は、リファレンスとして絶対的な信頼がおける音質であること。スペックだけではオーディオ機器の音質を推し量ることはできないが、ベンチマークの製品が出すリファレンス的なサウンドは、多くのオーディオファイルや筆者のように基準となる音を求める者にはこれ以上ないほどにフィットする。

　その中でもDAC3 HGCは、DACとヘッドホンアンプが一体型なのでシステムをコンパクトにしたい方に向いているし、DAC3 BとHPA4の組合せはセパレート志向の音質を求めたい方におすすめできる。LA4とAHB2の組合せはリファレンス的なクセのないサウンドをスピーカーシステムで実現したい方におすすめだ。

Link do recenzji: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereo Sound

There is a bit less to say about the Benchmark DAC3 B beyond the fact that it is a finely executed example of a modern ESS-based digital to analog converter. It’s specifically designed to be used with Benchmark’s HPA4 or LN4 preamps since it has no other type of volume control and the DAC’s output levels (set via internal jumpers) can be used at the maximum settings when paired with either of those units. The full 12.3 Vrms output (XLR jacks) instead of the consumer standard 4 Vrms is said to allow higher SNR capability through the audio chain. I find that it’s hard to tell meaningful differences between well designed DACs when listening through speakers unless you are dealing with DACs having aggressively tuned or tube-based analog stages. I usually have to use headphones to help me lock in on differences in sound quality, and from what I could discern from using the HPA4 as the headphone amp and switching between pairs of DACs, level matched at the XLR inputs, the Benchmark DAC3 B’s sound is as clear and neutral as they come.

It should come as no surprise that, when the Benchmark DAC3 B, HPA4 preamplifier, and AHB2 power amplifier were used together they performed especially well. I dare say that they produced as clean and noise-free a stereo playback chain as I have ever come across. I found this type of transparency and neutrality very appealing but I realize that others may not necessarily agree because it is thoroughly revealing of any less-than-stellar source material. I have heard speakers and equipment in the past that I considered ruthless in their ability to reveal recording flaws but there really is no wiggle room with this Benchmark stack. Case in point, listening to vinyl through the HPA4 was not always an enjoyable experience as it laid bare the medium’s dynamic range and noise limitations more often than not.

Probably my favorite Wes Montgomery live recording. The engineers did a great job not only capturing the sound of Wes and his band, but they also captured a great sense of the concert space, the balance is very complimentary. The Benchmark stack’s transparent and revealing nature did a fantastic job of letting me enjoy the subtlest details of both the performers and the space they were in. During the opening of “Jingles,” both Montgomery and his piano player Harold Mabern play identical repeated phrases together to set the tone and pace of this instrumental. With my trusty Bryston/Class D Audio setup, the tone and ring in the piano portion of these little duet parts got buried/smoothed over when listening on a few different speakers. In contrast, the Benchmark trio of components allowed me to hear the two distinct instruments completely during those same passages. The jazzy ring of the guitar strings and the ring of the piano notes were no longer blending together into one tone. Even the Anthem STR preamp and amp combo weren’t quite as revealing of these details. Better than the Bryston/Class D Audio combo but not as all-seeing as the Benchmark.

When used as a system the resulting synergy was even more revealing. I found the system to be an extremely neutral reference point that allowed me to hear more of what a connected speaker or headphone was actually doing and, in turn, how much my existing electronics were adding to the sound that I was hearing in my reviews. I had thought that I already had equipment that afforded me a consistent and reliable reference point from which to judge and compare other gear. It wasn’t cream-of-the-crop high-end stuff but it was good quality and enjoyable equipment. Through the extended period that I had the Benchmark “stack”, I began to realize that I could do better. The HPA4, AHB2, and DAC 3B soon went from being review samples to becoming essential lab gear. I genuinely do enjoy listening to accurate, transparent (some may call it analytical) equipment. That however doesn’t mean I can’t like and appreciate the sound of good tube equipment, the sweetness of my vinyl collection, or even some very colored sounding solid-state equipment. But every reviewer needs a touchstone to work from and this equipment is now mine as I will be purchasing the review set. Is it perfection? No. But as the name says, it is my new benchmark.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark DAC3 B – Home Theater High Fidelity

It doesn’t do the sort of immediacy and fireworks that many audiophile designs make such a song and dance about. Neither does it do that warm, round and cuddly sound that represents much of the other half of audiophile digital conversion. There is no magic to the DAC3 B’s sound… in a good way; no tinkly, unrealistic treble, no running-away-with-itself dynamics or plummy bass. It hands all the fireworks over to other parts of the system.

I’m used to DACs at its price being more impressive and seemingly detailed than the DAC3 B. But this isn’t that kind of DAC. Calling the company ‘Benchmark’ more than fits the bill; it’s a true benchmark in audio. In the proper sense of ‘something by which other products are judged’ and not ‘this is the best thing on the planet.’

Putting the two Benchmark products together suddenly made the DAC3 B talk sense to me. You don’t want the DAC to make its mark; it should sit in the background gently letting digital music turn analogue. That earlier ‘utility dog’ analogy was wrong; the DAC3 B is like the invisible yet super-competent musical butler. It doesn’t guide your music’s hand, it just makes sure that hand is available when needed. Couple a DAC with no intrinsic character with a preamp that does the same and suddenly that neutrality is something to strive for. There’s no magic here… just cool-headed enlightenment. And it’s great.

The Benchmark Music Systems DAC3 B isn’t the DAC for fireworks or showing off your system. Instead, it makes a balanced, honest sound that allows you to sit and listen to music for hours. That is what makes Benchmark’s products consistently popular with audio engineers. You don’t want ‘bright’ if you sit at a mixing desk 10 hours a day.

Maybe it took the fabulous LA4 preamp to see that neutrality in a positive light, but once there, it’s hard to step back. It may need that level of system rethink to find out just how little digital magic you really need, but the Benchmark Media Systems DAC3 B will wait for you to catch up.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark DAC3 B – hi-fi+

The DAC3 B sounds like it looks, which is straightforward and matter-of-fact – yet classy. It has an open, detailed, clear and well-defined sound with no obvious failings. It works well across the board, from the speed and agility of its bass to the clarity of its midband and the delicacy and definition of its treble. Cue up the driving rock of Simple Minds' Someone, Somewhere in Summertime, and the Benchmark delivers all of the above.

The soundstage is particularly good too, being natural with strongly resolved stereo images across a wide plane – it boasts superb depth perspective for a product of this price. The Benchmark DAC captures the large soundscape of Seal's Future Love Paradise with ease, conjuring up a panoramic view of this great Trevor Horn-produced track. The atmospheric-sounding classic jazz of Herbie Hancock's I Have Dream is a pleasure to behold, with a firm double bass underpinning an expansive and well-resolved recorded acoustic. Compared to some rivals it lacks a little weight, but it's always super-supple and propulsive. The DAC3 B is excellent at getting to grips with the nitty-gritty of a recording, signposting what's right (and wrong) about it. You wouldn't call it a romantic, as it certainly doesn't portray things through rose-tinted glasses.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereonet

Regardless of which part of the inner workings of a DAC you want to attribute the main responsibility for the sonic result, whether it’s the chipset, the jitter technology, the power supply or the filter signatures – the decisive factor is ultimately the interaction of the individual sections, the coherence of the tuning, which leaves us musically satisfied. And I have to confess that the DAC3 didn’t simply leave me perfectly happy – on several occasions, it was responsible for my jaw dropping in amazement. Let me use a recording to explain this in a little more detail. Parallel to my work with the DAC3, I wrote an obituary for the pianist Maurizio Pollini for FIDELITY No. 74. I listened to a number of recordings, including the CD reissue of the legendary Chopin Etudes from 1972, released in the digital series “The Originals”. The circling chromatic finger exercises in the right hand in the A minor Etude (op. 10 no. 2), this musical perpetuum mobile seems to float in Pollini’s playing. Chopin leaves the structuring of the piece to ascending staccato chords, which Pollini, unlike many others, does not artificially emphasize, as it leads to a strange imbalance in this etude for many pianists. Rather, he allows them to run along almost imperceptibly. The difficulty with playback is that the equipment has to maintain this balance between the right and left hand. If I play the CD on my Naim CD5, the bass sounds a little padded, the structuring effect that Pollini achieves here despite his soft touch in the staccato doesn’t really become apparent. If I play the 16/44 rip of the recording made especially for this review on my somewhat older Grace 903, the slightly muffled presentation changes only slightly, even though the Grace 903 comes from the studio range. However, when I listen to Pollini’s interpretation of the Etude via the DAC3, something incredible happens: not only do the chromatic sixteenth-note runs sound even more iridescent – the slight padding in the mid-range and upper bass is suddenly gone, making it audible how Pollini keeps the piece in balance. Only when played back with the DAC3 does the full genius of Pollini become apparent. This is actually a strength of the complete benchmark chain: it not only allows me to look into the recording structure, but in the best case it also reveals the artistic intention.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark DAC3 B – Fidelity Magazine

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – hi-fi+ – 2025 Award DAC

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity – 2021 Best of Awards

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity – Recommended Gear 2022

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2025

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2024

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2024

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2023

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2023

Link: Benchmark DAC3 B – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2025