Benchmark vs. CIAudio VDA-2

[kphinney]

2pm EST, Saturday June 16

I just bought a Channel Islands Audio DAC and a friend of mine is on his way over with a Benchmark DAC1 for a little comparison. I'd like You to tell us what comparisons to run and we'll report back with our impressions.

Many here are proponents of the DAC1 so here's the unit we're comparing to and my current setup:

CI Audio VDA-2 with VAC-1 Upgrade Power Supply
"...coaxial SPDIF, then fed to the CS8416 24 bit/192k low jitter input receiver, then to the Burr Brown PCM1794 balanced/current output DAC."

JoLida 102B Amp
2 matched pairs J J Tesla EL84's.
Electro-Harmonix 12AX7A pre-amp tubes.

Omega 6 Grande
Full range Fostex FE 167E driver without crossover.
95dB sensitivity 50-20KHz frequency response.

[opaqueice]

One suggestion - after listening to the two for a while to get a sense of the difference, try listening blind. Make sure the volumes are matched.

[JJZolx]

2pm EST, Saturday June 16I'd like You to tell us what comparisons to run

Here's a really wild idea... how about listening to the same music through both of them?

[kphinney]

Funny guy. I thought we'd just weigh both of them and maybe see how hot they become if left in the sun.

[JJZolx]

Funny guy. I thought we'd just weigh both of them and maybe see how hot they become if left in the sun.

You could also take some measurements on a scope and it would give you just about as much information on how they sound.

[kphinney]

It's pretty close to a tie. We decided to write some of this down before running out for another bottle of wine. The VDA-2 is in the lead but we have agreed to listen to both on G's system before we declare any consummate winner.
We've run the gambit from Norah Jones to The Cult, Handle to Ozzy. Thumping bass rattle the windows to whisper quiet "unplug the refrigerator in the next room." Hands down, with the present system the VDA-2 shines in one area - quiet listening. At low volumes it seems that the DAC1 isn't as synergistic with my little tube amp. Crisp vocals on Stephen Stills "Stills Alone" (The Ballad Of Hollis Brown) were unobtainable with the Benchmark at low volumes. By low volumes I do not mean the type of listening you do to keep the neighbors happy. I mean the type of listening you do if you'd like to sustain a happy marriage with a sleeping wife at 1am in a medium size apartment. Think "whisper".

VDA-2: Guitar plucks resonated as if they were live. Stills' guttural and sometimes raspy voice made me want to clear my own throat.
DAC1: More muted as if the strings had been dampened, and his voice lacked the throat of realism.

After realizing the low volume phenom we listened to all of our picks at quiet levels and found a big gap between the two DACs with the CIAudio coming out ahead. (Thank god someone suggested we listened to the same music on BOTH DAC's - never would have thought of that myself.)

The rest is pretty unremarkable. The DAC1 and VDA-2 with PS upgrade sound very close to identical when the SB3 is used as a transport on my low watt system. I'm happy I made my purchase. G insists that we compare on his system and I agree. I'll post more when we do. Right now it's another bottle of red (Gala Rouge, Pinot Noir is a super bargain and goes well with both DACs) and a side of Allison Krauss. This gives me another idea: Anyone else in the Boston area want to plug and play components?

[Ron F.]

2pm EST, Saturday June 16

I just bought a Channel Islands Audio DAC and a friend of mine is on his way over with a Benchmark DAC1 for a little comparison. I'd like You to tell us what comparisons to run and we'll report back with our impressions.

The VDA-2 DAC needs a few days of burn-in before it reaches its final sound. I know many people don't believe in burn-in, and I am not sure I do either, but Dusty told me to burn it in for a few days, before critical listening begins. I listened to it for a few hours after I unpacked mine, and then I let it run for several days while I listened to something else. When I came back to it - it had improved.

It is a great DAC with a VERY low noise floor.

-Ron

[Ron F.]

kphinney,

Actually, if you are looking for some tests to run, then consider downloading the 24-bit 1 kHz sine wave files: -100, -110, and -120 dBFS, from http://www.rme-audio.com/english/download/audtest.htm.

Make very sure to set your SB3 in "Repeat One," so it does not move on to play another track after one of these finished Otherwise - you will be terribly sorry. Keep a finger on the "Power Off" button on your remote as well, in case there is an accident.

This is a fairly brutal test of your system's noise floor. You should be able to hear the -100 dBFS tone without having to turn the volume up too much higher than your normal listening level. The -110dB file is tougher, and the volume will have to be turned up considerably. In my system, the -120dB file sounds like it is about equal with the background noise floor, and beginning to drop down into it.

I am wondering which DAC holds up better in this test!

-Ron

[kphinney]

kphinney,

Actually, if you are looking for some tests to run, then consider downloading the 24-bit 1 kHz sine wave files: -100, -110, and -120 dBFS, from http://www.rme-audio.com/english/download/audtest.htm.
...

-Ron

Excellent Ron. I'll try it out when we do part 2 of the test this weekend.

[kphinney]

We're going to pick up this little comparison this evening. This time using Geof's system. More specs on that later (as I'm not exactly sure what he has set up). We'll be running Ron F's suggestions for testing the sound floor and Geof's SlimServer selections of choice. (If we get really silly we may even listen to the same music through both DAC's as the Awe-Inspiring JJZolx suggested.)

Feel free to chime in with anything you'd like to hear a report on.