Humble DAC review time. Bryston BDA-3, RME ADI PRO BE and Benchmark DAC3 ( again)

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Tone?, Jun 7, 2023.

  1. Tone?

    Tone? Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco
    (I gave these DACs over two months as not to rush judgement )


    Just fyi, these are my subjective reviews of these items.
    Yes I actually did take some measurements of them.
    Funny thing is , that I didn’t find anything in the measurements to describe their different sounds.
    Total novice at measuring. But special thanks to @Archimago for helping me along the way and making it fun as well


    RME ADI2 pro Black Edition

    not too bad.

    timbre : ok, nothing to write home about. Things sounded ok. Not strikingly real
    Soundstage : small. Pretty narrow and quite shallow. The flattest of the bunch as far as depth
    Weight to instruments : I kinda put this also in timbre. It was ok. Nothing special again.

    Overall impression. Meh. Not Impressed at all .


    Bryston BDA-3

    Timbe: better than the RME. More texture Too tight tho. I’ll get into this later
    Soundstage. Large and not fake. Great attack. A but too much space between instruments without presenting the music as a whole.
    Attack and percussiveness is this DACs super strength. This thing punches. More than any DAC I’ve tried

    It was just too tight. God this is hard to put into words . Imagine a cello bow. The Bryston was too tight so it took away from the broadness of the bow. Made it more narrow if that makes sense

    I would get this DAC maybe just for pop music if money was no object


    Benchmark DAC3

    I had to come back to this one again.
    This time I kept it.
    What made the difference?
    Using HQplayer with one or two filters.
    Made the soundstage deeper and more majestic.
    Tons of detail.
    timbre: almost as good as my Marantz and sometimes better.
    Marantz is a touch softer and more majestic.
    Bass definition is amazing

    Soundstage is naturally as big as the recording
    Space between instruments is good whilst keeping the music whole as well. No gaps



    well that’s it.


    Hope this helps anyone and again just my subjective review.
    All three measured very very well objectively.
     
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  2. Swann36

    Swann36 A widower finding solace in music

    Location:
    Lincoln, UK
    Seems like your finding similar things to me as to why I stay with a BM DAC1 HDR , in my terms I’d have to spend a lot to better it
     
    Tone? likes this.
  3. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    Agree with you on the RME … maybe it likes to be tweaked, the PEQ.
     
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  4. Tone?

    Tone? Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I don’t know.

    Its soundstage is just smallish, and quite flat
    Didn’t do much for me at all.
     
    tIANcI likes this.
  5. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    Agreed. Compared to my Denafrips Ares2 initially the soundstage of the RME was rather 'flattish', but then I started with tweaking the PEQ a little and I haven't used my Ares2 since I got the RME. No other Dac for me thanks, it's all about the PEQ :edthumbs:! Soundstage is huge.

    @Tone? What filter setting did you use on Rme? NOS with tweaked PEQ correction (to compensate for high freq rolloff) is advised for bigger/deeper soundstage (imo).
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2023
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  6. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    @bever70 … when it was in my system for demo, I liked the PEQ as I can use it to manage bass. That was great.
     
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  7. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    It's what I do too, it solves some bass issues I have in my room. I could heavily treat the room, but it's a living room and not prepared to do that. Tweaking the PEQ and listening has learned me so much about the influence that certain freqs can have on the soundstage.
     
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  8. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    @bever70 … living room is a living room. It should be left as that. My new apartment has a large living room. Was so tempted to place my system there but … ended up in one of the bedrooms that’s a mere 10’ x 12’. So sad!

    I did a lot of treatment, to kill off most of the reverb, room is kinda dead. It sounds like a great room for podcasting. It’s ok for me as I am listening nearfield.
     
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  9. Tone?

    Tone? Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco

    Nah, I’m not a fan of NOS.

    I would mainly use fast sharp.
    I experimented with them all tho. and HQplayer.

    Yes of course you can use EQ to create illusions of a larger soundstage, more forwardness etc.
    that’s what the BBC dip was kinda created for. To make the soundstage sound a bit more proper instead of too much in your face for an orchestra

    I don’t know man. It left me super meh.

    to each their own tho.

    the Bryston BDA3 was kinda wild on its percussiveness. Never heard anything like it
     
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  10. Oddiofyl

    Oddiofyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    FYI for RME owners. A new firmware version is available. Corrects issues with DSD on adi2 DAC and additional things on Pro

    I’ve never owned a product with such great firmware support. Their roots in pro audio and software really puts them at the top as far as support. No one supports DACs like RME
     
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  11. HIRES_FAN

    HIRES_FAN Forum Resident

    The newer Shiit Bifrost multibit rev is probably a good contender in this price bracket for a different flavor. I've been liking this fluffy sounding dac lately (not the king of perceivable detail, but might fit your criteria for soundstage, timbre, etc ). Vinyl dudes may like this one too.
     
    chris8519 likes this.
  12. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    I’m surprised to see the low vote for the RME here but I trust @Tone? ’s judgement. Never heard one before but I’ve viewed it as the absolutely opposite of a Schiit R2R DAC.
    has crazy filters, delta sigma, native DSD, etc etc.

    But as a vinyl guy, my Gumby is a perfect match for me. Same tonal qualities. (I suppose it’s noise… but I can go with it). Is the new Bifrost better than the Gumby?

    however I’m questioning whether I want the same tonality on my vinyl rig and digital rig.
    Maybe I do want to ultra refinement of delta sigma. And super high oversampling?
     
    Oddiofyl likes this.
  13. HIRES_FAN

    HIRES_FAN Forum Resident

    The RME has way more user adjustable variables that a purist crowd would want to tinker with. Hence, the low vote ;)

    Never had this gungnir (can't tell)... I had the very first Yggdrasil that i let go in favor of the Venus. But, i like the newer Bifrost flavor in a different rig. These are the only 2 Shiit Dacs i've had/heard.


    Bifrost multibit -> you won't be springing off the couch and running to your turntable every few minutes...what's not to like? :D
    But seriously, the culprits tend to be further down the chain, i.e., too many modern speakers and amps out there have way more top end sizzle than necessary (not to mention leaner mids, etc). This may be one of the main reasons many vinyl guys working with such gear get jarred when they try a digital front end. The fluffy sounding Shiit does a good balancing act.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2023
    chris8519 likes this.
  14. Oddiofyl

    Oddiofyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    The RME is a very good DAC , it is now in my headphone rig after buying the LAB 12 DAC …. That DAC made me forget about upgrading my digital for a while.
     
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  15. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Great points all around. Frankly the configurability of the RME is what scares me away. Vinyl already has so many variables to play with. It never ends. Now double that for my DAC? No thanks.

    Agreed with the modern sizzle. Even my Naim setup is pretty treble forward.
     
  16. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    Once you read through the thick manual and fully understand it, they send you a diploma! :D
     
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  17. mrkrinkle

    mrkrinkle so long and thanks for all the fish

    Location:
    USA
    Which Marantz?
     
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  18. Tone?

    Tone? Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco
    It’s in my sig. pardon
     
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  19. mrkrinkle

    mrkrinkle so long and thanks for all the fish

    Location:
    USA
    Have you ever heard the HD-DAC1, by any chance? I'm trying to figure out how other Marantz DACs compare.
     
  20. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    I can make my RME sound like your Gumby (or Bitfrost or whatever dac you like) without you noticing any difference whatsoever! Oh, I can also make it sound like your vinyl setup (or mine). Because of all the filters and PEQ possibilities :righton:. That's the secret sauce of the RME. But most people are not interested in that, they just want a DAC to turn on and deliver in every possible way...which is why they need to buy 500 DAC's to find 1 they like :laugh:.
     
    Mansinthe86 likes this.
  21. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    No offense but I don't get this. Why not just post here which Marantz DAC you have?
     
    bever70 likes this.
  22. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    [​IMG]

    I really like the Marantz HD-DAC1. I don't have any desire to replace it, which I guess is what i'm looking for in gear.
     
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  23. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    That's how I feel about the Marantz SA-KI Ruby. I wonder how the HD-DAC1 would compare to the SA-KI Ruby?

    Looks like a real nice and well equipped DAC/HP amp. Too bad it was discontinued.

    HD-DAC1 Hi-Fi Component - Play High-Resolution Audio Formats | Marantz™
     
    mrkrinkle likes this.
  24. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    that's a good question. it's a nice little box (half width component?). Unfortunately the variable RCA outputs have gone wonky on me. The fixed outputs still work as normal.
     
  25. noladaoh

    noladaoh Retired

    Location:
    Arkansas
    I have the BM DAC3 paired with a Luxman integrated and ATC speakers. I must say, it is shocking to hear familiar music with this new setup. Incredibly revealing.
     

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