DAC-1 question for Jules and others

I did a mix for some potentially fussy clients, as a first time using the DAC-1............. not a peep outa them!

They were satisfied!

It's a great unit!

I wonder if 16 Benchmark d/a would sound better than the 16 Prism's I use during mixdown at the moment?

[atticus]

Originally posted by blackcatdigi
David, please forgive me as I really don't intend to sound like a smartass, but the frame is rather inconsequential, costwise. And not to throw punches, but...

$17,900 MSRP for 24 channels of AD/DA plus a rack and a p/s is not really (what I at least) consider to be "pretty reasonable"... I'd consider that to be pretty darn expensive! Right up there with the highest priced multichannel units, no?

Quality of conversion aside, 24 channels of Radar starts at around $6k... Now that seems a little more reasonable, and fits into the same amount of rackspace. Heck, the top-o-the-line system with the S-Nyquist convertors sells for about the same as the $17.9k figure above...

Again, not trying to take a swing at ya! Just trying to figure out a sensible way to acquire some reasonably good convertors at a reasonable rate.

I realise whay you are saying. My point was that the cost per channel is $373.40, which is very good for the quality that you are getting. Of course at 48 channels it adds up costwise. I never meant to give the impression that it is cheap, but I feel that it is a great value. The modular setup also means easy upgradability and maitenance. Thanks.

[blackcatdigi]

Originally posted by atticus
I realise whay you are saying. My point was that the cost per channel is $373.40, which is very good for the quality that you are getting. Of course at 48 channels it adds up costwise. I never meant to give the impression that it is cheap, but I feel that it is a great value. The modular setup also means easy upgradability and maitenance. Thanks.

Absolutely. I agree on all points. In fact, I'd like to apologize for the 'tone' of my previous post... It didn't quite read back as intended.

IMHO, your fine company is one of the manufacturers that is 'pushing the envelope' in terms of High Quality vs. Price Points. I agree that the system offers some great features and is an excellent value; The ability to mix and match cards as needed is particularly appealing. The value of the DAC-1 obviously speaks for itself!

Please keep up the good work.

In addition, your presence here is much appreciated!

Sincerely,

$17,900 MSRP

At that price I was going to get a set for the car!

[ghoost]

Originally posted by Jules
I wonder if 16 Benchmark d/a would sound better than the 16 Prism's I use during mixdown at the moment?

Hey Jules ...

I'll say this much .. I've seen Benchmark A/B'd with Prism (AD) by a note worthy producer around here. His commentary was that the Benchmark sounded like going to 1/2 inch ... So you gotta figure that the same technology is being used on the DA side ... no? If you like it cominng out of two channels DA .... well ....

[atticus]

Well we are always working on cool stuff, and there are some amazing products in the pipeline right now, but nothing's to the point that I can talk about it right now. I wanted to build a 1ru version of the cardframe that could fit four of the System 1000 cards lying on their sides, but I have to find out a way to build it at a reasonable cost. Modular stuff can be expensive to build, but I think that it would be worth it for us to have in the lineup. What do you all think?

[HEDDcase]

Atticus why not just build counterparts to the 2,4 and 8 channel A/Ds ? If modular is expensive why go there ?

I have the 2408/96 and a DAC-1. I'd love to have more D/A channels, ideally in one rack space.

[atticus]

Well we may well do the all in one thing in the near future, but I was just thinking aloud on the whole modular thing, that's all.

[atticus]

We can definitely do that. Anyone is free to e-mail me product requests and we will try to do our best to bring it to market. It just takes time. And money. And even more money

[HEDDcase]

Originally posted by mdbeh
At least for me, 16-ish channels of quality D/A is highest on my wish list, so the flexibility of a modular system isn't too important. As long as the sound quality is there, any steps to keep the cost reasonable seem worth it.

I'm with Brian on this one. I've always wondered why there was this disparity with Benchmark. A conventional 1 rackspace box for A/D and then the modular D/A system.

Are the circuits designs so different for D/A that you couldn't start with the power supply and chassis of the 2496 A/Ds ?

[atticus]

Well the System 1000 has both A/D's and D/A's, and we simply designed the larger A/D's first. We spend a lot of time perfecting products and the focus of the company for the first 15 years of it's existance has been solely broadcast stuff, so the more pro audio designs have been slow in coming. We are catching up in a big way, though. Any feedback and ideas are very much appreciated.