Benchmark ADC1 converter

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by Revelation

Wow this unit as well as its DAC1 has been getting raves reviews. Better than Apogee and up there with the best. Anyone been using these converters, what is your take on them?

It's excellent. I did a shootout against my reference, the Cranesong HEDD A/D at 96K. I loaded in a high quality analog tape at matched gain, verified polarity, into two different workstations so each could remain on internal clock. Then I hand-synched the two files in my SADiE system and switched between them. I could not tell the difference so I sent the Benchmark back.

So I recommend the Benchmark! It's a great converter. You get more features out of the HEDD, but it's more money and doesn't sound any better or worse.

Someday, when I have the budget, I'll try some A/Ds which are recommended as superior to the Cranesong, most notably the Lavry Gold, but we're talking much bigger bucks here. And a genuine shootout in the same method as I did before would tell the story.

BK

[funka]

Thank you for this report Bob...I was thinking about the ADC1 to complete my DAC1 in the rack...And I think it will be a good investment if it compares to HEDD.

[Revelation]

Sound on Sound magazine just praised the heck out of the ADC1. So much that the reviewer will be buying it and will be replacing his older Apogee converters.

[BRANEmedia]

I bought the DAC1 USB for monitoring and it was a godsend. definitely a noticeable step up from the RME Multiface 2 I was using for ADC & DAC. So once I fell in love with the DAC1, I bought an ADC1 USB for when I do solo instrumental recording or stereo mic recording.

Problems:
1) you can't have the DAC1 and ADC1 on the same USB bus due to bandwidth reqirements; so I had to go buy a PCI USB card to put one of those on
2) when monitoring the ADC1 signal while recording in SoundForge, the latency is so bad it is impossible to sync your playing with what you hear; can't do anything close to real-time moniroting
3) in Acid Pro the option to monitor the incoming signal doesn't even show up since the software detects the latency and decides it is too huge

My solution: run the SPDIF out of the ADC1 into the SPDIF in of the Multiface, since the RME allows for zero-latency monitoring. But that's a silly solution to me. Any ideas?

[ucanhatemenow]

I don't plan on going the USB route, but I'm very interested in this piece for several reasons. I'm generally revamping my facility( modest home setup but aspiring for great things ) made some good investments thus far with an RME Fireface 400 and Lucid GENX192 most notably; would like to keep the quality of future purchases at this level and better but not above my cap of $1500 approx. for any single item really generally as much under or around $1K for most with one or two exceptions a Benchmark ADC1 at about $1595 being one. I've read on this forum and other reviews good things about the DAC1 being a steal and contending with much more expensive competition; kinda hoping the same holds true for the ADC1. KEY POINT: Given my price range limits, I would like some honest positive reinformencement; Is the ADC1 really the best A-D converter under $2,000 and between $1,500. I plan on using an ADC1 and DAC1 in tandem is the noticeable quality not great enough to just settle for an Apogee Rosetta 200 considering I get quality D-A conversion with that as well. More case specific to my needs are the Rosetta's converters enough of a leap ahead as I believe the Benchmark's would be over the Firefaces' coupled with the Lucid clock. I just need to know with some certainty that the Benchmark ADC1/DAC1 will set me in an upper echelon of recording/production/mastering quality than the masses of home/project studios granted all other gear in my setup meets a similar price:quality ratio.

[nas]

Originally Posted by ucanhatemenow

KEY POINT: Given my price range limits, I would like some honest positive reinformencement; Is the ADC1 really the best A-D converter under $2,000 and between $1,500. .

No it is not the best.. please have a look at the Lavry AD-10 and the Mytek Stereo192 AD. Both are under $1,500 and they sound fantastic. thumbsup

Lavry Engineering

MYTEK DIGITAL USA

[ucanhatemenow]

Just so y'all know in keeping consistent with my the quality gear and performance expectations from my studio that will center around the Benchmark ADC1/DAC1 these are future purchases I will be making before the year's end:

Cakewalk Sonar 8 Producer - DAW
JBL LSR4326P w/ sub shortly after other upgrades - Monitors
UAD 2 DSP cards/ TCE Powercore cards - All Signal Processing
Blue Blueberry - Mic
Blue Robbie - Preamp
Alesis Masterlink/Steinberg Wavelab 6 - Mastering

Other upgrades are relatively minor. My first calling is rapping, but I worked closely with a friend who made beats and have made strides into production on my own, to be cost effective I've gained experience mixing my own material hope to pickup high level mastering skills too. My first n' previous "studio" centered around an MBox bundle which left a lot to be desired so my goal now is a level of professinal quality that will give me the confidence to do everything "in-house" even duplication; tall order I know but I'm pleased with where I'm at from where I started n' the time it took to get a true awakening of what constitutes professional. I've got a strong distaste for pro tools since it's highway robbery to jump for HD for most trying to break in the biz that haven't earned a dollar back yet. I currently own: RME Fireface 400, Lucid GENX192, a capable Gateway desktop(Quadcore @ 2.4GHz plans to upgrade perfomance), Yamaha Motif ES rack, M-Audio Axiom 49, Akai MPD 24, Blue Bluebird, M-Audio BX5As, Monster Power Pro 3500, Mogami Gold cables throughout and an Auralex soundproofing bundle. The decision on the Benchmark ADC1/DAC1 setup just might be the most important choice I make from here on so I would really appreciate some feedback to my earlier post.

Thanks to all listening - ucanhatemenow

[ucanhatemenow]

Thanks for the prompt response nas. I'll definitely look into those as of now most my decisions have been influenced greatly by what's available through Sweetwater: great people, great service n' selection, before that my local Guitar Center which was good for some things. Funny coincedence wit' your screenname and mine being a reference to one of his songs. All the best to u' in ur' pursuits. Good lookin' out.

[ucanhatemenow]

Damn, you know how u' ask a question but really don't wanna hear the truth if it ain't your "truth"; that's how I feel right now. Thanks to nas for his response I started checkin' out other GS posts on Myteks and Lavrys' and just my luck people say their high end in the sound and they are reasonably priced, I should've known joining GS this would happen as I've peeked in on posts for sometime now n' seen some debates sparked that never end. Props to nas though. I feel like I've been sold emotionally to Benchmarks by forums, reviews, and my Sweetwater agent cosigns it too not to question his crediblity but of course they do sell Benchmarks not Myteks or Lavrys. Seekin' the truth is a B#TCH! Good discussion, but unfortunately I was hopin' this would be a slam dunk my local Guitar Center is the nearest sshowroom I can audition anything at but they don't carry these & I'm close enough to the greater L.A. area but don't wanna drive that far. Keep the posts comin' please I guess I'm probably gonna get sold on the pitchmen with the best presentation or at the end I'll flip a coin.

[BRANEmedia]

I bought the DAC-1 first, and it sounds niticeably better than my RME Multiface II for monitoring & playback. I bought it instead of the Mytek & Lavry mainly because of the ease-of-use: the dual headphone outputs, where one of them disconnects the XLR speaker outs when in use, plus the single rotary knob for volume, are SOOOOO NICE. I reasoned: "this makes life so much easier, and I'm so pleased with the improvement in sound, I believe any minor improvement from the other two DACs would not be as noticeable a jump in quality and I don't want to give up this convenience."

I bought the ADC1 because I was so impressed with the DAC1. However the ADC1 isn't as noticeable a leap in quality from the RME's A-to-D processing. But the ability to grab it and my laptop for on-location USB stereo recording was a hige bonus for me.

[nas]

Originally Posted by ucanhatemenow

Thanks for the prompt response nas. I'll definitely look into those as of now most my decisions have been influenced greatly by what's available through Sweetwater: great people, great service n' selection, before that my local Guitar Center which was good for some things. Funny coincedence wit' your screenname and mine being a reference to one of his songs. All the best to u' in ur' pursuits. Good lookin' out.

cheers to you ucanhatemenow I think that once you get to that level the differences in these converters is really not that huge at all and you really can't go wrong with any of them. FWIW I think the Benchmark is an excellent product and already puts you in good company. It's one less thing to worry about and then you can focus on great mics, pres, compressosion etc.. to really dig in and shape your sound and MOST importantly... the music and the talent.

good luck thumbsup

[HudHudson]

I use a DAC-1 and an ADC-1 with my mobile PT rig (MBox 2 Pro, Macbook). Sure beats the POS converters in the MBox. Trouble-free for several years now.

[EliasGwinn]

ucanhatemenow,

Feel free to drop some Q's on me. I just happen to have a very intimate knowledge of the ADC1.

Thanks,
Elias

[Tube World]

Originally Posted by EliasGwinn

ucanhatemenow,

Feel free to drop some Q's on me. I just happen to have a very intimate knowledge of the ADC1.

Thanks,
Elias

We are still waiting for a 4 or 8 channel version of your wonderful converters.

[EliasGwinn]

Originally Posted by Tube World

We are still waiting for a 4 or 8 channel version of your wonderful converters.

Well, thats easy enough!

4-channel = 2 x ADC1
8-channel = 4 x ADC1



-Elias

[Tube World]

Originally Posted by EliasGwinn

Well, thats easy enough!

4-channel = 2 x ADC1
8-channel = 4 x ADC1



-Elias

True, but it would cost less money if you had 8 channels in a nice 1 rack spaced unit with metering, etc. If one would want 8 in ($5,100) and 8 out ($3,900) of your converters, that's $9,000 at Atlas Pro Audio. This is a lot more than your competition. I don't know why there has been resistence with your company in doing this for years. It is simiply foolish for anyone to buy that many of your converters for that price when you can buy 8 channels of Apogee, and Mytek around $4,000 or less.

Not to mention getting your small converter boxes to fit in a rack system with special mounts, dealing with separate controls, metering. It's such a pain. At least the Apogee Rosetta 200 has A/D and D/A in a one rack. But your design of a separate box for each 2 channels just does not make sense. I guarantee you would see more csales if you offered more in a cost effective one box solution. If you felt they could not all be in one box, have one rack unit for A/D, and another rack unit for D/A. I did not even get into jitter and with all these boxes, and cables, you would have to buy a Big Ben clock to help keep all of these converters working smoothly.

[Tube World]

Please be advised my comments are more out of frustration as I really like the sound of the Benchmark converters.

[Glenn Bucci]

I have heard the Benchmark and were very impressed with the detail I heard with them. Gee, they do seem more expensive if your pricing information is correct Tube World.

[EliasGwinn]

Originally Posted by Tube World

True, but it would cost less money if you had 8 channels in a nice 1 rack spaced unit with metering, etc. If one would want 8 in ($5,100) and 8 out ($3,900) of your converters, that's $9,000 at Atlas Pro Audio.

I know, I was just messin' around witcha. Your right, it is expensive to buy 8-channels of our D/A and A/D. The DAC1 and ADC1 converters are tailored more for mastering rigs rather then multitrack recording facilities. We have a card-frame system (System 1000) that can house 48 channels in one frame (any combination of D/A and A/D). It isn't cheap either, but if you fill a frame with 48 channels, it is more cost-effective then some other high-end 48-channel converter systems. Skywalker Sound uses the System 1000.

Originally Posted by Tube World

I did not even get into jitter and with all these boxes, and cables, you would have to buy a Big Ben clock to help keep all of these converters working smoothly.

No 3rd party clock is necessary. All Benchmark converters feature UltraLock, which is completely immune to jitter and clock inferiorities. This means that Benchmark converters will always sound like Benchmark converters, regardless of what clock they are using. The digital output from a cheap CD player could be used as a master clock to several Benchmark converters, and even then the sound of the converters would be just as good as if they were clocked by the Big Ben.

It is our belief that a converter should maintain its performance regardless of external conditions. If a converter sucks without an expensive external clock, then the converter sucks, period.

Thanks,
Elias

Originally Posted by EliasGwinn

ucanhatemenow,

Feel free to drop some Q's on me. I just happen to have a very intimate knowledge of the ADC1.

Thanks,
Elias

Hi I'm extremely interested in this converter and presently in the process of comparing it with the mytek and lavry offerings.
Could you provide a link or photo of an under-the-hood shot of the ADC1 ?
I see there's photos on-line of the DAC1 one but none of the ad unit.
I'd really appreciate this ! Thanks !

[EliasGwinn]

Originally Posted by SimplePlan

Hi I'm extremely interested in this converter and presently in the process of comparing it with the mytek and lavry offerings.
Could you provide a link or photo of an under-the-hood shot of the ADC1 ?
I see there's photos on-line of the DAC1 one but none of the ad unit.
I'd really appreciate this ! Thanks !

I'm working on this for you...I'll let you know when its posted.

Best,
Elias

[EliasGwinn]

Originally Posted by Tube World

We are still waiting for a 4 or 8 channel version of your wonderful converters.

The wait is over!!

ADC16 | Benchmark Media

[imaginaryday]

how about an introductory recession friendly pricing

[EliasGwinn]

Originally Posted by imaginaryday

how about an introductory recession friendly pricing

Already there!

$3995

thumbsup

[EliasGwinn]

Originally Posted by ucanhatemenow

Damn, you know how u' ask a question but really don't wanna hear the truth if it ain't your "truth"; that's how I feel right now.

If the Gearslutz community can't give you a definitive answer, you may want to consider what Abbey Road Studios uses in their mastering rooms:

http://www.abbeyroad.com/_static_fil...Tech_Specs.pdf

[EliasGwinn]

Originally Posted by SimplePlan

Hi I'm extremely interested in this converter and presently in the process of comparing it with the mytek and lavry offerings.
Could you provide a link or photo of an under-the-hood shot of the ADC1 ?
I see there's photos on-line of the DAC1 one but none of the ad unit.
I'd really appreciate this ! Thanks !

Here ya go:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/adc/adc1-usb/photos

[DeButte]

Hi,
I do have a question regarding the Benchmark ADC-1, as I'm trying to improve my sound quality for recording & monitoring:

First, here is my set up: MacPro 2.8Ghz 8 cores, 12Gb Ram, Pro Tools 9, Eleven Rack, Mc Mix, tons of Plugins and Benchmark DAC-1 for monitoring (Event Studio Precision 6 monitors or Seinheiser Headphones HD600).
The only analog recording comes from me playing guitar thru my eleven rack. Everything else is Digital recording (Bfd, Omnisphere, Trilian and Velvet are my main ones), & rarely vocals.

I have 2 questions:

1- Would I benefit (sound quality wise) using Benchamark's ADC-1 for recording Digital (meaning, BFD & others), I know i would benefit for analog recording, but what about internal digital recording.

2- If yes, what would be the best way to connect my gear?: (Eleven rack, Benchmark ADC-1, Benchmark DAC-1 to monitors?

[EliasGwinn]

Originally Posted by DeButte

1- Would I benefit (sound quality wise) using Benchamark's ADC-1 for recording Digital (meaning, BFD & others), I know i would benefit for analog recording, but what about internal digital recording.

No, the ADC1 won't affect your 'in-the-box' virtual instrument quality UNLESS you send these tracks through outboard processors.

However, it will be a vast improvement for any analog sources you're recording (guitar, vocals, etc)

Best,
Elias

[DeButte]

Thanks for the reply.