Get better sound quality from your PC

Test setup
I connected the DAC1 PRE’s balanced outputs to a Meridian 557 amplifier, which in turn powered a pair of B&W Nautilus 802 loudspeakers.

A Meridian CD500 and my trusty XP MCE PC were used as sources; the former connected using a pricey Nordost Silver Shadow coaxial digital cable, and the latter with a bog-standard USB cable supplied with the DAC1 PRE. In this configuration the DAC1 PRE was being used as a DAC and pre-amp.

Starting with the CD transport, the DAC1 PRE sounded neutral with a wide soundstage and precise imaging; in hi-fi terms it was very transparent and sounded great.

I then used my media PC, which required no drivers or configuration. But to ensure bit-transparency, you’ll need to set the application volume to maximum and switch off any filter effects.

The result was a shock: audio files encoded using FLAC and played using Winamp or Windows Media Player sounded the same as the original CDs played from the high-end transport.

Starting both the CD and media file simultaneously allowed me to switch between sources for a direct A-B comparison and it was extremely close.

There was a little colouration from the CD transport, which became more noticeable with cheaper cables, but the amazing thing was how good the PC sounded. It was the best I’ve ever heard from a PC.

It’s also fun to connect a laptop or any other computer and achieve the same result ­ the native USB aspect of the DAC1 PRE makes the device independent, and you should achieve great-quality sound regardless of your computer hardware and USB cable.

This is liberating in hi-fi terms where the source hardware and interconnect make a massive difference.

As long as the source file on your PC is lossless or uncompressed, and the application volume control is set to maximum, you should be in for a treat. Benchmark offers further notes.

Journey’s end
The Benchmark DAC1 PRE fulfils my desire to match the quality of a high-end CD transport from a digital collection stored on a standard PC.

It is highly recommended for anyone who wants top-notch stereo performance from their PC. Beyond USB capability, you also get a high-quality pre-amp, DAC and dual headphone amplifier. In hi-fi terms, it’s a bargain.