What DAC do you use with Roon? Please list make and model (and price if you feel like adding it) [2016 - 2021-03]

[AndersVinberg]

Just got a Benchmark DAC3 B, the version without headphone amp and volume control. $1,700.

Because I got a separate headphone amp, the Benchmark HPA4, which is $3,000; they play well together. Discussion:

How I revised a long-held belief

(Fair warning: another long, philosophizing piece.) In the 80s, I became convinced that the front and back ends of the chain were the most difficult to get right, and therefore the most important to focus on and invest in: the transducers that convert between mechanical and electrical energy, the cartridge (and its supporting arm and turntable) at the input end, and the speakers (and their interaction with the room) at the output end. And consequently, I felt that the all-electronic chain in-…