[CanadianMaestro]

Portable music players have blossomed in recent years. Fit for earphones and headphones, on the move. Companies like Fiio, Astell & Kern, etc.

Would Bryston ever consider developing and marketing a high-performance portable player with the usual hi-res playback capabilities, internal DAC (optional?), and can upload files like a hard-drive thru USB cable from a computer? Fits in palm of your hand.

I think there would be a very large target market, consisting of existing Brystoners/audiophiles/headphone 'philes, and newbies who want to get into "hi-end" without spending a fortune on a floor system at home.

Thoughts?

[Armaegis]

I think it would be a huge mistake for Bryston to try and enter this market unless they can partner with an already established company specialized in producing similar products, but then what would be the point of such a partnership? The portable world is two steps removed from Bryston's core lineup. Branching out into speakers makes sense. Branching out into a turntable is feasible since they do have phono products already and they can at least put their design chops into the power supply. But a DAP? Nothing Bryston makes really integrates with that except maybe the dacs. Bryston doesn't make small products; they have a very set range of chassis sizes and metal. Investing in something beyond that is non-trivial. Programming a dap is non-trivial. On top of that you'll also have to deal with computer interfacing and the ridiculous customer support that requires. Bryston does not make anything battery powered, nor anything that operates at that lower headphone power.

I don't think there's even a viable target market, and the overlap is much smaller than you think it is. A portable player is aimed primarily at the portables/headphone world. Bryston has only a single headphone oriented product, and it is massive and frankly quite expensive compared to what the average headphone consumer goes for. That's not to say that they couldn't design a dap if they really put their minds to it, but it would take a disproportionate amount of resources and time to create and with a very slim guarantee of even generating sales when you consider how many competing entities are out there. It's impossible to compete against the cheap Chinese daps coming out now, especially if you're still manufacturing in Canada, so that leaves the high... where your sales are even smaller. So now they'd have to push to an even higher degree of performance, sink even more resources into a product twice removed from their wheelhouse, etc.

No. Just no.

Diversifying is one thing, but this is the sort of dead end that can seriously hurt or kill a company. As I said earlier, the only way this could possibly work is if they partnered with an existing dap maker, but then what would Bryston possibly contribute to that partnership to make it worthwhile?

[CanadianMaestro]

what would be the point of such a partnership?

 but then what would Bryston possibly contribute to that partnership to make it worthwhile?

Don't know yet. That's why it's open for opinions here.

Bryston's know-how with amp design can certainly benefit the noisy DAP market. A port player is a small amp circuit (with DAC possibly). Maybe a miniaturized BDP-Pi/BHA hybrid with far less power, of course.

[zoom25]

I am not getting any Fiio ever again if it can be helped. Hifiman makes DAP as well, but I'm not going with them again either. That leaves Astell & Kern. I know some of them get expensive, but they are the king right now?

So what is Astell & Kern currently missing in terms of features (hardware/software) or is it SQ? If I cared enough to go back into portable DAP, that thing better be in both functionality, UI, upgradability, storage, streaming AND SQ over my iPhone 6+.

[CanadianMaestro]

I think the Holy Grail (imho) is to have Bryston-quality sound in a portable (not necessarily pocket-sized!) for travel. None of the current players have concert-quality SQ imho, even with the best headphones.

[zoom25]

The AK380 at $3k+ doesn't get it done? 

https://us.astellnkern.com/collections/portables

I find all headphones lacking if one wants concert quality and that kind of realism. Midfields and bigger offer the best chance at recreating that. Even then, they still fall behind the real thing for certain music. Headphones are fun and critical in their way, but nowhere like the real thing. I've been trying with Audeze, Sennheiser, and Hifiman. Maybe the new headphones have improved? Stax?

[Hoiman]

Would Bryston ever consider developing and marketing a high-performance portable player with the usual hi-res playback capabilities, internal DAC (optional?), and can upload files like a hard-drive thru USB cable from a computer?

I was asking myself the same, this ill be awsume.

[Hoiman]

Specs  :
- As good as the BDP-3 and BDA-3 together
- min. 1 TB (mini) SD input (maybe 2 inputs)
- not to big, so it's not to heavy
- long battery life
- not to expensive, between 1000 - 1600 euro's

[R. Daneel]

Bryston isn't a sort of company that can invest in such an undertake. Despite what you choose to believe, to make such a device and to make it perform well costs a lot more than designing amplifiers and DACs. That is if you want to contribute to the market with something innovative.

You can take an existing Android platform but even so, it would take a lot of IT expertise and a qualified manufacturer in Taiwan. Even that would be difficult because such Companies won't do Business if you the quantity is low. Astell/Kern is a subsidiary of iRiver and they have been making the stuff since the nineties, long before the first iPod became available so there is no way you could compete with such an adversary.

A Company making these things has to be on the bare edge of the technological forefront in order to counter the obsolescenc.

If Bryston decided to include video processing in their SP3, it would be obsolete in less than a year and no one would buy one. Instead, it was (smartly) created for a different market and as such it can stay in the market for longer. A Company making high-end digital media players should be able to rečease a new model of surround processor evry 8 to 12 months and this is something only major players can do. You cannot compete with the enormous Financial Resources and technical expertise these Companies have. This is essentially why Bryston is a boutique manufacturer.

That said, there are plenty companies who would make a player for you and brand it any way you want. I hope this would not be Bryston's policy.

Cheers!
Antun

[Hoiman]

Bryston isn't a sort of company that can invest in such an undertake.............................. ...............

Watch the smileys!!! I wasn't Seriously.

[R. Daneel]

Watch the smileys!!! I wasn't Seriously.

I wasn't really referring to a specific post, I was just commenting the topic.

Cheers!
Antun