BDA-3 DAC

lamechops · « **Reply #540 on:** 8 Aug 2016, 05:44 am »

Quote from: srb on 7 Aug 2016, 04:02 pm

If you had any existing USB Audio / ASIO drivers they may need to first be uninstalled for the Bryston drivers to properly install.

Steve

Alright, I'll get back home and try again. Thanks!

James Tanner · « **Reply #541 on:** 8 Aug 2016, 09:25 pm »

Hi Folks,

Sneak Peak - another BDA-3 DAC magazine review on the way.

james

"James,

I hooked up the BDA-3 to a Quad Platinum DMP CD player last night and let it cook for about 3 hours. I've also currently got a SFI Transport-3 and an April Music Eximus CD-5 in house to drive it.

Around 12am, I gave it a listen with the DMP Platinum. My initial impression is that it has superb separation and delineation of instruments. It renders voices (both male and female) with stunning clarity and a jaw-dropping/tactile resolution. It produces immense detail across the entire frequency spectrum. And, thankfully, this detail is presented without the common glass "edge" and ringing high-band fatigue which most solid state (SS) DACs produce.

Instrumental timbres are excellent and the overall fidelity [with PCM-encoded material] competes with most reference caliber DACs I've heard in the $8K to $10K USD MSRP range. Which means, for the price of the BDA-3 DAC, you've got another "giant killer" on your hands. No wonder BDA-3s are back-ordered until the summer of 2017(!).

I'm gonna hook-up a few entry-level DVD players and flagship Hi-Rez DSD digital sources in the next few weeks to hear how the BDA-3 sounds with DSD-encoded material. More listening is required. And I am VERY happy to do more listening. I should probably start squirreling-away coinage into a BDA-3 jar, 'cause I may not be able to return it.

Cheers... Douglas?

The Rang · « **Reply #542 on:** 9 Aug 2016, 05:03 am »

Are these DACs really back ordered until summer 2017?

James Tanner · « **Reply #543 on:** 9 Aug 2016, 10:46 am »

Quote from: The Rang on 9 Aug 2016, 05:03 am

Are these DACs really back ordered until summer 2017?

HI

No thats a bit of an exaggeration - depending on colour and size we are generally about 4-6 weeks out.

james

BSMSPEMBA · « **Reply #544 on:** 9 Aug 2016, 10:55 pm »

Is anyone else receiving a "Forbidden" error when they check for an update of the firmware? This is a new development.

Thanks

James Tanner · « **Reply #545 on:** 9 Aug 2016, 11:48 pm »

Quote from: BSMSPEMBA on 9 Aug 2016, 10:55 pm

Is anyone else receiving a "Forbidden" error when they check for an update of the firmware? This is a new development.

Thanks

HI

We are experiencing an issue with the software uploads on the BDA-3 ... so on hold for a while.

james

Bones13 · « **Reply #546 on:** 29 Aug 2016, 02:09 pm »

The BDA-3 is back in the stack and working normally. (of course it never was the problem) I have recently installed a micro rendu in my chain, replacing an Aries Extreme. Really love the sound I am hearing. The BDA-3 has been a great addition to my system, along with a BIT-15. Thanks again to all involved.

Quote from: Bones13 on 5 Aug 2016, 08:13 pm

I want to give a shout out to James and Adam. After some initial emailing about my unit I sent it in to Bryston. Adam Tanner (senior technician) called me today, saying that my unit was perfect (always what you want to hear when you mail something in...) He did put me onto the real trouble though, a faulty outbound XLR balanced cable. I have swapped back to my previous DAC, and it was playing well, until the past week or so, when the right channel began playing at about 20% of volume compared to the left, an issue I had seen before in my system. Enough that I retubed my old DAC (with no effect). Today, I swapped to different sets of interconnects, one set RCA, and a second XLR set, fully correcting my faulty right channel issue. Although I cannot prove a fault with my multimeter, I clearly won't be using those cables again. As the terminations are not removable, they are not repairable.

Kudo's to Adam for figuring out that my faulty cable would cause the BDA-3 to go into standby. I of course would have never factored a factory made XLR cable to be the issue. My homebrew stuff - of course, and usually.

I look forward to getting my BDA-3 back and moving on with my audio journey.

Thanks again Adam and James! It will be a great weekend, having debugged a big issue in my system, that was touching many areas.

James Tanner · « **Reply #547 on:** 2 Sep 2016, 08:40 am »

Hi Folks,

Please see the attached link - a review from Computer Audiophile Magazine on our Bryston BDA-3 DAC.

Chris rarely gives a recommondation to a product (CASH) award but our Bryston BDA-3 DAC has been honoured with one.

I especially like the comment that to better the BDA-3’s performance would requirer $20,000 dollars or more!

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/718-bryston-bda-3-dac-review/

james

CanadianMaestro · « **Reply #548 on:** 2 Sep 2016, 12:06 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 2 Sep 2016, 08:40 am

Hi Folks,

Please see the attached link - a review from Computer Audiophile Magazine on our Bryston BDA-3 DAC.

Chris rarely gives a recommondation to a product (CASH) award but our Bryston BDA-3 DAC has been honoured with one.

I especially like the comment that to better the BDA-3’s performance would requirer $20,000 dollars or more!

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/718-bryston-bda-3-dac-review/

james

BDA-3 price increase coming?

Like BHA-1 (+15% here October).

James Tanner · « **Reply #549 on:** 2 Sep 2016, 12:15 pm »

Quote from: CanadianMaestro on 2 Sep 2016, 12:06 pm

BDA-3 price increase coming?
Like BHA-1 (+15% here October).

Hi

Yes with the reviews so far and those coming (Absolute Sound and Stereophile) we are thinking of raising the price on the DAC to $19,999 -

james

Armaegis · « **Reply #550 on:** 2 Sep 2016, 04:38 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 2 Sep 2016, 12:15 pm

Hi

Yes with the reviews so far and those coming (Absolute Sound and Stereophile) we are thinking of raising the price on the DAC to $19,999 -

james

Come now James, everyone knows the "9" ending digit is just to fool the brain. The smart choice is to price it at $19,995

jtinto · « **Reply #551 on:** 2 Sep 2016, 09:55 pm »

Glad I got mine early

Servingthemusic.com · « **Reply #552 on:** 3 Sep 2016, 12:13 am »

Chris was right on the money James.

GREAT DAC, from a a wonderful company.

My BDP-2/BDA-3 combo ceases to amaze me. As do the Mini T's.

Servingthemusic.com · « **Reply #553 on:** 3 Sep 2016, 12:15 am »

General question..in Roon Mode, is there a way to toggle between USB and AES/EBU? I seem to have
to reboot and pull either cable out to go from one input to another.

James Tanner · « **Reply #554 on:** 3 Sep 2016, 12:26 am »

Quote from: Servingthemusic.com on 3 Sep 2016, 12:15 am

General question..in Roon Mode, is there a way to toggle between USB and AES/EBU? I seem to have
to reboot and pull either cable out to go from one input to another.

Hi

Thats a Chris question - I will ask.

james

Bones13 · « **Reply #555 on:** 3 Sep 2016, 03:00 am »

Congratulations on the CASH award guys. Glad to see you get recognition for this DAC.

James Tanner · « **Reply #556 on:** 3 Sep 2016, 09:02 am »

Quote from: Servingthemusic.com on 3 Sep 2016, 12:15 am

General question..in Roon Mode, is there a way to toggle between USB and AES/EBU? I seem to have
to reboot and pull either cable out to go from one input to another.

You can change it in the advance Roon settings found in either services or within the Roon software

Cheers,
Chris

Embedded Linux Engineer
Web Application Developer
Bryston Ltd.

alexone · « **Reply #557 on:** 3 Sep 2016, 08:41 pm »

James,

the review shows the BDA-3 with a digital output

any changes there with this dac??

al.

Servingthemusic.com · « **Reply #558 on:** 3 Sep 2016, 09:51 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 3 Sep 2016, 09:02 am

You can change it in the advance Roon settings found in either services or within the Roon software

Cheers,
Chris

Embedded Linux Engineer
Web Application Developer
Bryston Ltd.

Simply fantastic. Worked. Me, the dumba$$, was rebooting..lol.

I will repeat, the BDP-2/BDA-3 combo still amazes me, 5 months on.

alex-mayer · « **Reply #559 on:** 3 Sep 2016, 10:17 pm »

Hello,

I am new here and I am looking for some information on the BDA-3.

At present I own a NAD M51 and I think about moving on to the BDA-3.

As here in Germany, in the Bamberg Area, it is not that easy to find a Bryston dealer, so I just wanted to get some first impressions by BDA-3 owners who might have compared it to the NAD M51.

Especially the use of the HDMI input is of interst to me, as I wish to connect an OPPO 103 and a satellite receiver (for TV, european based ASTRA sat) to the DAC.

With the M51 using the HDMI connection here at home was of higher sound quality than the connection of an Esoteric X-05 (used as transport) connected via SPDIF to the M51.... I was astonished, indeed.
Is that to be expected with the BDA-3 aswell?

Would I gain anything in sound quality with moving from the M51 to the BDA-3?

Greetings from Germany,
Alexander

P.S.: Many years ago I owned a 3B power amp and was very satisfied (early to mid 1990ies).