New Mac Mini Music Server Paired W/ BDA-1 - Any New Connectivity Options?

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Slapshot

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 138
As the title says, I am planning on putting together a Mac Mini based music server, and pairing it with my Bryston BDA-1 DAC. I've read numerous articles, reviews and commentaries that all lead to the conclusion that you must use a high quality USB to SPDIF converter to produce excellent sound. All of the articles are a number of years older, such as this one:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/dacs/dacs-reviews/bryston-bda-1-digital-to-analog-converter-and-halide-design-usb-to-spdif-bridge.html

It appears this is necessary due to the early, and ultimately inadequate, sonically, USB implementation in the BDA-1 (which was common to virtually all DAC's of that time) and the poor quality of the Mac's headphone/optical out.
 
By now, I was hoping there might be a newer alternative to solving this dilemma. Paying nearly the cost (or more) of the Mac Mini just to overcome this issue with a quality PDIF converter is something I would rather avoid. Any new options out there?

unincognito

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 2061
    • bryston.com
Hello,

Keep in mind that product, according to the review is limited 96khz; the same limit as the man mini's existing sound hardware.  You could run an optical spdif 3.5mm to "standard" spdif cable between your Mac mini and BDA-1.

The BUC-1 ($750) that we released will do the same job, but up to 192khz and has a dedicated linear supply.  If your unaware you also need some additional software to playback audio files that are greater then 96khz on a Mac.

Cheers
Chris