BDA-3 DAC

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James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #660 on: 15 Dec 2016, 05:21 pm »
Also in the same issue of Stereophile, a well-known brand of integrated amplifier with an integrated DAC had some unusual measurements. I don't intend to knock on the other product, so I won't mention the brand, and also feel that if there are issues with it, the company will figure them out. But I was amused with John Atkinson's remark in the test phase of the review:

" ...
However, with S/PDIF and AES/EBU data and upsampling, which KM didn't audition, some of the measurements were perverse—see the Bryston review elsewhere in this issue for how these measurements should look
..."

Hi Johnny

Yes someone else sent me that info as well and I think many products that get touted as better just because they cost more is sadly more the norm than the exception.  :scratch:

james


James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #661 on: 15 Dec 2016, 05:23 pm »
MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: BDA-3 DAC – Product Of The Year Award


December 2016

Hi Folks,

The Bryston BDA3 DAC gets 2016  “PRODUCT OF THE YEAR”



LINK:

http://everythingaudionetwork.blogspot.com/2016/12/audiophile-dac-review-bryston-bda-3-da.html


Favourite Quote:

The Bryston BDA-3 is the best-sounding DAC the company has ever made and is one of the most open, accurate D/A converters on the market.

Couple the pristine sonic character with the plethora of connection options, and you got yourself one mighty fine piece of hi-fi gear.

         

Bones13

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #662 on: 16 Dec 2016, 12:09 am »
Congratulations on another well deserved award!

Grant Hill

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #663 on: 16 Dec 2016, 09:07 am »
Congrats!!

Dave Jameson

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #664 on: 16 Dec 2016, 05:37 pm »
Hi Johnny

Yes someone else sent me that info as well and I think many products that get touted as better just because they cost more is sadly more the norm than the exception.  :scratch:

james

I have tested some unusually expensive, well reviewed, "desirable" DACs as well. The "secret" to their sound is often an very high voltage output, giving the listener a heightened sense of energy and liveliness. This is great, I guess, provided you don't overload your preamp input or are even able to turn up the volume past "1" :(

Luckily the BDA3 appears to be engineered (correctly) to universally work with other brands as well as Bryston preamps. In the end, being able to effectively use your preamp circuit (ie to the point where circuit noise is well below the noise floor...or turned up above "1") allows you to experience all that dynamic range the BDA3 is capable of resolving. No "secrets", just thorough testing and engineering :)

DJ

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #665 on: 19 Dec 2016, 12:42 pm »
MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston DAC – Customer Feedback

December 2016

Dear all at Bryston,

A couple of weeks ago I bought a used Bryston DAC to pair with my new Meridian Media Core 200 and my well used Sugden Masterclass IA4 amp with Harbeth Monitor 30 speakers- yes, I live in England, a stones throw from where Beatles came from.

I would like to say that your DAC is truly fantastic in its music making and blends beautifully in my system.

Until now I was mainly listening on LPs, and disregarded CD replay-(A Naim CD player) - I am now enjoying digital music again.

I did try few DACs before and what I like the best about Bryston is, in my humble non-specialist opinion, the focus on the reproduction of music to a very high level without the audio fatigue, and the soundstage it produces. Well done and great work in producing this great equipment.

I do not buy Hi-fi equipment often, but in the future if I am looking to upgrade, Bryston is right up there in my list. Meanwhile, I will advise my hi-fi non-believer friends and colleagues to try one themselves to see the light.

Best wishes and Merry Christmas.

Dr Vinod Kumar Gowda
15 Floral Wood
Liverpool L17 7HR

Grant Hill

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #666 on: 20 Dec 2016, 04:18 pm »
MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston DAC – Customer Feedback

December 2016

Dear all at Bryston,

A couple of weeks ago I bought a used Bryston DAC to pair with my new Meridian Media Core 200 and my well used Sugden Masterclass IA4 amp with Harbeth Monitor 30 speakers- yes, I live in England, a stones throw from where Beatles came from.

I would like to say that your DAC is truly fantastic in its music making and blends beautifully in my system.

Until now I was mainly listening on LPs, and disregarded CD replay-(A Naim CD player) - I am now enjoying digital music again.

I did try few DACs before and what I like the best about Bryston is, in my humble non-specialist opinion, the focus on the reproduction of music to a very high level without the audio fatigue, and the soundstage it produces. Well done and great work in producing this great equipment.

I do not buy Hi-fi equipment often, but in the future if I am looking to upgrade, Bryston is right up there in my list. Meanwhile, I will advise my hi-fi non-believer friends and colleagues to try one themselves to see the light.

Best wishes and Merry Christmas.

Dr Vinod Kumar Gowda
15 Floral Wood
Liverpool L17 7HR


I pair a Sugden amplifier with the BDA3 as well  :thumb:

BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #667 on: 21 Dec 2016, 05:20 pm »
I have the BDA-3 being fed through an Oppo 105 and it is a superb sounding dac -neutral but organic sounding-really brings out detail without damaging the overall soundscape.

Rest of my system is Gryphon Atilla integrated amp and Zingali  Twenty Evo 1.2's sounds simply wonderful.

BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #668 on: 26 Dec 2016, 02:59 pm »
Here's a question for James T if he doesn't mind answering.

There's been some debate elsewhere about the impact of HDMI on audio performance since it carries a video signal.

Does the Bryston have to fake video acceptance as part of the handshake protocol on HDMI?
Does the source video settings have any impact on the transfer of signal to the Bryston and therefore audio performance?

I use HDMI to output via my Oppo 105 to the BDA-3 I have zero complaints as the audio performance from the BDA-3 is sublime but as I say some debate on the mechanics of how HDMI works as an audio carrier....

Seasons Greetings.

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #669 on: 26 Dec 2016, 03:14 pm »
Here's a question for James T if he doesn't mind answering.

There's been some debate elsewhere about the impact of HDMI on audio performance since it carries a video signal.

Does the Bryston have to fake video acceptance as part of the handshake protocol on HDMI?
Does the source video settings have any impact on the transfer of signal to the Bryston and therefore audio performance?

I use HDMI to output via my Oppo 105 to the BDA-3 I have zero complaints as the audio performance from the BDA-3 is sublime but as I say some debate on the mechanics of how HDMI works as an audio carrier....

Seasons Greetings.

Hi BSC

Yes HDMI was developed as a video carrier and audio was added in the spaces in between the video. As a result there is generally more jitter associated with HDMI vs other methods.

In our case we use the same HDMI board as in the SP3 Surround Processor and the video is ignored at the input and only the audio is processed.

james


BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #670 on: 26 Dec 2016, 04:06 pm »
James thanks for that....in terms of the jitter do you do anything additional to deal with that?

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #671 on: 26 Dec 2016, 06:26 pm »
James thanks for that....in terms of the jitter do you do anything additional to deal with that?

There is not much you can do - you can reduce it a little but you can never get rid of it.

james


James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #672 on: 1 Jan 2017, 05:20 pm »
Happy New Year James !

Just playing around with Bluerays via the Bda3...and I am amazed how superb the PCM layers sound ...Live concerts by Diana Krall, Christ Bottu and Jose Feliciano have a level of details, precision  and intimacy, which is stunning...I dont miss the surround layers at all...really a bit surprise...

Cheers !
Tom

Bones13

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #673 on: 8 Jan 2017, 01:35 pm »
Has anyone tried one of the streaming "stick" products on the back of the BDA-3? Examples are Roku stick, Amazon Fire Stick, or Google Chromecast.

I have used an Apple TV just fine.

BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #674 on: 8 Jan 2017, 03:18 pm »
Has anyone tried one of the streaming "stick" products on the back of the BDA-3? Examples are Roku stick, Amazon Fire Stick, or Google Chromecast.

I have used an Apple TV just fine.

Is there any advantage of doing this?

Bones13

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #675 on: 9 Jan 2017, 11:20 am »
Just asking for other's experience. Nothing special.

BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #676 on: 14 Jan 2017, 10:31 pm »
I was wondering if James would be interested in answering a question on MQA and the Bryston BDA-3?

Now I know this may be political or business sensitive so I am not wanting to get into that or leave James feeling exposed I am more interested in the technical aspects.

Would I be right in thinking that getting the BDA-3 able to process MQA files would be tricky and require a hardware modification or could it been done via a firmware update?

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #677 on: 15 Jan 2017, 12:26 am »
I was wondering if James would be interested in answering a question on MQA and the Bryston BDA-3?

Now I know this may be political or business sensitive so I am not wanting to get into that or leave James feeling exposed I am more interested in the technical aspects.

Would I be right in thinking that getting the BDA-3 able to process MQA files would be tricky and require a hardware modification or could it been done via a firmware update?

HI

As I understand it there is just a software change as long as you are using the XMOS chip which we are.

james


BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #678 on: 15 Jan 2017, 09:40 am »
Thank you very much James for the quick reply.

Jim Pearce

okay...
« Reply #679 on: 20 Jan 2017, 08:02 pm »
I finally solved the issue of bass management if I use my Oppo bdp-95 to drive the BDA-3 DAC through HDMI into the XLR inputs of my Anthem AVM 20. But what I don't know is whether it will generate an HDCP problem if the video out is not connected? I have no display with HDMI to connect to.

Further explanation:

I use component video out at 720p on the Oppo as my primary video output. Apparently 720p gives me enough bandwidth to transmit DSD bitstream to a device connected via HDMI. Assuming that the BDA-3 is only looking for EDID on the connected player this should work fine.
« Last Edit: 21 Jan 2017, 03:13 pm by Jim Pearce »