BDA-3 DAC

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CanadianMaestro

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #580 on: 29 Sep 2016, 01:21 pm »
Depends on the review :wink:

 :lol:   I'm just in a baiting kind of mood -- must be the recent US election debate or something.

R. Daneel

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #581 on: 29 Sep 2016, 02:47 pm »
The same guys also reviewed the BDA-1, BDP-1 and BDP-2 so no doubt, they'll make note of these products in the review.

The Rang

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #582 on: 30 Sep 2016, 02:44 am »
You better ramp up production, I'm sure sales will jump after what will undoubtedly be a stellar review

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #583 on: 30 Sep 2016, 10:09 am »
You better ramp up production, I'm sure sales will jump after what will undoubtedly be a stellar review

Yes I am really happy with it and in simple terms the conclusion is like most of Bryston's products ... you can spend more money but you can not get a more accurate product  :thumb:

james

Grit

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #584 on: 30 Sep 2016, 10:36 pm »
I've come to the conclusion (my opinion only, not declaring this as fact) that "accurate" reproduction isn't necessarily what everyone values. When I got into this hobby, I presumed that was the goal and every upgrade one would make would be toward that goal.

Kind of like buying TV's at a big box store... big box stores crank up the settings (brightness, contrast, color, etc) and use display material that really grabs your attention. "Wow, that's a REALLY vivid yellow on those flowers and vivid green on the grass!" Sure, but is that the color those objects are in real life?

I prefer accuracy in my music (and my displays). If that makes some of my favorite material sound bad, it just changes what I listen to. I believe others (some reviewers included) prefer what they feel is a more pleasurable sound. So I read all my reviews with a grain of proverbial salt. After all, it's just opinions. But when I see a reviewer praising the accuracy of a component, I (usually) find that it matches up with what I like.

CanadianMaestro

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #585 on: 1 Oct 2016, 12:22 am »
I've come to the conclusion (my opinion only, not declaring this as fact) that "accurate" reproduction isn't necessarily what everyone values. When I got into this hobby, I presumed that was the goal and every upgrade one would make would be toward that goal.

Kind of like buying TV's at a big box store... big box stores crank up the settings (brightness, contrast, color, etc) and use display material that really grabs your attention. "Wow, that's a REALLY vivid yellow on those flowers and vivid green on the grass!" Sure, but is that the color those objects are in real life?

I prefer accuracy in my music (and my displays). If that makes some of my favorite material sound bad, it just changes what I listen to. I believe others (some reviewers included) prefer what they feel is a more pleasurable sound. So I read all my reviews with a grain of proverbial salt. After all, it's just opinions. But when I see a reviewer praising the accuracy of a component, I (usually) find that it matches up with what I like.

Good points. It's a balancing act, I think. I couldn't live without accuracy. At the same time, coloration, at least pleasant ones (i.e. tubes, vinyl warmth, "organic presence"), is appealing to me. I don't want auditory sterility with my music, and I believe that accuracy and coloration (euphony) are not mutually exclusive -- I can have both in measured amounts, depending on the music and mood I am in. That's the beauty of human perception. Like how some like Cubism and others like Impressionism in paintings.

For me, Bryston = a mix of Jan Van Eyck (lots of details and realism in oil ptg) and Monet (idyllic, dream-like).

Off to eat and listen... :thumb:

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #586 on: 1 Oct 2016, 01:27 am »
James

All is well in the land of 10,000 lakes. 

My evolution that got me to this point was first the Oppo 105D connected directly to my SP3 via the balanced outs.  I wanted more so I upgraded to the BDA-3. I honestly bought the BDP-2 to simply solve handshake issue I experienced with Oppo and wasn’t expecting there would be a significant differenence in sound.  Holy sh*t was I wrong.

The BDP-2/BDA-3 combo is absolutely amazing. 

The depth of sound and the clarity is remarkable.  When I bought my Kef Reference 5 I thought I heard details I had never heard in my favorite songs but I’ve spent the last 3 hours listening to those songs again and this combo showed me another layer I’d never heard before.  I hooked up the BDP-2 via an AudioQuest Coffee USB to the BDA 3, connected my NAS and was off to the races.  I thought I’d miss the interface of the Oppo but the Bryston Manic Moose web & i-device connections are seamless and actually better. 

Thank you for engaging me in my mad dash.  I’m happier than I’ve ever been.  Damn you guys know how to make a gear!

Kyle D. Jemtrud
President


James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #587 on: 1 Oct 2016, 11:09 am »
Hi Folks,

It’s an interesting topic – ‘Accuracy or Preference’ – when it comes to audio equipment.

As you know Bryston has always sided on the accuracy aspect of audio gear design or what I like to call ‘linearity to the incoming signal’. There are a number of reasons why I feel this is the best option but one story I will tell you happened many years ago but still holds true today in my opinion.

I was involved in a number of recordings with Jack Renner and Michael Bishop of Telarc Records with Oscar Peterson and one recording session that stands out was a recording done in a Toronto studio called Manta Sound.  Lorne Lofsky (a jazz guitarist) showed up for a session and he had his guitar of course but he also had a beat-up TUBE amplifier with built in speaker. He ask us to ‘mic’ the speaker for the recording session rather than the guitar. Of course my next question was ‘why’?

His answer reinforced by belief that linearity was the critical component when designing audio gear. He loved the sound of his guitar playing through this tube amp and wanted as accurate a rendition of that sound as possible.  So when you think about it you do not want the recording chain to add any ‘colouration’ or ‘preference’ to what is coming out of his playback system.  The same holds true for any instrument though – violin, piano, saxophone etc.

I think the same principle is valid in a home system as well. If you want to hear what the recording artist or audio engineer wanted you to experience the only true rendition is one that maintains as close as possible the linearity of the incoming signal.

james


CanadianMaestro

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #588 on: 1 Oct 2016, 01:19 pm »
The BDA-x definitely exemplifies the accuracy (and to a certain extent, musicality) that your products excell at. No complaints there whatsoever, from me.

There are a lot of recordings of excellent music (mostly classical, maybe some jazz) that were made in the far past (1950s-70s, even earlier) that sound less than ideal, for whatever reasons (poor engineering, technical limitations, etc). And yet, I want to listen to these recordings without having my auditory system shredded. In these cases, I have no problem with a system that is forgiving, without necessarily compromising absolute accuracy or linearity. I see nothing negative with that. We're only human. ("Remastering" isn't always successful, either. Much depends on whether the orig analog master tapes were sourced for the remastering).

Some food for thought -- I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but it's a good read nonetheless.

http://wallofsound.ca/misc/the-slow-audio-movement/

zoom25

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #589 on: 1 Oct 2016, 03:25 pm »
I fluctuate between wanting the utmost accuracy and correct tonality to having a relaxed, emphasized vocals, thicker bass, and a wetter sound up top. It's good to have both so you don't drive yourself insane.

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #590 on: 1 Oct 2016, 03:42 pm »
The BDA-x definitely exemplifies the accuracy (and to a certain extent, musicality) that your products excell at. No complaints there whatsoever, from me.

There are a lot of recordings of excellent music (mostly classical, maybe some jazz) that were made in the far past (1950s-70s, even earlier) that sound less than ideal, for whatever reasons (poor engineering, technical limitations, etc). And yet, I want to listen to these recordings without having my auditory system shredded. In these cases, I have no problem with a system that is forgiving, without necessarily compromising absolute accuracy or linearity. I see nothing negative with that. We're only human. ("Remastering" isn't always successful, either. Much depends on whether the orig analog master tapes were sourced for the remastering).

Some food for thought -- I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but it's a good read nonetheless.

http://wallofsound.ca/misc/the-slow-audio-movement/

Hi

I agree that some recordings could use some TLC but I do not see that as a goal at a manufacturing level unless you are building a product to do exactly that - alter the signal. 

So things like tone controls and equalizers and even room correction have their place but in my opinion not in the signal chain unless on purpose by the customer.

Also I think if you 'voice' a product you end up in this never ending circle of trying to manipulate what gear goes where in the signal chain to achieve the sound you are after.

james


CanadianMaestro

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #591 on: 1 Oct 2016, 05:40 pm »
Hi james,

I'm curious, how much of Bryston's market is consumer vs. pro (studios) these days?

(And yes, I am all for keeping the signal chain as pristine as practically possible).

pete

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #592 on: 1 Oct 2016, 06:00 pm »
Hi james,

I'm curious, how much of Bryston's market is consumer vs. pro (studios) these days?

(And yes, I am all for keeping the signal chain as pristine as practically possible).

pete

We do not do as much Pro as we use to because we no longer sell to the touring concert bands.  The want low weight and high power so they gravitate to the Class D designs.

We still do well at the studio level where amplifiers remain stationary. 

With the rise of home theater we also sell well into that market which we consider consumer.  So in answer to your question about 30% Pro.

james

MoPac

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #593 on: 4 Oct 2016, 09:20 pm »
Hi All:
 Has anyone tried the Sony 5400 ES SACD player with the BDA-3 via hdmi??

   Thanks. Rich

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #594 on: 16 Oct 2016, 11:20 am »
HI Folks,

We have some excellent reviews coming on the Bryston BDA3 DAC - Absolute Sound - Stereophile (December issue) - Canada Hi-Fi and this one from a

French audio magazine called Magazine TED.

I have both a French and English PDF translation available for anyone interested - jamestanner@bryston.com

james


James Tanner

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CanadianMaestro

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #596 on: 19 Oct 2016, 11:34 am »
James,

Reading that review you posted, the writer states that there are 2 75-ohm inputs -- one BNC and one SPDIF (RCA jack).

Is there such a thing as a true 75-ohm RCA input? I don't think so.

thanks

audio.bill

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #597 on: 19 Oct 2016, 12:40 pm »
James,

Reading that review you posted, the writer states that there are 2 75-ohm inputs -- one BNC and one SPDIF (RCA jack).

Is there such a thing as a true 75-ohm RCA input? I don't think so.

thanks
Canare makes what they claim to be 75 ohm RCA connectors specifically for SPDIF digital audio: http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDisplay.aspx?productItemID=40
Also just to be technically correct both of those inputs are SPDIF, one RCA and one BNC.

CanadianMaestro

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #598 on: 19 Oct 2016, 09:41 pm »
^ true. Thanks.

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #599 on: 19 Oct 2016, 09:46 pm »
James,

Reading that review you posted, the writer states that there are 2 75-ohm inputs -- one BNC and one SPDIF (RCA jack).

Is there such a thing as a true 75-ohm RCA input? I don't think so.

thanks

Hi

Yes here is our RCA digital cable - the BNC and the RCA are 75 ohms.

http://bryston.com/products/other/digital_BNC_RCA.html

james