BRYSTON BDP-1/2 DIGITAL PLAYER FEEDBACK/REVIEWS

caberxx · « **Reply #420 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 12:05 am »

Another thought - if the BDP to BDA cable is so important that Chord cables are warranted, what about the USB cable from the USB drive. The same logic would apply.

werd · « **Reply #421 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 12:25 am »

Brought a black bdp home on loan. very nice

. I fumbled through getting my network to see it using gnome. It was relentless coming back with host errors. Then all of the sudden it just popped up. Running flawlessly now, controling it with my Desktop, my laptop and my ipod. Its all pretty slick.

Its sounds great too. I like it better atm using bnc over xlr. Tons of air around instruments with great dynamics.....

Napalm · « **Reply #422 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 01:58 am »

Quote from: werd on 27 Jan 2011, 12:25 am

Brought a black bdp home on loan.[...] Tons of air around instruments with great dynamics.....

Now you have to try it with a BP26. Even more air....

nap.

Bugsy · « **Reply #423 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 08:33 am »

Quote from: werd on 27 Jan 2011, 12:25 am

Brought a black bdp home on loan. very nice . I fumbled through getting my network to see it using gnome. It was relentless coming back with host errors. Then all of the sudden it just popped up. Running flawlessly now, controling it with my Desktop, my laptop and my ipod. Its all pretty slick.

Its sounds great too. I like it better atm using bnc over xlr. Tons of air around instruments with great dynamics.....

Hi Werd

I had the same problem with Minion and Gnome. I got the IP address from my BDP-1 and it worked for a while until your IP changes, but thanks to my virus checker as the BDP-1 is on my network, I found it had labeled the BDP-1 as "BRYSTON-BDP-1" not as "Bryston-bdp-1.local" as per instuctions that came with the BDP-1. So I add that to Minion and Gmone and before ya know

it music that delighted my ears. LOL

Larry

terrycym · « **Reply #424 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 10:03 am »

I was at the September Hi-Fi show last year nr Silverstone where Nordost demonstrated the differences between USB cables (including their BLue Heaven USB cable).
Most people reported that they could hear differences

werd · « **Reply #425 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 03:59 pm »

Quote from: Napalm on 27 Jan 2011, 01:58 am

Now you have to try it with a BP26. Even more air....

nap.

I was amazed when the bdp powered on for the first time. Scrolling across it's led screen it read " Nice tube preamp... Nice tube preamp... Nice tube preamp.

werd · « **Reply #426 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 05:18 pm »

Quote from: Bugsy on 27 Jan 2011, 08:33 am

Hi Werd

I had the same problem with Minion and Gnome. I got the IP address from my BDP-1 and it worked for a while until your IP changes, but thanks to my virus checker as the BDP-1 is on my network, I found it had labeled the BDP-1 as "BRYSTON-BDP-1" not as "Bryston-bdp-1.local" as per instuctions that came with the BDP-1. So I add that to Minion and Gmone and before ya know it music that delighted my ears. LOL

Larry

Hi

This morning it took a bit to get it to see it again. But its going now.... We could be commenting more about our own computers than the bdp so its not necessarily a bdp issue.

werd · « **Reply #427 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 06:17 pm »

Got Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" tracking in 192khz using xlr with no upsampling and it's glorious.....

Its important to note that the BDP is very dependent on the USB cabling and i would assume the quality of HD also. I was using a stock usb supplied by my Omega HD. I tell you what if it wasn't for the usb stick that came with BDP (shows the bdp's potential) I might have been a bit disappointed. Lousy usb cabling washes out all the individual tones. It kind of makes everything sound the same. I put my Wireworld usb on it and it brought back the tone and texture. The usb interface is more important than the xlr/bnc connect between the bdp and the dac imo.
I would love to hear the bdp with a high performance usb and an SSD.

whoops wireworld not Nordost... hehe

BrysTony · « **Reply #428 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 08:48 pm »

Quote from: werd on 27 Jan 2011, 06:17 pm

Got Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" tracking in 192khz using xlr with no upsampling and it's glorious.....

Its important to note that the BDP is very dependent on the USB cabling and i would assume the quality of HD also. I was using a stock usb supplied by my Omega HD. I tell you what if it wasn't for the usb stick that came with BDP (shows the bdp's potential) I might have been a bit disappointed. Lousy usb cabling washes out all the individual tones. It kind of makes everything sound the same. I put my Nordest usb on it and it brought back the tone and texture. The usb interface is more important than the xlr/bnc connect between the bdp and the dac imo.
I would love to hear the bdp with a high performance usb and an SSD.

Werd,

Interesting post on the affect of USB quality on the sound. I am using a USB 3.0 SSD which requires a USB 3.0 A to Micro-B cable. I have not been able to find anything other than the standard $15 cable. I believe that they will show up in the market soon but no luck yet. Are you aware of anything out there?

Tony

werd · « **Reply #429 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 09:04 pm »

Quote from: BrysTony on 27 Jan 2011, 08:48 pm

Werd,

Interesting post on the affect of USB quality on the sound. I am using a USB 3.0 SSD which requires a USB 3.0 A to Micro-B cable. I have not been able to find anything other than the standard $15 cable. I believe that they will show up in the market soon but no luck yet. Are you aware of anything out there?

Tony

No i havent seen any. Are all SSD drives 3.0 configured? Those HDs are very new to me. Its clearly a better usb but 2.0 usb HDs still might be better if you can't get a good usb to connect at this time.

BrysTony · « **Reply #430 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 09:17 pm »

Quote from: werd on 27 Jan 2011, 09:04 pm

No i havent seen any. Are all SSD drives 3.0 configured? Those HDs are very new to me. Its clearly a better usb but 2.0 usb HDs still might be better if you can't get a good usb to connect at this time.

Werd,
USB 2.0 SSDs are available but I chose the USB 3.0 SSD because it is backwardly compatible to 2.0 and I liked it. I did not think about cables at the time. This is the drive that I purchased and it works great with the BDP-1. http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/solid-state-drives/usb-3-0-/ocz-enyo-usb-3-0-portable-solid-state-drive.html

Tony

werd · « **Reply #431 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 09:27 pm »

Quote from: BrysTony on 27 Jan 2011, 09:17 pm

Werd,
USB 2.0 SSDs are available but I chose the USB 3.0 SSD because it is backwardly compatible to 2.0 and I liked it. I did not think about cables at the time. This is the drive that I purchased and it works great with the BDP-1. http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/solid-state-drives/usb-3-0-/ocz-enyo-usb-3-0-portable-solid-state-drive.html

Tony

What a nice HD. Thats basically what i am after eventually. Are you sure it won't fit a 2.0 usb cable?. There seems to be a lot attention to the compatibility of the two speeds.

BrysTony · « **Reply #432 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 09:38 pm »

Quote from: werd on 27 Jan 2011, 09:27 pm

What a nice HD. Thats basically what i am after eventually. Are you sure it won't fit a 2.0 usb cable?. There seems to be a lot attention to the compatibility of the two speeds.

The USB 3.0 connector A is compatible with the USB 2.0 connector A but the end that plugs into the SSD is different. See http://www.frys.com/product/6171049?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

werd · « **Reply #433 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 09:44 pm »

Quote from: BrysTony on 27 Jan 2011, 09:38 pm

The USB 3.0 connector A is compatible with the USB 2.0 connector A but the end that plugs into the SSD is different. See http://www.frys.com/product/6171049?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Thats what i was afraid. keep that HD and go get a 2.0 ssd usb. You got like 4 usb inputs on the bdp. You will need more space anyways. I only say this because thats what i would do, i am not sure how long it will be before we see a 3.0 usb from a good wire manufacture. Looking at the usual suspects and nothing like you said.

The thing that sucks is its hard to test drive this stuff. HD and usb interface for sound that is.

BrysTony · « **Reply #434 on:** 27 Jan 2011, 09:56 pm »

Quote from: werd on 27 Jan 2011, 09:44 pm

Thats what i was afraid. keep that HD and go get a 2.0 ssd usb. You got like 4 usb inputs on the bdp. You will need more space anyways. I only say this because thats what i would do, i am not sure how long it will be before we see a 3.0 usb from a good wire manufacture. Looking at the usual suspects and nothing like you said.

The thing that sucks is its hard to test drive this stuff. HD and usb interface for sound that is.

I may do that. There will be more info available as time goes on.
Tony

RadioWonder · « **Reply #435 on:** 28 Jan 2011, 10:28 am »

I want one...

Welly123 · « **Reply #436 on:** 29 Jan 2011, 10:52 am »

Regarding the USB cable used in a BDP-1. You are better-off spending your money elsewhere and sticking with a standard cable.

The data read from a connected HDD is not "Audio data", i.e. timing, jitter, noise etc. are simply not relevant, it is just the same as reading/running a computer program, passing through the processor, memory, sound card, motherboard and all the little conductors on the motherboard. I am not of the "bits is bits” persuasion but in the case of the BDP-1, the USB cable cannot be relevant to audio quality... Unlike synchronous/asynchronous DACs taking data from a USB stream where the USB cable could make a difference because they are reading audio data where timing, jitter, noise are relevant.

Regards

Russell

Napalm · « **Reply #437 on:** 29 Jan 2011, 12:05 pm »

Quote from: Welly123 on 29 Jan 2011, 10:52 am

Regarding the USB cable used in a BDP-1. You are better-off spending your money elsewhere and sticking with a standard cable.

Now the problem is that Werd has a really sensitive computer, i.e. where Xcel would produce different results depending on the quality of the USB cable going to the external disk...

werd · « **Reply #438 on:** 29 Jan 2011, 06:10 pm »

Quote from: Welly123 on 29 Jan 2011, 10:52 am

Regarding the USB cable used in a BDP-1. You are better-off spending your money elsewhere and sticking with a standard cable.

The data read from a connected HDD is not "Audio data", i.e. timing, jitter, noise etc. are simply not relevant, it is just the same as reading/running a computer program, passing through the processor, memory, sound card, motherboard and all the little conductors on the motherboard. I am not of the "bits is bits” persuasion but in the case of the BDP-1, the USB cable cannot be relevant to audio quality... Unlike synchronous/asynchronous DACs taking data from a USB stream where the USB cable could make a difference because they are reading audio data where timing, jitter, noise are relevant.

Regards

Russell

I wish that were true unfortunately its not. Your usb cable will affect the outcome of your playback if used between a HD and the bdp or a computer and a usb dac. I have tons of gear that has been money well spent. Using a generic usb cable between the HD and the bdp will make all those personal investments worthless. Its wrecks it bad when compared to usb designed for audio playback. Like i said it blurs all the tones. I am sorry you are not able to discern the difference, maybe its because you don't have a bdp and you are just guessing or maybe your gear isn't resolving enough or maybe its you just don't care to hear it and you are stuck reciting usb protocol. Generic usb crap cables are not able to be used for playback. They work but they sound like crap....

James Tanner · « **Reply #439 on:** 29 Jan 2011, 09:00 pm »

James

Recently got a AES/EBU cable. The sound that was very good with the SPDIF connection was further enhanced with the AES/EBU connection. It is still amazing to me how good the sound is. The system comprises the following :

BDP-1, BDA-1, Pass B1 preamp, 3BSST amp and Quad ESL 63 speakers. Using Seagate 500 GB USB hard drives for storage.

The sound is so realistic and 'live' sounding that it draws me in, something that 16/44 CDs have never done before. The pace and timing even on 16/44 rips is wonderful. The dynamics are stunning and I find it remarkable that the realistic dynamic contrasts are particularly evident in the quieter parts of the music. Vocals, particularly the tonality and the texture of voices is dramatically improved.

For CD's I have ripped them to FLAC using DBPowerAmp. Have recently subscribed to Bower and Wilkins, Society of Music. Many of their downloads are in 24/48 which sounds significantly better than CD quality, and the price for one year subscription is very reasonable.

Thanks for your excellent assistance and the audition time both of which contributed to my decision to purchase the BDA-1 a year ago and the BDP-1 more recently.

Cheers

Phil

PS.

Was there a Bryston USB stick that was supposed to come with this unit?