January 2008 Issue
hifi & records
The Magazine for High Quality Music Reproduction
NUMBER ONE
Bryston BCD-1 CD Player
25 Years after the introduction of CDs it is finally here: The amplifier specialist Company Bryston presents its first CD Player.
Sometimes surprises and miracles still do occur. Do you remember how many an "analog manufacturer" fought for years against building a CD player? Then finally all of them gave in, one after the other, or they simply disappeared. I tested the first Linn-Digital Combination in 1993, ten years after the introduction of CDs, and already at that time there existed the crisp catch line "Synopsis of Digital Chaos." However an amplifier manufacturer from Canada allowed much more time for his first CD player, and that is, precisely speaking, until now.
At Bryston clocks apparently tick to a different tune, but the time for such a digital premiere was chosen well. The turmoil about SACD and DVD-Audio is no longer an issue, with the sad result that none of the new formats will replace the CD standard. Instead of that "Download" lurks in the background, in other words the loss of the sound storage medium. However music lovers also don't like that, so once again the CD has moved to the foreground. Not loved, but needed -- the Hi-Fi World has already written other crazy legends.
Now Bryston, with 25 years delay, dares to build a CD player. For all intents and purposes not a challenge any more, or? That's one way of putting it. Of course today all over the place in China one can order a CD player for a few Euros (or Dollars) to be tacked together by an OEM manufacturer, and then paste ones logo onto it. Yes, one can do this, but one doesn't have to. The situation becomes more difficult when one wants to participate in the front ranks of digital technology. Then "know-how" is necessary, and that is expensive.
For the project "CD Playback" Bryston first of all bolstered its personnel in the digital area, because from nothing comes nothing. The team of digital and amplifier experts placed the main focus during the development of the BCD-1 on minimal jitter, high-precision D to A conversion, as well as premium analog output stages with an elaborate power supply.
A proven and tested mix, but the audiophile topic "CD transport" does not appear to have played a major role in the target specification, however in this regard Bryston is not alone, but in the best of company. On the other hand the shallow metal cabinet, as usual with Bryston, is robust and neatly fabricated. Today there are not many transports to choose from, either a genuine transport from Philips or a DVD variant from the far east. Bryston decided on the Philips VAM 1202/12 with its triple beam laser, not least because it incorporates a minimal jitter output stage, and is expressly produced for audio use. A proprietary highly precise master clock almost perfectly synchronizes the CD transport and the D to A converter, since doing otherwise was out of the question for Bryston. The D to A conversion is accomplished by a Cirrus Logic dual DAC, the top-of-the-line CS4398. We already discovered this component in the McIntosh MCD 201 CD player where it also processed DSD signals of SACDs. For PCM the Bryston CD player uses 24 bit/192 kilohertz which is fed via the differential output of the Cirrus Logic to the symmetrical amplifier stages. These are built in the best traditional Bryston style, consisting of discrete components and operating in Class A. No shortcuts were taken at this point, since exactly the same output stage as used in the 26 BPS (Test in Issue 4/2005) is employed here. Ideal prerequisites in order to transfer the music signal a distance of one meter from the CD player to the preamplifier.
Bryston assembled the entire circuitry, by means of SMD technology, on a printed circuit board with short signal paths. There are three digital outputs: Toslink, SPDIF, and balanced AES/EBU. Here Bryston surely also had an eye on the professional sector, and therefore paid attention to maximum compatibility. It is interesting to note from an audiophile perspective, how well the power supply with its ten regulated supplies and Bryston's own winding of the toroidal transformer for the analog output stages is implemented. Not quite so convincing is the CD drawer which does not attain much endorsement for the eyes (and ears) of our expert for rasping drawer mechanisms, Stefan Gawlick.
But from an audible perspective our colleague certainly would not raise any objections to the Bryston BCD-1 CD player, because equally precise as the technical implementation (see Laboratory and Technology) is also the sound of the first Bryston CD player.
What immediately becomes apparent about the sound is that nothing is apparent about the sound, no audiophile "show-off" affectation, no special sound, no timing with imposed acceleration, and no artificially enlarged acoustic environment, instead steady, honest, unadulterated, HiFi in the service of music, nothing more, but also nothing less.
The Bryston CD player is an out-and-out honest character, which has little competition in its price class. Therefore let me try to narrow the qualities of the Bryston CD player over its soul mates, the Trigon Recall (1,700 Euro) and the ART G2 (4,500 Euro) from Audionet. Compared to the Trigon the additional shot of openness and transparency of the Bryston CD player moves it to the front. That may surprise some who still remember the old, rather dreary, Bryston sound, but since the era of the SST amplifiers and the BPS 26 preamps that is pass?. The Audionet CD player resides for the moment with Stefan Gawlick, but nevertheless I dare the prediction, without a direct comparison, that the Bryston CD player does not possess its stature and fundament - thus its mechanism is noticeable.
Therefore my recommendation: Donate a set of "SSC Netpoint" feet (75 Euro) to the Bryston CD player and allocate it a place in a solid rack. Then it will operate in top form, and it can demonstrate the advantages of its "squeaky-clean" design. Nothing else is necessary, because the rest of the package is complete including a metal remote control and a good quality line cord.
Conclusion
When you are looking for a straightforward "No-Nonsense" CD player, then the new Bryston CD player should stand way at the top of your list. The digital debut of the Canadians, quite in the tradition of unadulterated music reproduction, succeeded brilliantly. The Bryston CD player is not a piece of equipment for bragging, but rather one that one acquires in order to continue one's loyalty to the storage media CD for many years to come.
Wilfried Kress
Laboratory Report
Bryston BCD-1 (Balanced)
Distortion (THD+N) 0.00145%
Intermodulation Distortion (SMPTE) 0.0074%
Intermodulation Distortion (CCIF) 0.00057%
Extraneous Voltage (500k-Filter) -46.4 dB
Noise Voltage (A rated) -98 dB
D to A Converter Linearity: -50/-60/-70/-80/-90 dB 0.01/0.02/0.03/0.18/0.88 dB
Channel Difference 0.00 dB
Output Voltage 4.78 V
Output Resistance (1 kHz) 150 ohm
DC-Output-Offset <0.2 mV
Signal Form Digital Output - very good
The laboratory was truly impressed, "outstanding, superb", and many of the values are at the edge of feasibility.
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Bryston BCD-1 CD Player
Dimensions: W x H x D 43 x 8.5 x 28.5 cm.
Warranty 5 Years
Price 3,200 Euro
Distributor:
Sun Audio
Schneckenburger Stra?e 30
81675 Munich, GERMANY
Translated from the German by Peter Ullman
