[konut]

i really think a dedicated digital preamp would be the better option.

james

What is this "digital preamp" you speak of? Is this a new product concept you are developing? As you noted in another thread, the BDA-1 can accept multiple digtal inputs and form the heart of an all digital system. Thats how I use it. Problem is it requires the use of an attenuator to work as a stand alone "preamp". What srt of functionality will this Sabre preamp have? Spill the beans!   

[James Tanner]

What is this "digital preamp" you speak of? Is this a new product concept you are developing? As you noted in another thread, the BDA-1 can accept multiple digtal inputs and form the heart of an all digital system. Thats how I use it. Problem is it requires the use of an attenuator to work as a stand alone "preamp". What srt of functionality will this Sabre preamp have? Spill the beans! 

Hi konut,

Just an idea I had at this point but I was thinking a digital preamp might be a good product going forward.  it would be a sort of BP-26 / BDA-1 combination in one chassis?

james

[john1970]

Hi konut,

Just an idea I had at this point but I was thinking a digital preamp might be a good product going forward.  it would be a sort of BP-26 / BDA-1 combination in one chassis?

james

Hi James,

Interesting idea.  Would it be possible to upgrade the current internal DAC so it could use the ESS Sabre chip? 

Cheers,

John

[James Tanner]

Hi James,

Interesting idea.  Would it be possible to upgrade the current internal DAC so it could use the ESS Sabre chip? 

Cheers,

John

No and I am not sure the chip differences will make that much of a difference.

As I have said many times the small differences in performance between chip A and chip B are swamped by the considerations you have to give to power supply, impedance matching connections, circuit path routing, grounding issues, discrete amplifications circuits, voltage vs current operating modes etc.

james
 

[budt]

Hi konut,

Just an idea I had at this point but I was thinking a digital preamp might be a good product going forward.  it would be a sort of BP-26 / BDA-1 combination in one chassis?

james

    Personally, I would be reluctant to buy a digital preamp( not saying I wouldn't buy it but I would cetainly be more hesitant) . Also( not to complain BUT) I was going to order the Bryston digital player but to my surprise when I looked at a picture of the rear panel I did not see a usb or firewire output.Is this correct or did I miss something? If this is the case Bryston REALLY LIMITED the market for this player(  IMO).
 

[James Tanner]

    Personally, I would be reluctant to buy a digital preamp( not saying I wouldn't buy it but I would cetainly be more hesitant) . Also( not to complain BUT) I was going to order the Bryston digital player but to my surprise when I looked at a picture of the rear panel I did not see a usb or firewire output.Is this correct or did I miss something? If this is the case Bryston REALLY LIMITED the market for this player(  IMO).
 

Hi

The AES Digital is the best connection so anything less was not something we wanted to do. We offered the BNC connector for those DAC's that do not have the preferred AES connection like our BDA-1 DAC. Also firewire is not getting much support now.

James

[werd]

Hi

The AES Digital is the best connection so anything less was not something we wanted to do. We offered the BNC connector for those DAC's that do not have the preferred AES connection like our BDA-1 DAC. Also firewire is not getting much support now.

James

I would ditch the bnc and put in an rca or include and rca with the bnc to make 3.

[James Tanner]

I would ditch the bnc and put in an rca or include and rca with the bnc to make 3.

Na - you want BNC because it is a true 75 ohm connection.  

As I have said before digital signals operate at very high frequencies and "ANY" impedance mismatch will cause signal reflection and loss of information.

james

[werd]

Na - you want BNC because it is a true 75 ohm connection.  

As I have said before digital signals operate at very high frequencies and "ANY" impedance mismatch will cause signal reflection and loss of information.

james

Thats too theoretical, there is not enough bnc out there. Way more rca to choose from. There are far more better rca than bnc cable available. You should stick with the rca and xlr imo.

[James Tanner]

Thats too theoretical, there is not enough bnc out there. Way more rca to choose from. There are far more better rca than bnc cable available. You should stick with the rca and xlr imo.

Na - we do it the right way

james

[werd]

Na - we do it the right way

james

Na- the right way is doing it my way. 

[James Tanner]

Na- the right way is doing it my way. 

Sorry lost my head there for a minute

james

[werd]

I tell you what James. I have been back and forth at Pulsworks here in Saskatoon. There he is using a pair of 28's sst/dali 400 or PMC ob1s. It doesn't matter what speaker. His system is twice the price with the cost of speakers and amps. His system is using stock  power cabling and he uses his home made xlr or a straightwire bnc.

My system at home is tweaked in cabling with a torus rm20 balanced. My system at half the price knocks the socks off his since the cabling and lack of Torus (just recently someone came in and bought the floor torus) is cable tuned. His system is ok by mine is James Brown. Mine has got so much pick up and go its just leaves that system in the dust with a 14B. It got way worse without the Torus and its much like the Mcintosh sitting on the other wall....lol


The bdp and bda are very cable sensitive and changes the presentation - it really is night and day.

[Mag]

The bdp and bda are very cable sensitive and changes the presentation - it really is night and day.

Werd, what would you say is the difference in sound between the BDP-1 and BCD-1 playing 44.1 16 bit wav?

As well, I don't think I would hear a difference in cables, especially in a system I was unfamiliar with, like I wouldn't know if I should attribute a difference to cable or something else. If I were to switch cables in my own system I might be able to tell.

As far as speaker wire goes I have to stick with plain 14 gauge. I would need about 250-300' and would rather put money toward a positive improvement such as the BDP-1 where I definitely hear a difference over expensive cables that I may or may not hear improved sound quality.

[Phil A]

I'd be curious as to the differences as well in the same system with the same cables playing CD quality lossless material

[bummrush]

Ab Sound reviews Pereauex integrated with a ESS dac on board

[werd]

Werd, what would you say is the difference in sound between the BDP-1 and BCD-1 playing 44.1 16 bit wav?

As well, I don't think I would hear a difference in cables, especially in a system I was unfamiliar with, like I wouldn't know if I should attribute a difference to cable or something else. If I were to switch cables in my own system I might be able to tell.

As far as speaker wire goes I have to stick with plain 14 gauge. I would need about 250-300' and would rather put money toward a positive improvement such as the BDP-1 where I definitely hear a difference over expensive cables that I may or may not hear improved sound quality.

Bring over your bcd and we will check it out. I haven't heard a bcd in this system for awhile. The bdp seems smoother than the bcd and just gets moves along in an effortless way. The bcd has to work at it. I have given up on cd....don't think i will ever play another one.

[werd]

I'd be curious as to the differences as well in the same system with the same cables playing CD quality lossless material

Cabling is about vibe for me. Either it gets the beats down or it doesn't as well as other cables. The bdp/bda (and i suspect all file driven front ends are the same). They respond better to cabling from what i can tell than the cd playback systems.

People think its easy to cable a system. Its not, i know it would take awhile to get a full out Mcintosh system cabled. I wouldn't know where to start. I have my system pegged but other systems i would have to start from scratch. I am just finding everything that i like about sound  comes from tinkering with the source. All the vibe and resolution can be focused on cabling,AC conditioning and isolation in and around the dac and computer adaptors like the bdp. So to answer the question... yes there are differences and its probably because lossless material is a better medium thus better at tweaking.

[Anonamemouse]

it would be a sort of BP-26 / BDA-1 combination in one chassis?

Hmm... So... Why is it possible to add this DAC to an amplifier and not to the BDP? I don't see how it would be any different. Digital input on one side, analog output on the other side, I don't think it matters whether this happens in the BDP or in an amp.
So, add it to the BDP, create a product more people will be interested in, realize more sales.

Or add more output options. Like optical, firewire, RCA, USB, ect. My CD player has an optical input, if the BDP had an optical out I'd buy it.

[James Tanner]

Hmm... So... Why is it possible to add this DAC to an amplifier and not to the BDP? I don't see how it would be any different. Digital input on one side, analog output on the other side, I don't think it matters whether this happens in the BDP or in an amp.
So, add it to the BDP, create a product more people will be interested in, realize more sales.

Or add more output options. Like optical, firewire, RCA, USB, ect. My CD player has an optical input, if the BDP had an optical out I'd buy it.

Hi

I guess the point I want to make is you do not 'just add' a connector or a feature to a product (especially after it already is in the market).  Every time you add circuitry or connections you affect other aspects of the design. Our philosophy has always been to optimize signal transfer from point A to point B. Others may prefer the Swiss army knife approach but it is not something Bryston has an interest in.

Sometimes it is not about 'sales' it's about what gives the best performance. Fortunately for me I own the company so I can do it my way

James