AudioCircle
Industry Circles => Bryston Limited => Topic started by: Krutsch on 11 May 2018, 09:40 pm
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All I can say is this: yes, I know mastering is what really matters, but I can't stop listening to MQA tracks from Tidal, via Roon into my BDP-1.
Roon 1.5 now "unfolds" to 88.2/96 24-bit (sort of... it's really less bits, butI choose not to care).
If you haven't tried Tidal with your BDP, this is a great time. Let me recommend an album: Gillian Welch's re-issue of sorts for Revival, called "Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg".
Roon unfolds this from Tidal to 88.2/24, sends it to the BDP-1 and I am using USB out to my Bel Canto DAC (and then into a Woo Audio headphone amp).
BDP Roon Ready playback has been rock solid for me - there is a thread on the Roon Community from someone with a BDP-2 that is having issues with playback stopping, but I suspect that person may be having network issues.
After many years of tinkering, trial and error, I am *finally* finished looking for my perfect digital playback chain:
MacBook (iTunes AIFF library + Roon) → Ethernet → Bryston BDP-1 → Curious USB → Bel Canto REFLink + DAC 2.5
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hey krutsch
i couldn't agree more.
My setup is similar - Roon>Tidal>Ethernet>BDP1>BDA2>BP20>4BSST2.
I've had no issues at all. This chain has been rock solid ever since Chris and the Bryston boys
made the deal with Roon a few years ago now.
I haven't been paying too much attention to MQA, other than reading all the drama about whether it's lossy or not.
thanks for the tip on Gillian's bootleg. I'm a big fan of Gillian and David Rawlings - and will check out the Boots tonight. looking forward to it! :thumb:
Cheers
TJ
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After many years of tinkering, trial and error, I am *finally* finished looking for my perfect digital playback chain:
Nah! You're not done, you haven't heard my remasters played through the BCD-3. IMO it bettered a more expensive stereo. Of coarse that's with my ears, YMMV. :smoke:
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Enjoying MQA here also. This technology sure pushes a lot of people's hot buttons though. Most of the arguments center around what it is rather than what it sounds like. To my ears some MQA files sound better than others so it is no guarantee of superior sound quality but when it is done right (or the mastering is done right) it can sound quite good.
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And this is posted here... Why?
James made it quite clear the Most Questionable Audioformat is not going to happen at Bryston. Thank your preferred deity for that. Stop being a witchdoctor.
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Nah! You're not done, you haven't heard my remasters played through the BCD-3. IMO it bettered a more expensive stereo. Of coarse that's with my ears, YMMV. :smoke:
Ha! Well, of course I'm never *done*. The next upgrade step for me is to replace the Bel Canto with a BDA-3 ... if I can ever be finished pouring money into my house.
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And this is posted here... Why?
James made it quite clear the Most Questionable Audioformat is not going to happen at Bryston. Thank your preferred deity for that. Stop being a witchdoctor.
No sense being sarcastic just because of a person has a different audio philosophy than yours. :nono:
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No sense being sarcastic just because of a person has a different audio philosophy than yours. :nono:
uhhh "yours"?? It's also Bryston philosophy, so "why" here is a question you can except.
I had the same question, maybe he is "the" witchdoctor?
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After many years of tinkering, trial and error, I am *finally* finished looking for my perfect digital playback chain
Pretty much my thoughts too. I’ve been enjoying MQA for some time (guided by my ears rather than forum opinion) but only moved to Roon since 1,5. Very impressed with the Roon/BDP combination - just works, 100% stable and the best sounding digital replay I’ve had in 20 years of tinkering. It’s great that an 8 year old + design can be repurposed so successfully
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uhhh "yours"?? It's also Bryston philosophy, so "why" here is a question you can except.
I had the same question, maybe he is "the" witchdoctor?
Witchdoctor == Krutsch.
Same use of language, same braindead extremist defense of MQA, same IP.
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ya know, all this MQA stuff aside. Gillian Welch is truly a master of craft. She can do no wrong.
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I have no horse directly in the race, but if MQA moves us further away from MP3's (in the right direction), I think that's a good thing. The only problem I have with it is the licensing and $ involved. I'm not sure this aspect is serving the audiophile community (nor the small companies that exist because of the audiophile community). Then again, if Meridian didn't come up with it, someone else would've...so... :dunno:
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not a Bryston guy at all so apologies if I shouldn't be posting here - but checked your thread out and big Gillian fan and had no idea this semi-boot was on Tidal. Nice have it and streaming at 88.2/24 here this morning - great stuff with my morning flat white.
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same here. thanks for the tip on Gillian, Krutsch. And i think it's absolutely fine to embrace MQA if you fancy it. Just because someone at Bryston doesn't like it - doesn't mean you can't. Light 'er up!
TJ
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Is Tidal the only MQA game in town? If the reports in the news today (5/16) are true, Tidal will either need some more capital investors, raise rates or fold if it can't sell to another bidder. Maybe we have another betamax war, sure it might be better than VHS, but only the minority will pay more. MP3s, HDCD, SACD, divx, dvd-a, hd-dvd, minidisc, Thunderbolt, RDRAM all have a lot in common with MQA when it comes to licensing costs, either they are overlooked, become free or something faster and with higher bit rate will replace it. The one big problem that MQA has against it is the bit rate... oh i guess there's two, lack of support for existing devices without quality loss... maybe three, key manufactures are against it....i can careless about audioquest. oh maybe four, the MQA library on Tidal is worthless for any rock from the last two decades. The only sustaining force seems to be stereophile and i'm not even sure why they care so much.
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The term "MQA" is the equivalent in the audio community to "Niagara Falls" in the classic comedy sketch by Abbot and Costello and Three Stooges. Just mention it in a thread and then "Slowly I turned..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYP1OBZfFK0
I'm neither a proponent nor opponent of MQA but I do enjoy watching the eyes turn red when it is mentioned on this forum....Slowly I turned.
BTW, enjoying the Gillian Welch album here also...listening to the M*A version.
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uhhh "yours"?? It's also Bryston philosophy, so "why" here is a question you can except.
I had the same question, maybe he is "the" witchdoctor?
Yes, I know there are many who wanna be, but there is only one witchdoctor !
MQA rules, don't listen to the haters :)
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Witchdoctor == Krutsch.
Same use of language, same braindead extremist defense of MQA, same IP.
What are you talking about? I haven't really participated in the MQA thread, that I can recall.
I was just making a comment that with the latest version Roon, you can try out MQA on your BDP with NOTHING required from Bryston, via software unfold.
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"Slowly he turned..."
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https://audiophilereview.com/cd-dac-digital/mqa-the-facts-versus-the-fiction.html
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To this day, MQA makes no sense for me given that it's 2018. Most people can stream 1080p or even 4K Netflix without any problems. 24 bit audio is nothing compared to that. It's easily attainable at home. MQA for travelling and portable use also makes no sense. Who are these audiophiles that have such resolving rigs that care so much about the SQ when travelling and moving around. MP3 320 and normal lossless is more than enough for travelling where you may need to use data. Plus, most people just use MP3 or Spotify offline when travelling. I can't reasonably understand a reason for MQA's existence in 2018 except to make money. Streaming 24 bit lossless masters should be easy. Everyone should be pushing for lossless, not lossy, in 2018.
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https://positive-feedback.com/industry-news/exogal-abandons-mqa-development/
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Their Comet DAC looks very sleek. Wonder how it stands up vs. a BDA-3?
http://www.exogal.com/index.php/products/comet-dac
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Their Comet DAC looks very sleek. Wonder how it stands up vs. a BDA-3?
http://www.exogal.com/index.php/products/comet-dac
It actually gets very good reviews!
When it comes to sound I doubt the differences will be immense. Above a certain price it will be nuances and preferences at most. What I like about this DAC is that it has an analog input, which makes a pre amp obsolete. This is a route I would like to follow at this point in time...
My perfect DAC would have the connectivity of a BDA3 plus at least 2 analog inputs, digital volume control (skip the headphone part, that should be a separate "power"amp), stereo analog outputs, a user programmable (software like Arta) cross over filter which sends out a two or three way analog output signal to go into separate poweramps like the 24B3 for active loudspeakers, and possibly a Lyngdorf-like RoomPerfect option.
A ladder architecture would be awesome... 8)
(just randomly pointing at Merging Nadac, Schitt, Exogal...)
James, feel free to start working on it! If you have any question I'll be happy to help, and I will order the first one.
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More from Mark Waldrep and support for James'/ Bryston's decision to not support MQA on their DACs:
http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=6234 (http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=6234)
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skunark "Is Tidal the only MQA game in town? If the reports in the news today (5/16) are true, Tidal will either need some more capital investors, raise rates or fold if it can't sell to another bidder."
Yes that is a very good question and I have been asking it too. Never have gotten an answer. There has been a lot invested, by many recording companies and others, into MQA. Additionally, there has been much invested into Tidal. But Tidal is sinking and unless someone, some group of investors or some megabig company buys it or injects cash, MQA will go down with the Tidal ship. Please anyone correct me if I am wrong or way off! I like Tidal and MQA and would like to continue enjoying the service.
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skunark "Is Tidal the only MQA game in town? If the reports in the news today (5/16) are true, Tidal will either need some more capital investors, raise rates or fold if it can't sell to another bidder."
Yes that is a very good question and I have been asking it too. Never have gotten an answer. There has been a lot invested, by many recording companies and others, into MQA. Additionally, there has been much invested into Tidal. But Tidal is sinking and unless someone, some group of investors or some megabig company buys it or injects cash, MQA will go down with the Tidal ship. Please anyone correct me if I am wrong or way off! I like Tidal and MQA and would like to continue enjoying the service.
A lot of internet music journalism seems invested in Tidal's fortunes for several years now. Oh, the concern.
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Another nice one:
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/reviews/mqa-a-review-of-controversies-concerns-and-cautions-r701/
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Fake audio.
Next.
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Fake audio.
Next.
I am listening to "The Best Of The Grateful Dead (Live) [Remastered]" on Tidal via Roon to my BDP-1. Software unfolding to 96/24. Fantastic sound.
Everyone can bitch all they want about MQA - and believe me, I've read it all - but I just clicked twice and added this album to my library. Boom, done.
But, yeah, you can head on over to HD Tracks and buy the same music for $34.98, download it, copy it to your NAS drive or USB device attached to your BDP, run the stupidly long process to update your BrystonDB and...
... sometime later, have a listen.
Enjoy!
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Enjoy Tidal while it lasts.
As for HD Tracks, good thing I never bit their "HD" sales pitch.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hdtracks-albums-with-fake-dynamic-range.774164/
cheers
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I am listening to "The Best Of The Grateful Dead (Live) [Remastered]" on Tidal via Roon to my BDP-1. Software unfolding to 96/24. Fantastic sound.
Everyone can bitch all they want about MQA - and believe me, I've read it all - but I just clicked twice and added this album to my library. Boom, done.
But, yeah, you can head on over to HD Tracks and buy the same music for $34.98, download it, copy it to your NAS drive or USB device attached to your BDP, run the stupidly long process to update your BrystonDB and...
... sometime later, have a listen.
Enjoy!
And as soon as Tidal goes belly up: Boom, gone.
Of course you also bought the $1 first pressing cd to compare? Because that will sound at least the same, quite possibly even better.
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And as soon as Tidal goes belly up: Boom, gone.
Of course you also bought the $1 first pressing cd to compare? Because that will sound at least the same, quite possibly even better.
Good point. I'm finding that many 44/16 files sound just as fine and more natural than 96/24. Heck, some MP3-320 bought from Presto Classical sound no better to me than CD rips at 44/16, played back on my system. Others do sound different. Such is the nature of audio -- all depends on the quality of the masters.
ymmv as usual, so listen first on your own gear....but I will say that my Bryston BDP/BDA and amps really make "hi-res" moot in many instances. And I'm not talking headphone listening.
cheers
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https://positive-feedback.com/industry-news/exogal-abandons-mqa-development/
This news (https://www.soundandvision.com/content/qobuz-coming-america) makes the MQA argument irrelevant. I really like Tidal (and yes, I often stream MQA), but I'll be one of the first to sign with Qobuz this fall.
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With the right consistent interface to all devices this would not only replace tidal easily, but CDs and hirez files too.
Tidal still has issues with playback being different across devices which is probably more of a licensing issue than a hardware limitation. The service also has issues syncing playlists with Roon, sourcing your existing library, understanding your preferences. I'm not a huge country or a hip hop fan and rather annoyed those are the main two choices when browsing music. Sure I don’t mind a little Garth and Drake once in a blue moon, but not in the same playlist. I’m just not a tidal fan yet...
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For the misguided!
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/feature/Worlds_First_HiRes_CD_by_Universal_Music_Japan
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And as soon as Tidal goes belly up: Boom, gone.
Of course you also bought the $1 first pressing cd to compare? Because that will sound at least the same, quite possibly even better.
Sure. But here's the point: I don't have to. I click and I listen. Boom, done.
And, if Tidal goes belly-up, then I will switch to something else that will provide the same library, Redbook, lossy or high-res.