BDA-3 DAC

audio.bill · « **Reply #400 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 12:39 pm »

Why don't you just leave it on? DACs generally sound best after they reach a stable operating temperature and they draw negligible current, so I always leave my DACs powered up for best performance.

James Tanner · « **Reply #401 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 12:42 pm »

Hi Folks

I will ask engineering but I have 3 BDA-3's at home and never experience any on/off issues?

james

Yitshak · « **Reply #402 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 03:44 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 31 Mar 2016, 12:42 pm

Hi Folks

I will ask engineering but I have 3 BDA-3's at home and never experience any on/off issues?

james

Thanks James.

Came back from office and it Fired at once
Like it should.

The sound quality of this unit is per none.
Waiting for the English reviews on it to see how artfully word will be chosen
To describe the unit performance.

regarding leaving the unit on (use to do it with other DAC which I care less for it's
Life span).
does the capsitors life span in the DAC and PRE don't get short considerably as in power amp??

Itshak

James Tanner · « **Reply #403 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 04:09 pm »

Quote from: Yitshak on 31 Mar 2016, 03:44 pm

Thanks James.

Came back from office and it Fired at once
Like it should.

The sound quality of this unit is per none.
Waiting for the English reviews on it to see how artfully word will be chosen
To describe the unit performance.

regarding leaving the unit on (use to do it with other DAC which I care less for it's
Life span).
does the capsitors life span in the DAC and PRE don't get short considerably as in power amp??

Itshak

HI

Generally leaving a transistor unit on will lengthen its life as the wear and tear comes from constant expansion and contraction of the parts as it is turn on and off. Also leaving it on maintains a constant thermal temperature across the circuit boards which reduces any opportunity for humidity to affect the circuits. Also I think gear sounds better after it has been on for a while (please do not report this to our engineers

james

Yitshak · « **Reply #404 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 04:41 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 31 Mar 2016, 04:09 pm

HI

Generally leaving a transistor unit on will lengthen its life as the wear and tear comes from constant expansion and contraction of the parts as it is turn on and off. Also leaving it on maintains a constant thermal temperature across the circuit boards which reduces any opportunity for humidity to affect the circuits. Also I think gear sounds better after it has been on for a while (please do not report this to our engineers

james

Great to get reassure on that,

No telling

I heard different in sound as well when I tried that in the past.
It's noticble more rounded in the upper mid to the highest notes the way I perceive it.

Fine PRE/DAC units will stay on.

AMP ...I will keep turning off while I'm out and about for
safety / greener planet.

Renato6 · « **Reply #405 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 05:44 pm »

So I do see that several people are having the on/off issue.

Leaving the constantly on debate to the side and it's related benefits, is there not an concern that the devices do not reliably turn on? In this forum alone there have been several people mentioning this behavior, is this a flaw?

James Tanner · « **Reply #406 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 06:25 pm »

Quote from: Renato6 on 31 Mar 2016, 05:44 pm

So I do see that several people are having the on/off issue.

Leaving the constantly on debate to the side and it's related benefits, is there not an concern that the devices do not reliably turn on? In this forum alone there have been several people mentioning this behavior, is this a flaw?

Hi

It seems like in some circumstances it delays coming on right away - may take 20 seconds or so. Looking into it. It would be a software issue not a hardware issue.

james

Grant Hill · « **Reply #407 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 06:44 pm »

Hi James,

I hear that many are skeptical regarding play blue ray or sacd from an external player connected via HDMI to the BDA3. They say HDMI is a poor way to transmit audio, most likely due to higher jitter.

What do you think about it?

Thanks

James Tanner · « **Reply #408 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 06:54 pm »

Quote from: Grant Hill on 31 Mar 2016, 06:44 pm

Hi James,

I hear that many are skeptical regarding play blue ray or sacd from an external player connected via HDMI to the BDA3. They say HDMI is a poor way to transmit audio, most likely due to higher jitter.

What do you think about it?

Thanks

Hi

They are absolutely correct - HDMI has much higher jitter numbers than SPDIF or AES or USB. The reason is that HDMI was developed as a Video system and audio was added later in between the packets (the audio clock is derived from the video clock). The argument is always how much jitter is perceivable of course and some feel even with the higher jitter numbers with HDMI they are still way below the threshold of human hearing?

In the case of the BDA3 the HDMI we added more as a feature as many source components now have HDMI out only.

Hope this helps.

james

Grant Hill · « **Reply #409 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 07:13 pm »

James,

Many thanks. I think your explantion is very honest and wise. It surely helps.

Tympani · « **Reply #410 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 08:13 pm »

I can definitely say my few duplicate DSD-64 downloads played from BDP2 to BDA-3 sound punchier than the equivalent SACD played from my Oppo to the BDA-3. How much of that is the intrinsic sound of the file, vs cabling and jitter, I can't say. The Oppo is connected via 7 meters of (lower to mid-range) Wireworld HDMI Ultraviolet cable, whereas the BDP2 is connected via 1 meter of (upper end) Wireworld Platinum 7 USB.

Still, it's fun to be able to hear those old SACD discs as pure DSD, I view it as simply icing on the BDA-3 cake

After ripping my collection with my BOT-1, I may one day get rid of my redbook silver discs, but not my SACDs!

Renato6 · « **Reply #411 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 08:49 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 31 Mar 2016, 06:25 pm

Hi

It seems like in some circumstances it delays coming on right away - may take 20 seconds or so. Looking into it. It would be a software issue not a hardware issue.

james

Great, thanks James.

Let me know if you find anyhing. As mentioned, it does turn on, just concerned that it could be a flaw that will get worse in time.

Regards

BSMSPEMBA · « **Reply #412 on:** 31 Mar 2016, 09:54 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 31 Mar 2016, 06:25 pm

Hi

It seems like in some circumstances it delays coming on right away - may take 20 seconds or so. Looking into it. It would be a software issue not a hardware issue.

james

Please let us know what you find. I have 2 BDA-3s, and both behave the same way regarding powering on.

Thank you

Marius · « **Reply #413 on:** 1 Apr 2016, 07:18 am »

HI James,

Please give me your professional thoughts on this:
Currently my HDMI devices (bluray, tvbox, apple tv, google Chromecast ) are connected to my TV, which in it's turn is optically connected to my BDA1. That way i have all sources through the DAC, and no audio/video sync issues at all. No switching needed, just the source on the TV set. Of course i don't have SACD direct out this way, but i'll forget about that for this question.

Can you comment on the difference of the above setup compared to all sources connected to the BDA through HDMI? If i understand it correctly, i would need only one hdmi cable from the BDA3 to the TV? Next to sound quality/jitter, im also interested in the horrors of audio sync, and options on the BDA3 to counter those.

Thanks,
Marius

Quote from: James Tanner on 31 Mar 2016, 06:54 pm

Hi

They are absolutely correct - HDMI has much higher jitter numbers than SPDIF or AES or USB. The reason is that HDMI was developed as a Video system and audio was added later in between the packets (the audio clock is derived from the video clock). The argument is always how much jitter is perceivable of course and some feel even with the higher jitter numbers with HDMI they are still way below the threshold of human hearing?

In the case of the BDA3 the HDMI we added more as a feature as many source components now have HDMI out only.

Hope this helps.

james

James Tanner · « **Reply #414 on:** 1 Apr 2016, 03:33 pm »

Quote from: Renato6 on 31 Mar 2016, 02:30 am

Loving my BDA-3.
I've had it for about a month. A few times I've noticed that it won't turn it on with the power button. I have to unplug the power cable and then press the power button and it turns on.

Any thoughts or has anyone else experienced this?

Hi

Please email me and I will send you a beta update.
jamestanner@bryston.com

james

R. Daneel · « **Reply #415 on:** 1 Apr 2016, 04:39 pm »

Quote from: audio.bill on 31 Mar 2016, 12:39 pm

Why don't you just leave it on?

Necause it has a power on/off button.

R. Daneel · « **Reply #416 on:** 1 Apr 2016, 05:11 pm »

The on/off problem has been a constant companion of Bryston's BDA-series converters. I have had problems with my own BDA-2, have read about other people problems with their BDA-1 and now I am reading about problems of the BDA-3 owners. While this is not a critical issue as BDA is generally excellent, both in terms of reliability and stable connection, it is an annoying issue nonetheless.

I have done many, many tests to try to discover when and under what circumstances do these hold-ups occur but came up with no definitive conclusion. What I did discover is that turning the machine off with USB as the selected input is when the machine will sometimes stop responding while it's in standby mode. The AES connection didn't cause any problems.

I am not an expert in this kind of technology but my instinct tells me it must have to do with power supply that power the machine while it is in standby. Many devices like these have dedicated power supplies for these applications to allow for lower power consumption while in standby mode and these are usually powered by pulse-type transformers as used in modern mobile phone chargers. They are, of course, more than adequate for the job since the very instant the machine is turned on, it is powered by it's main power supply which is one of Bryston's many good design features. I have had similar problems with DVD players in the past so this is where I'm coming from.

We will never know for certain most likely.

... and this post is not meant as a criticism of any kind but rather it is my wish to support Bryston's efforts in maintaining their clients as one of their resources.

Cheers!
Antun

audio.bill · « **Reply #417 on:** 1 Apr 2016, 06:43 pm »

Antun - You have provided excellent input as to when you are encountering the problem which should prove useful to Bryston in their efforts to find a solution. I would respectfully suggest that you also contact James by email as he suggested above, so that you could try their beta software as a potential solution. Your efforts are appreciated by and should benefit current and future BDA-3 owners.

Renato6 · « **Reply #418 on:** 1 Apr 2016, 08:08 pm »

Thanks for the patch James, I will let you know if I have any issues

Antun
This is very good info. I will keep an eye and see if it behaves any different when I have my Mac connected to it via USB or my CD Transport via Optical Toslink...
Thank you

R. Daneel · « **Reply #419 on:** 2 Apr 2016, 03:14 pm »

Hi guys!

Just to clarify, I do not own a BDA-3. I own a BDA-2.

I tried everything, from changing computers. USB cables and even mains sockets to establish a link between these hold-ups and the circumstances in which they manifest but with no luck.

Cheers!
Antun