BDA-3 DAC

adol290 · « **Reply #1040 on:** 30 Oct 2018, 04:46 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 27 Oct 2018, 10:23 am

Hi Antun

Correct the upsample does not work on USB or HDMI (how many people do you think still tell me they hear a difference though).

The AKM DAC we use does have 6 different filters but we have chosen the most accurate one as the default position. We have not implemented the option of switching between the other filters at this point.

The remote is $499 list.

james

James,

It would be nice to have the option to switch between filters.

Or an option to just turn the filter off/on.

Then people that have their own servers, and run products like HQplayer, can chose their
own filters via HQplayer.

gbaby · « **Reply #1041 on:** 30 Oct 2018, 09:20 pm »

Quote from: adol290 on 30 Oct 2018, 04:46 pm

James,

It would be nice to have the option to switch between filters.

Or an option to just turn the filter off/on.

Then people that have their own servers, and run products like HQplayer, can chose their
own filters via HQplayer.

Me thinks your expectations are way too high.

CanadianMaestro · « **Reply #1042 on:** 30 Oct 2018, 11:24 pm »

Quote from: gbaby on 30 Oct 2018, 09:20 pm

Me thinks your expectations are way too high.

Methinks you are right.

Filters? Yuck.

CanadianMaestro · « **Reply #1043 on:** 30 Oct 2018, 11:24 pm »

deleted

mmmbeer · « **Reply #1044 on:** 30 Oct 2018, 11:45 pm »

Hey all. I just bought 2 of these DAC's (one for office, one for home) on the recommendation of my dealer--without having heard it first. And wow, this is one incredible machine. It prompted me to order a Bryston 4b3 unit on friday and I can't wait to hear what that does to my system. I haven't turned on my record player in a couple weeks because this sounds perfect.

One question, does anyone know, or maybe it has been mentioned in the pages here I have not found yet, if there are any plans for an upgraded HDMI board to bring it up to the 2.0 or later spec beyond 1.4a? At home, my movie and streaming is very modest--just an 4K apple TV and a 4K xbox (the AppleTV is plugged into the HDMI in on the xbox). It would kick ass to be able to plug the xbox into the DAC as my music/theater is just a 2.0 system and will include the new 4b3 (and a new preamp TBD in the next few months). Right now, I am limited at 4k/30 and the TV/xbox can push 4k/60. I would happy to buy one

adol290 · « **Reply #1045 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 01:04 am »

Quote from: gbaby on 30 Oct 2018, 09:20 pm

Me thinks your expectations are way too high.

Surely you jest...

Doing a firmware update to enable existing filters or the ability to turn the filters on/off would be fairly simply
for a company like bryston. Look at all the firmware changes they already do to the BDP-2/3 on a regular basis.

James already said they do have the code to select filters.

Alot of cheaper products offer this function. Look at the teac UD-503. A $1000 dac. They offer 4 filter selections.

And anyone who says filters? Yuck, well then you must not like the BDA-3, because bryston has already set a FILTER they think
sounds the best....

"The AKM DAC we use does have 6 different filters but we have chosen the most accurate one as the default position"

Pundamilia · « **Reply #1046 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 01:07 am »

@adol290

Pardon my naïveté, but what exactly do filters (at least the type you are talking about) contribute and how do they work?

TIA

adol290 · « **Reply #1047 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 02:19 am »

Quote from: Pundamilia on 31 Oct 2018, 01:07 am

@adol290

Pardon my naïveté, but what exactly do filters (at least the type you are talking about) contribute and how do they work?

TIA

Wikipedia
"a digital filter is a system that performs mathematical operations on a sampled, discrete-time signal to reduce or enhance certain aspects of that signal."

Filters are created to alter the sound, hopefully for the better. The bryston DAC has the
the AKM4490EQ chip in it. There are 5 filters to choose from:

- Sharp Roll-off
- Short Delay Sharp Roll-off
- Slow Roll-off
- Short Delay
- Slow Roll-off
- Super Slow Roll-off

I am not sure what the sixth filter james is talking about, but i assume OFF.

If your equipment and your Ears are good enough, you may be able to hear the differences between each filter.
Some people like the way one filter will sound over another on their gear. It's all personal preference.

There are a tons of discussions about filters and how they work. You can get started here and follow some of the links.

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/8livrh/difference_between_dac_filters_slow_sharp_delay/

CanadianMaestro · « **Reply #1048 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 12:02 pm »

That's what I thought.

How about a cheap Sony receiver with bass and treble tone control knobs?
Why mess with filters -- the whole foundation for hi-end gear is to eliminate tone controls to try to achieve neutrality ("sounds as the studio recording sounded, unaltered").

Of course, if it sounds good to you, go for it.

cheers

CanadianMaestro · « **Reply #1049 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 12:28 pm »

Quote from: adol290 on 31 Oct 2018, 01:04 am

Surely you jest...

And anyone who says filters? Yuck, well then you must not like the BDA-3, ....

That is correct -- I spent 3 days auditioning a BDA-3 on my home rig. It was good. But I did not buy it. I prefer my BDA-1. (I don't do USB or HDMI -- just straight, pure PCM from CD rips and downloaded lossless).

It's all personal preferences.
cheers

gbaby · « **Reply #1050 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 01:48 pm »

Quote from: CanadianMaestro on 30 Oct 2018, 11:24 pm

Methinks you are right.

Filters? Yuck.

gbaby · « **Reply #1051 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 05:20 pm »

Quote from: adol290 on 31 Oct 2018, 01:04 am

Surely you jest...

Doing a firmware update to enable existing filters or the ability to turn the filters on/off would be fairly simply
for a company like bryston. Look at all the firmware changes they already do to the BDP-2/3 on a regular basis.

James already said they do have the code to select filters.

Alot of cheaper products offer this function. Look at the teac UD-503. A $1000 dac. They offer 4 filter selections.

And anyone who says filters? Yuck, well then you must not like the BDA-3, because bryston has already set a FILTER they think
sounds the best....

"The AKM DAC we use does have 6 different filters but we have chosen the most accurate one as the default position"

In making a product, a company has to make choices on features. Bryston opted not to include selectable filters on its BDA-3. Its fine with me as the unit still punches well out of its price category. The BDA-3 has HDMI inputs where most D/A converters don't offer it. One cannot have everything in life. The BDA-3 has every feature that would interest me which is the reason I purchased it. The fact that a less expensive D/A converter offer filters is meaningless.

Pundamilia · « **Reply #1052 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 07:18 pm »

The Rang · « **Reply #1053 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 01:20 am »

A question for those of you that have the BDA3 with blue LEDs.

What color is the upsampling LED?

On my new unit all of the lights are either red or blue depending on the state.
Except the upsample LED which looks like it’s trying to be blue and red at the same time.
Not quite pink, bit close.
Is this normal?

CanadianMaestro · « **Reply #1054 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 01:28 am »

Quote from: The Rang on 1 Nov 2018, 01:20 am

A question for those of you that have the BDA3 with blue LEDs.

What color is the upsampling LED?

On my new unit all of the lights are either red or blue depending on the state.
Except the upsample LED which looks like it’s trying to be blue and red at the same time.
Not quite pink, bit close.
Is this normal?

Is color affecting sound quality? If so, then that's not normal.

cheers

adol290 · « **Reply #1055 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 01:46 am »

Quote from: gbaby on 31 Oct 2018, 05:20 pm

In making a product, a company has to make choices on features. Bryston opted not to include selectable filters on its BDA-3. Its fine with me as the unit still punches well out of its price category. The BDA-3 has HDMI inputs where most D/A converters don't offer it. One cannot have everything in life. The BDA-3 has every feature that would interest me which is the reason I purchased it. The fact that a less expensive D/A converter offer filters is meaningless.

I agree the BDA-3 is a very good DAC within it's price range.

There is nothing wrong with asking for additional functionality. Many companies add new software features to their products during
it's lifespan, to make it's product more attractive to new buyers. I own a number of products where companies have done this even
after it's product was 2+ years old. This is very common these days.

If they feel there is a need for the filter selection, they may allow it in the BDA-3 or may even put it in the BDA-4.

There is a large group of people who like to tweak their music with filters, and this would open up a wider audience for sales.

Remember bryston did not like room correction and it was never available in the SP3. Now the SP4 is here, so is the option for
room correction. Why? More sales...

CanadianMaestro · « **Reply #1056 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 02:10 am »

Quote from: adol290 on 1 Nov 2018, 01:46 am

Remember bryston did not like room correction and it was never available in the SP3. Now the SP4 is here, so is the option for
room correction. Why? More sales...

I disagree. Not for sales.

Bryston's overriding design goal has been to produce gear that best preserves ACCURACY to the source.
Having the option of "room correction" would be still be consistent with that goal.

cheers

R. Daneel · « **Reply #1057 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 06:43 am »

Quote from: adol290 on 30 Oct 2018, 04:46 pm

James,

It would be nice to have the option to switch between filters.

Or an option to just turn the filter off/on.

Then people that have their own servers, and run products like HQplayer, can chose their
own filters via HQplayer.

Hi!

Digital-to-analogue conversion within a delta-sigma chip requires filtering so turning it off is not possible. It would not work otherwise. You may have different filters, some of which may be more invasive than others, but you must always have it. Bryston has likely selected one of the filter types already installed in the D/A chip which eliminates the need for external filtering on a separate chip (which typically makes the machine more expensive to make). I think they didn't want users (or reviewers) to meddle with the sound because that would surely give polarizing opinions on the matter.

Having the ability to change different filter types is fun but I have often found it quite useless when it comes to music playback since there is always one certain type that sounded the best overall.

Cheers,
Antun

adol290 · « **Reply #1058 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 01:57 pm »

Quote from: CanadianMaestro on 1 Nov 2018, 02:10 am

I disagree. Not for sales.

Bryston's overriding design goal has been to produce gear that best preserves ACCURACY to the source.
Having the option of "room correction" would be still be consistent with that goal.

cheers

I agree on producing gear that preserves the accuracy.

But i disagree on your second statement. James states that he did not want room correction in the SP3
because it would not preserve that accuracy.

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=50270.msg1080400#msg1080400

So what changed that it became available in the SP4.

They surely didn't change the laws of physics.
I think they realized that there was a market for it, and made the trade off.
Does the SP4 sound the same/or better than the SP3 with room correction off? How about on?
I see the SP3 is still available to order.

gbaby · « **Reply #1059 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 02:01 pm »

Quote from: adol290 on 1 Nov 2018, 01:46 am

Remember bryston did not like room correction and it was never available in the SP3. Now the SP4 is here, so is the option for room correction. Why? More sales...

I disagree. Briyston offered the SP4 for those who wanted room correction and Atmos.