[ricko01]

But I don’t see why you think there will be any advantage in avoiding the “USB connection”. Even if the HDD is located in a remote computer and connected to the BDP-1 via Ethernet, the HDD still has a local interface (SATA, IDE, USB etc.) that the files/data must pass-through, none of which have a “quality mandate”.

So we have 100 of manufacturers of USB hard-drives. There have been posted reports of SQ issues comparing thumbdrives verses USB-HD.

The USB cable DIRECTLY connects the USB UD into the BDP-1. THE USB cable has POWER and SIGNAL (hence the ability to use cable powered drives). A poorly designed USB HD may cause noise issues when connected directly....so it becomes a crap shoot... you got lucky... someone else might not (hence my suggestion of some "certified" list of USB HD's)

My comment re ethernet/SAMBA removed the USB connection from the equation. So the worst designed USB HD (or even PC) power supply for example,  when connected to the PC WONT cause SQ issues because the Ethernet cable essentially break any electicial ground etc between the BDP-1 and the remote PC/HD.


It may also improve backup/dual access/manageablity of the WAV/AIFF files if they reside locally on a PC.

[James Tanner]

The bdp1 is born to have a reproduction state of the art.
For this reason, have not been developed options that are not state of the art.
The Bryston is a great dac but coupled with the bdp1 becomes almost unbeatable for me.
As I 'said (and I'm not alone) have to solve the problem of loading time of HD and I do not think it was necessary to make a hd Bryston, there are many other solutions more' simple that surely Bryston engineers have already 'found.
James right?

Hi,

Yes I really feel doing one job and doing it well is the right approach.  The more you try to make a swiss army knife the more it takes away from performance - or lets say that has been our experience so far.  We already had a state of the art DAC in the market and to build it into the BDP-1 would have simply added extra cost for many of our customers.  Also remember that the BDA-1 DAC has the ability to handle up to 8 different digital inputs which makes it much more versatile than a dedicated internal DAC.

The thing I really liked about the latest German review on the BDP-1 was the comments about going into the review with serious doubts about the product and concluding that this in fact is a great product and positioned so it can be the start of a great digital audio system.

Ultimately you listen and you tweek and you try to develop products that push the performance envelop as best you know how.  Its strictly up to the consumer to decide if you have succeeded or not.

THE DEMO IS EVERYTHING

james

[ricko01]

It makes no sense to me, as other have suggested, that Bryston gets involved in providing hard drive enclosures.


Also in opinion, as with others, PC stuff doesnt belong in a listening environment. Even comments like "you can only hear the drive from 3-4 inches away"... its still noise... it still has digitial/power supply related circuits that have not been designed for connection to hi-end equipment.

Think of all the design tweaks that go into DAC's to seperate the digitial parts from the analogue parts... yet you are quite happy to plug in a no-name USB HD into the BDP-1?


Finally, the BDP1- is what it is.... Bryston have done the R&D... so changing the form factor wont happen. The only options are software based such as using SAMBA (the cheap man's NAS), support third party NAS or DNLA.

Note all these are ethernet based solutions... cause the only I/O ports the BDP-1 has are USB and ethernet

[OgOgilby]

On another matter and for those that may be interested, Logitech have finally got the RC codes for the BDP-1 functioning. In a few days you should be able to select in the Add Device facility:
Device - Computer/Media Center PC
Manufacturer – Bryston
Model – BDP-1
and be reported as “Digital Music Server Bryston BDP-1”

Regards

Russell

Thanks Russell, that is great news, but the BDP-1 isn't showing up yet.

[OgOgilby]

For me at least, I don't see the need for a Bryston NAS, but I have a NAS already.

I find that with my setup it is pretty easy to manage and play digital files. My PC, NAS, and BDP-1 are all wired to my network - the only wireless components are my iPhone and iPad (and my wife’s laptop, but that isn’t needed for music). The PC and NAS are in a different part of our house than our audio system so you can't hear them at all when playing music.

First I rip FLAC files from my CD’s directly to my NAS raid drive using my PC and dBpoweramp (so the files are immediately backed up).

Next I copy the FLAC’s I ripped from the NAS to the drive that is connected to the BDP-1 (over the network).

Then I hit “update” using the supplied Bryston software through the web browser (Firefox) on my PC and the BDP-1 recognizes the new FLAC’s that were added to the attached drive.

That’s all there is to it! I control the BDP-1 with my iPhone most of the time and bounce back and forth between the Bryston software and MPod. It works great and sounds wonderful. I use a Logitech Harmony One to control our audio system.

[saveloy]

James,

Some more good news for you - not directly related to this topic.
In this month's edition of Hi-fi News Magazine, Barry Willis, a jounalist for top American audio-visual publications, writes.
He writes about reliability concerns with a 'flagship of one of America's oldest and most revered brands.'  And has a general rant about unreliable equipment.

In conclusion, with regard to Bryston, he writes,

'This is a company with so much faith in its products - and so much respect for its customers - that it offers a 20 year parts and labour warranty on all its amplifiers.
This is the standard that the whole industry should aspire to reach. Anything less should be considered a scam.'

[James Tanner]

James,

Some more good news for you - not directly related to this topic.
In this month's edition of Hi-fi News Magazine, Barry Willis, a jounalist for top American audio-visual publications, writes.
He writes about reliability concerns with a 'flagship of one of America's oldest and most revered brands.'  And has a general rant about unreliable equipment.

In conclusion, with regard to Bryston, he writes,

'This is a company with so much faith in its products - and so much respect for its customers - that it offers a 20 year parts and labour warranty on all its amplifiers.
This is the standard that the whole industry should aspire to reach. Anything less should be considered a scam.'

WOW - Thanks - you made my day

James

[JimB-MN]

OK my 25 year old computer science degree is failing me.  I'd like to copy files directly from my NAS to the HD connected to the BDP-1. When I attempt to connect to the BDP-1 it prompts me for a user name and password.  Where would I find these?

Sorry for the basic question,
Jim

[saveloy]

James, your satisfaction makes me happy.
You are very welcome.

Kyri

[James Tanner]

OK my 25 year old computer science degree is failing me.  I'd like to copy files directly from my NAS to the HD connected to the BDP-1. When I attempt to connect to the BDP-1 it prompts me for a user name and password.  Where would I find these?

Sorry for the basic question,
Jim

Hi Jim,

Password and User Name are both - bryston

james

[Alpha10]

per my post on 30 November ...

Audio Manufacturers / Bryston Limited / Re: BRYSTON BDP-1 DIGITAL PLAYER FEEDBACK  on: 30 Nov 2010, 05:53 AM 
Hi James

What do you think of a Bryston SSD, the 'BSSD-1', with SSD internals in an MPS-1 size metal enclosure connected to the BDP-1 with a detachable USB cable ...    

I think that SSD(s) in either MPS-1 or MPS-2 enclosures would be perfect for 'completing' the BDP-1/BDA-1 if priced accordingly ...

The drive(s) could be removeable by the user from the rear for upgrading

Another option might be a chassis with internal power supply and slot(s) for the user to install SSD(s) of their choice

Great minds think alike….

Having had my auditions, I have ordered both the BDA-1 and the BDP-1, so I think I am entitled to an opinion, to those that seem to be taking offense to the topic, it was James who asked!

All I was saying is that I agree with the above, I do not think Bryston should get into servers etc as it would be very difficult to compete (although Naim seem to be having a go at it…) however it would be virtually zero R&D investment for bryston to stick a couple of SSD drives into say an MPS-2 case with a decent toroidal power supply, simple. That would give those of us who want it a nice cosmetic fit with the BDA/BDP pair, instead of a couple of little black boxes sat on top. If one was available now, I would add it to my order…

Cheers

[Vipers]

Welcome to the party Alpha10, I know you'll be extremely happy with your new additions 

I have to agree, if some kind of server with matching cosmetics to the BDA/BDP was available then it would be in my rack asap, although the BCD would probably have to go to make way for it as it is getting very little use nowadays.

[Alpha10]

Welcome to the party Alpha10, I know you'll be extremely happy with your new additions 

Cheers Vipers, my efforts feel insignificant compared with yours.....

As this is an audio board, what is the perceived wisdom as the best way to connect the BDP to the BDA, AES-EBU or BNC-BNC ? They will be one on top of the other.

Cheers

[Welly123]

“There have been posted reports of SQ issues comparing thumbdrives verses USB-HD.”
Yes, unsubstantiated and unlikely to be indentified in a double blind test.

“The USB cable DIRECTLY connects the USB UD into the BDP-1. THE USB cable has POWER and SIGNAL (hence the ability to use cable powered drives). A poorly designed USB HD may cause noise issues when connected directly....so it becomes a crap shoot... you got lucky... someone else might not (hence my suggestion of some "certified" list of USB HD's)”
No not luck, good engineering by Bryston, uses galvanic isolation to separate the “computer element” from the “audio element” within the BDP-1. There will of course be exceptions that I am sure an engineer cannot foresee, but for the most part is covered. You have the choice of using a powered HDD or a USB powered HDD, whatever best fits your set-up. But, I agree that a list of Bryston certified HDDs (can be a very short list) would give better customer confidence and help to reduce the impact of misdirection by uninformed individuals.

“My comment re ethernet/SAMBA removed the USB connection from the equation. So the worst designed USB HD (or even PC) power supply for example,  when connected to the PC WONT cause SQ issues because the Ethernet cable essentially break any electicial ground etc between the BDP-1 and the remote PC/HD.”
I agree that implementing Samba in both directions would be a good thing (and have already publically stated and requested this), and only involves software. It would also serve to neutralise at least your and my differing opinions and provide the best of both Worlds with minimum man-hour cost and much improved flexibility.

So, James… three requests, two of which are purely software based:
1)   Implement an “index system” to improve the load times from power On, as previously requested.
2)   Implement Samba shares in both directions:
          a.   Accessing the BDP-1 connected HDD from PCs on the same network (already functioning)
          b.   Search and select/access Samba shares on the same network, this would include NAS, PCs etc. and would be no different from accessing directly connected USB HDDs.
3)   Develop a list of recommended self powered HDDs and bus powered HDDs to consider quiet physical and electrical operation and best performance with the BDP-1.

Regards

Russell

[Welly123]

As this is an audio board, what is the perceived wisdom as the best way to connect the BDP to the BDA, AES-EBU or BNC-BNC ? They will be one on top of the other.

I have found that the AES/EBU cable delivers slightly better SQ compared with a BNC, it was/is a close-run comparison and the differences were minor. The BNC cables I tried were Chord ProDAC Pro Digital, BlueJeans (Belden 1694A HDTV Precision) and Supra DAC. To be honest, I found it difficult to separate these, but have left the Chord connected as an option to my favoured AES/EBU.

What I did not expect is which AES/EBU cable… I had 3 in hand to try:
1)   Chord Chameleon Silver Plus (I use these in analogue balanced form between my Anthem D2v and 7BSSTs and have been very happy with the performance). These are generally used for Analogue, but Chord advised that they are suitable for Digital as well.
2)   Supra DAC (previously used for CD to Benchmark DAC1 HDR)
3)   BlueJeans (Belden Brilliance 1800f), cheap and various uses
Of the above, I was surprised to find that I preferred the BlueJeans AES/EBU cable, and this is currently used as the primary.

My set-up will of course be different to yours, specifically because I am using the Anthem D2v as the DAC (in preference to the Benchmark).

Regards

Russell

[James Tanner]

Cheers Vipers, my efforts feel insignificant compared with yours.....

As this is an audio board, what is the perceived wisdom as the best way to connect the BDP to the BDA, AES-EBU or BNC-BNC ? They will be one on top of the other.

Cheers

Hi Alpha 1

I would recommend the AES EBU if you have both the BDA-1 DAC and the BDP-1 digital player. 

The advantage of the AES is you have a fully differential balanced signal (low noise), it has twice the voltage swing of the standard SPDIF (BNC) type connections which the digital receiving devices really seem to like  

Both the BNC and the AES connections are transformer coupled to optimize impedance matching (digital signals operate at very high frequencies so impedance matching is important to prevent signal reflection issues) so use a 75 ohm BCN cable and 110 ohm AES EBU cable. (They are available from us online if you have any trouble finding them).

i will be very interested in your comments once you get the system up and running.  Did you do the audition in your home or at a dealer?

james

[Alpha10]

Hi Alpha 1

I would recommend the AES EBU if you have both the BDA-1 DAC and the BDP-1 digital player. 

i will be very interested in your comments once you get the system up and running.  Did you do the audition in your home or at a dealer?

james

Brilliant James, just the info I was after 

I am lucky enough to have a dealer in UK who knows me well and allowed a home demo with my PMC speakers etc, which I personally believe is the only way...

Thanks
Alpha10

[Napalm]

Any digital technology where slight differences in the cables used to convey the digital signal produce end-result differences is defective by design.

Nap.

[alexone]

Brilliant James, just the info I was after 

I am lucky enough to have a dealer in UK who knows me well and allowed a home demo with my PMC speakers etc, which I personally believe is the only way...

Thanks

Alpha10

...to have a dealer who allows to make home demos with Bryston equipment...this my neverending dream!!!

al.

[James Tanner]

“There have been posted reports of SQ issues comparing thumbdrives verses USB-HD.”
Yes, unsubstantiated and unlikely to be indentified in a double blind test.

“The USB cable DIRECTLY connects the USB UD into the BDP-1. THE USB cable has POWER and SIGNAL (hence the ability to use cable powered drives). A poorly designed USB HD may cause noise issues when connected directly....so it becomes a crap shoot... you got lucky... someone else might not (hence my suggestion of some "certified" list of USB HD's)”
No not luck, good engineering by Bryston, uses galvanic isolation to separate the “computer element” from the “audio element” within the BDP-1. There will of course be exceptions that I am sure an engineer cannot foresee, but for the most part is covered. You have the choice of using a powered HDD or a USB powered HDD, whatever best fits your set-up. But, I agree that a list of Bryston certified HDDs (can be a very short list) would give better customer confidence and help to reduce the impact of misdirection by uninformed individuals.

“My comment re ethernet/SAMBA removed the USB connection from the equation. So the worst designed USB HD (or even PC) power supply for example,  when connected to the PC WONT cause SQ issues because the Ethernet cable essentially break any electicial ground etc between the BDP-1 and the remote PC/HD.”
I agree that implementing Samba in both directions would be a good thing (and have already publically stated and requested this), and only involves software. It would also serve to neutralise at least your and my differing opinions and provide the best of both Worlds with minimum man-hour cost and much improved flexibility.

So, James… three requests, two of which are purely software based:
1)   Implement an “index system” to improve the load times from power On, as previously requested.
2)   Implement Samba shares in both directions:
          a.   Accessing the BDP-1 connected HDD from PCs on the same network (already functioning)
          b.   Search and select/access Samba shares on the same network, this would include NAS, PCs etc. and would be no different from accessing directly connected USB HDDs.
3)   Develop a list of recommended self powered HDDs and bus powered HDDs to consider quiet physical and electrical operation and best performance with the BDP-1.

Regards

Russell

Hi Russell,

Some good suggestions - I will try and list a few of the USB HD and Thumb Drives I have used with good results.

james