[headshrinker2]

Has anybody in Bryston forum-land had the opportunity to compare BCD-1 vs. Oppo BDP-95 as a transport with BDA-1?

[mrhyfy]

sure seems like a waste to use an oppo 95 as just a transport!  I suspect the dac section in the oppo would equal the performance of the Bryston!!

[Phil A]

Not tried the BDP-95 but have a modded BDP-83 and a BDP-93 (which I moved for a bit from the secondary bedroom system).  I had the BCD-1 before the BDA-1 but did not have them together.  I think the Oppos make good transports.  However, I moved my Marantz DV9600 universal back up from the secondary basement system to the main system and use it was a CD transport.  I prefer it to the Oppos.

[Phil A]

sure seems like a waste to use an oppo 95 as just a transport!  I suspect the dac section in the oppo would equal the performance of the Bryston!!

As noted, I have not heard the BDP-95 in my system but I have a BDP-83 that has been modded with an all new analog out.  I did hear the BDP-95 at the Capital Audiofest.  I do think it is a nice player and an excellent jack of all trades.  I did own a BCD-1 before the BDA-1 and I doubt for CD the BDP-95 would do it for me personally as a CD player.  I thought it was decent from what I was able to hear at the Capital Audiofest and certainly worth its price as a CD player only.

[mrhyfy]

As noted, I have not heard the BDP-95 in my system but I have a BDP-83 that has been modded with an all new analog out.  I did hear the BDP-95 at the Capital Audiofest.  I do think it is a nice player and an excellent jack of all trades.  I did own a BCD-1 before the BDA-1 and I doubt for CD the BDP-95 would do it for me personally as a CD player.  I thought it was decent from what I was able to hear at the Capital Audiofest and certainly worth its price as a CD player only.

throw in sacd/dvd-a/blu-ray playback too!

[BrysTony]

throw in sacd/dvd-a/blu-ray playback too!

And wireless streaming of movies from the internet.  The OPPO BDP-1 is the Swiss Army knife of disc players. 

Tony

[Phil A]

throw in sacd/dvd-a/blu-ray playback too!

I totally agree - have nothing against Oppo.  I have a modded BDP-83 in the main system, a BDP-93 in the bedroom system and an old DV980H in the basement system.  I've also found that I prefer using an HDMI audio de-embedder (there's a very long thread in Hi-Rez Music Circle about taking Hi-Rez to your DAC) into my Bryston BDA-1 DAC.  I have the Port-ta (a company based in Hong Kong) box in the main system which makes the box for Monoprice (product ID 5557) and I have the Monoprice unit in the basement system into an Emotiva DAC.  I use an upgraded power supply for the de-embedder in the main system (anything that works with a Squeezebox Touch is fine with the unit and I'm using the Squeezebox Touch power supply on the basement de-embedder as it is better than what came with it.  I think it is a testament to how good the BDA-1 is. 

[Sasha]

I own Oppo BDP-95 and Bryston BDA-1, have owned BCD-1.
Oppo is a great universal player and I will certainly keep it for what it is, but it is nowhere near the performance of Bryston pieces, be that BCD-1 player or a good transport into BDA-1. Performance difference is as far apart as it can be, very clear and obvious.

[BrysTony]

The Oppo BDP-95 is featured on the cover of the September 2011 Stereophile magazine along with a short review.  The cover says "It plays everything and sounds great."  I think the point of the Oppo 95 is that is is a very versatile player and sounds great and it costs less than $1000.  Does it play rebook CDs better than a BCD-1 -- no but it is a great player.

Tony

[skunark]

I can't compare the sound between the Oppo Digital BDP-95 and Bryston's BCD-1, but I can say that the BCD-1 is much faster and easier to use with a CD.   

For CDs, I will say the Bryston's BDA-1 DAC with the Oppo BDP-95 as a transport seems a little sharper when compared to the XLR outputs of the BDP-95, but I wouldn't consider it a huge difference.    Bryston's BDP-1 still rules IMO for audio and the difference between the Bryston's BDP-1 and Oppo's BDP-95 is significantly greater than with the BDP-95 XLR outs vs BDP-95/BDA-1 combo.

[BrysTony]

...  Bryston's BDP-1 still rules IMO for audio and the difference between the Bryston's BDP-1 and Oppo's BDP-95 is significantly greater than with the BDP-95 XLR outs vs BDP-95/BDA-1 combo.

Totally agree that the Bryston BDP-1 rules. 

Tony

[headshrinker2]

Thanks for all the replies.  I recently acquired a S/H BCD-1 and thoroughly enjoy it.   In my original post, I wasn't wondering if the BCD-1 was a better CDP than Oppo.  I would certainly hope the BCD-1 would win that contest!

Rather, I was curious about how these machines compare when used as a transport through BDA-1. 

I like having a CDP in my system.  I look forward to auditioning the BDP/BDA combo sometime.. somewhere.  No more Bryston dealer in my area for demo. 

[Ron D]

I have an Oppo 95 and a BDA-1 (Bryston RCA-BNC cable feeds the DAC) and can toggle between the two and while there are differences, which to me are not huge in nature, I have found I can live with either for redbook cds. I bought the Oppo for dual duty (in my modest HT set-up for dvd/blu-ray) and as a SACD player in my 2 channel set-up. While I have less than 200 hours on the Oppo (many say it needs well in excess of 300 to open up - no flames here please) it does a very good job on redbook cds and IMHO plays well beyond its price point having owned both a Sony 5400ES and a Marantz SA-11S2...

[Daniel Datchev]

Hi,
I own both OPPO 95EU and Bryston BCD-1.
I don't dare to compare the two units as the reasons I've bought them is quite different.
Bryston BCD-1 was bought 4 years ago to replace NAD C542, and OPPO 95EU has replaced my old
Pioneer DVD player to accommodate the new video formats as blu-ray, media files as MKV and so on.
Both are connected via XLR cables to Bryston BP20.
As I believe in Bryston, I take the superiority of BCD-1 for granted.
Daniel