[redbook]

  Computer based systems have absolutely no appeal to me. I come from a generation that loves to" put on a record" when listening to music. Having an even finer player than my bc-1 from Bryston remains a hope and a thrill to me. As it has been mentioned earlier,not everyone is computer savvy enough to bother with the complexities of computers and just want a really good record player (whether digital or analogue) .

[redbook]

That would depend on the CD player, of course. I've certainly heard some that do. Also, others which do not.

Now... about that word "neanderthal" which is starting to get tossed around in this thread :

The convenience aspect of going to a computer-based system has obvious appeal providing that you are willing and able to deal with keeping it up and running but I also know people who have gone back to CD players from computer-based audio systems and enjoyed an improvement in sound. Are these people "neanderthals" ? Or are they more high-evolved audiophiles who are unwilling to trade ultimate sound quality for convenience ? It's all a matter of perspective, priority and opinion. Throwing around words which are obviously inflammatory and potentially insulting does not make the computer-audio set sound more evolved than the people here who have chosen a different path, but it certainly makes them sound kinda elitist.   Very well said......

The fact that our host is re-considering Bryston's relatively recent exit from the CD-player market should inform some people here that they may not necessarily be adhering to the One True Faith after all so let's respect each other's views here, shall we?

D.D.

[rmurray]

  James , I hope you can still go with the new player. Not much else has interested me in audio other than the possibility of a another preamp (BP27)   . My money is going for the BCD2x  even though that may make me a neanderthal. .

[95Dyna]

That would depend on the CD player, of course. I've certainly heard some that do. Also, others which do not.

Now... about that word "neanderthal" which is starting to get tossed around in this thread :

The convenience aspect of going to a computer-based system has obvious appeal providing that you are willing and able to deal with keeping it up and running but I also know people who have gone back to CD players from computer-based audio systems and enjoyed an improvement in sound. Are these people "neanderthals" ? Or are they more high-evolved audiophiles who are unwilling to trade ultimate sound quality for convenience ? It's all a matter of perspective, priority and opinion. Throwing around words which are obviously inflammatory and potentially insulting does not make the computer-audio set sound more evolved than the people here who have chosen a different path, but it certainly makes them sound kinda elitist.

The fact that our host is re-considering Bryston's relatively recent exit from the CD-player market should inform some people here that they may not necessarily be adhering to the One True Faith after all so let's respect each other's views here, shall we?

D.D.

+1 Diamond Dog. I agree with you 99%.  Posters here as well as anywhere else who find it necessary to support their way of thinking using inflammatory modifiers sound juvenile to me and not elitist.  Invariably this rhetoric throws an otherwise spirited thread off the track.

[PRELUDE]

The way that we all enjoy to listen to music has been changed a lot and continues to change.
Some lived short and some lived longer. But if manufactures do not cut corners to make the red book CDs and do it right, we would not be here today to look for different solution as the source material like HI-RES or SACD.
Perhaps, the red book CDs could be the audiophiles best friend ever.

[mav52]

+1 Diamond Dog. I agree with you 99%.  Posters here as well as anywhere else who find it necessary to support their way of thinking using inflammatory modifiers sound juvenile to me and not elitist.  Invariably this rhetoric throws an otherwise spirited thread off the track.

+2 Diamond Dog

I guess I'm older than dirt as I still enjoy my vinyl but the key it's about the music not what you listen to it on.  You can do redbook right, vinyl right and hi-rez right but you can also do each wrong with poor equipment and poor material ( be it poorly recorded; LP's, downloads and CD's)

Whatever James ends up doing, I know he will do it right...

[bjski]

+2 Diamond Dog

I guess I'm older than dirt as I still enjoy my vinyl but the key it's about the music not what you listen to it on.  You can do redbook right, vinyl right and hi-rez right but you can also do each wrong with poor equipment and poor material ( be it poorly recorded; LP's, downloads and CD's)

Whatever James ends up doing, I know he will do it right...

[bjski]

+3

[1ZIP]

Bryston has asked for feedback on the resumption of BCD production. It would be interesting to hear from Bryston why they are struggling with the decision.   Has the computer approach so supplanted the CD player that the short and long tern financials for Red Book don't make sense?  Is it an optics problem, in that Bryston does not want to be seen as anything less that forward looking and cutting edge when it comes to music reproduction?  We were told when the BCD was discontinued that is was because of the availability of the drives.  I don't think it unreasonable  to assume that the BCD would still be in production had the drive issue not arisen.  If that is the case and a market still exists for an excellent reasonably priced CD player, then the decision seems fairly straight forward. 

As for me I want an additional CD player, I prefer it to be a BCD-X.  However, I'll buy what's on the market.  With regard to the BCD vs BDP, I have heard both in the same system and yes there is a difference, but not enough to drive me to a BDP.  Personal preferences aside the computer approach simply does not make sense for me.  I'm sure that is true for many of use.  Why can you not produce both?

[Phil A]

I think it is a good thing that Bryston is soliciting feedback from potential customers.  It's not really hard to figure out why the decision is a struggle.  Sales of physical CDs are rapidly shrinking - http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/5901188/cd-album-sales-fall-behind-album-downloads-is-2014-the  and have been for some time.  This trend will likely continue as CD players are disappearing from vehicles:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/08/04/cd-players-cars-disappear/2601827/
http://www.edmunds.com/car-technology/the-car-cd-player-deathwatch.html
http://www.autotrader.com/research/article/car-reviews/225860/buying-a-car-disappearing-car-features.jsp

Noted in the above links - "For example, CD players may soon be a thing of the past. Thanks to music downloading and Bluetooth streaming audio, CDs are ready to enter the technology museum. Of the cars available in 2014, it's becoming harder to find CD players as standard equipment. As an example, the 2014 Chevrolet Sonic doesn't even list one as an option."

I've noted earlier, I understand why some prefer the simplicity and ease of plopping in a disc for various reasons.  I was not an early adopter of digital.  However, at this point to me personally a plain old CD player is not something I'd even consider in any of my spare systems.  When I started not using the CD players in the vehicles (and I have a bunch of CD-Rs I made so that I would not have to leave my precious music in a harsh environment), I finally started looking at options for digitizing my music (and have a little bit to go).  Yes, it was a huge pain to me at first but now I could never go back.  I even have my DSD files ripped and continue to rip them as I buy new music.

[Diamond Dog]

Phil, that's all terrific information and it's apparent that you see yourself in the vanguard, heading towards a brave new age. Fine and dandy.
That being said, the fact remains that this is a thread about CD players, not about your apparent aversion to them. There are still bazillions of CD's around, they are still the leading physical media by a huge margin and people here are interested in Bryston potentially making another unit to play them. It really doesn't concern you, based on the positions you've repeatedly put forward and that's fine, too. But the thread is about CD players. What's with the thread-crapping? You can't spin an LP in a car either. Why don't you go over to the Vinyl Circle and see how far you get with your argument there?

Can we please stay focused on the topic?

James, is your thought to use the same DAC chip that you're using in the BDA-2 if you move forward with this project?

D.D.

[Phil A]

I have no aversion to CD players (attacking my view will not change the facts - I am fine with any other opinions and could care less). My only point relates to the reality that CD sales vs. digital downloads and streaming services have not been doing well.  Auto manufacturers are already getting rid of CD players which can only mean that that the demand for discs vs. those other forms of music will decline more rapidly. As the demand for CD discs decline, this can lead to other actions from record labels.  For those that think there will be no changes (which is the point of the survey), it is not going to happen that way.  High end stand alone CD players have already been disappearing brand by brand for that reason.  Over time this likely will continue.

[Diamond Dog]

Phil, no-one is attacking your views - they're your views and you're entitled to them. You've made them abundantly clear in this thread. But the thread is about whether or not Bryston builds a new CD player, not about your conversion to computer-based audio and why you decided to do it and so on and so forth.
And some manufacturers are still introducing new "high-end" CD players. Others appear to be dipping a toe back into the water. I don't see this as a problem.

 If another CD is never pressed starting right this second, there are still going to be millions of CD's on the planet for decades and there will co-incidentally be people who want a machine to play them on for whatever reasons they have for doing it that way. I'm interested in finding out more about Bryston's views on this and what they're proposing. Are you?

D.D.

[Rod_S]

When comparing CD sales to digital download sales the discussion as it relates to a Bryston in my opinion is only with respect to either 16/44.1 or true high resolution digital downloads so we need to avoid the  generic use of "digital" as it includes the likes of MP3's, etc. i.e. horribly compressed files. The inclusion of such digital content dramatically skews what we are talking about here. I'm sure most sales figures of "digital downloads" would probably be in the 90%+ range of the highly compressed sort not the true red book CD variety or higher. We need to compare apples to apples as it were.

[Phil A]

Of course there will be all those CDs that people own in the their collections.  I still have LDs (only about 130 and two players but have not played them for quite some time - like 5 years).  The music industry has changed.  The Eagles marketed a CD through Wal-Mart only, many albums come with bonus tracks which are digital downloads and I'm sure we will see other variations.  That's why many players today are either universal, are music servers with a CD Recorder, have digital inputs, etc., as manufacturers are trying to figure out how to capture the most audiophile customers, which, I thought was the purpose of providing input on this thread.  I see nothing wrong with providing facts as to what is happening in the market and that it might be better to have a player that does more than CD discs or one format.  Others have expressed that opinion as well.

[Diamond Dog]

James, is your thought to use the same DAC chip that you're using in the BDA-2 if you move forward with this project?

D.D.

[James Tanner]

James, is your thought to use the same DAC chip that you're using in the BDA-2 if you move forward with this project?

D.D.

Yes we would use the new AKM DAC but at 44.1 16 Bit it would be under utilized of course.  It seems to me that most folks are looking for more than a basic CD Player - IE - USB in - COAX in - SACD etc.

Which makes it a completely different product than a standard CD Player.

I am wondering if a CD 'Transport ONLY' in combination with our DAC (2 units) makes more sense.  That way you have the benefit of both a redbook CD Player and a high resolution playback DAC?

james

[mav52]

I am wondering if a CD 'Transport ONLY' in combination with our DAC (2 units) makes more sense.  That way you have the benefit of both a redbook CD Player and a high resolution playback DAC?

james

 

Well, to me, NO..  too much stuff on the shelves.    A transport only means, the DAC I have (non Bryston) might not match up sonically to your "transport" if that's what your thinking.  A Bryston solution to me is a solid well built quality CD player that is contained within a single case.   

[1ZIP]

I am wondering if a CD 'Transport ONLY' in combination with our DAC (2 units) makes more sense.  That way you have the benefit of both a redbook CD Player and a high resolution playback DAC?

james

Not a marketing expert, but I would think that the broadest market would be for a stand alone player.

[Rod_S]

I am wondering if a CD 'Transport ONLY' in combination with our DAC (2 units) makes more sense.  That way you have the benefit of both a redbook CD Player and a high resolution playback DAC?

james

hmm, so when you say "...our DAC (2 units) ..." is that referring to the BDA-1 and BDA-2?

Also wouldn't a transport only be very similar to the upcoming BOT? What would be the difference?