[The Audio Agency]

There is no denying that nowadays Cd's are finally being recorded with 'digital care' or audiophile ears, and the remasters are 'as good as it gets' or first-rate considering 'that period in time'.

Digital files are convenient and fast, yet nothing can match the pleasure of walking to a CD collection, reflecting years of passion, then considering which musical mood to select, maybe deciding to audition the lesser known cut, or let it all play, then selecting the physical CD disk to be hand inserted into a magnificent musical Bryston CD player, feeding pure music to the audio chain ... A transcendent state in which self is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Brysthism   

[Ilkatze]

Add me in as yet another "load and play" person.  I'm comfortable with computer stuff, but needing to have my network/computer/non-audio-centric device running just to hear music is not my preferred cup of tea.

[rmurray]

There is no denying that nowadays Cd's are finally being recorded with 'digital care' or audiophile ears, and the remasters are 'as good as it gets' or first-rate considering 'that period in time'.

Digital files are convenient and fast, yet nothing can match the pleasure of walking to a CD collection, reflecting years of passion, then considering which musical mood to select, maybe deciding to audition the lesser known cut, or let it all play, then selecting the physical CD disk to be hand inserted into a magnificent musical Bryston CD player, feeding pure music to the audio chain ... A transcendent state in which self is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Brysthism   

  So poetically expressed, I fully agree......and yes  , I'm a load and play type of audiophile too.

[EJS73]

My two sources are a CD player and a BDP2. As my CD collection started growing out of hand and a few discs started aging symptoms, the peace of mind offered by having the ability to play high quality files from USB started to appeal. Still running both side by side and even though the BDP gets more and more of the airtime, CD continues to be a main source.

[alexone]

There is no denying that nowadays Cd's are finally being recorded with 'digital care' or audiophile ears, and the remasters are 'as good as it gets' or first-rate considering 'that period in time'.

Digital files are convenient and fast, yet nothing can match the pleasure of walking to a CD collection, reflecting years of passion, then considering which musical mood to select, maybe deciding to audition the lesser known cut, or let it all play, then selecting the physical CD disk to be hand inserted into a magnificent musical Bryston CD player, feeding pure music to the audio chain ... A transcendent state in which self is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Brysthism   

...nice

al.

[alexone]

Maybe the BDP display?

james

yes, the BDP display should be ok and i guess the reason why you would want to choose either the SP3 or BDP display is to keep the costs down, right?!? but in general i think that most of the customers would want 'better sized' displays for gear like the 'new' BCD, BOT and BDP??

al.

[So There]

Yes, James, the BDP display is a reasonable size for the BCD-X, but could scrolling be enabled? It can be difficult to discern album and track titles on my BDP-2 (especially for classical works), since the display characters are limited. (As an aside, can scrolling be enabled on the BDP series?)

I hope this project (and the BOT 1) comes to fruition. I have my order ready: black with blue display.

Cheerio

Rich
________________
Whiney Napa Valley

The means — Bryston SP3 | Bryston 6B-SST(C) - L/C/R; 4B-SST(C) - surrounds; 4B-SST(C) - rears | Bryston BDP-2 Digital Player; BDA-2 D/A Converter; Oppo BDP-105 | Paradigm Reference Signature S8 fronts; C5 center; ADP surrounds; S4 rears; two Velodyne DD15 subs | APC S20 | Pioneer Elite PRO-1130

[R. Daneel]

James, just so you know that CD in Europe still seems to be the popular medium, there are a number of manufactures that make CD players and I am not aware of a British manufacturer that does not have at least one player in their portfolio. I will name but a few of them:

Audiolab - 2 players
Arcam - 2 players
Cambridge - 4 players
Creek - 2 players
Cyrus - 3 players
Exposure - 4 players
Musical fidelity - 3 players
Myryad - 2 players
Naim - 4 players

This includes only CD players. CD transports, all-in-one systems and multi-format players are not included because the list would be too long.

Japanese manufacturers like Denon, Onkyo, Marantz and Pioneer seem to be quite happy with CD players and each of them makes at least 3 models. Just last year Pioneer introduced a new line of affordable SACD players consisting of 3 models.

In other words, the situation hasn't changed much in last decade and the manufacturers that had 3 or 4 CD players in their product line still have 3 or 4 players to offer.

Cheers!
Antun

[Samurai7595]

I am not aware of a British manufacturer that does not have at least one player in their portfolio.
Cheers!
Antun

Linn no longer builds CD players and have heavily invested in their Digital Streamer (DS) players.

http://www.audiophilia.com/wp/?p=3570

[redbook]

  I thought that Naim was still making CD players ............  oh crap sorry  , I just saw Naim on your list ( first day with the new brain lol)
  ......long live CD 

[Phil A]

James, just so you know that CD in Europe still seems to be the popular medium, there are a number of manufactures that make CD players and I am not aware of a British manufacturer that does not have at least one player in their portfolio. I will name but a few of them:

Audiolab - 2 players
Arcam - 2 players
Cambridge - 4 players
Creek - 2 players
Cyrus - 3 players
Exposure - 4 players
Musical fidelity - 3 players
Myryad - 2 players
Naim - 4 players

This includes only CD players. CD transports, all-in-one systems and multi-format players are not included because the list would be too long.

Japanese manufacturers like Denon, Onkyo, Marantz and Pioneer seem to be quite happy with CD players and each of them makes at least 3 models. Just last year Pioneer introduced a new line of affordable SACD players consisting of 3 models.

In other words, the situation hasn't changed much in last decade and the manufacturers that had 3 or 4 CD players in their product line still have 3 or 4 players to offer.

Cheers!
Antun

Some of that is a drop misleading.  Musical Fidelity for example lists 2 players on their website.  One is a DAC with a CD player.  The other CD player has digital inputs.  While I could miss something, Arcam's site shows no CD players - http://www.arcam.co.uk/products,cd-players,CD-Players,cd17.htm.  They do show a Blu-Ray player.  I did not take an extensive look at Cambridge Audio (or other sites) but it appears their flagship player has digital inputs.  Creek also has a player with digital inputs - http://www.creekaudio.com/cd-players/evolution-50cd/     It seems to be the trend for (many but not all) higher end CD players to have more than just a CD players. As noted in the above post some of the mass market companies still offer CD, however, that being said, many are real entry level players such as - http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/model.php?m=C-7030&class=Compact%20Disc&source=prodClass.  As noted in the prior post Linn abandoned CD several years ago (and they had a $20k CD player in the line).  They have been doing streamers and technology for others to use in streamers like the Auralic Aries.

[Phil A]

  I thought that Naim was still making CD players    oh sorry  , I just saw Naim on your list ......long live CD 

Yes - do believe Naim makes CD players and nice high end ones.  As I noted in my prior post there are some high end companies making them

[redbook]

  James that should let you know that doing a new player has merit .

[Phil A]

The expensive Naim CD player has been around for about 3 years.  Here is a review - http://www.naimaudio.com/sites/default/files/products/reviews/files/cd555_audiophile_germany_jan2011.pdf

[RDavidson]

Something worth noting (again) is that all those companies listed are Europe based. I think someone here (or maybe I read it elsewhere) mentioned that playback of hi-res files is not as popular there as in the US and Canada. I think the list is perhaps indicative of this. I may be wrong, but I think Bryston has a larger presence in the US and certainly Canada than in Europe. Maybe the goal of the new player should be to accommodate both the North American market (who are into streaming, ripping, downloading as well as playing CD) as well as the European market (who are more interested in just CD playback, but might use the player as a gateway to streaming, ripping, downloading etc.). Maybe the player should be module based, like some of Bryston's other components is the answer.

[Phil A]

Yes it probably is true that most of the companies listed are bigger in Europe.  There is nothing wrong with the ease/simplicity of playing a CD (and it makes it very easy if there are multiple people in the household using it).  However, the market has been steadily moving away from physical media for some time.  At one point (many moons ago) I had an expensive (Proceed) DVD transport which was also a great CD transport which I used with a DAC.  For consumer audio/video playback, one does not see expensive DVD players at this point.  In fact, except for portable players and really cheap DVD players, I have not seen a DVD player (vs. a Blu-Ray player) in a store in ages.  There are those who mentioned they bought or wish they bought a spare BCD-1, and, while that may at first glance sound over the top, it may not be such a terrible idea.  I'd imagine over time dedicated CD transport will likely become a rarer commodity than they are today.  That is one of the things (besides higher resolution audio) that finally pushed me to go to file based playback.  I sold the BCD-1 about the time James indicated the they have spare drives, but the drive is not longer made.  I got the BCD-1 when it first came out (I think it was serial number 98) and had it perhaps 3 years.  Often a drive manufacturer will only make a drive for short period of time (e.g. 7 years).  By the time the drive gets to market and then a high end company makes a decision to make a dedicated CD player and starts making units, it is a very short window that the drive is available.  The life of digital circuits is one reason Bryston changed their warranty policy about 8 years ago.  It's just a fact of life.  Now that I have file playback capability and definitely over 25,000 songs between all my media (and I still have to burn some discs) to me a CD only player is of no value as is expensive transports no matter how many formats they play.  Burning CDs only was a snap with dbpoweramp.

[drummermitchell]

Very pleased my Oppo 83SE and 95 have been working flawless for yrs.
I like digital file players for the convenience but that is it,especially when things go wrong(and they do).
Have had one for about a year and its hard to enjoy it as you fear WTF is going to happen next.
If I wasn't used to the convenience I would have been just as happy with the BCD-1.
Really surprised at these NO MOVING PART digital players and yet they have tons of problems and a lot are more techy type  hands on solvable problems,nothing the consumer can do.
I've yet to  hear of a digital file player that is less prone to problems than a cdp or bluray player.
Have had all three and the Oppo's for NO down time are over the top and I'm sure there are more.
Less moving parts,who cares, if it doesn't play,I sure don't as my Turntable is more dependable .

[R. Daneel]

Yes, all the companies I mentioned are European though some of them make their equipment overseas. But like I said, Japanese make brands make CD players as well.

I don't think my list is made irrelevant by the fact some of these players offer digital inputs. Those are the signs of our times but not exactly necessary and this is obvious for 2 reasons:

1. there are more companies that offer their CD players without digital inputs and
2. Naim, a brand directly comparable to Bryston in terms of pedigree and breeding (just very different in sound) doesn't even offer digital outputs on their players, confident in that their DACs are more than good enough

Bryston must have a good supply of electrical components for the BCD-1. I mean, they need to considering their extremely generous guarantees. Using a different optical drive and D/A chip might not involve significant investments in terms of research because they already built a strong foundation with the BCD-1. At least in my opinion.

Precisely for this reason, if Bryston wants to make a new CD player, then I completely endorse them! Making a CD player today is a bold move for companies of this size and should be welcomed with praise, not critique.

Some still quite appreciate the physical "relationship" with their music.

Cheers!
Antun

[Rod_S]

If you have DSD files, the Oppo 103 can also supposedly do multi-channel DSD from an attached hard drive.  I've tried 2-channel with no problem and I have a bunch of multi-channel files too but have not gotten around to try them.  So I plan to use it for multi-channel DSD on the Opp and try playing a file at some point (I just put the hard drives on last week).

Here is some additional info.  Oppo provides great support with their firmware updates.  That is one reason it is a good platform for those that want to do more than CD:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/news-flash-oppo-now-plays-dsd-files
https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-103/blu-ray-BDP-10x-Firmware.aspx

Thanks for the additional info

[bjski]

James,
How long before we see the release of the BOT? With the release of the BOT I would no longer need to buy a new CD player. I purchased a BDP-2 recently and use it in the 2 channel system. I moved my BDP-1 to the home theater. I would move my BCD-1 to the home theater once the BOT is released.