BDA-3 DAC

James Tanner · « **Reply #520 on:** 27 Jun 2016, 11:02 pm »

HI Folks,

Coming July 1st - another review on Bryston BDA-3 DAC

james

nc42acc · « **Reply #521 on:** 28 Jun 2016, 10:25 pm »

BDA-3 In the house!!!!! Time to let it cook........It has made several treks across the US via FedEx so I have a well traveled DAC.

audio.bill · « **Reply #522 on:** 28 Jun 2016, 10:58 pm »

Glad you were able to acquire a BDA-3 DAC, and I hope you enjoy it for many years in the best of health!

nc42acc · « **Reply #523 on:** 28 Jun 2016, 11:26 pm »

Thank you Bill. Can anyone from Bryston say if they recommend the BDA-3 be left on continuously or powered off after listening.

NekoAudio · « **Reply #524 on:** 29 Jun 2016, 05:15 am »

Quote from: nc42acc on 28 Jun 2016, 11:26 pm

Thank you Bill. Can anyone from Bryston say if they recommend the BDA-3 be left on continuously or powered off after listening.

I let it go to standby myself.

nc42acc · « **Reply #525 on:** 30 Jun 2016, 11:24 pm »

So far very much worth the wait. I can now understand all the great reviews pouring in. I guess I can hear after all.

mresseguie · « **Reply #526 on:** 30 Jun 2016, 11:57 pm »

Quote from: nc42acc on 30 Jun 2016, 11:24 pm

So far very much worth the wait. I can now understand all the great reviews pouring in. I guess I can hear after all.

Hi, Marty.

My online search tells me the BDA-3 DAC sells for something like $3495. Do you feel it delivers so much more SQ that it justifies its price, and where does it rank compared to the other DACs you've recently tried?

Regards,

Michael

nc42acc · « **Reply #527 on:** 1 Jul 2016, 12:08 am »

My list of DACs in house is long..... My initial impression is the Bryston is the best of my collection. I really want to hear it compared to my friends Berkeley Reference. Also I want to take it to the next GTG for other members to hear. I think the Gustard is amazing for its price but it was shot down to the bottom by everyone at Rich's GTG. The Bryston pushes all my buttons on image layering, size and placement.

mav52 · « **Reply #528 on:** 1 Jul 2016, 12:22 am »

So Marty how does it compare to your also new T&A DAC8 DSD

nc42acc · « **Reply #529 on:** 1 Jul 2016, 12:24 am »

Give me a week so I can compare fairly. I don't want to jump to conclusions.

Quote from: mav52 on 1 Jul 2016, 12:22 am

So Marty how does it compare to your also new T&A DAC8 DSD

James Tanner · « **Reply #530 on:** 1 Jul 2016, 10:36 am »

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Soundstage Review - Bryston BDA-3 DAC

Please see link below - Soundstage Magazine review of the Bryston BDA-3 DAC.

http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/977-bryston-bda-3-digital-to-analog-converter

Favourite Quote:

“The BDA-2, it’s a highly accomplished DAC that can easily hold its own against far more expensive competition. The most full-featured DAC I’ve encountered, it offers myriad connections for just about any digital source you might have. With four HDMI inputs and the ability to play recordings of almost any resolution,

Bryston’s top DAC model distinguishes itself from its competition. And there are converters at multiples of the BDA-3’s price that don’t come close to it in terms of flexibility. But more important than any of that, the BDA-3 sounds transparent and resolving, always remaining faithful to the signal it’s fed.”

Philip Beaudette
Soundstage

Bones13 · « **Reply #531 on:** 6 Jul 2016, 12:20 am »

i have loved my BDA-3 for several months now. This past weekend it started powering off after a short period. I can turn it on, activate the USB, play for 15-45 seconds, and it turns back off. I have unplugged it for short periods, with no help.

Even when off it shows up on the network, and shows no errors. Firmware is the April .bin file.

I have tried 2 USB sources now with similar results.

Any suggestions before I seek official help? I really don't want to send it back in.

Edit. It does not "turn off", but rather goes to standby. I unplugged it for a day. It ran fine for about 30 minutes before starting to go to standby after 20-30 seconds. Looking at the unit on the network, the temp reports 29.6, and holds there.

James Tanner · « **Reply #532 on:** 8 Jul 2016, 10:58 am »

Quote from: Bones13 on 6 Jul 2016, 12:20 am

i have loved my BDA-3 for several months now. This past weekend it started powering off after a short period. I can turn it on, activate the USB, play for 15-45 seconds, and it turns back off. I have unplugged it for short periods, with no help.

Even when off it shows up on the network, and shows no errors. Firmware is the April .bin file.

I have tried 2 USB sources now with similar results.

Any suggestions before I seek official help? I really don't want to send it back in.

Edit. It does not "turn off", but rather goes to standby. I unplugged it for a day. It ran fine for about 30 minutes before starting to go to standby after 20-30 seconds. Looking at the unit on the network, the temp reports 29.6, and holds there.

Hi

Email Mike and see if he can help. mpickett@bryston.com

james

Bones13 · « **Reply #533 on:** 8 Jul 2016, 09:47 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 8 Jul 2016, 10:58 am

Hi

Email Mike and see if he can help. mpickett@bryston.com

james

Will do, thanks.

James Tanner · « **Reply #534 on:** 12 Jul 2016, 10:30 am »

Hi Folks,

Sneak peak - new review on the Bryston BDP-2 Player and BDA-3 DAC combo coming soon:

"The Bryston BDP-2 digital file and network player used in tandem with the BDA-3 DAC is the best digital front end I have had in my system.

The versatility, build, ease of setup, and sound quality are unrivalled in my experience at least."

Andre Marc

James Tanner · « **Reply #535 on:** 15 Jul 2016, 08:33 pm »

http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-media-servers/music-servers/bryston-bdp-2-server-and-bda-3-dac-review.html

Bones13 · « **Reply #536 on:** 5 Aug 2016, 08:13 pm »

I want to give a shout out to James and Adam. After some initial emailing about my unit I sent it in to Bryston. Adam Tanner (senior technician) called me today, saying that my unit was perfect (always what you want to hear when you mail something in...) He did put me onto the real trouble though, a faulty outbound XLR balanced cable. I have swapped back to my previous DAC, and it was playing well, until the past week or so, when the right channel began playing at about 20% of volume compared to the left, an issue I had seen before in my system. Enough that I retubed my old DAC (with no effect). Today, I swapped to different sets of interconnects, one set RCA, and a second XLR set, fully correcting my faulty right channel issue. Although I cannot prove a fault with my multimeter, I clearly won't be using those cables again. As the terminations are not removable, they are not repairable.

Kudo's to Adam for figuring out that my faulty cable would cause the BDA-3 to go into standby. I of course would have never factored a factory made XLR cable to be the issue. My homebrew stuff - of course, and usually.

I look forward to getting my BDA-3 back and moving on with my audio journey.

Thanks again Adam and James! It will be a great weekend, having debugged a big issue in my system, that was touching many areas.

Quote from: Bones13 on 6 Jul 2016, 12:20 am

i have loved my BDA-3 for several months now. This past weekend it started powering off after a short period. I can turn it on, activate the USB, play for 15-45 seconds, and it turns back off. I have unplugged it for short periods, with no help.

Even when off it shows up on the network, and shows no errors. Firmware is the April .bin file.

I have tried 2 USB sources now with similar results.

Any suggestions before I seek official help? I really don't want to send it back in.

Edit. It does not "turn off", but rather goes to standby. I unplugged it for a day. It ran fine for about 30 minutes before starting to go to standby after 20-30 seconds. Looking at the unit on the network, the temp reports 29.6, and holds there.

audio.bill · « **Reply #537 on:** 5 Aug 2016, 10:32 pm »

Sorry to hear about the issue you experienced but glad that you found the source of the problem. That's quite a testament to the design and build quality of the BDA-3, that it would go into standby mode to protect itself from possible damage due to a faulty interconnect cable!

lamechops · « **Reply #538 on:** 7 Aug 2016, 03:25 pm »

Hi there, I just purchased the BDA-3 and its a wonderful DAC! Loving it so much now. But I have an issue currently. When I opened my Jriver, I couldnt find "Bryston BDA-3 (ASIO)". i only have Bryston BDA-3 (WASAPI) & Bryston BDA-3 (Direct Sound).

Anyone knows why?

srb · « **Reply #539 on:** 7 Aug 2016, 04:02 pm »

Quote from: lamechops on 7 Aug 2016, 03:25 pm

When I opened my Jriver, I couldnt find "Bryston BDA-3 (ASIO)". i only have Bryston BDA-3 (WASAPI) & Bryston BDA-3 (Direct Sound). Anyone knows why?

If you had any existing USB Audio / ASIO drivers they may need to first be uninstalled for the Bryston drivers to properly install.

Steve