BDA-3 DAC

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mikaell

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1140 on: 6 Jan 2019, 11:04 pm »
Hi

I do not think the source power supply would affect how the BDA-3 handles the incoming signal unless the power supply was wholly inadequate.

james

Thanks James! 

How about the reclocker, does it help with the BDA-3 ? As a broad question, not just for the SoTM. - Do reclockers on the USB signal path to the BDA help in any way / change the sound in any way or not?

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1141 on: 6 Jan 2019, 11:16 pm »
Thanks James! 

How about the reclocker, does it help with the BDA-3 ? As a broad question, not just for the SoTM. - Do reclockers on the USB signal path to the BDA help in any way / change the sound in any way or not?

Hi,

I can not see how it could improve things.

James

BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1142 on: 9 Jan 2019, 09:30 pm »
Hi,

I can not see how it could improve things.

James

What about a unit that reduced Jitter like the one I posted James?

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1143 on: 9 Jan 2019, 10:21 pm »
Hi

If you look at the reviews on the BDA3 the jitter is unmeasurable with even the best test gear.

I am not a fan of passing signals through extraneous devices when not necessary.

James

zoom25

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1144 on: 9 Jan 2019, 10:54 pm »
Hi

If you look at the reviews on the BDA3 the jitter is unmeasurable with even the best test gear.

I am not a fan of passing signals through extraneous devices when not necessary.

James

James, in your experience with the BDA-3, does it sound the same when playing the same bit-perfect file from say Macbook Pro/iMac (USB) vs. the USB out from BDP-3, or even the AES from BDP-3. Is there still a difference (big/subtle/very subtle/non-existant) between the inputs (AES vs. USB) and does the same input sound different depending on the source (USB via laptop vs. BDP-3)?

Thanks!

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1145 on: 10 Jan 2019, 02:09 am »
James, in your experience with the BDA-3, does it sound the same when playing the same bit-perfect file from say Macbook Pro/iMac (USB) vs. the USB out from BDP-3, or even the AES from BDP-3. Is there still a difference (big/subtle/very subtle/non-existant) between the inputs (AES vs. USB) and does the same input sound different depending on the source (USB via laptop vs. BDP-3)?

Thanks!

Hi

Yes I think the BDP still has the upper hand when it comes digital playback over all in one computers. 

I prefer USB and use it at all the shows - AES is a close second and sometimes I get confused when doing A/B's between the 2.

james

BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1146 on: 10 Jan 2019, 08:22 pm »
Hi

If you look at the reviews on the BDA3 the jitter is unmeasurable with even the best test gear.

I am not a fan of passing signals through extraneous devices when not necessary.

James

Thanks for your reply James.

gbaby

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1147 on: 10 Jan 2019, 10:10 pm »
Hi
 

I prefer USB and use it at all the shows - AES is a close second and sometimes I get confused when doing A/B's between the 2.

james

You too. :lol:

mikaell

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1148 on: 11 Jan 2019, 12:20 pm »
Hi

Yes I think the BDP still has the upper hand when it comes digital playback over all in one computers. 

I prefer USB and use it at all the shows - AES is a close second and sometimes I get confused when doing A/B's between the 2.

james

Hi James,

I understand the differences between the electrical constructions and power considerations, however, if the BDA-3 already re-clocks all signal and ignores the usb power (if i understand this correctly), how exactly is the BDP (or any other high quality player) superior to a computer? Could you please elaborate a bit on this?

As a side note: I use a headless (only Roon installed) Mac Mini as a player. When I connect my projector to the Mac Mini which is connected via USB to the BDA-3, there is a lot of very audible noise from coming from the BDA. So I guess noise from improperly shielded or built devices can get through - my question above is aside from these things or the playback software, convenience aspect, etc...

Thank you!

mcochran

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1149 on: 11 Jan 2019, 10:32 pm »
Hi, anyone using Channel D's Pure Music with the BDA-3?  My current set up for playing digital files is a MacMini to an Oppo BDP 105 via USB.  Thanks, Mike

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1150 on: 12 Jan 2019, 02:12 pm »
Hi James,

I understand the differences between the electrical constructions and power considerations, however, if the BDA-3 already re-clocks all signal and ignores the usb power (if i understand this correctly), how exactly is the BDP (or any other high quality player) superior to a computer? Could you please elaborate a bit on this?

As a side note: I use a headless (only Roon installed) Mac Mini as a player. When I connect my projector to the Mac Mini which is connected via USB to the BDA-3, there is a lot of very audible noise from coming from the BDA. So I guess noise from improperly shielded or built devices can get through - my question above is aside from these things or the playback software, convenience aspect, etc...

Thank you!

Hi

Yes I think noise is the issue even though the signal is reclocked and resampled by the DAC.

The BDP-3 Digital player is really an optimized computer for digital music playback including all the things you mentioned like proper power supply and circuit layout to reduce noise etc.  The thing with generic computers is we have found there are a lot of processes going on in the background that you are just not aware of that can affect performance - Widows KMIXER is an example.

I would say though that an educated computer person could certainly setup their MAC or Windows computer to emulate what the BDP-3 does.  I see the BDP-3 as a way for our customers not to have to bother with the complexities of normal computers.

james
« Last Edit: 12 Jan 2019, 05:08 pm by James Tanner »

mikaell

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1151 on: 12 Jan 2019, 05:37 pm »
Yes I think noise is the issue even though the signal is reclocked and resampled by the DAC.

The BDP-3 Digital player is really an optimized computer for digital music playback including all the things you mentioned like proper power supply and circuit layout to reduce noise etc.  The thing with generic computers is we have found there are a lot of processes going on in the background that you are just not aware of that can affect performance - Widows KMIXER is an example.

I would say though that an educated computer person could certainly setup their MAC or Windows computer to emulate what the BDP-3 does.  I see the BDP-3 as a way for our customers not to have to bother with the complexities of normal computers.

James,
Thank you for taking the time and answer all these questions!

alexone

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1152 on: 17 Jan 2019, 04:09 am »
Can the BDA3 be upgraded if a new HDMI standard is defined??

al.

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1153 on: 17 Jan 2019, 12:04 pm »
Can the BDA3 be upgraded if a new HDMI standard is defined??

al.

I would assume so but too early to tell.

james

R. Daneel

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1154 on: 19 Jan 2019, 09:26 pm »
Hi

Yes I think noise is the issue even though the signal is reclocked and resampled by the DAC.

The BDP-3 Digital player is really an optimized computer for digital music playback including all the things you mentioned like proper power supply and circuit layout to reduce noise etc.  The thing with generic computers is we have found there are a lot of processes going on in the background that you are just not aware of that can affect performance - Widows KMIXER is an example.

I would say though that an educated computer person could certainly setup their MAC or Windows computer to emulate what the BDP-3 does.  I see the BDP-3 as a way for our customers not to have to bother with the complexities of normal computers.

james

Hi James!

That's a very honest reply!

However, I must be honest too and say I spent a lot of money getting my PC to a point where I'd be satisfied with it performing as a dedicated music platform. This was prior to buying a BDP-1. After buying the BDP-1 and listening to it for a few months I went back to the computer and realized music coming from the BDP-1 sounded less strained. In essence, I realized all the money I spent on that PC was in vain.

Sadly, even if you buy a specialized power supply with passive cooling,  specialzed cooling system for the CPU that makes no noise, select all the hardware components for minmial electromagnetic interference and have all the software installed by a certified Microsoft professional (fortunately, a friend on mine did all the software work), it will still not sound as good. You might get 90% of the BDP-1/2 performance but you won't really get all the way there.

In the end, it depends on how much you're willing to spend. Advantages of a PC are expandability even though you're still have to deal with software and potential problems with it not performing it's best and there could be a thousand reasons for that. Every time Microsof issues an update, it is automatically installed onto the system and this usually causes some problem. Not always, but it does happen frequently.

BDP-1/2 don't suffer from these problems but it does cost more. I now own a BDP-2 even though there were really zero improvements over the BDP-1 in terms of audio quality. The reasons for upgrading were rather pragmatic and again - software related. The BDP-1 just couldn't handle my home network without interrupting the playback.

As always, it's horses for courses.

Cheers!
Antun

Gumby

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1155 on: 5 Feb 2019, 03:04 pm »
Hi James,

If Streaming will be the main Music Source, is the BDP-Pi the right partner for the BDA-3? 

Gumby

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1156 on: 5 Feb 2019, 03:41 pm »
Hi James,

If Streaming will be the main Music Source, is the BDP-Pi the right partner for the BDA-3? 

Gumby

Hi Gumby

If streaming yes the Pi should work well.  The BDP-3 would give you more connection flexibility but unless you have multiple sources the Pi should be fine.

james

James Tanner

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1157 on: 5 Feb 2019, 05:19 pm »



BSC

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1158 on: 11 Feb 2019, 07:09 pm »
James I've just bought a streamer forgetting my BDA-3 only has one Coax input-would there be any downside using an adaptor from Coax to BNC?

gbaby

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Re: BDA-3 DAC
« Reply #1159 on: 11 Feb 2019, 10:19 pm »
James I've just bought a streamer forgetting my BDA-3 only has one Coax input-would there be any downside using an adaptor from Coax to BNC?

As far as I can tell, no.