[Norton]

As I understand it, the BOT1 will work with the BDP to:

1.allow CDs to be copied to and played from memory
2. rip and tag CDs to internal SSD, attached or network storage.

Can I get the same basic functions right now just by attaching a generic USB CD drive to my BDP2, or is there something more to the BOT1 (other than likely quality of course)?

[unincognito]

This is what was in the most recent firmware release

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE-OIYkt5v0&feature=youtu.be

There's nothing to special about the BOT-1, it is essentially a USB bluray burner in a box with bryston written across the front

Cheers,
Chris

[Norton]

Thanks Chris.  I'd got the idea that CDs were in effect copied into memory before playing, but it looks from a quick viewing of the video that playback is instantaneous?  Does this mean that CDs won't sound as good played in real time, compared with being ripped first?

[unincognito]

Thanks Chris.  I'd got the idea that CDs were in effect copied into memory before playing, but it looks from a quick viewing of the video that playback is instantaneous?  Does this mean that CDs won't sound as good played in real time, compared with being ripped first?

I guess I should reshoot the video to better explain, the songs on the cd are still being ripped into system memory before being played.  Instead of ripping the whole cd at once it just rips a few seconds at a time using cdparanoia, giving you lowest posible jitter.  It's actually a feature built into MPD, we just add some software to detect the drive, cd and create playlist and additional web stuff to make it easy to use, or that's the goal anyways.  We will see how easy it is next month when BOT's begin to ship 

Cheers

[Norton]

Thanks Chris

Off to buy a USB drive to try this out!

[R. Daneel]

Hi Chris!

If it's a blu-ray burner inside, does that mean it will be able to read DVDs burned with high-resolution FLAC files? With software updates perhaps?

Cheers!
Antun

[unincognito]

Perhaps, we have to be very selective about what we dump man hours into developing software features.  Basically we have software ready to go, its pretty stable from our testing; however i am expecting many changes will need to be made once more people start to use it.  Even software fixes are prioritized.

Cheers,
Chris

[R. Daneel]

Perhaps, we have to be very selective about what we dump man hours into developing software features.  Basically we have software ready to go, its pretty stable from our testing; however i am expecting many changes will need to be made once more people start to use it.  Even software fixes are prioritized.

Cheers,
Chris

Hi Chris!

In other words, you're buried with work and that is a good thing! 

I suspect many people will want high-res FLAC playback from the BOT-1. One simple reason is this - no blu-ray player will play high-res files stored on DVD without the TV screen turned on. For many people, this is really not acceptable or practical. Sure, they will play CDs but with DVDs, you need to navigate through menus and folders and it is not possible to do so without the TV screen. This was also one of the reason I got the BDP-1. It plays everything and has it's own interface onboard and requires no interaction with a computer whatsoever.

So I really do hope you add this feature!

Cheers!
Antun

[Norton]

Chris

I've hooked up a Plextor usb Blu Ray drive to my BDP-2, before deciding whether to splash out on a BOT.

First impressions are that it sounds very good and possibly just that bit sharper than the same music ripped on  USB stick or SMB share.  However, especially given the memory play feature, I still have a question as to how CD replay works and how it should be used.

When I load a CD into the drive it springs into action and, via my IPad, I can see the CD as a source and if I then add it to the playlist all tracks are shown.  However, I'm presuming that  no music  is read into memory until I choose to start replay ?  Also does the memory play feature treat each track as a standalone file, or try and read the whole CD into memory in order, i.e. should there be any time difference according to whether you choose to start replay from the first or third track on the CD?


At the moment though I am getting a very disconcerting thump through my speakers when first playing a CD and sometimes when changing track within a CD - any idea what's causing this?     I'm also presuming that the BDP will play the same file formats from CD/DVD as it can from USB stick, depending on the capabilities of the external drive?   

[Grit]

Hey Norton,

How loud is the Plextor drive? In my experience, most computer devices don't really put a premium on lack of noise.

I was thinking about adding a BOT-1 vs. a regular USB drive for just that reason.

Your experiences?

- Garrett

[Norton]

Hey Norton,

How loud is the Plextor drive? In my experience, most computer devices don't really put a premium on lack of noise.

I was thinking about adding a BOT-1 vs. a regular USB drive for just that reason.

Your experiences?

- Garrett

You've hit the nail on the head.  The Plextor is fairly noisy, but some way from my listening position, so not a big deal.  Just using it to try out the BDP's CD replay-while I think about getting a BOT-  sounds pretty good so far...

[Grit]

Thanks for the input. Glad you get to have it a way from your listening area. Makes for a great test!

[R. Daneel]

So, the BDP can be connected to an external DVD-ROM? Can you point me to the Plextor you are using?

Cheers!
Antun

[Norton]

So, the BDP can be connected to an external DVD-ROM? Can you point me to the Plextor you are using?

Cheers!
Antun

Hi I'm using this one: http://www.plextor-digital.com/index.php/en/External-Blu-ray/px-b120u.html

for no particular reason other than Plextor seem to have  a good name, although this is a much cheaper item than some of their previous drives.  I'm only using it to play RB CDs btw.

[unincognito]

Chris

I've hooked up a Plextor usb Blu Ray drive to my BDP-2, before deciding whether to splash out on a BOT.

First impressions are that it sounds very good and possibly just that bit sharper than the same music ripped on  USB stick or SMB share.  However, especially given the memory play feature, I still have a question as to how CD replay works and how it should be used.

When I load a CD into the drive it springs into action and, via my IPad, I can see the CD as a source and if I then add it to the playlist all tracks are shown.  However, I'm presuming that  no music  is read into memory until I choose to start replay ?  Also does the memory play feature treat each track as a standalone file, or try and read the whole CD into memory in order, i.e. should there be any time difference according to whether you choose to start replay from the first or third track on the CD?


At the moment though I am getting a very disconcerting thump through my speakers when first playing a CD and sometimes when changing track within a CD - any idea what's causing this?     I'm also presuming that the BDP will play the same file formats from CD/DVD as it can from USB stick, depending on the capabilities of the external drive?

Currently the playback feature is based on a feature built into MPD, the software responsible for maintaining the library and playback.  Music is never played directly played off the cd, but rather it uses cdparanoia to rip the track as its played.  Essentially only a few megabytes of system memory is used during playback and allows compatibility with the BDP-1, once played the music is dropped from system memory.  Because it is being played from system memory rather then directly off of the cd it should have the same low jitter rates as a ripped cd played from USB storage.  This method allows the BDP-1 to play the audio cd and allows the audio cd to be played within a few seconds of inserting the disc (i'd say 15 seconds at most).  All we have had to do at our end is to detect when a cd has been attached to the BDP, look at how many tracks there are and to make those tracks available in a way that most customers can initiate playback.  This additional software is seen in two major forms, the playlist that is generated and made available to people using a MPD Client and the cd icon that pops up in the Media Player web interface.

We have yet to take into account data cd/dvd/blurays, if enough people ask for it i see no reason why we wouldn't add it.

I've had the odd bit of noise at the begging of a track, but its never been anything loud enough to concern myself, i can't speak for Gary or James.  Have you noticed if certain albums are worse then others?

Cheers,
Chris

[unincognito]

Hey Norton,

How loud is the Plextor drive? In my experience, most computer devices don't really put a premium on lack of noise.

I was thinking about adding a BOT-1 vs. a regular USB drive for just that reason.

Your experiences?

- Garrett

The BOT-1 is pretty quiet for a optical drive, but it does still does make noise

[unincognito]

Hi I'm using this one: http://www.plextor-digital.com/index.php/en/External-Blu-ray/px-b120u.html

for no particular reason other than Plextor seem to have  a good name, although this is a much cheaper item than some of their previous drives.  I'm only using it to play RB CDs btw.

That happens to look all lot like the same drive we used for the original software development, the only problem we encountered with these drives is the little plastic bit that the spring sits onto lift the top would break.  The drive is still functional, but you have to lift the top while ejecting the cd.

Cheers,
Chris

[Norton]

Thanks Chris,

I'm not getting a thump through the speakers consistently,so it may down to certain CDs, or it may just happen  once when the drive is  first used for a listening session.  My listening would agree with what you say above, the SQ with CD is good and certainly doesn't seem to be inferior to a ripped file.  The Plextor lid does feel a bit fragile, but their higher quality drives seem to be long out of production and advertised for quite high prices on eBay now.

Given that the laser etc was always the weakest link of expensive CD players,it does make quite a lot of sense to use the BDP with easily replaceable USB drives as a modern CD transport.

[Grit]

The BOT-1 is pretty quiet for a optical drive, but it does still does make noise

I know most data drives can spin up pretty fast, which typically causes louder noise. Is Bryston modifying the drive in the BOT-1 to spin slower, keeping the noise lower for playback?

That'd be pretty slick if you could have the drive spin at like 4x speed for playback, but max speed when ripping for storage.

- Garrett

[Norton]

Chris,

As a matter of interest would a self-powered external drive work connected to the BDP2 via eSATA rather than USB?