[KeithA]

Guys

All this talk about using the 'digital out' of the BCD-1 is baffling me If you have an SP1.7, or similar, like I do, use the 2-channel analogue bypass and let the BCD-1 shine. That's what it's designed to do.

I'm sure the digital out is there so that 10 years down the road when Bryston comes out with its 'new' much-improved DAC you can still use the BCD-1 as a transport. However, for now, just hook 'er up analogue...the way that was intended 

Keith

[Mag]

I find I prefer the little extra sharpness of my Monster Lightspeed 100 over the RCA Cardas Crosslink II analog cables. I had this $100 4 meter cable in an unopened package on the floor since I bought the BCD-1.

Perhaps it's because I'm using a Yamaha RX-V2200 for MC stereo. Not the best for pre-amp and the signal is being DSP anyway.

The high frequencies interact with my room giving the music a livelier quality. Also on some cd's I've played since switching I notice some instruments like piano more prominent. I mean I listened to these cd's many times before and these instruments never stood out.

I know it's a preference thing and I hate to admit it but I'm staying with toslink.

[MOZ]

Guys

All this talk about using the 'digital out' of the BCD-1 is baffling me If you have an SP1.7, or similar, like I do, use the 2-channel analogue bypass and let the BCD-1 shine. That's what it's designed to do.

I'm sure the digital out is there so that 10 years down the road when Bryston comes out with its 'new' much-improved DAC you can still use the BCD-1 as a transport. However, for now, just hook 'er up analogue...the way that was intended 

Keith

Hi,

I'll probably get better results staying "digital" thru my SP2 because i have a THX system (HT more than 2ch, so my front speakers end at 65Hz !)... and i need to use my sub and bass managment...
I'll try the 2ch analog anyway but only on CDs that don't get much below 80Hz...
I'm quite interested in the  "drive" comportment of this player.
I already tried the TAG DVD32R that was just a wonderful drive and i'm using a MERIDIAN G98 at the time 

I plan to get "nice" stereo speakers some day... don't be afraid

[KeithA]

Guys

All this talk about using the 'digital out' of the BCD-1 is baffling me If you have an SP1.7, or similar, like I do, use the 2-channel analogue bypass and let the BCD-1 shine. That's what it's designed to do.

I'm sure the digital out is there so that 10 years down the road when Bryston comes out with its 'new' much-improved DAC you can still use the BCD-1 as a transport. However, for now, just hook 'er up analogue...the way that was intended 

Keith

I'll probably get better results staying "digital" thru my SP2 because i have a THX system (HT more than 2ch, so my front speakers end at 65Hz !)... and i need to use my sub and bass managment...
I'll try the 2ch analog anyway but only on CDs that don't get much below 80Hz...
I'm quite interested in the  "drive" comportment of this player.
I already tried the TAG DVD32R that was just a wonderful drive and i'm using a MERIDIAN G98 at the time 

I plan to get "nice" stereo speakers some day... don't be afraid

Nothing wrong with that, but the BCD-1's benefits will not be there just using it as a transport. Anything you are currently using as a transport to feed the SP2 would be just as good.

I actually have a pretty amazing unit on demo in my system tonight. The new 14BSST sounds beautiful with this front end (preamp/CDP). I have a SP1.7 that will flow through this as a 'HT passthru'. Too bad it's not cheaper

[MOZ]

Nothing wrong with that, but the BCD-1's benefits will not be there just using it as a transport. Anything you are currently using as a transport to feed the SP2 would be just as good.

Sorry but i get very different results with different players, all used as transport !
The best and most amazing and musical transport is the TAG DVD32R, then the MERIDIAN G98 works good, then i've tried the DENON DVD5000 that was acceptable, followed by my actual PIONEER BDP-95FD.
And then my TOSHIBA XE1 is "awfull" as a drive, very poor and life less...
So, a drive is quite important as i could see with my different tries 

[James Tanner]

Nothing wrong with that, but the BCD-1's benefits will not be there just using it as a transport. Anything you are currently using as a transport to feed the SP2 would be just as good.

Sorry but i get very different results with different players, all used as transport !
The best and most amazing and musical transport is the TAG DVD32R, then the MERIDIAN G98 works good, then i've tried the DENON DVD5000 that was acceptable, followed by my actual PIONEER BDP-95FD.
And then my TOSHIBA XE1 is "awfull" as a drive, very poor and life less...
So, a drive is quite important as i could see with my different tries 

So what do you think is going on in different drives - assuming they all spit out SPDIF Digital that affects the sound quality?

james

[Phil A]

I've tried multiple drives with my old Micromega DuoPro DAC (that now sits in the bedroom system).  I've probably had at different times about 10 different things hooked to it.  Right now I have an Oppo 980 and a Sony 2000ES CD/SACD changer.  The Sony is clearly better not that the Oppo is terrible.  The Oppo has a more recessed not as lively quality to it.  The 2000ES makes an excellent transport, much better than the old Sony XA777ES I use to have.  It tended to be tubby in the bass area and not as clear over all.  The Proceed PMDT I have hooked to it when I had it was a great transport.  The Pioneer Elite CD Recorder was just OK as was the Philips DVD Recorder.  I had a couple of laserdisc players hooked to it at one time (Pioneer 704 and Elite CLD-79) as I figured with their robust transports it would be good for CD.  They were not, very bass heavy.  I also had a variety of DVD players hooked to it.  My Marantz DV9600 was excellent, the old 37.5 lb. Samsung HD1000 was also very bass heavy.  I might get a PS3 for the seldom used basement system where I use to have a Rotel RDV1060 that was just OK.  I've found the DACs in the SP1.7 OK but nothing great for 2-channel music and they are far less sensitive to transport changes than the outboard DAC I have.  I'd guess the differences I heard were probably due to jitter and the manner the individual units handled the digital signal.  Many DVD players use the 48k (DVD-V) bitstream for CD (44.1k) PCM as I guess the manuf. feel it is close enough and multiple clocks are probably not a viable decision in order to get the product to market at a price point and be competitive with other things designed for home theater use.

[MOZ]

So what do you think is going on in different drives - assuming they all spit out SPDIF Digital that affects the sound quality?

james

I believe jitter is far more interactive toward PCM... so a drive that takes better care of this problem should be better.
The weight and stability of the CD drive is also a factor that counts.
The TAG was very impressive on that particular point !
Then, there are composants, built quality, separations, transformers aso... and magic that some people are able to put into their players and that some don't !

All i know is that the TAG was just magic, playing music like no other (quite hard to explain/give details in english for me !).
I think yours might be that kind of baby too (i'm waiting for it !).

James, what do you think about that problem (sound that changes with different drives) ?

As for the SP1.7/SP2 DAC on 2ch... compared to other HT preamp like MC12 the SP2 is far far better i believe for music !
I had the chance to have a PROCEED AVP2 that was a bit better on that part but that's the only one that could beat my Bryston !

Already tried the MERIDIAN G68, LEXICON MC12, MC8, MC1, DC2, PROCEED AVP, AVP2, some THETA, SUNFIRE, TACT aso...
I should try the KRELL S1000 soon and maybe the CLASSE SSP-800.

But i hope to get my SP3 some day 

[Phil A]

I had the Proceed AVP (orig.) and using a digital connection (I had it with the PMDT transport at the time) it was much nicer sounding than most things I've heard.

[MOZ]

I had the Proceed AVP (orig.) and using a digital connection (I had it with the PMDT transport at the time) it was much nicer sounding than most things I've heard.

The AVP2 is probably the best pre i have ever heard... quite amazing, very well balanced and musical.
I just loved it (it wasn't mine so i had to give it back 3 weeks after) !
I had a LEX MC12 for 2 month also and it was definitively my prefered one on HT, great calculator, powerfull and superb bass section (but quite anoying on 2ch)...

[KeithA]

Nothing wrong with that, but the BCD-1's benefits will not be there just using it as a transport. Anything you are currently using as a transport to feed the SP2 would be just as good.

Sorry but i get very different results with different players, all used as transport !
The best and most amazing and musical transport is the TAG DVD32R, then the MERIDIAN G98 works good, then i've tried the DENON DVD5000 that was acceptable, followed by my actual PIONEER BDP-95FD.
And then my TOSHIBA XE1 is "awfull" as a drive, very poor and life less...
So, a drive is quite important as i could see with my different tries 

No need to be sorry. All I can say is that first when I got the SP1.7, I had a Teac VRDS player that I used as a transport, that died so I bought a $500 Cambridge audio CD player to use as a transport...no noticable difference in performance. Now I'm using a Squeezebox Duet and it's all pretty much the same.

I had intended a few years back to get a high-quality transport, but the lack of discernible differences into the SP1.7 made me toss that notion out the door and save up to $5,000

If transports make a difference on most stuff, its not happening for me with the SP1.7 out of the few I've tried. And truthfully, after trying a couple with no difference....I stopped trying.

Keith

[James Tanner]

Hi All,
Nice feedback from someone in our industry:

MEMO - Bryston Dealer Feedback
SUBJECT – Bryston CD Player

June 2008

Hi James,
 
The Bryston BCD-1 CD Player arrived last week. 
 
All I can say so far is…WOW!  This thing is an absolute monster, James, and easily the best digital experience I have EVER had in my system.  More detail later, but for now, I am in CD Heaven…
 
Congratulations on a most excellent product!
 
Enjoy your week!
 


Rob Fritz
www.audioartcable.com

[James Tanner]

MEMO: To all Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Superb Review on BCD-1 CD Player From Greece

June 18th 2008

Please see below a very nice email I received from our Distributor in Greece regarding another outstanding review on the Bryston BCD-1 CD Player.


Dear James,

Please find the attached PDF file with the test of the BCD-1 in Sound and Vision Magazine as it came out today.

The article was written by Mr. Fotiadis the chief editor of the magazine.
He loved the truthful nature of the BCD-1 and he thinks it’s the “real thing”. A “real hi-end” as the title says.

Here’s the closing statements:

No matter how much development there will be in the digital players, no matter how much “computerized” they become, the BCD-1 will always tell the truth, to compare it to the pseudo-hi-end constructed machines. There is after all… a hi-end digital technology, and that’s what Bryston proves with the BCD-1. It is not recommended to those who haven’t grown up and still like fairytales with thousands of dragons!

Leonidas Plakoutsis [pleo@adamco.gr]



For those that speak Greek email me and I will send you the PDF of the complete  review.

james

[nikolas]

please sent the pdf in greece

[nikolas]

Thanks a lot it is amazing

[James Tanner]

Thanks a lot it is amazing

Hi Nikolas,

Your welcome:

Care to share any more of the magazines comments in English for us?

james

[James Tanner]

Hi All,

I have been told the August issue of the Absolute Sound Magazine has the review of the Bryston CD Player in it and should be on the street this week.

Please let me know if anyone sees it - it takes forever for copies to get to Canada.  Word has it that the reviewers reference (a CD Player at multitudes of price more) was bettered by the Bryston BCD-1. My spies tell me that they are recommending the Bryston CD Player as the 'BEST' and 'LAST' CD Player you will ever need!

james

[James Tanner]

MEMO: To all Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Absolute Sound Magazine Review Bryston CD Player

Hi All,

Please see below some highlights of the Bryston BCD-1 CD Player review in the 2008 August Issue of the Absolute Sound Magazine. I will be getting PDF’s of the full review a soon as possible.


“ONE FOR THE AGES!

.And here is where the full scope of Bryston’s achievement becomes apparent. CD sound simply doesn’t get much better than this.

·The Bryston gives no ground in musically critical areas such as dynamics, where it delivers the full measure of dramas large and small, and detail resolution.

·The BCD-1 is simply in a different league, with the greatest disparity being what Linnies would call the ability to “follow the music.”

·In sum, I am as surprised as anyone to discover that the best “last” CD player might well be an unprepossessing, modestly priced machine. But the Bryston BCD-1 has all the chops to qualify for the honor, from state-of-the-art digital components, to an audiophile-grade analog output section, to the feature flexibility and durability that will allow it to serve its role over the long run. Most importantly, it gets the music just right."


Alan Taffel
Absolute Sound

[MOZ]

Hi James,

Bought your BCD-1 number 073 !
And i'm happy.

[AndrewA]

Delight  + problem.

Hi all.  Just purchased a BCD-1, after having compared it with Rega Saturn, Cambridge 840c, Arcam FMJ 37, Primare CD31 and Naim, among others.  It sounded so good in the shop that I couldn't wait to get it home...

Inserted in system (Sonic Frontiers, Cary, Proac; balanced Audioquest Emerald between Bryston and Sonic Frontiers) and cued up Sibelius no. 5.

By the end of the symphony I was enjoying it all so much that I ratcheted up the vol. a couple of notches (72 on the SFL3 numeric scale), but during the last minute of play, during the loudest passages, the SF Line 3 went into mute/standby on three occasions, muting for 2-3 seconds before continuing to play till the next fff passage.  It's never done this before.  I repeated, and it did exactly the same thing (which would tend to eliminate an electrical supply problem).  I backed down the vol. to "normal" listening levels (67 on display), and it played through to the end without a hiccup.

Can anyone hazard a guess as to what's going on?  Now that I've got the Bryston, I'd be sorry to be limited to "polite" listening levels all the time.

I know that this is a Sonic Frontiers problem, and I've emailed Anthem tech support, but I'd be interested to hear from you guys too.  Was I overdriving the SF?  Would there be any difference changing to the lower-level single-ended output (though in the past the SF has sounded best balanced)?

Thanks...