BDA-1 reviews....

James Tanner · « **Reply #40 on:** 26 Jun 2009, 12:52 pm »

Hi All,

Here's the link to the Australian review of the BDA-1

http://www.bryston.com/reviews/bda1/aus_bda.pdf

james

mcullinan · « **Reply #41 on:** 26 Jun 2009, 01:59 pm »

WHat a great Dac... It really has one of the best top ends Ive ever heard! Cymbals sound so real, which as my friend says is hard to get right! Ans instruments are ever present and solid in there presentation! Great review.
Mike

James Tanner · « **Reply #42 on:** 26 Jun 2009, 04:00 pm »

The Austrailian distributor sent me some of the comments that were made regarding the technical tests run on the BDA-1 by the Magazine that did the review on the Bryston BDA-1 External DAC. Thought you might find their comments interesting.

1. "Channel separation is excellent, with the BDA-1 returning a best result of 141dB at 1kHz, while the result of 113dB at 20kHz is one of the best I have seen at such a high frequency.

2. The Bryston's overall signal-to-noise ratio was also excellent, with Newport Test Labs measuring 116dB A-weighted. This, too, is one of the best results I've ever seen from a DAC.

3. One reason for these low noise levels is evident on the spectro-grams, where the noise floor continues flat right down to 0Hz, with no evidence of any mains noise creeping into the circuitry. Also, the noise floor is sitting down at -130dB, which is a fabulous result! no wonder that overall THD+N was tested at 0.007%.

4. As for linearity, the figures tabulated in the table speak for themselves, with the Bryston delivering only imperceptibly small errors all the way down to the measurement signal limit of -90.31dB. Distortion performance at these low signal levels is excellent, as you can see in Graphs 3 and 4. You can see that without dither (Graph 3), the BDA-1's noise floor is lower than -140dB. Adding dither to the test signal sees the noise floor increase to -130dB, but as expected, the distortion visible in Graph 3 disappears entirely.

5. Output from the unbalanced outputs was around 2.3 volts, and the balance between these the left and right outputs was within 0.01dB, which is terrific."

Steve Holding

James Tanner · « **Reply #43 on:** 26 Jun 2009, 04:28 pm »

The BDA-1 rocks!! Page 40 of the August issue of Absolute Sound?

Micah Sheveloff

James Tanner · « **Reply #44 on:** 27 Jun 2009, 09:22 pm »

Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award

http://bryston.com/reviews/bda1/ge_09.pdf

mitcho · « **Reply #45 on:** 27 Jun 2009, 11:29 pm »

I agree with them. I much prefer the BDA-1 over my prior Benchmark or Lavry. Add in that new remote and it's hard to beat!

werd · « **Reply #46 on:** 29 Jun 2009, 06:11 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 26 Jun 2009, 04:28 pm

The BDA-1 rocks!! Page 40 of the August issue of Absolute Sound?

Micah Sheveloff

Yes the PRAT on the piece is world class, and makes for great rock music playback.

drubin · « **Reply #47 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 03:18 pm »

Am I correct that the TAS review of the BDA-1 was solely based on its performance via the USB input? (I read it quickly so I might be mistaken about this.)

James Tanner · « **Reply #48 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 03:36 pm »

Quote from: drubin on 2 Jul 2009, 03:18 pm

Am I correct that the TAS review of the BDA-1 was solely based on its performance via the USB input? (I read it quickly so I might be mistaken about this.)

No --- the reviewer used a variety of inputs.

james

drubin · « **Reply #49 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 04:06 pm »

Oh, my mistake then, sorry.

bob stern · « **Reply #50 on:** 3 Jul 2009, 06:39 am »

By coincidence, I tested driving the BDA-1 with Toslink and USB outputs of my Macbook Pro a few days before I received this month's TAS review. (I've been enjoying the BDA-1 for 6 months, but I've been driving it with a CD transport, not a computer.)

Notwithstanding the limited bandwidth of Toslink, the BDA-1 sounded equally good receiving the Toslink digital output from the computer and the BNC digital output from my CD transport (an aging Levinson 37).

However, I agree with Alan Taffel that the USB input is inferior. I didn't find it nearly as bad as he described it, but it made everything fuzzier, with reduced impact and less apparent loudness. (I assume the apparent loudness was reduced because of the first two factors.)

The shortcomings of USB were eliminated when I interposed a (borrowed) Empirical Audio "Off Ramp" USB-to-S/PDIF converter between the computer and the BDA-1. This implies that Bryston could overcome the problem with an improved USB receiver.

The "Off Ramp" does not have the benefit of asynchronous USB in which the clock in the DAC throttles the USB output of the computer, as in the new DAC's from Wavelength Audio, Ayre and dCS. This approach would seem ideal when Bryston redesigns the USB input.

Other observations: It made no difference whether I used an inexpensive Chinese-made USB cable marked "Space Shuttle" (can't remember where I got it) or an expensive "Polestar" USB cable borrowed from a friend. Also, Toslink cables from Wireworld and Monster (not their cheapest) were equally good. However, a $6 Toslink-to-Mini Toslink adapter from Tandy (Radio Shack) was inferior to an expensive-looking adapter whose brand I'll have to find out from the friend I borrowed it from.

(Tests were performed with a 2.5 GHz Macbook Pro with 4 GB RAM, using iTunes as the player, with Audio MIDI Setup set to 16/44.1, and with Spotlight disabled. Music files were 16/44.1 uncompressed AIFF compared directly with the CD's from which they were extracted. The computer operated solely on battery power during the tests.)

James Tanner · « **Reply #51 on:** 7 May 2010, 10:26 am »

Divine Review on BDA-1

http://reviews.divineaudio.co.uk/2010/05/06/bryston-bda-1-da-converter/

james

Napalm · « **Reply #52 on:** 10 May 2010, 03:27 pm »

The Danish have noticed the BDA-1:

http://www.recordere.dk/indhold/templates/design.aspx?articleid=3859&zoneid=5

Nap.

Napalm · « **Reply #53 on:** 12 May 2010, 08:35 pm »

Hmmm...

http://awards.whathifi.com/winners/digital-media-players-and-accessories/2009

They say they heard better but they conveniently fail to mention which exactly were those.

Nap.

werd · « **Reply #54 on:** 12 May 2010, 08:53 pm »

What hifi is lame... reads like the enquire....... true U.k filth

Phil A · « **Reply #55 on:** 12 May 2010, 09:32 pm »

Many reviews of UK publications I've seen favor a laid back recessed and polite sound. I've listened to some highly touted products in the past and been very disappointed in actual listening sessions.

Napalm · « **Reply #56 on:** 13 May 2010, 01:36 pm »

Quote from: Phil A on 12 May 2010, 09:32 pm

Many reviews of UK publications I've seen favor a laid back recessed and polite sound. I've listened to some highly touted products in the past and been very disappointed in actual listening sessions.

Well, many musical instruments sound quite harsh in real life, also add the distorted crap that recording studios are producing these days, and it's no wonder many people prefer a sanitized version......

Nap.

rollo · « **Reply #57 on:** 13 May 2010, 03:32 pm »

Quote from: Napalm on 13 May 2010, 01:36 pm

Well, many musical instruments sound quite harsh in real life, also add the distorted crap that recording studios are producing these days, and it's no wonder many people prefer a sanitized version......

Nap.

Could not agree more. I think more audiophiles need to attend a live acoustical brassand horn concert. The only true reference IMO. Do not forget the HEFT as well.

Napalm · « **Reply #58 on:** 13 May 2010, 04:16 pm »

I'd suggest spending an evening at a Mexican restaurant that features a good, well sized mariachi band. Start with a couple tequilas then pay for the band to play at your table for some 30 minutes at least. There are two possible outcomes to this:

1. The combination of hangover and tinnitus will prevent you from turning on your home system for the next 3-5 days. Just the thought of turning on your stereo will amplify your headache to unbearable levels. After one week you'll be able to listen to it again, but only if you carefully wrap the tweeter area with towels.

2. You'll throw away your existing system in disgust and order a pair of 28B's and the largest and most dynamic horn speakers you can afford. You're the man

Nap.

Napalm · « **Reply #59 on:** 14 May 2010, 04:35 pm »

Interesting reading re sanitized sound:

http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/305sears/

"Somewhere along the way, the audiences wanted live performances to sound like recordings. So I learned not to try to hit those triple-forte notes anymore, I played it safe, and the music suffered for it. Same thing applied to recording sessions—the producer wouldn't hire you again unless you played it safe."

Nap.