[john1970]

James,

I'm just curious if there are any professional reviews of the BDA-1. 

Cheers,

John

[john1970]

James,

Any reviews from Stereophile, Hifi Choice, The Absolute Sound, etc..

Thanks,

John

[James Tanner]

James,

Any reviews from Stereophile, Hifi Choice, The Absolute Sound, etc..

Thanks,

John

No the BDA-1 has not been out long enough for that to happen. Those magazines take about 6 months to publish a review.  The same thing happened when we released the BCD-1 CD Player.  In fact the CD Player is just now being published in Stereophile this Feb 2009 --- which is about a year and a half since it was introduced.

james

[BaraBara]

You can read the "Computer Audiophile" review, I don't know if you would consider this a professional review, but I think it's well written and I decided to buy my BDA-1 after I read it (no regrets at all!  )

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/taxonomy_menu/2

[mv038856]

Those magazines take about 6 months to publish a review.  The same thing happened when we released the BCD-1 CD Player.  In fact the CD Player is just now being published in Stereophile this Feb 2009 --- which is about a year and a half since it was introduced.

Well, that's the good thing with Bryston: the products tend to still be available when the review is released... look at a lot of mainstream products - they are either tested as pre-production samples or the product might not be available any more - which means the test results might not be representative for what you are able to purchase after reading the review... 

Cheers!


Markus

[James Tanner]

James,

I'm just curious if there are any professional reviews of the BDA-1. 

Cheers,

John

THE ABSOLUTE SOUND MAGAZINE
Bryston BDA-1 DAC

"Medicine’s Hippocratic oath, “First, do no harm,” has long been applied to audio. Amplifier designers strive to build a “straight wire with gain,” and modern speaker manufactures go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that cabinets add no sound of their own. Yet with it’s blossoming new line of digital components, Bryston appears to have adopted an even more exalted credo: “First, make music.”

That mentality was certainly evident in the company’s maiden journey into digital sources, last year’s Golden Ear Award-winning BCD-1 CD Player. I found that unit to be a landmark in CD playback-not to mention an unbelievable value-and so it remains. Now comes the much-anticipated follow-up, the BDA-1 Stand-alone DAC, and it clearly benefits from the same philosophy. This DAC makes compelling music indeed-music with the color spectrum of a painter, the dynamic nuances of a poet, and a dancer’s sense of timing.

Internally, the BDA-1 is a pumped up version of the BCD-1‘s DAC module, including the discrete Class A output stage. But the BDA-1 is also noteworthy for its functional utility and flexibility. Niceties include switchable up sampling, a front-panel display of both the incoming data rate (up to 192kHz) and the up sampled rate, a BNC input (vastly superior for SPDIF connections), and USB support (though limited to 48kHz). Furthermore, Bryston’s jitter-reduction scheme is astoundingly effective, The BDA-1 makes even a budget CD player’s coax output sound very nearly as good as a reference transport.

With its two new digital products and a resurgent line of power amps, capped by the outstanding 28BSST monoblock, Bryston clearly is on a roll.  The BDA-1, at just $1995 US, represents yet another great audio value from Canada.

More importantly, this DAC epitomizes Bryston’s commitment to getting the music right. (Review Pending)"


June- July 2009 The Absolute Sound
Alan Taffel

[drubin]

Congratulations on that, James!

[James Tanner]

Dear James

Check out:

http://whathifi.com/Review/Bryston-BDA-1/

Nice!

Keith

[Rod_S]

Is this what you are looking for??

http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/bryston_bda-1_da_converter/

[James Tanner]

Hi Folks,

Got this sent to me from another forum:

TubesTrans 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 11 

"Recieved my BDA-1 yesterday! This ain't no cigar box converter, the BDA-1 feels solid, has nice footers on it as well, mine sits perfectly flat not warped, even the top cover is hefty. These are all pluses for me, this is a quality made piece. With the funds I have available buying equipment of this caliper is difficult and I need them to last (KUDOS Bryston).

Only had time for a couple of albums,sounding good so far! This is my 1st piece of Bryston gear,very impressed.

THANKS James!"

[Mad Mr H]

I'm a Pro AV Engineer,

RE : My BDA-1......

"It's ******* GREAT!" 

[James Tanner]

Hi All,

BDA-1 Review in Positive Feedback magazine.

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue49/bryston.htm

james

[vegasdave]

Interesting review. I like how he broke every sampling rate down.

[James Tanner]

Interesting review. I like how he broke every sampling rate down.

"SHE"

[Napalm]

"SHE"

I should have guessed. Men are not that organized.

Nap. 

[vegasdave]

"SHE"

Oops. haha. My apologies.

[James Tanner]

http://hifi-unlimited.blogspot.com/2010/10/digital-music-center-bryston-bda-1-dac.html

[Phil A]

http://hifi-unlimited.blogspot.com/2010/10/digital-music-center-bryston-bda-1-dac.html

James is that you they are referring to at the end of the review or someone named James Tan?

"Bryston is sold by AV Designs, contact James Tan"

[James Tanner]

James is that you they are referring to at the end of the review or someone named James Tan?

"Bryston is sold by AV Designs, contact James Tan"

Hi,

No... James Tan is a real person and not related to me. He is our distributor in Malaysia and a fine gentleman and avid audiophile I might add.


james

[klao]

Another link:

http://www.avguide.com/review/tas-194-bryston-bda-1-and-audio-research-dac7-usb-dacs