[alexone]

hi, James!

i've heard something about this new cd player. this player will probably have a new drive since Phillips stopped to produce the drive for the BCD-1.

what's true so far?


al.

[James Tanner]

hi, James!

i've heard something about this new cd player. this player will probably have a new drive since Phillips stopped to produce the drive for the BCD-1.

what's true so far?


al.

Hi Alex,

Yes Phillips stopped making the drive but we bought 4000 of them so we are OK for a couple of more years.

james

[VOLKS]

A cpl more years?Phew..good.....so no new Bryston CD player in 2010 then?.I am actually going to listen to a few CD players today and the BCD-1 is on the list....however not to keen on buying something that may be discontinued a few mths later.

[James Tanner]

Hi VOLKS,

Also any change in the future would just be a replacement drive change not a model change.

james

[James Tanner]

By the way I have been asked a few times why we chose the drive we did in our CD player:

The search for the drive was not an easy task. The problem is that there are not many CD dedicated drives out there.  By CD dedicated I mean ones that have a 'clocking' frequency which is a multiple of the 44.1KHz, which is the standard for Redbook CD.  Most drives are DVD drives which play CD's and have clocking frequencies in the mega-Hz region and have to be converted to a lower clock frequencies to play a CD. By the way, this is true of the SACD drives we looked at which also are typically DVD drives that play CD's and SACD's.

We wanted to optimize the Redbook CD Playback so we were restricted to certain available drives. We looked at 5 different drives and choose the Phillips L1210 drive for some specific reasons:

1. It was readily available
2. It had a history in the market of long-term reliability.
3. Easily serviced
4. It was a dedicated CD drive with proper clocking frequencies
5. The drive is not anywhere near as important as the DAC, the dedicated digital/analog Power Supply,
and the Discrete Class A Output stage
6. When running it was 'dead quite'.

The last one is important because once the CD is lifted from the tray to rotate below the laser the construction and materials that make up the tray are irrelevant.

Given the choices we made the selection in favor of the best Redbook performance available.


James

[smargo]

Hi VOLKS,

Also any change in the future would just be a replacement drive change not a model change.

james

Your kidding me right - why wouldn't you make a change if you found a dac that is better then the one you have now - you never know - you know how things change - whats absolute - positively - inevitably changes - so don't make that silly statement

smargo

[James Tanner]

Hi VOLKS,

Also any change in the future would just be a replacement drive change not a model change.

james

Your kidding me right - why wouldn't you make a change if you found a dac that is better then the one you have now - you never know - you know how things change - whats absolute - positively - inevitably changes - so don't make that silly statement

smargo

You know it's comments like the above that make we wonder why I bother with these forums

james

[drummermitchell]

James,it just goes to show how much misery they are in and don't even realize it
Sun's always shining,but their too busy  playing with useless mental garbage
I'd let him stay in his self created mental puzzle palace and see if they can find  their way back to their sandbox .

I've never heard of smeargo or what ever on here,so they must be a hidden guest,
ALWAYS HIDING,ALWAYS LURKING,TRYING TO UNLOAD THEIR MISERY,too funny.

[VOLKS]

Awsome James.Thanks for clearing that up:)......i am on my way with a batch of my fav CD's to a Bryston Dealer to give the BCD-1 a Test Drive today.

[95Dyna]

Hi VOLKS,

Also any change in the future would just be a replacement drive change not a model change.

james

Your kidding me right - why wouldn't you make a change if you found a dac that is better then the one you have now - you never know - you know how things change - whats absolute - positively - inevitably changes - so don't make that silly statement

smargo

smargo,

Try it this way and you won't be percieved as a mid-adolescent punk:  "Hello James.  If Bryston identified a higher performing DAC when replacing the drive would you consider implementing it?"  Now, if you really are a mid-adolescent punk please accept my apologies.

[werd]

By the way I have been asked a few times why we chose the drive we did in our CD player:

The search for the drive was not an easy task. The problem is that there are not many CD dedicated drives out there.  By CD dedicated I mean ones that have a 'clocking' frequency which is a multiple of the 44.1KHz, which is the standard for Redbook CD.  Most drives are DVD drives which play CD's and have clocking frequencies in the mega-Hz region and have to be converted to a lower clock frequencies to play a CD. By the way, this is true of the SACD drives we looked at which also are typically DVD drives that play CD's and SACD's.

We wanted to optimize the Redbook CD Playback so we were restricted to certain available drives. We looked at 5 different drives and choose the Phillips L1210 drive for some specific reasons:

1. It was readily available
2. It had a history in the market of long-term reliability.
3. Easily serviced
4. It was a dedicated CD drive with proper clocking frequencies
5. The drive is not anywhere near as important as the DAC, the dedicated digital/analog Power Supply,
and the Discrete Class A Output stage
6. When running it was 'dead quite'.

The last one is important because once the CD is lifted from the tray to rotate below the laser the construction and materials that make up the tray are irrelevant.

Given the choices we made the selection in favor of the best Redbook performance available.


James

Hello James

I am not so sure about #5, i find different transports and connects between with the BDA have significant impact on its sound. I am not sure what you mean though, when you say no where near as important.

[James Tanner]

Yes one of the tests we did was run some very well thought of esoteric drives into the BCD-1 electronics in a blind test and boy it sure was hard to tell the difference.   The best score was 6 out of 10.

james

[drummermitchell]

Great,back to all things AUDIO .

[werd]

Yes one of the tests we did was run some very well thought of esoteric drives into the BCD-1 electronics in a blind test and boy it sure was hard to tell the difference.   The best score was 6 out of 10.

james

hello James

So the bcd-1 was built around the phillips drive or was it built first and tested with different drives?

[James Tanner]

Yes one of the tests we did was run some very well thought of esoteric drives into the BCD-1 electronics in a blind test and boy it sure was hard to tell the difference.   The best score was 6 out of 10.

james

hello James

So the bcd-1 was built around the phillips drive or was it built first and tested with different drives?

It was kind of all happening at once but the drives were the last thing decided on. We needed to know what drive for all the software development.

james

[werd]

Yes one of the tests we did was run some very well thought of esoteric drives into the BCD-1 electronics in a blind test and boy it sure was hard to tell the difference.   The best score was 6 out of 10.

james

hello James

So the bcd-1 was built around the phillips drive or was it built first and tested with different drives?

It was kind of all happening at once but the drives were the last thing decided on. We needed to know what drive for all the software development.

james

so i guess there were no finished bcd-1 protos with different drive assemblies?

[James Tanner]

Yes one of the tests we did was run some very well thought of esoteric drives into the BCD-1 electronics in a blind test and boy it sure was hard to tell the difference.   The best score was 6 out of 10.

james

hello James

So the bcd-1 was built around the phillips drive or was it built first and tested with different drives?

It was kind of all happening at once but the drives were the last thing decided on. We needed to know what drive for all the software development.

james

so i guess there were no finished bcd-1 protos with different drive assemblies?

No because it would need completely different software to operate.

james

[alexone]

Hi VOLKS,

Also any change in the future would just be a replacement drive change not a model change.

james

Your kidding me right - why wouldn't you make a change if you found a dac that is better then the one you have now - you never know - you know how things change - whats absolute - positively - inevitably changes - so don't make that silly statement

smargo

You know it's comments like the above that make we wonder why I bother with these forums

james

...maybe i shouldn't have asked the "BCD-2" question as i now realize that smargo is not able to be respectful. shame on you man- and don't talk to Mr. James Tanner or anyone else here like that! unbelievable.

we can talk here about everything as long as we stay polite and factual.


ALEX.

[1ZIP]

Nothing wrong with the original question....inquiring minds want to know!  But, I think James has been more than patient here.  I have noticed as of late that civility seems to be a vanishing commodity in this world.

[rmurray]

Hello James. I apprciate your patience with certain attitdes. I do have a question regarding the Philips cd drives. If there is a future failure of the mechanism are these replacable with other alternative units? In otherwrds is it repairable?