I registered back last March and have been sitting on the fence enjoying reading posts but not posting until now. I thought the following might be of interest:
I very recently went with a friend to the Bryston factory in Peterborough for my friend to have the capacitor upgrade on his 4B SST2 amplifier and for an adjustment to an LED on my BDA-1 DAC. While Mike Pickett, Service Manager, had the necessary work started on our equipment, he then very kindly gave us a full plant tour where we saw everything from hand soldering on PCB’s, assembly of products, burn in operations right through to packaging of finished products. Very impressive indeed! Even though we had prearranged the visit, it was also impressive that Mike was able to get the work completed so quickly on our equipment making it unnecessary for us to stay another night in Peterborough. What great customer service!
Five months ago I purchased a Bryston BDA-1 DAC to upgrade my Slim Devices (now Logitech) Transporter Network Music Player by feeding the digital output into the BDA-1. The improvements were very noticeable not only with high resolution downloaded music but also with my own ripped CD’s. This improvement convinced me to order the new Bryston BDP-1 Digital Music Player, to be released for sale shortly, as the next step in having a great sounding digital source that would reliably play high quality music downloads when paired with my BDA-1 DAC. Ordering this new product made me a little anxious but with all my frustrating experiences with the Slim Devices (now Logitech) Squeezebox 3 (two players) and later the Transporter despite changing from wireless to Ethernet cables, it seemed like a sensible decision. Two separate Squeezebox Server software/firmware downloads appeared to break each Squeezebox 3, although it might have been just a very strange coincidence! Other software downloads caused jerky scrolling of the display information on the Transporter and continual re-buffering for no reason as I had moved to Ethernet cable rather than wireless. The Logitech Squeezebox Server has been a constant frustration and I’m looking forward to the expected simplicity of the new BDP-1 Digital Music Player.
Knowing I had ordered the BDP-1, James Tanner, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, very kindly offered to show my friend and me the BDP-1 and how it can be controlled. After spending the time with James I was convinced I had made a good decision in ordering a BDP-1 early.
I have always been impressed with Bryston products and their exceptional customer service and warranty. I have owned a number of Bryston products over the last 18 years from a 3B NRB amplifier to my present 7B SST2 amplifiers (upgraded), 3B ST Pro amp and Torus RM20 BAL Power Conditioner so I know if there are any teething problems with this new product Bryston will look after me as they always have in the past. However, since there are no moving parts in the BDP-1 (yeh!) a simple software update via the rear panel RS-232 connector connected to a computer would correct any software problems. James informed me that they are working on software updates being obtained via the Ethernet cable as an extra convenience.
The BDP-1 can be up and playing music in a very short time as the necessary operational software is built into the BDP-1 not from a downloaded music server on a computer. Just connect the BDP-1 to a BDA-1 or other DAC of choice, plug into an AC outlet and insert a thumb drive loaded with music files in one of the 4 USB ports and press play on the front panel or on a Bryston BR-2 remote. Either way is simple, like controlling a CD player with Song and Artist showing on the front panel display. James said they are arranging to have a thumb drive with high resolution 24/96 music on it shipped with the first 250 BDP-1’s.
James showed us just how easy it is to select music from any named USB storage devices connected to the 4 USB ports by way of a computer using the Bryston MAX web browser once the BDP-1 is connected by Ethernet cable to the router of a wireless home network. Firefox/Minion could also be used. Also, wireless remote control is available via an iPod Touch®, iPhone® or iPad® using the Bryston MINI interface with the wireless network. After the demonstration I believe the BDP-1 will fit my needs and I see the following scenario working for my basically two zone system.
Zone 1 feeding one pair of loudspeakers in my main listening room
I would control the music files on my USB drives or USB Thumb drives in my main listening room using a computer with the Bryston MAX web browser, a Bryston BR2 remote, front panel buttons or an iPAD® or even an iPod Touch®. iPad® would be ideal as everything is viewable on one screen view whereas the iPod Touch® would require toggling between three screen views.
Zone 2 feeding all ceiling and wall loudspeakers in my house and on the deck
For controlling music listening around the house and on the deck I would use an iPhone® or iPod Touch® to control the BDP-1 using the Bryston MINI interface with my wireless network.
I had no idea I would be getting such a well developed product when ordering so early. Kudos to Bryston for not rushing to market before the BDP-1 was fully developed. Now I can’t wait to get my BDP-1 and hear what my 24/192 downloads really sound like as my Transporter only handles up to 24/96.
I will be looking forward to Bryston coming up with an NAS storage system so the computer could be shut off and the NAS storage kept well away from the main listening area.
Thanks James for the complete demo of the BDP-1. Very reassuring! Good luck with your market introduction; I’m sure you have a winner!
