December, 31st 2010
Memo: Bryston Dealer Feedback
Subject: New BDP-1 Digital Player
BDP-1 First Impressions
Hi James -
How often does an affordable audio product come along that is such an improvement you don’t know quite what to say? Every several years or so perhaps? Well, the new Bryston BDP-1 digital player is one of these rare products that I have come across that is destined be one of the digital products of the year. It is clearly one of the best products I have added to my system in many, many years.
Typically, most of my previous equipment upgrades are quite enjoyable and exhibit a very good Return On Investment (ROI). This new player is in a completely different category as it clearly exceeds my expectations in more musically related ways than I would have ever imagined. The new digital player uncovers such wonderful sounding musical details in such a natural way that it has taken me by surprise. The player is simply a “musical magnifier”. This is somewhat analogous to walking into the recording studio during a live session instead of listening through a proverbial window with veils. Everything and I mean everything, just comes alive with musical energy including dimensionality, space, air, instrument tonalities, weight, extremely low-level detail and much more. There is more harmonically rich “meat on the bones” with all of the music played through this player. The player also brings new meaning to the “black background” phenomena. The music literally “pops out” from a dead quiet background.
To no surprise, the high rez Chesky recordings that Bryston provides on a memory stick are something special. The high rez files allow me to get even closer to the music than ever before. Shockingly, the improvement of properly ripped CDs to a flash drive and played back though the player is extremely noteworthy (no pun intended). I totally agree with Norm Chesky’s assessment below:
“But when I take home a USB drive and plug it in all of a sudden the quality of the entire system goes up 25%. Everything locks in. It’s smoother, and resolution is increased and you hear low level detail. Things don’t sound digital!”
So, what equipment upgrades or new additions would add a 25% improvement in sound quality to your current well-tuned audio system for $2,150? Not many, aye? I would humbly suggest even the most jaded inmates to give this player a listen as they are in for a real treat.
Kudos to James and all of the Bryston design team members for providing this wonderful sounding “musical magnifier” at an affordable price. I will provide follow-up observations early next year.
Regards,
Dan E.
