[amblin]

Well, i was one of those who simply refused to evolve .  Me and my good old Philips LHH1000 became good friends in the past 20years. Partially because it was one hell of a transport/DAC combination, partially because it's built harder than a rock, it never breaks.  It is now the oldest electronic stuff in the house But i think, it is time to try something shiny and new.

Regarding the BCD-1, i've few quick questions to ask.

1. the disc tray - any rubber dots suspending the disc? I'm asking because i own a large collection of old capitol, UK-Nimbus, and W.German made CDs, placing them directly on hard plastic worries me.  (CDs are becoming more flimsy, more transparent and badly made over the years.. pity)

2. the tray open/closing noise - loud?

3. the disc transport - i see it's a model supplied by philips, i like philips , any modifications beyond the oscillator in the servo circuit ?

4. the DAC - over-sampling is popular now, the BCD is 128x, i'm sure it won't be 128x times more good sounding than 44.1, but any real improvements? 

5. comparisons - there must be many connoisseurs here familiar with old hi-end cd players, how's BCD compaired to those oldies (say, 10+yrs )?   Note: A friend lent me a Marantz SA15S2, a good new mid-class CDP, but hmmm, Not good enough for me to retire the philips.

thank you very much

amb.

[VOLKS]

Yes there are rubber dots.......Disc tray is very noisy.......the Bryston will easily surpass CDP of 10 years ago

[SHV]

Does your Phillips have coax digital out?  Is so a BDA might be a consideration.  If it will work, the BDA is less expensive and has the advantage of having multiple uses.  I am currently using a "old" Marantz as a transport with the BDA.

I don't know is this is a good idea; I am sure that the experts will comment.

Steve

[jjc1]

Does your Phillips have coax digital out?  Is so a BDA might be a consideration.  If it will work, the BDA is less expensive and has the advantage of having multiple uses.  I am currently using a "old" Marantz as a transport with the BDA.

I don't know is this is a good idea; I am sure that the experts will comment.

Steve

I use an old Oppo 970H as a transport for my SACDs connected to a de-embedder then to the BDA1. The sound is excellent even when comparing to the BDP1.

[Phil A]

I agree that modern BCD-1 will easily out perform a 10 year old player.  I'm a big fan of the BDA-1.  I did own a BCD-1 for a couple of years and then picked up a BDA-1.  Did not see the need to own both.  The DAC is much more flexible.  In the main system and the secondart basement system, I also use an HDMI audio de-embedder with the DAC (Emotiva DAC in the basement system with an old Oppo DV980H).  I'm actually using an old Marantz DV9600 universal as a CD transport with the BDA-1 in the main system.

[Diamond Dog]

Hi Amblin: re- rubber dots?       yes.
                 - tray opening / closing noise?    yes - like a dump truck crossing railway tracks.
                 - Phillips drive?   I've had two Phillips drives fail in other CDP's. It's a crap shoot. No idea as to mods.
                 -  Soundwise?    My BCD replaced an Arcam Delta 270 which was probably of similar vintage to your current player and which was Arcam's flagship player at the time, well-reviewed, blah blah blah. The BCD sounds better to my ears FWIW but some may find it a bit forward if you're used to the sound of an older player. Plenty of detail, good bottom end. Good-sounding unit.
                 - Other?           Tiny display.
                                       Fierce adherence to Redbook standard means it will not play CD's which deviate from the standard ie: hidden tracks or files, etc. You will not know on some discs if they will play or not until you load them. I have an two-CD set for example where it will play one disc and not the other. If the BCD refuses to play them, you'll have to rip them to a CD-R. No HDCD or SACD capability. No track programability.
                  - re: adding a DAC to your existing player     There are two schools of thought on whether the best sound is derived from a single-box or two-box set-up. I like simplicity. YMMV. If you are considering adding a DAC and using your existing player as a transport, remember that you're working with a drive that's got a lot of miles on it and if it cacks, it may well be obsolete ( no replacement available ). Then you go shopping again.

Hope this helps. Have fun.

D.D.           

[amblin]

the high milage wouldn't be too much of a problem as i brought several backup CDM-1pro transport assemblies just before they bin the philips-marantz marrage.  i even managed to sell several of them over the years and made a little fortune.

I already considered the stand alone BDA but i think in case i'd prefer the old school sound of my philips DAC , a one box CDP would be a safer bet. Besides, i'm using the philips DAC's digital tape loop with my DAT machine (yeah i know, another obsolete oldie ). so an extra set of digital I/O is essential.

Thanks to everyone who replied so far. I'll try get a test drive tomorrow.

[Mag]

The BDA-1 also has slightly better stereo seperation having two Crystal chips, one for each channel. Noticeable particularly in bass frequencies.

[amblin]

The BDA-1 also has slightly better stereo seperation having two Crystal chips, one for each channel. Noticeable particularly in bass frequencies.

Sometimes i could borrow the 'not-too-expensive' equiptments from my dealer for a short 1-2day home test. if they have spare BDAs in hand , i'll be very eager to give it a try in my own system tomorrow. 

[headshrinker2]

I really like my BCD-1.  Excellent CDP.  Extremely well reviewed.  I use it both alone, and as a transport with my BDA-1.  Yes, the disc tray is very quick and a bit noisy- but this does not bother me.   Depending on the recording sometime I prefer the BCD-1 over the BCD-1/BDA-1 combination.   I love the BDA-1.  Great DAC and very versatile.

I like having a CDP, but- like some others around here- I will most likely sell the BCD-1 if I purchase (and love) a BDP-1.  I have several sources that work well right now, including a MacBook Pro and AppleTV(2) through the BDA-1. 

Let us know what you decide.

[amblin]

Just done my audition 

There's a Naim CD5i, a Metronome CD-1, and the BCD-1. 

The Naim sounded nice, but SOOOO UGLY!  and that funny manual disc drawer worried me a bit. The one in their demo machine went quite lose.. hmm.. And the dealer strongly recommended adding the seperate power supply module, which is NOT cheap.

The Metronome CD1, an unit based around philips transport aswell. Frenchie, Handsome and top loaded.   I kinda liked the sound, but almost twice the price of the BCD.
The BCD, I must say it's one of the best sounding (to my taste) machines in the price range. I'm tempted, but that lcd display is sooo small!   

[headshrinker2]

Amblin,
My last audio rig was all Naim.  I didn't realize one could use an external power supply with a CD5i.  Naim does make excellent CDP's.  I upgraded from the CD5i to a S/H CD5x.  Shortly after I added an FC2x power supply.  The CD5x/FC2x combo was outstanding.  I never tried using Naim CDP with other gear. 

As much as I loved CD5x/FC2x, the Bryston BDA-1 pressed all the right buttons for me.  It was this piece that started my journey in the Bryston direction.

Let us know what you decide!

Just done my audition 

There's a Naim CD5i, a Metronome CD-1, and the BCD-1. 

The Naim sounded nice, but SOOOO UGLY!  and that funny manual disc drawer worried me a bit. The one in their demo machine went quite lose.. hmm.. And the dealer strongly recommended adding the seperate power supply module, which is NOT cheap.

The Metronome CD1, an unit based around philips transport aswell. Frenchie, Handsome and top loaded.   I kinda liked the sound, but almost twice the price of the BCD.
The BCD, I must say it's one of the best sounding (to my taste) machines in the price range. I'm tempted, but that lcd display is sooo small!

[Diamond Dog]

The BCD, I must say it's one of the best sounding (to my taste) machines in the price range. I'm tempted, but that lcd display is sooo small!

Amblin : You gonna listen to music on that thing or use it to watch the seconds of your life tick away?   Hell, I shut the display on my BCD off most of the time when I'm listening. Get the player that sounds the best to your ears. 

D.D.

[headshrinker2]

Amblin,
Will you have the ability to demo your favorite (potential) new sources at home on your system?

[DavidV]

Hello all.  I'm new to the Bryston Circle, although I have been reading for a couple of months.  I purchased all Bryston equipment (amp, preamp, CD player, interconnects) about two months ago.  I am very pleased with the sound, but I am having some problems with the BCD-1 so I thought I would jump into this discussion.

As I said, I am pleased with the sound, but I was really disappointed when I realized that the BCD-1 cannot program the tracks.  This may not bother most people, but I used to use that feature on probably 50% or more of the CDs I played.  I don't think I have ever before had a CD player on which the tracks were not programmable, but I have accepted it.  Also, the non-playability of CDs that deviate in some way from the Redbook standard is a bit frustrating since my other CD players have no problem with those CDs.  But, so far I have only come across a couple of CDs that wouldn't play, so no big deal.

But what I do consider to be a serious problem is that on a growing number of CDs the BCD-1 has problems at certain points in the CD:  it will just stop;  it will stop and then a few seconds later start up again;  it skips to a different place in the track;  it continues playing, but there is a sound something like birds wings flapping (this has happened on several discs).  These problems are definitely disc dependent, but the thing is, the discs play perfectly on my other CD players (14-year old Meridian 506,  20-year old Adcom).  It plays most CDs just fine, so I was sort of ignoring it, but in the last couple of weeks of occasional listening I've come across 4 additional CDs that it has had problems with (including a brand new one tonight).

I will probably contact Bryston and send it in to let them take a look at it.  I am hoping this is just a problem with my unit and something that they can fix.  However, before I go through the hassle of sending it in, I thought I would see if any other BCD-1 owners reading this have had similar problems.  Any input would be appreciated.

David

[Mag]

I have that problem of discs getting stuck on tracks with my Sony, I use mostly cd-r backups. Cleaning the cd sometimes works, but if that fails to fix problem I burn a new cd-r and it usually works.

[Laundrew]

Hello all.  I'm new to the Bryston Circle, although I have been reading for a couple of months.

David

Be most welcome David 

Be well...

[amblin]

Amblin,
Will you have the ability to demo your favorite (potential) new sources at home on your system?

On not too expensive CDP and DACs, yes.  But not the heavy weight wallet busters. 

My dealer is selling a full range of bryston equiptment, plus most of PMC's speaker range and many CAN/US, European brands such as ProAc, KEF,Wadia and burmester . .  All open for home demo except the few heavy weights which simply wouldn't fit into my family MPV.  Mmmm.. i want a lorry....

[headshrinker2]

Welcome to the forum DavidV.  This is a great place with good humor and good help.

Sorry to hear of your gear issues.  Did you buy from a local dealer?  New? Used?  If you have one, I would definitely talk to your dealer.  As you probably know, Bryston is known for their excellent customer service.

I have a BCD-1. I have not experienced any of the issues you are describing. 

Maybe in a new thread you can tell us about your system, cabling, musical tastes...ect.

Hello all.  I'm new to the Bryston Circle, although I have been reading for a couple of months.  I purchased all Bryston equipment (amp, preamp, CD player, interconnects) about two months ago.  I am very pleased with the sound, but I am having some problems with the BCD-1 so I thought I would jump into this discussion.

As I said, I am pleased with the sound, but I was really disappointed when I realized that the BCD-1 cannot program the tracks.  This may not bother most people, but I used to use that feature on probably 50% or more of the CDs I played.  I don't think I have ever before had a CD player on which the tracks were not programmable, but I have accepted it.  Also, the non-playability of CDs that deviate in some way from the Redbook standard is a bit frustrating since my other CD players have no problem with those CDs.  But, so far I have only come across a couple of CDs that wouldn't play, so no big deal.

But what I do consider to be a serious problem is that on a growing number of CDs the BCD-1 has problems at certain points in the CD:  it will just stop;  it will stop and then a few seconds later start up again;  it skips to a different place in the track;  it continues playing, but there is a sound something like birds wings flapping (this has happened on several discs).  These problems are definitely disc dependent, but the thing is, the discs play perfectly on my other CD players (14-year old Meridian 506,  20-year old Adcom).  It plays most CDs just fine, so I was sort of ignoring it, but in the last couple of weeks of occasional listening I've come across 4 additional CDs that it has had problems with (including a brand new one tonight).

I will probably contact Bryston and send it in to let them take a look at it.  I am hoping this is just a problem with my unit and something that they can fix.  However, before I go through the hassle of sending it in, I thought I would see if any other BCD-1 owners reading this have had similar problems.  Any input would be appreciated.

David

[RLL1]

Welcome DavidV. I haven't encountered the problems you are having, but I am sure your dealer and Bryston will resolve the issue quickly, and to your satisfaction.

Rick