[OgOgilby]

Great review Ted! Are you going to post the DAC comparison in this thread or start a new one?

-Greg

[ted_b]

Thanks.

The DAC comparison has really become somewhat watered down because I couldn't give the BDA-1 it's proper preamp setup, and I wasn't going to ask the Antelope Gold to step back and forgo the direct-to-amp setup that it flourishes in.  A real fair comparison would be setting up a perfect environ for each.  IOW, if the goal is to get the batter out, don't ask Nolan Ryan to throw junk, and don't ask Greg Maddux to throw heat.  Let em do their thing their own way.  I just didn't have time, nor wanted to keep George's gear any longer than I had to.

Here's my goofy DAC take, which hasn't really been altered from the first time I evaluated the BDA-1 almost a year ago:

My system is currently all solid-state, and with the tall and very powerful SP Tech Revelation speakers tends to be one of imaging, large soundstage (front-back, height and left-right) and resolution.  However, it can tip to the analytical side if I'm not careful.  The reason I evaluated sooooo many DACS (approx 15) in the past 2 years, after running with my Weiss DAC2 during that time, is that I found that a mysterious synergy would occur.  Sometimes great, well-reviewed DACs with tube-stages would actually sound more analytical than the next ss DAC!  ?  All during this time I would use a very good preamp, starting with the Modwright LS 36.5 dual mono, the Wyred STP-SE and finally the Concert Fidelity CF-080.  Whether it had to do with preamp mating, impedance issues, or just a nice marriage with all my gear and my room,(which is now impeccably tuned to my tastes and rid of most time-based acoustical issues, thanks to the custom design and highly customized resonance systems of one Jeff Hedback and the products of Ethan Winer's Realtraps).....it just became very easy to hear whether a DAC would fit in my system.  Several very very good ones didn't, including the Berkeley Alpha, the Forsell MDAC, the Wavelength Cosecant...and yes, the Bryston BDA-1. 

In the case of the Bryston, it has, IMO, the best very top end of any of the DAC's I've evaluated.  The leading edge of cymbals sound metallic and real.  But I could never get it to balance out in the midrange, probably because my room requires a slight bit of warmth that the Gold's own internal pre gives me (as does my Concert Fidelity CF-080).  Now, this week I fed the Gold the output of the BDA-1 through single-ended ASi Liveline cables, but it was not enough to satisfy me.  Keep in mind that the Gold didn't have those extra analog outs.   I also had no time or inclination to drag out my CF-080 because the Gold doesn't need it, frankly.

So, as far as I could tell, both DACs excel in the bottom end, with the BDA-1 a slight plus in bass control (splitting fine hairs), but I can't live with the slightly less organic midrange that it puts out in my room.  These aspects stayed consistent whether fed by the BDP-1 , or the USB interface of the April Stello U3.  In almost all other aspects (soundstage width, depth, imaging) the results were too close to call, or were similarly affected by a change in midrange tonality. 

I conclude that if put in a tube-based system like George's Atma-Sphere system, the exact opposite would occur.  And it has.  He prefers the BDA-1 over the Gold, and I think I would too. 

By the way, the Gold/Voltikus combo is almost twice the price of the BDA-1, that needs to be said.  With that in mind, the Gold combo would still lose to the BDA-1 in many hi-end systems like George's. 

[zybar]

Great post and audio wisdom Ted.   

In your comments above, you captured what I heard over a couple of different listening sessions where we had the BDP-1 feeding both the BDA-1 and the Gold/Voltikus combo.

While both the BDA-1 and Antelope Gold/Voltikus are excellent products that have been pretty much universally praised (deservedly so based on my own personal experience), you still need to match the sonic signatures and strengths of each product with the rest of your system and personal preferences.

Glad you enjoyed your time with the Bryston gear and were able to share your thoughts with the AC community.

It will be nice to have the Bryston duo back home and spinning tunes next week, their presence has certainly been missed.

George

[Crimson]

...........you still need to match the sonic signatures and strengths of each product with the rest of your system and personal preferences.

George and Ted, thanks to the both of you.

Great camaraderie, good fellowship, and excellent writing.

Thanks again for sharing.

[madfloyd]

I also want to say thanks to George and Ted for this thread.  It's been most interesting reading.

[pardales]

My thanks as well. Very helpful thread. I am currently trying to decide whether to ditch my iMac and go with something like a BDP-1 or ditch my integrated and go with separates.

[mactrax08]

I have the BDP-1 and macbook with m2tech ... BDP-1 is MUCH better all in all. 

[headshrinker2]

Are you running stock M2Tech HiFace with your MacBook?  I tried one of these, but didn't keep it very long.  I understand HiFace Evo is a whole different animal.

I have the BDP-1 and macbook with m2tech ... BDP-1 is MUCH better all in all. 

[larevoj]

IMHO it is very difficult to make this comparison because the possibilities and variables of MM are endless. Every single component/feature change e.g. model of MM, OSX version, playback software used, UBS cables used, Firewire cable used, PSU used, isolation used, RAM, hardrive, SPDIF converter - asynchronous or not, connectivity - powering on/off of LAN/WIFI/Bluetooth/RF, turning off certain background activities that is not necessary, etc...the list goes on and on including the playback files...one thing for sure is a dream come true for folks whom love to tweak and the final price tag of a fully optimized MM playback system would be way beyond BDP-1. 

Is it better?? I don't know...I do know both solution is equally good at least to my ears. In terms of flexibility MM is the obvious and you can tweak till it matches your overall system synergy especially if you go up the scale in price range your source will reveal the weakest link - BUT the journey entails lots of trials and errors = $$$  The BDP-1 to me is a straight forward solution with very little variables and out of the box it sounds VERY good so logically its really a no brainer especially for folks whom already own the BDA-1.

[pardales]

As much as I would like to try a BDP-1 I think I would miss having some of the facility and ease of a computer (loading new music, internet radio, etc.) so I am strongly leaning towards setting up a new music server with a Mini or a Macbook Air.

The Macbook Air seems to make some sense because it already has the solid state drive, screen, and keyboard, so I would not need to outfit the Mini with those things.

[Armand07]

I am new here, but after having the latest Mac Mini with SSD, 8 GB RAM and a Weiss INT202 firewire to spdif converter for about 6 months, I got to hear the Bryston BDP-1 in my setup and was able to do an A/B comparison. To make it short, the Bryston is now in my rack and my wife has the Mac mini as her personal computer. The BDP-1 has lower noise floor, a more three dimensional and lifelike way of reproducing music. I have it connected to a Theta CBIII HD, Jeff Rowland 301 amps and Adyton line source speakers. Cables are Nordost Valhalla, and Odin power cords on the amps.

[dirk]

I am new here, but after having the latest Mac Mini with SSD, 8 GB RAM and a Weiss INT202 firewire to spdif converter for about 6 months, I got to hear the Bryston BDP-1 in my setup and was able to do an A/B comparison. To make it short, the Bryston is now in my rack and my wife has the Mac mini as her personal computer. The BDP-1 has lower noise floor, a more three dimensional and lifelike way of reproducing music. I have it connected to a Theta CBIII HD, Jeff Rowland 301 amps and Adyton line source speakers. Cables are Nordost Valhalla, and Odin power cords on the amps.

What kind of dac do you use ?

[golfugh]

What kind of dac do you use ?

Looks to me like it's the Theta CBIII HD pre/pro

[dirk]

Looks to me like it's the Theta CBIII HD pre/pro

ok, i don't know that product.

[golfugh]

Here she is, incredible processor and not cheap!

http://www.thetadigital.com/casablanca_iiihd_controller_info.shtml