Bryston BDA3 DAC & SACd over HDMI

[Norton]

James Tanner has demonstrated on Audio Circle that the new Bryston BDA3 DAC will play a DSD stream from an OPPO playing a physical SACD over HDMI. As an existing OPPO owner and SACD fan this seems quite a big deal.

 

What I' m surprised at, other than the fact that apparently the OPPO can output DSD and not just PCM over HDMI, is the fact that Bryston can offer this by simply by omitting any SPdif output.

 

Just wondering why, in the super-competitive world of DAC specs, no one has offered this before on a standalone DAC (as opposed to dedicated, and presumably Sony-licensed, SACD transport and DAC combos)?

[Audio_ELF]

The problem is cost of licenses for HDMI and HDCP.

 

I wrote a post a few years back with the costs at that time... http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/hdmi-input-dacs-12472/

[Blizzard]

Another example of technology wasted and held back due to corporate bureaucracy. TMDS is by far a better method of sending digital data from point a to point b than USB. Problem is pulling the data out of the bitstream. Not a problem if greed wasn't a factor.

[Hiro]

The Bryston DAC has reportedly been released. Supports SACD over HDMI as has been mentioned earlier, and all the way up to DSD-256 over USB.

 

Bryston unveils DSD-capable BDA-3 DAC | audiofi.net

[Hiro]

*or rather, will be released on November 1.

[Sam Lord]

James Tanner has demonstrated on Audio Circle that the new Bryston BDA3 DAC will play a DSD stream from an OPPO playing a physical SACD over HDMI.

 

As long as SACDs can't be ripped by any simple means, it won't matter. The format died a tragic death, stabbed by the paranoia of copy protection. I suppose some people find it is worth spinning a disc of DSOTM until "Time" stops.

[Hiro]

As long as SACDs can't be ripped by any simple means, it won't matter. The format died a tragic death, stabbed by the paranoia of copy protection. I suppose some people find it is worth spinning a disc of DSOTM until "Time" stops.

 

FYI, audiophile labels like MoFi, Analogue Productions, Audio Fidelity and dozens of classical labels continue to release new SACDs. To date there have been more than 10,000 titles released on SACD, and counting...

 

And BTW, the point of Bryston's HDMI input is that you don't need to rip anything onto computer. As long as your SACD player has an HDMI output, you can still take advantage of the outboard D/A conversion.

[Lighthouse]

FYI, audiophile labels like MoFi, Analogue Productions, Audio Fidelity and dozens of classical labels continue to release new SACDs. To date there have been more than 10,000 titles released on SACD, and counting...

 

And BTW, the point of Bryston's HDMI input is that you don't need to rip anything onto computer. As long as your SACD player has an HDMI output, you can still take advantage of the outboard D/A conversion.

 

Argh, it's Bryston's HDMI is what we don't need.

Like normal CD, SACD players still suffer significant jitter issue and orher bad stuffs due to mechanical limitations and error correction. Ripping SACD and play from computer would yield better result in general.

 

There was a thread that there is only one SACD pressing plant left (thus even more increased price of SACD). Even vinyl is bigger than SACD at this point.

[Norton]

Argh, it's Bryston's HDMI is what we don't need.

Like normal CD, SACD players still suffer significant jitter issue and orher bad stuffs due to mechanical limitations and error correction. Ripping SACD and play from computer would yield better result in general.

 

There was a thread that there is only one SACD pressing plant left (thus even more increased price of SACD). Even vinyl is bigger than SACD at this point.

 

Despite the "mechanical limitations and error correction" my Esoteric SACD player leaves any computer audio I've heard stone dead on SQ.

 

As for the "increased price" of SACD, can't say I've noticed. I'm buying lots of SACDs at the moment and generally paying around £8 a disc- half to a third of the cost of the exact same recording on DSD download (where downloads are available that is).

[rodrigaj]

Despite the "mechanical limitations and error correction" my Esoteric SACD player leaves any computer audio I've heard stone dead on SQ.

 

As for the "increased price" of SACD, can't say I've noticed. I'm buying lots of SACDs at the moment and generally paying around £8 a disc- half to a third of the cost of the exact same recording on DSD download (where downloads are available that is).

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but what is the difference between the Esoteric k07 and k07x?

[Norton]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but what is the difference between the Esoteric k07 and k07x?

 

They look identical, but both on spec and in sound are significantly different.

 

Spec-wise , x has different transformer, different AK 4490 DAC chips (and 4 of them rather than 2), DAC now accepts DSD (64 input on co axial and up to 256 on USB) and does 8x rather than 4x upsampling on PCM. AFAIK the x no longer has volume control and so I guess can't be used direct to power amp.

 

To me they also sound quite different - the K07 sounded very refined and quite close to my Hugo SQ-wise, but was noticeably "polite" and bass-light, what some might call "thin". By comparison, the K07x has more bass, a more solid and 3d soundstage and seems to retrieve more detail, for a quite full-on exciting sound. Having heard both at some length, I suspect that this is precisely what Esoteric set out to achieve in reworking the k07 to the x.

[rodrigaj]

Thanks!

[audio.bill]

For those interested, here's a link to a Stereophile report from TAVES which mentions the BDA-3 and includes a nice shot of the interior. TAVES 2015, the Deutsch Report Part 1 | Stereophile.com