Bryston BDP-1 vs. CD transport

[Stanray]

Not sure under which topic to post this: DAC? Music server?

 

Anyway, after lurking this great site for a long time I decided to share some of my experiences. I'm looking for a music server to replace my CD-transport, but haven't decided which type of server it will be, CAPS-like solution or a Aurility/Bryston type? Convenience is one thing (JRiver? Sonata?), but the most important is sound quality, I don't want to make any compromise.

 

I have a custom built DAC (http://www.audiomagic.nl/ > AM-DAC) connected to a CEC TL-51 transport. I’m very pleased with the sound and prefer it over other components I had in my set-up, like the PS Audio Perfect Wave, Weiss 202 and Resolution Audio. I suspect one of the major strengths of this DAC, besides the overall design of power supplies, analogue output, etc., is the masterclock in the DAC controlling the transport. The designer describes it as “the DAC has a VCXO (Voltage-Controlled Crystal Oscillator) with a shunt DC supply. This clock controls the converter chips directly (bitclock) and indirectly by reclocking (wordclock). A special buffer sends the clock signal by a separate cable to the CD-transport, making the DAC master and the transport slave. The output of the transport, in S/PDIF, now is in sync with the DAC”.

 

Recently I borrowed a Bryston BDP-1 to compare the sound quality with my transport. Controlled by the iPaD MPAD app it was very convenient skipping through my FLAC library. In this way we were able to compare the CD with the Bryston, using the same BNC-interlink. Although the Bryston sound was OK, it fell short of the CD which had better “tone”, micro-detail and sounded more musical and involving.

 

Why was the CD better in this comparison? Although the Bryston is a great product I suspect that the jitter level, although low, still is higher than my CD-DAC combo. But I’m open for other suggestions from the experts.

 

What I’m looking for is a computer/server that equals the sound quality of my AM-DAC/CEC combo. Hopefully the designer will figure out a way to slave the computer/music server to the DAC in some way.

 

 

 

 

[Kimo]

http://www.stereophile.com/content/bryston-bdp-1-digital-audio-player-measurements

 

According to this, jitter should not be an issue with the Bryston.

 

[Stanray]

Thanks Kimo,

 

The Bryston is a fine product and jitter will not be an “issue”. But that doesn’t mean that the configuration I described might still have lower jitter and therefor better sound?

 

 

[Kimo]

Apparently, the jitter was so low that Atkinson was running out of measurement capacity.

 

"the Miller Analyzer calculated the level to be just 110ps peak–peak, which is at the limit of its resolution"

 

This review seems to echo your findings, however.

 

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/audio-systems/bryston-bdp-1-929064/review?artc_pg=2

 

"It lags slightly when compared to a CD in a regular player via the same DAC, with the disc having a lighter touch and less 'glare' around treble sounds, cymbals for instance have a slightly unnatural brilliance with the BDP-1."

 

Must be something else then?