Bryston CD player

[Cody@TARA]

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Hello again AudioReview!

This week, our music source at TARA Labs was in the form of a Bryston BCD-1. While fairly entry-level, this CD player definitely surpassed my expectations. The music was clean and transparent, with focused and engaging dynamics. However, I was a bit confused when I realized it did not support SACD format. A quick search later I found that: though Bryston experimented with SACD playback, they soon discovered that it did not operate on the same sampling frequency as most CDs. Ultimately, Bryston could not match the quality of a CD-dedicated system. However, the quality of the CD playback is excellent. I respect Bryston for not sacrificing quality for features. Anyone out there using Bryston products?

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[Hyfi]

Don't own any but they have always interested me. If you have any real questions, you can talk to James Tanner from Bryston over at the Shark.

[Cody@TARA]

Don't own any but they have always interested me. If you have any real questions, you can talk to James Tanner from Bryston over at the Shark.

Thanks, I just posted this in the Audio Shark forums as well.

[noddin0ff]

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Hello again AudioReview!

This week, our music source at TARA Labs was in the form of a Bryston BCD-1. While fairly entry-level, this CD player definitely surpassed my expectations. The music was clean and transparent, with focused and engaging dynamics. However, I was a bit confused when I realized it did not support SACD format. A quick search later I found that: though Bryston experimented with SACD playback, they soon discovered that it did not operate on the same sampling frequency as most CDs. Ultimately, Bryston could not match the quality of a CD-dedicated system. However, the quality of the CD playback is excellent. I respect Bryston for not sacrificing quality for features. Anyone out there using Bryston products?

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I don't understand why it would be confusing that a dedicated CD player doesn't play SACD. SACD is a different format, a different color laser, different encoding, encodes multi-channel, has serious copy protection...and, most importantly can only be read by a licensed SACD device.

Its not dissimilar from expecting an 8-track player to play cassettes (not that anybody under 30 would remember these formats). I really doubt that Bryston would 'discover' that SACD were different from CD. Just saying. I'm sure its a very nice CD player though.

[Mr Peabody]

I had a Bryston 3Bst at one point. Loved the build, except for the speaker terminals were a bear for using spades. The sound was balanced, powerful and neutral, not the amp if you are into a more romantic presentation. Seems like Jack, or, someone here has a Bryston DAC.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Yes I have the BDA-1 which sort of sounds like old hat as the BDA-3 is soon to hit the market, but with the addition of the Bryston BUC-1, I have what essentially is a BDA-2. It plays all my Hi-Rez files up to 192/24 and is sort of the brains of my rig right now. It's funny as I just turn on my amp, preamp and cd player, but my DAC takes a few more steps to get it into the chain. When I spent $2000 for the Bryston, I thought "am I nuts" but it's made me want to bring the rest of my gear up to the BDA-1's standards, which is a good thing.