How good is Bryston BDP-1?

I use it with a W4S DAC2 and the sound is beyond superb, as is ease of use. No muss or fuss with a transport or laptop, and the sound is absolutely pristine if your digital material is. And the cost is considerably less than some of the names you have mentioned.

Neal

Probably I did not express myself clear enough, my apologies. let me try again. I would like to know if somebody compared Bryston bdp-1 as digital transport (forget about Bryston DAC or other DACs around this price level) running Bryston BDP-1 utilizing top level DACs of such palyers as Esoteric k-03/K-01, DCS, Ayon cd-5s, ARC CD8 or others at that level, versus those same top level CD players playing red book CDs or SACD. Thank you.

Hi

I did a comparison between Brystons BCD-1 and the BDP-1 & BDA-1. With the cd vs the ripped cd (in wav) the cd player was better. The cd vs the hi-def downloaded version, the hi-def version was better. According to Bryston the cd player is better (cd vs ripped cd) due to the I2S interface being superior on the cd player. If you want to listen to your hugh cd collection with maximum clarity and detail, use a cd player. If you want to have all your cd's stored and available at a swipe of your touch screen interface use the BDP-1. If you want to go the hi-def music download route use the BDP-1.

Hi

I did a comparison between Brystons BCD-1 and the BDP-1 & BDA-1. With the cd vs the ripped cd (in wav) the cd player was better. The cd vs the hi-def downloaded version, the hi-def version was better. According to Bryston the cd player is better (cd vs ripped cd) due to the I2S interface being superior on the cd player. If you want to listen to your hugh cd collection with maximum clarity and detail, use a cd player. If you want to have all your cd's stored and available at a swipe of your touch screen interface use the BDP-1. If you want to go the hi-def music download route use the BDP-1.

Ronald:

Did you use the BCD-1 analog out or use it's digial output to feed the BDA-1? Would be curious if you still found the stand alone BCD-1 better.

Interesting that James Tanner (marketing VP of Bryston) has told me that he prefers the ripped 16/44 through the BDP-1 vs the CD in the BCD-1. However, the ripped 16/44 has to be generated via "bit perfect" ripping software, and not all ripping software is. So the source of the digital file is also important.

The issue, even if you have a large 16/44 CD collection (like I have) is the fact that Bryston has discontinued the BCD-1 because the drives are no longer available. This makes the potential longevity and support for a BCD-1 questionable beyond the next three years or so.

I would like to know if folks have made any comparison with the PS Audio PWTransport (ie the PSA PWT + BDA-1 vs BCD-1). That unit does not use an audiophile transport, but a computer type CDROM drive which is way cheaper and easier to replace into the future.