bryston

I'm seeing fewer and fewer CD players at consumer electronics trade shows; most demonstrations play music from higher-than-CD-resolution digital files or LPs! No wonder CDs are used in less than 10 percent of the demos. So it seems like the CD, even for high-end audiophiles, will soon be an endangered species.

The Bryston BDP-1 High-Resolution Digital Music Player was designed to give audiophiles easy access to music files from USB storage devices. It's purely a player and therefore doesn't have a built-in hard-drive, streamer, or a CD player/ripper. The BDP-1 must be used with a digital-to-analog converter, and I'm sure most buyers will team the player with the company's stellar BDA-1 DAC.

Bryston is based in Peterborough, Ontario, just northeast of Toronto, and sells its products through more than 150 dealers in North America and in 60 countries worldwide.

The Linux-based BDP-1 is a standalone music player, though it can be used with a computer, iPhone, or iPad. The BDP-1's graphic interface operates under open-source software protocols, ensuring compatibility with the widest possible range of devices. Output connectivity options include AES-EBU (balanced) and BNC (spdif) jacks, with electronic isolation of audio components from computers. The BDP-1 supports 16 and 24 bit files with sample rates of 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz and 192 kHz.… Read more

Here's the concept: It's no secret young consumers don't get high-end audio. It just seems like either total BS or an extravagance for the rich. Yes, it can be both of those things, but there's a lot of great, affordable high-end audio that's available to anyone who's truly passionate about music. Here's one quick example, Usher Audio's staggeringly good S-520 speakers that go for $400 a pair (I'll review them in this space soon).

Anyway, a high-end publicist friend of mine proposed this reach out to the youth concept through Rolling … Read more

Bryston doesn't believe automation has a place in high-end audio manufacturing. They still hand-build CD players, and their full line of preamplifier and power amplifiers at their Peterborough, Ontario factory. The BCD-1 CD player was conceived with the audiophile in mind, someone who appreciates exceptional build quality and outstanding performance.

Rather than rely on inexpensive, off-the-shelf chipsets, the Bryston player's audio circuits use "discrete" devices--individual transistors, resistors, and capacitors. Each part is hand selected and installed, every wire is cut and bent by hand, every connection is hand soldered. This strategy, while expensive to implement allows … Read more