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Tascam BD-MP1 Review (CD/Blu-ray Player)

amirm

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Continuing our theme of testing "older" formats, here is a review and detailed measurements of the Tascam BD-MP1. It was purchased new and kindly sent to me by a member. The BD-MP1 costs US $499.

Consistent with its marketing theme, this is a "professional" rack mounted optical player:

Tascam BD-MP1 Review CD Source Blu-ray player.jpg


I must say it looks pretty nice. Operationally though, I found it quite slow and frustrating. User interface is quite non-intuitive as well when trying to play anything from USB input. I had to connect a monitor to it to see what it was doing and then use combination of keys to navigate it. I did not get the remote control with it so maybe it is easier using that.

The back panel shows a nice array of connectivity:

Tascam BD-MP1 Review back panel CD Source Blu-ray player.jpg


I really appreciated the balanced outputs. I don't think there ever was a player in this price range with balanced outputs.

Tascam BD-MP1 Measurements
Owner purchased this unit to play CDs so I decided to test it that way. Alas, I had thrown out all my blank CDs but fortunately my wife had some CD-Rs. So I created a few test tracks in 16 bits/44.1 kHz and burned them on one in my older PC. Navigating them was a pain as there is naturally no titles so I had to look at the signals to figure out what they were. Anyway, here is our standard dashboard but keep in mind that this is 16 bit content whereas my normal testing is always with 24-bit files:

Tascam BD-MP1 Measurements CD Source Blu-ray player.png


As you see, the output is a healthy 8 volts which is very nice. The test file is dithered so theoretical dynamic range will be around 93 dB so we are a few dBs short of that with our SINAD. Playing the same file in Audio Precision and measuring it, gives us that number:

APx555 Measurements 16 bit dithered file.png


Notice the far lower distortion from Audio Precision than what the Tascam was showing.

Next I ran the dynamic range test:

Tascam BD-MP1 Measurements CD Source Dynamic Range Blu-ray player.png


So we see again that we are 3 dB short of what we should be getting.

To test the limitation of its DACs, I played my standard 24-bit files using USB Thumbdrive:

Tascam BD-MP1 Measurements USB Source Blu-ray player.png


100 dB SINAD lands it at the bottom of our "very good" category of DACs which is a relief.

Measuring dynamic range now gives us a few more bits as well:

Tascam BD-MP1 Measurements DNR USB Source Blu-ray player.png


So the underlying DAC is better than the CD format which is what you want to see.

Conclusions
This being our first CD player tested with 16-bit content from CD itself, we don't have a reference. As is, we are coming up a bit short but not enough to get me upset. :) 24-bit sources create good enough performance which is reassuring although nothing like what we get with desktop DACs. Those DACs won't output 8 volts though (most won't anyway) so here the Tascam has an advantage.

If you are in the market for optical drive with this kind of form factor, the Tascam BD-MP1 is not a bad option.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 

fordiebianco

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Lovely review. Thanks @amirm. Will definitely keep my CD Collection.
 

vkvedam

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Good one! What's that panther supposed to mean @amirm :p
 
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wwenze

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Come to think of it, for all the optical media tests that have been done for the past 2 decades, I don't remember people actually measuring the effect they have in terms of audio CD SINAD.


Granted, back then you would be lucky to have an ADC capable of 80dB, but now many individuals would have this measuring capability.
 
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MCH

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Newbie curiosity question, and sorry if i say something very stupid: can we assume that if the signal in the CD was 16 bits but not dithered we should obtain a result similar to the last graph? (The one 24 bit from usb)
Thanks
 

Vini darko

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Thanks for the review Amir.
Great thing about dvd/br players is they genrally depreciate like a rock falling off a cliff. Makes them excellent cd transport solutions. I'm using a sony dvp-ns400d via coaxial out. Got it for £10 off ebay.
 

PeteL

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If the DAC In it is better than the "CD format"It could have been interesting to measure the same CD with coax out.
 

JSmith

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Great thing about dvd/br players is they genrally depreciate like a rock falling off a cliff.
* caveat - apart from Oppo spinners. ;)

In relation to this product as a DVD/BD player, I wonder what the video processing is like and whether there is a delay setting for the analogue outs when there are lip-sync issues.



JSmith
 

MC_RME

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With the latest issues on SPDIF inputs that seem to affect several manufacturers a jitter measurement of the SPDIF output would be useful, I think. Not the typical 12 kHz as with DACs, but the real jitter one via the AP's digital input.
 

restorer-john

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Newbie curiosity question, and sorry if i say something very stupid: can we assume that if the signal in the CD was 16 bits but not dithered we should obtain a result similar to the last graph? (The one 24 bit from usb)
Thanks

Dithering buys you better ultra low level waveform integrity at the expense of noise.

The Tascam is doing a very creditable job with CD, but the overall user experience with any multi format players is just horrible compared to a standalone, high quality CD player of the past, which will read the TOC in a second or less and skip tracks in a similar time. Blu-ray/DVD based transports are nasty things, not optimized for CD.

The test file is dithered so theoretical dynamic range will be around 93 dB so we are a few dBs short of that with our SINAD.

Dithered 16bit can achieve a dynamic range in excess of 110dB. The theoretical limit, EIA standard for dithered 16 bit was, I believe 115dB. EIAJ standard was apparently 100dB for dithered 16 bit.
 
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restorer-john

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Is this silent with a disc spinning? It would be nice to include a mention of this or a measurement, for disc players.

Many DVD based players spin the (CD) disc extremely quickly and buffer the output. Makes for a lot of noise.
 

Njoy

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Thanks for the review Mr Amir.Any chance of reviewing standalone CD players?

I still use audio CDs to this day,even purchase them regularly.Using Sony dvd player with khadas tone board and Fiio K5.Purchased the Dac and amp reading your reviews.
 

restorer-john

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Thanks for the review Mr Amir.Any chance of reviewing standalone CD players?

Pretty much all the decent standalone, dedicated CD players have been extensively technically reviewed in the past. There is nothing to be gained with revisiting IMO.
 

pma

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Dithered 16bit can achieve a dynamic range in excess of 110dB. The theoretical limit, EIA standard for dithered 16 bit was, I believe 115dB. EIAJ standard was apparently 100dB for dithered 16 bit.

Yes, however it depends on dithering method. Noise shaping dither can get better dynamic range than TPD.
 
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