Review and Measurements of Bryston BDA-2 DAC

[LTig]

So my $450 Sabaj D5 is a better DAC than this?

Regarding performance? It seems so (except jitter and IMD hump).

what am I missing other than not having a 20 year warranty?

3 coax inputs, 1 optical input, 1 AES input, 1 coax output. OTOH you'd still need a headphone amp ...

 

[Lotus97]

Regarding performance? It seems so (except jitter and IMD hump).

3 coax inputs, 1 optical input, 1 AES input, 1 coax output. OTOH you'd still need a headphone amp ...

I have a tube headphone amp, I really didn't buy the D5 for the headphones, i am using this to connect D5 to my speaker amp and headphone amp at the same time https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TBT6QC4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I rly don't need the extra digital inputs.

 

[GrimSurfer]

The other thing to consider is quality. Amir's measurements are of a unit several years old. I can't say for certain, but lesser quality DACs might perform a little worse over time depending on the quality of caps, dielectrics, temperature stability, heck... even the solder used and how it is annealed, which can be somewhat complicated in sensitive electronic assemblies (Google tin whiskers if you think I'm full of shite).

Quality of design, components, and construction is difficult to quantify. If your ownership expectations are a few years, quality might not mean much. Ditto if the purchase price is in the low 100s. Past this point, however, it might take on greater significance.

One could say that a company offering a 20 year warranty has greater confidence in its design, assembly, and components. Bryston, FWIW, has earned a very, very good reputation upholding its warranties. That has a $ value to it too.

 

[amirm]

@amirm: which load did you use for the dash board?

DAC dashboard load for balanced is 200K:

 

[Nango]

Tell me about it?

They suggest (and they charge you for!!) they will exist even in 20 yrs, this is unlikely, you simply can't predict this. They need to put money aside to cover these warranties, monies which dont pay taxes, cant be distributed among shareholders, not allowed in our world.

 

[ahofer]

I have a Bryston 3B from 1987 that has never had a problem and is still going strong. There's a recent picture of it in another thread, if you look closely.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/room-challenge-and-dsp.9178/

 

[Hugo9000]

Here is their FAQ entry regarding their warranty:

We used to offer a 3-year warranty, but we realized that our products were still performing well within specifications, even after 18 years. So, in 1990 we decided to extend the analog warranty to 20 years (as an aside, from 1976 to 1990 we never charged for a repair even though the equipment was well outside the then stated 3 year warranty). The 20-year warranty was retroactive to all our previous customers as well.

With digital products we are currently limiting the warranty to 5 years because we do not have a long history with the technology. This will probably be extended, if all goes as planned.

http://www.bryston.com/pages/faq.html

I've never owned any of their products, and haven't heard anything of theirs since the mid-1990s, but I always liked the solid but no-nonsense look of their gear, and the build quality always seemed impressive compared to a lot of other companies in the "high end."

 

[Zog]

This is a (brief) review and detailed measurements of the Bryston BDA-2 DAC. It is kindly loaned to me by a local audiophile member. I tested the BDA-2 using my old analyzer a while back but he was interested to see how it measures with my new tests. The BDA-2 came out back in 2014 I think and cost US $2,795. Typical of Bryston gear it comes with 20 year warranty! This should preserve its resale price very well.



View attachment 35147

Amir this is a curious result - the SINAD difference between Channel 1 and Channel 2. I can hardly believe it - not as in disbelieve your test results but rather that a company of Bryston's fine reputation would come out with a product that seems to have a large difference between two ostensibly identical channels. My first thought is that this item is 'getting on' a bit, but then there is the 20 year warranty. Hmmm. In order to rationalise the two opposing concepts (the warranty and the difference between the two channels) I come to the following conclusion: Bryston will honor the warranty. Problem solved?

 

[amirm]

In order to rationalise the two opposing concepts (the warranty and the difference between the two channels) I come to the following conclusion: Bryston will honor the warranty. Problem solved?

Could be a connector getting oxidized or something. Alternatively it could be as bad as asymmetrical channel layout which cannot be repaired.

 

[DDF]

I have a Bryston 3B from 1987 that has never had a problem and is still going strong. There's a recent picture of it in another thread, if you look closely.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/room-challenge-and-dsp.9178/

I have an original 2B (~1980) that still works as good as ever, and an ~ 30 year old 2B-LP Pro as my daily office listener that still sounds great. They sent me PSU caps for the 2BLP after 19 years.

I bought a highly reviewed $1.5k integrated from another company 2 years ago and it's spent most of its life busted and fighting for service.

Bryston as a company is the real deal. The premium they charge is reasonable for the customer service, reliability, peace of mind and plain lack of hassle involved.

 

[greyscale]

Still running a pair of 7BSTs thru a BP25 and love um!

 

[Tks]

They suggest (and they charge you for!!) they will exist even in 20 yrs, this is unlikely, you simply can't predict this. They need to put money aside to cover these warranties, monies which dont pay taxes, cant be distributed among shareholders, not allowed in our world.

Fair point, but I thought the kinks of working out the whole "we won't exist maybe" would have been delt with. Simply putting the money aside to reimburse through some sort of insurance entity would suffice?

 

[Nango]

Fair point, but I thought the kinks of working out the whole "we won't exist maybe" would have been delt with. Simply putting the money aside to reimburse through some sort of insurance entity would suffice?

Such an insurance warranty wouldn't be the same and the fact this does not exist yet makes me thinking it is not really viable.

 

[Sal1950]

The BDA-2 came out back in 2014 I think and cost US $2,795. Typical of Bryston gear it comes with 20 year warranty! This should preserve its resale price very well.

Such an insurance warranty wouldn't be the same and the fact this does not exist yet makes me thinking it is not really viable.

Long factory warranty's are simply another version of an insurance warranty. The factory just need to figure in the repairs costs of said gear over a 20 year span and divide that into the sales price. At the prices of some audiophile gear you'd think they should come with a lifetime warranty.. VTL used to offer that (sans tubes and switches) but I don't think they do that any more.

 

[Kane1972]

Long factory warranty's are simply another version of an insurance warranty. The factory just need to figure in the repairs costs of said gear over a 20 year span and divide that into the sales price. At the prices of some audiophile gear you'd think they should come with a lifetime warranty.. VTL used to offer that (sans tubes and switches) but I don't think they do that any more.

But they added the 20 year warranty retrospectively too, so that was not factored into the price when they sold the units.

 

[BDWoody]

I have a Bryston 3B from 1987 that has never had a problem and is still going strong. There's a recent picture of it in another thread, if you look closely.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/room-challenge-and-dsp.9178/

Proud 9B-ST owner.
Beast of an amp... The multichannel amps can be very good value in the used market...

 

[Morpheus]

Not allowed in EU, maximum is 10 yrs and for very good reasons btw ........

Hi,
Ilive in Europe and didn't know that, and what good reason could that be, to prevail avoiding product obsolescence waste, and substandard build quality..? I had a Sony XA50 ES cd player, and when its laser stopped working after 10 years and I could not get a replacement for their top or second best Player cause they all failed and there was no support nust a vouple of years down the line in a flagship product, I was furious...

 

[MetalheadRich]

They suggest (and they charge you for!!) they will exist even in 20 yrs, this is unlikely, you simply can't predict this. They need to put money aside to cover these warranties, monies which dont pay taxes, cant be distributed among shareholders, not allowed in our world.

Thank god we aren't all in the EU.

 

[carlob]

Hi,
Ilive in Europe and didn't know that, and what good reason could that be, to prevail avoiding product obsolescence waste, and substandard build quality..? I had a Sony XA50 ES cd player, and when its laser stopped working after 10 years and I could not get a replacement for their top or second best Player cause they all failed and there was no support nust a vouple of years down the line in a flagship product, I was furious...

You didn't know because it's not true. I think there is a lot of confusion between mandatory legal warranty (*at least* 2 years in EU and I think 1 year in US) and commercial warranty. In any case warranty beyond the legal terms is a contract between the buyer and the manufacturer. Bryston products have a 20 years warranty in EU. The 10 years reference is probably to the new EU legislation regarding the "right to repair", under the new rules manufacturers will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years. That's something that is under discussion also in US but you guys don't have it at the moment. In any case, unfortunately for our US friends, consumer rights legislation is at the moment better in the EU than US.

 

[restorer-john]

At the prices of some audiophile gear you'd think they should come with a lifetime warranty..

We've got implied warranty here in Australia. It's a consumer statutory right that trumps and supersedes any manufacturer's documented period.

For instance, if you buy a TOTL amplifier for $20,000, the implication is, it is of much better quality, performance and longevity than a $500 amplifier. The typical warranty period with most low/med end gear is a minimum of 12 months and your $20,000 amplifier would be by implication, expected to last many years. They cannot use the excuse "it's out of warranty and we can't fix it" on such items.

Apple got themselves in a whole lot of hot water trying to screw over Australian buyers in relation to deceiving them on their consumer rights. They got fined and have to show this prominently on all documentation relating to warranties in this country: