Bryston BDA-1

heiney9

So I am in the mood for a dac upgrade. I am interested in the Mini Max Plus, but then I ran across a couple used Bryston BDA-1's. The reviews and the design really appeal to me. I like that they use discrete output section and completely isolated power to everything. I can turn on/off the upsample mode and it has a plethora of inputs/outputs.

Reviews are great and it's built like the proverbial brick **** house.

Discuss

H9

BlueFox

I have one, and it was a step up from the Benchmark DAC1. The Benchmark appeared harsher compared to the BDA-1. However, it's USB input sucks. While I never used that, the review in either Stereophile, or The Absolute Sound, stated that.

The BDA-2 fixed that issue, and it is even better sounding.

SCompRacer

Do some research on these diy parts. At TP or their diyaudio site. Some folks disclose what DAC's they had before. Twisted Pear Buffalo III or IIISE with Legato or IVY I/V board. (Legato has discrete balanced output, op amp SE/headphone out. IVY has op amp output balanced and SE).

Built as current output (better than voltage out DAC board IMO). I built one with extra parts I had as a pass around, but the first guy that got it wouldn't let it go.

Ask Carl, he can tell you in his words, what he had and got rid of. Oh, and don't forget about Fred (ftgv), bikerboy, headrott, they all have one.

heiney9

Rich, i was always envious of your dac project. I'm not sure I have the knowledge, tools or patience to build something like that without a lot of guidance.

H9

SCompRacer

We'd have to talk before venturing into a diy like this anyway. That's why I suggest research first to determine if you'd want to go ahead. Configuration dictates the build complexity. A simple manual controlled DAC is much easier to build than my Swiss army knife with I2C serial and remote control. Any setting changes with a manual DAC are then made with dip switches. Multiple inputs like SPDIF/DSD like different DAC settings, and that's where serial control has the advantage. It remembers your selected optimum settings via input type, where dipswitches need to be flipped to change settings.

I'm not sure if my forum friend from the Netherlands is still making the shields (circuit board that attaches to Arduino controller). I had two of his boards, both gone now. They simplify serial control by significantly reducing wiring, and his re-written HiFiDuino code made it easy to configure the DAC.

One other thing is Twisted Pear came out with the Buffalo IIISE DAC board while I was building mine. It has a couple of switchable inputs built in. (Switchable stereo S/PDIF input, or 2 channels of PCM/DSD). My DAC boards are the Buffalo III, up to 8 individual channels with no switchable inputs on board. Much simpler to build a manual DAC with limited options versus adding a four channel input switch and serial control.

There is an advanced configuration guide that allows you to see what's required for your planned build. Some folks don't read it through and ask questions that have already been answered. The other thing is you learn so much more about digital and DAC's once you venture down this path.

heiney9

Thanks for the feedback and reading material Rich, you know I am a sponge when it comes to the details of how things work and interact.

For now I'm not going to tackle the DIY. I did pull the trigger on the Eastern Electric Mini Max Dac PLUS in our FM

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/169175/eastern-electric-minimax-dac-plus#latest

I will experiment with some op-amp rolling as that seems to make a difference in this DAC. The op-amps are all socketed and I am looking to use 1 or 2 types of the discrete op-amps from Sparko's, DEXA, and Burson and a few of the I/C type op-amps.

H9