“I purchased the Bryston BDA-3 because I read several favorable reviews of the sound quality. I have to agree the sound quality is excellent. I really like the HDMI inputs. I have many SACDs and hi res audio disks, and I wanted a D/A converter that best uses what I already have. I'm especially impressed with the bass. The BDA-3 does very well with the low end. The sound stage is resolved very well too. I'm very pleased with the BDA-3 and highly recommend it.”
“I thought I could rely on Bryston to make a good DAC and I wasn't disappointed. Listening to this DAC I have been particularly impressed with how well it plays my old WAV files. The detail and listenability are notably superior to my previous DAC which cost more than twice as much. With nothing else in the system changed but the DAC I am hearing significant improvements in all my digital sources. With its conventional form factor, ability to decode almost anything and sonic excellence, I doubt there is enough room for improvement to make me want a different DAC for a very long time.”
“Fantastic audio quality with wonderful tonal color and expansive sound-stage. Best I have heard in my system even when compared to some very pricey equipment.
Amazing features with four HDMI inputs and digital audio extraction from all four. The ability to extract DSD directly from SACD on HDMI output of certain Blue-ray players is astounding.
My quibbles are ergonomic: unit does not display bit-depth, you must trust transmitting software. Source inputs are not back-lit and in a typical listening room at night they are very, very difficult to read and, related to this, Bryston does not provide a usable remote. This problem was solved after a call to Bryston who recommended an aftermarket remote that had the BDA3 completely and automatically mapped. Oh, and it was a fraction of the price of the Bryston remote currently available but not set up for the BDA3.
Finally, the unit will up-sample from S/PDIF inputs only (not usb). But it only indicates with yellow or or green and it still displays only receiving resolution.
Overall, five star audio performance with three star ergonomic features.
Buy it for the Audio Quality!”
“Very nice review. I bought the BDA-3 seven months ago because it was the only DAC that I was aware of that decoded my SACD discs. I've been a fan of DSD for many years and still own the Sony SCD-777, a Cary SACD 306, an Oppo BDP 105, Oppo UDP 203, and most recently an Oppo UDP 205. The Cary SACD 306 was my player of choice until it surprisingly got edged out by the Oppo BDP 105 which I had actually purchased for a home theatre system. I bought the BDA-3 with some trepidation, as I viewed the more recently released ESS PRO 9038 in the upcoming UDP 205 as being a superior DAC chip to the AKM's in the BDA-3. The BDA-3 was a significant improvement over the stereo playback of the BDP 105, offering greater clarity, spaciousness, and a much stronger bottom end. This was observed both in Red Book CD playback and playback of SACD over HDMI from the Oppo. I later purchased the UDP 205 with the latest ESS chipset. The lower end of the 205 is much improved over that of the 105, but the overall sound on 2 channel playback is a few notches below what is available from the Bryston BDA-3. As much as I enjoy the sound of SACD over HDMI on the Bryston, my biggest surprise is how much it has elevated Red Book CD playback vs. that obtained with my Oppo's and Cary. I primarily listen to file playback from my Melco N1A/2, which has raised the sound quality of many of my well recorded Red Book CD's above that of many of my mediocre SACD's. And cable choice makes a huge difference over HDMI and USB. I am currently enjoying the Cardas HDMI 1.4 cable and a Pangea Premier XL USB (splits power and signal into two legs) with a substantial improvement over other cables that I have tried. I rarely use the other inputs and have not done cable swapping with them.
My BDA-3 sounded flat and unimpressive out of the box, but by 2 weeks had already made impressive improvements in sound quality, sound stage, and bass weight. In retrospect, part of the "flatness" could have been due to my choice of HDMI cable, which was a good quality HDMI 2.0 cable, not a "premium" HDMI 1.4 cable. The newer specs are neither necessary nor helpful for SACD over HDMI, with the standard for transmission of SACD over HDMI being created many years before these newer cables were constructed. Anyway, after upgrading my HDMI to the new Pangea Audio Premier SE HDMI cable the BDA-3 really started to exceed my expectations. I don't know if i's the Cardas copper or the design, but the Premier SE has clearly outperformed my other HDMI cables, even those from some big name brands.”
“I got my BDA-3 six months ago. Spectacular DAC, spectacular company and Spectacular service! If you have a number of digital audio sources like I do, this is an ideal product to get maximum performance out of all of them. I run the cable box, streaming box and DVD player though the HDMI inputs on the BDA-3. With this stellar DAC decrypting the digital audio, you will be very happy. DVDa works great, I need to test SACD again. I also own the Bryson BIT-15 power conditioner which also made a big sonic improvement in my system.”
“No other DAC I could find offers this many connection options! I was able to connect all my digital gear - streamers 2, Mac Mini, optical transports 2 & Sony DAT - with ports to spare. One week in and the sound is stunning! By audiophile standards this dac is a steal.”
