A question about the Bryston BDA-3's HDMI inputs
Ever since I got my Cambridge Audio CXU disc player, I've been intrigued by the Bryston BDA-3 DAC, and this goes back a good few years now. The CA player can output DSD via HDMI, but very few DACS can accept this kind of connection. In fact, the BDA-3 is the only one I know of that can do it. However, the current protocol for DSD is I2s which also typically uses HDMI. Now it gets a little complicated...
I have a Shanling ET-3 CD transport that can output I2s over HDMI. While I don't think it can actually read an SACD disc, it can output DSD from USB drives so in that way can render these hi-res files. Otherwise, it's basically a redbook CD spinner with the capability of upsampling. So my question is, for those of you who have better knowledge of this protocol, can the BDA-3 interpret I2s data over an HDMI cable?
I'm asking this because these Bryston DACs are being sold for a very attractive price these days on the used market. I've owned both a BDA-1 and a BDA-2 in the past so I do have some idea what the 3 will sound like. My current DAC is a Sonnet Morpheus which can only do I2s via an ethernet cable, and that really limits the choices.
Advice and opinions are welcome. Thanks!
The BDA-3 can definitely play SACDs from an HDMI input, although few SACD players offer that option. The Oppo that @mahler123 is using is one of the few that does. |
