Bryston BDA-2 Or Yggdrasil Help

I've heard both dacs and they sound OK. I you are willing to consider others, look at this one.

http://www.wadia.com/en-us/products/di322

In my opinion, the Wadia's in another league. It could be the last dac you'll ever buy.

Huh, what?? The Shiit is a very good modern sounding DAC, almost as good as my beloved Myteks!! :)

+1 on Shiit

No idea on Bryston.

Best,

E

Erik,

Can you please explain to us what modern sound means?

Hi @plotus,

Sorry, this is my short hand. Over the past 5 years or so a number of really good DAC’s have appeared that can play Redbook AND high resolution very well under $2,000.

Smooth extension without exaggeration, no grain or fatigue. Some of these players also do DSD but the truth is they perform REALLY well with all formats, as opposed to pre- 2010 DAC’s which needed high resolution files or DSD to sound their best. This ability to lift up what we previously considered "low resolution" recordings so that they all sound really good is why I lump them together as a "modern sounding" DAC. Perhaps this is thanks to low jitter clocks becoming cheap, or better clocking circuits? I don’t really know. I do know I have noticed a distinct trend. I no longer feel obligated to get a high resolution file because the Redbook sounds a lot better than it used to.

Among them (but by no means a complete list):

Shiit
Mytek

In the portable market:

Fiio
Pono

Certainly NOT Oppo. Oppo is a throwback to cheap Japanese/Chinese gear to my ears. :( This is sad cause I’m a huge fanboy of their BluRay players.

Erik,
Thanks for your thoroughgoing answer.

as opposed to pre- 2010 DAC’s which needed high resolution files or DSD to sound their best.

I suppose you mean up- and oversampling pre 2010 DACs and not all?

Because there still are some heavy hitters along some older classic DACs.

" I suppose you mean up- and oversampling pre 2010 DACs and not all?

Because there still are some heavy hitters along some older classic DACs."

I wouldn't be so fast lump a lot of products together using generic terms. Implantation is everything. Some designers can make a product that is greater than the sum of its parts, while others can't. Also, as is typical with discussions on digital products, most only focus on half the product. The digital half. The analog half is responsible for at least 50% of the sound quality.

Sfall,

Yes I`m aware of what you are saying.
I do not lump anything. It was my question to Erik.

Delta-sigmas are usually known as more DSD players than PCM machines. Therefore my supposition.

hi @plutos

I don’t claim to know all old DAC’s or oversampling/upsmapling variations. :)

I have been putting DAC’s into the bucket of great bargains AND good sounding at all resolutions because I don’t remember any DAC having this combination of consistent performance and low cost in the year 2000.

Very broadly, my impression with "older" DAC’s is you could hear an important difference between low and high resolution works, and there were a lot of different techniques to try to improve the result.

The new breed of DAC doesn’t seem to need these up/over sampling methods but have closed the gap between low and high resolution. :) I’ll give you an example. My Theta Casanova (the little one) did 96/24 great!! Spanked a lot of modern DAC’s at high resolution, but 44/16 was less competitive.  Moving forward in time, my Mytek spanks the Theta Casanova at all resolutions, but ESPECIALLY at 44/16.

These new DAC’s are also VERY VERY good for the money. Fiio is an example of a ridiculously good line of DACs for the money (though amp/headphone matching matters a lot). The UFO DAC sold for a time by Blue Coast Recoreds (among others) was a fantastic USB DAC with DSD capabilities. Mine died at about 2 months from over heating, but (if it had lasted) would have been a great bargain.

Your mileage will always vary. There are some great older DAC’s and crappy new ones. :)

Also, I don’t have the luxury of hanging around stereo stores and harassing dealers or manufacturer’s reps all day. :) So my experience was by no means comprehensive, or constant. I dip in and out of stereo stores as time and money allows. I share these opinions not to try to force others to agree with me but to share my experience, in the hopes others will add to it and create a fuller understanding we can all share from.


Best,


E

I'll give you an example of two DAC's I like a lot now.

The Shiits rely on proprietary oversampling, the Myteks do not. Both sound really good to me, so I don't think the answer is entirely in bit wrangling. :)

Best,

E

Erik,

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Shiits and Myteks have both created a lot of buzz so the must be something about these.

Regards,
Plutos

Bryston is Canadian! Canada is England! British electronics always demands respect! Your pocketbook and how exotic! 
Electronics like cars! The more exotic, the more expensive! Exotic doesn't always mean better! My vote! Bryston!

Would be be big surprise in Ottawa to know they were in England.
Go Senators !!

I made a couple of small errors.

SOME Shiit DACs use proprietary "upsampling" (not oversampling) which they call "Adapticlock."

I have only heard this version. :)

Best,

E

Thanks all,

For the very good recommendations.