DAC

The BDA-3's inputs are selected by individual front panel buttons. A digital signal streams data at over 1 million bits per second and requires a bandwidth of over 24 million Hertz for 384k / 32 bit PCM (cycles per second). At these high frequencies it is very important to maintain the quality of the signal by having the correct termination at the digital inputs. The BDA-3 provides for this termination in the best possible manner using high quality devices called impedance matching transformers.

Impedance matching transformers provide the optimal interface to the incoming source under all sorts of signal conditions. Lesser quality terminations will degrade the signal and cause increased jitter.

BDA-3 in silver:

Reference quality, 5-yr warranty

Manual for BDA-3:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1029513/Bryston-Bda-3.html

Update: Acquired a BDA-3 in 2019. This added DSD capability (up to DSD-256) for playback from my BDP-2, through USB.

Nickname: Vermeer

My impressions of BDA-3: BDA-3 is less forgiving than BDA-1. The Bryston house sound is still there, thankfully. BDA-3 improved detail extraction and conveyed a deeper soundstage so that the "corners" were filled in more convincingly. Imaging is now more accurate in crowded symphonic/orchestral recordings. Placement of various performers/instruments is more clearly discernible than with BDA-1. In short, BDA-3 takes my beloved BDA-1 and removes coloration, providing higher resolution, increased soundstage depth, and sharper imaging in front of and behind my speakers. End-game DAC.

Weaknesses: BDA-3 has one less BNC and SPDIF (RCA) jack than BDA-1.

Spec for BDA-3: 3.8 V balanced output.

Measurements for BDA-3:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/bryston-bda-3-da-processor-measurements

Manufacturer:

Bryston Ltd.

677 Neal Drive

Peterborough, Ontario

Canada K9J 6X7

Specs for BDA-3:

Maximum outputs: 4.0V balanced, 2.0V RMS unbalanced.

Input impedance: AES/EBU (110 ohms); S/PDIF 1 (75 ohms RCA), S/PDIF (75 ohms BNC).

Output impedance: not specified.

Upsampling: 44.1 and 88.2 to 176.4 kHz; 48 and 96 to 192 kHz. Frequency response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.1 dB.

THD+noise at 1kHz: 0.002%. IMD (CCIF): 0.0003%, 19+20 kHz. Channel separation: not specified.

Output noise: –140 dB balanced, 20Hz– 20kHz, ref. 1V. Signal/noise: 140 dB.

Dynamic range at –60 dBfs: not specified.

Jitter: not specified.

Reviews for BDA-3:

http://everythingaudionetwork.blogspot.com/2016/12/audiophile-dac-review-bryston-bda-3-da.html

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/bryston-bda-3-dac-review/

https://novo.press/bryston-bda-3-dac-digital-to-analog-converter-review/2/

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/bryston-bda-3-dac/

https://www.stereophile.com/content/bryston-bda-3-da-processor

http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/bryston-bda-3-digital-analogue-converter

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/dac/bryston-bda-3-dac-review/

"With its extremely low levels of noise, harmonic and intermodulation distortion, and its superb resolution, the Bryston BDA-3 offers measured performance that is as good as digital can get," notes John Atkinson in Stereophile.

Also in Stereophile, Larry Greenhill reports, "It delivered the superbly effortless, delicate, subtly revealing, tube-like analog output from a variety of digital file formats and sample rates... I had no choice but to buy the review sample, and I recommended that the BDA-3 be listed in Class A+ of Stereophile's Recommended Components."

"It became clear that the newer design rendered instrumental timbres with more substantive physical presence. Every instrument simply exhibited fuller, weightier solidity, independent of the frequency range covered," observes Karl Schuster, The Absolute Sound , October 24th, 2017.

"Reference Caliber"

The BDA-3's low-level detail recovery, musicality, and neutrality are all reference caliber. With countless songs, Bryston's flagship DAC re-created the musicians' intentions with far greater clarity, insight, and perspicacity than I've ever heard before," raves Douglas Brown in his review for NOVO.

"The new flagship BDA-3 DAC has the ability to bring out the best in one's favorite music and deliver the emotion in one's most impassioned compositions. Throughout this review, I enjoyed the clean, crisp details reproduced by the BDA-3," notes The Computer Audiophile, September 1, 2016.

"Feed the Bryston BDA-3 high resolution material and be drawn into wonderful performances. It has been my preferred DAC for the past several months after I purchased it because it offers an overall sound quality that is without observable character," observes Jerry Seigel, 10 Audio, August 16, 2017.

Superior Sound Quality

Great sound quality starts at the BDA-3's input. Each electrical input is transformer isolated to prevent ground noise from polluting the signal. PCM signals are then reclocked to virtually eliminate jitter. Because Bryston values accuracy above all, the BDA-3 processes all digital signals at their native rate. With the exception of user-selectable upsampling, the BDA-3 does not convert anything to another format or to another sample rate.

Signals drive a dual-mono pair of ultra-high-end DAC ICs. Each IC decodes one channel and operates in balanced mode to achieve the lowest crosstalk and highest dynamic range possible. From the digital chipsets, audio flows to Bryston's proprietary discrete operational amplifiers to provide the most linear, neutral, and clear output possible. Bryston never uses ICs in the analog signal path.

The two USB inputs are both asynchronous. This means that they control the flow of audio from your source component to eliminate the timing irregularities that can otherwise plague digital files streaming form your computer or other devices. Each input is fully USB Class 2 Audio compliant.

Audiophile Power Supply

The quality of power in an audiophile class piece of equipment is imperative for superb performance. The BDA-3 uses two independent power supplies. Each stage in the digital chain is also independently regulated to prevent any interactions and to provide rock solid power supplies for any up-sampling/over-sampling process. The DAC chips also require a very clean digital power supply if they are to function at optimum levels.

The DAC requires a high quality analog power source, too. The analog signal is at its lowest magnitude coming in and going out of the DAC, so any added noise or distortion will be greatly amplified by later stages. Again a separate, heavily regulated and filtered power supply with carefully routed grounds is provided. This sort of care with the power supplies is one of the reasons for the superior sound of the BDA-3.

Discrete 'Class A' Analog Stage

Getting the digital side of the equation correct is only the start. Once the signal leaves the DAC, it is buffered and increased in strength by operational amplifiers. In the Bryston BDA-3, the op-amps are constructed from only discrete devices (individual transistors, resistors, and capacitors) instead of the commonly used integrated circuits. The use of discrete devices allows the design of a circuit that exactly matches the needs of the DAC.

More importantly, the use of discrete operational amplifiers lets us design extremely low distortion and highly optimized output sections using carefully chosen components in an ideal circuit layout to prevent noise, preserve wide bandwidth and exceptional linearity regardless of partnering preamplifier.