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"Product of the Year" Award Winner 2011 The Absolute Sound
Plays Digital Files with Extraordinary Musicality
Many digital playback systems incorporate an all-in-one approach to digital playback. These systems are burdened with performing all of the identified tasks of playing digital audio, including ripping content and managing storage in the same box that is struggling to play the audio files faithfully. Instead of opting for the usual 'Swiss army knife' multi-functional approach, Bryston broke the different tasks apart with the BDP-1 digital player and dedicated its efforts to the stages where it could bring the most value and performance.
All-in-one music servers have serious issues with noise and distortion, so Bryston totally separated the 'digital processing' side (playing music files) from the 'data management' (storage, handling, ripping) side of the equation. The Bryston BDP-1 Digital Player's single function is to play high-resolution digital music files without compromise using a USB drive. It does not contain a hard-drive streamer, CD player, ripper, or noisy fans and switching power supplies. Thus there are essentially no mechanical moving parts to the BDP-1 that could compromise sound quality.
To do this most efficiently, the BDP-1 uses a Linux operating system to provide the highest quality audio performance. Its industrial quality motherboard uses only a small amount of its computing power. The built-in soundcard is one of the finest available, and the AES-EBU Balanced and BNC SP/DIF output section offers unparalleled performance when connected to the AES-EBU, BNC, or coaxial input on the Bryston BDA-1 external DAC or other no-compromise external DAC. Bryston also electronically isolated the audio components from the computer components and used galvanic isolation to isolate and avoid charge-carrying particles moving from one section to another.
"Astonishing"
The BDP-1 Digital Player was honored by its inclusion in The Absolute Sound 2012 High-End Audio Buyer's Guide, which noted, "The astonishing new BDP-1 Digital Player is a technological tour de force that bridges the generational divide between the Old World familiarity of a traditional CD player and the new world of high-resolution files and music-library management, between a past constrained by frustratingly compromised digital audio sound quality and an exciting future in which digital artifacts have finally been reduced to inconsequential levels."
"A Keeper," Says Stereophile
"It played every hi-rez file I could lay hands on, including 24-bit/192kHz FLAC, WAV, and AIFF files, consistently delivering open highs, rich mid- range timbres, a stunning dynamic range, and three-dimensional imaging," reports Larry Greenhill in his June 2011 Stereophile magazine review. "When you hear it, you, too, will find the BDP-1 a keeper."
"The Sense of Space is Astonishing"
"The sense of space is astonishing," marvels England's What Hi-Fi? magazine. "Not just the space that defines the venue, but that between instruments, too. And despite all the insight, there's no loss of cohesion. There's also a spell-binding finesse here, a lightness of touch, that once heard is hard to do without."
"A Remarkable Device"
"The BDP-1 has a very rich, very clean sound with ample bass and astonishingly low levels of distortion," says Andy Schaub in Issue 56, July/August 2011, of Positive Feedback magazine. "This is a remarkable device that gets that much closer to integrating the Internet into your home audio system and doing so with aplomb."
UnParalleled Playback of Files Up To 192 kHz
The Bryston BDP-1 Digital Player focuses 'only' on playing high-resolution files, and playing them with a level of uncompromising musicality. It will support 16-bit and 24-bit files with the following sample rates: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, and 192 kHz. It accesses these digital files from a USB device – either a thumb-drive or a hard-drive.
The BDP-1 reproduces the digital content in its native sample rate and bit depth and outputs the data stream through a high performance dedicated AES-EBU balanced XLR output or BNC/coaxial (SPDIF) connector. It processes digital music files at a performance level unattainable with other approaches.
Using the BDP-1 with Your Home Network
The easiest way to understand the Bryston BDP-1 is to think of it as a 21st century updated CD player. Instead of using CDs as the music source, though, it utilizes USB thumb drives or USB hard-drives as the music storage source. For example you can use a large 1TB USB hard-drive which is permanently connected or mass storage of your music and then use a number of smaller 8-16GB USB thumb-drives to create specific play lists – one for Jazz, one for Classical, one for Rock, etc, and insert them into the BDP-1 as you wish. Also your friends can come over with their favorite songs loaded on their personal thumb-drives and listen as well.
If you like, you can use the BDP-1 with your home network. It incorporates state-of-the-art electronics which link up to your home network and may be controlled by a variety of graphic interface devices, such as laptop, netbook, iPhone, or web browser The BDP-1's graphic interface operates under 'open source' software protocols, ensuring long term future proofing and compatibility with the widest possible range of other digital devices as they are developed. Bryston will also be developing its own Bryston web based MPD client.
The home network is only utilized to allow you to view, manage and control your playlist. The other interface option is utilizing the front panel controls and two-line graphic display on the Bryston BDP-1 digital player. You do not have to be connected to the home network in order to use the front panel controls. The BDP-1's graphic interface operates under 'open source' software protocols, ensuring long term future proofing and compatibility with the widest possible range of other digital devices as they are developed.
Important Free Firmware Update
Bryston is pleased to announce the addition of a NAS feature update to the BDP-1 Digital Player. This will allow the BDP-1 to connect to many of the more popular NAS drives via SMB (Windows File Sharing) and UPnP/DLNA. It lets you play your digital music files from a remotely located NAS drive over your wired home network as well as via your currently attached USB drives. The BDP-1 still retains its ability to function as a NAS as well.
This feature is available at no charge to all current BDP-1 owners and moving forward will be included in the BDP-1 onboard software.
Download the Firmware Rev. 1.4 2012-05-10
file for more information.
ARCHOS 7o Internet Tablet is a new Android based interface that works well with BDP-1 Digital Player using MPDROID music player.
Gnome Music Player Client is a free client for MPD that you can use with the Bryston BDP-1 Digital Player and Windows, Macintosh, Linux, or Unix operating systems.
Bryston BDP1 LITERATURE(4.3mb PDF)  | 
