Bryston BDA3 Digital to Analog Converter

Ten Inputs, Including Four HDMI

Most standalone DACs give you a USB port, a coax input and an optical one, and assume your digital life fits through them. The Bryston BDA-3 has ten digital inputs, and four of them are HDMI.

That is a feature almost nothing else at this level offers. HDMI is how an SACD or Blu-ray player gets its audio out, so the BDA-3 can take a DSD bitstream straight off a disc, and its HDMI output passes 4K video through to your display.

Two USB inputs is itself unusual: a music server and a laptop can both stay connected. The BDA-3 is built in Peterborough, Ontario, stands 3.63 inches tall by 11.12 inches deep, and comes with a 17-inch or 19-inch faceplate in black or silver.

Dual AKM Converters and a Class-A Output

Inside are two 32-bit AKM AK4490EQ converters run in dual-mono, which buys roughly 3 dB of signal-to-noise over a single chip. Their output feeds Bryston’s own discrete, fully balanced class-A analog stage.

Before any of that, the BDA-3 strips the timing information embedded in the incoming data and reclocks it against its own master clock. The analog and digital sections have separate signal paths and separate power supplies, fed by a large toroidal transformer.

Resolution depends on the input. USB handles PCM to 32-bit/384 kHz and DSD to DSD256. AES/EBU and S/PDIF go to 24/192, optical to 24/96, and HDMI to 24/192 plus DSD64 from SACD.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Carlo Lo Raso reviewed the BDA-3 for Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity on 15 January 2018, with bench measurements, and gave it a Best of 2018 award. His verdict: "The Bryston BDA-3 is an exceptionally transparent piece of audio gear." He found it imparted no sonic signature on any input, and called its detail retrieval outstanding.

His measurements turned up one thing worth knowing. The HDMI inputs showed slightly more jitter-related sidebands than S/PDIF or USB, and marginally higher distortion, though he noted you would not hear it. He also wanted a remote included rather than sold separately.

Who Is This DAC Best For?

• SACD owners — Bitstream DSD over HDMI from a universal player and skip the player’s own converters.
• Systems with many digital sources — Ten inputs covers a disc player, server, laptop, streamer and television at once.
• DSD listeners — Native DSD to DSD256 over USB, plus DSD over PCM.
• Custom installations — TCP/IP, RS-232, USB, IR and DC trigger control, with 4K video pass-through.
• Not right if you want to skip the preamp — It has no volume control, so it needs a preamplifier or integrated amplifier between it and your power amp. See our preamplifiers.

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Pick your input by what the source can give you. A computer or server goes to USB, where the ceiling is highest. A CD transport goes to AES/EBU or BNC. A disc player sending DSD goes to HDMI, and its video carries on through the HDMI output.

Balanced XLR output gives 4V, single-ended RCA 2V. Front-panel buttons select each of the ten inputs directly, with LEDs showing sample rate, format and lock. Plug in what you have, press the right button, and listen.

Pairs Well With

Here is what usually sits around it.

• Integrated amplifiers — One box between the DAC and your speakers. See our integrated amplifiers.
• CD players and transports — A transport into the AES/EBU or BNC input is a natural fit. Browse our CD players and transports.
• Interconnect cables — Balanced or single-ended out to your amplifier. Shop interconnect cables.
• Audio racks — Ten inputs means a lot of cable behind the unit. See our audio racks.

Frequently Asked Questions

What inputs does the BDA-3 have?

Ten: four HDMI, two asynchronous USB 2.0 Type B, one AES/EBU on XLR, one S/PDIF on BNC, one S/PDIF on RCA, and one optical TosLink.

Does it play DSD?

Yes. Up to DSD256 over USB, natively or as DSD over PCM, and DSD64 over HDMI from an SACD player.

Will it pass 4K video to my television?

Yes. The HDMI output passes video through while the BDA-3 handles the audio. One of the four HDMI inputs is HDCP 2.2 compliant.

Does it decode MQA or surround formats?

No to both. The BDA-3 is two-channel and does not support MQA, Dolby Digital or DTS. Over HDMI it takes the two-channel stream only.

What does the Upsample button do?

It takes 44.1 or 88.2 kHz to 176.4, and 48 or 96 kHz to 192. It works on the S/PDIF and AES/EBU inputs only, not USB or HDMI.

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Learn More

Want to learn more about DACs, DSD playback, or connecting digital sources? Visit our Learning Center for guides, tips, and expert advice.