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W4S DAC2 vs Bryston BDA1 thru coax?

I'm trying to narrow down my DAC short list and would appreciate input from experienced users. While a computer thru USB to a DAC sounds interesting, I'm not yet ready to go there. I have a CD player, to be used as transport, and a SB Touch.

The BDA1 got A LOT of praise a while back. On specs it looks great, being 24/192 capable, discrete analog section, 2 coax inputs. Yet it's a bit old for a DAC.

The W4S is getting a lot of praise, because of sound, feature rich, and asynch USB. Also discrete analog stage.

I don't need volume control as the DAC would feed my Lamm LL2 thru RCAs. I most value staging (width and depth), pinpoint imaging, and feeling the body of instruments.

Based on this, how do these two differ when fed from coax? Auditioning is not posible here. Thinking DAC2 new is almost the same price as a used BDA1.

Thanks!
lewinskih01
pkubica
134 posts
 
Both are very good DAC's at their price points. I have heard them both, head to head on two different occasions, once in my system with 2 friends listening and once at a DAC shootout with a group of listeners. The Bryston came out ahead on both occasions. It's only negative would be the USB input... a bit dated at this point.

Soundwise the only DAC I liked better was the Berkeley and that was a very small difference. Interestingly at the end of the "testing and messing", I put on some music to go with snacks and drinks and everyone wanted to again listen to the Bryston.

BTW, I own a Bryston and Benchmark DAC, but also have Wyred amps, so I like both companies.
lewinskih01 OP
906 posts
 
Thanks for the feedback. Follow up question: what kind of source was used for these occasions? Is it known as a low-jitter source?
I ask because my Rotel CD player, to be used as transport, as well as the Touch are likely not the last word in low jitter sources and I'm wondering if newer units that seem to focus a lot on jitter reduction might be a better choice given my sources.
pkubica
134 posts
 
On the shootout that I attended, there were several different transports but everything was CD quality. Too long ago to remember the brands.

On my system, we used a Denon transport and a Sonos ZP90 both with CD quality files (16/44). The transport sounds better than the Sonos but the DAC's do a good job of jitter reduction. Probably a modded Sonos would be better but it's hard to say. Both Bryston and Benchmark say not much better.

My other source is a dedicated Media PC that contains a Lynx AES-16e soundcard and J River Media Center as a player. I can use it as a transport or play digital files from the hard drives up to 24/192. With the Bryston, the sound is fabulous.
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