Digital Processor Reviews

Sidebar 1: Setting Up Digital Source Components to Output DSD

For this review, I depended on my digital source components to stream DSD files to drive Bryston's BDA-3 DAC. To make this possible, I first had to reconfigure each component's setup menu.

Before the Bryston BDP-2 media player could stream DSD files, its firmware needed to be updated. That done, I accessed the BDP-2's Web user interface, selected Audio Devices, and checked the option "BDA-3 Audio 2.0-USB Audio." The BDP-2 could then stream DSD64 and DSD128 files, but not DSD256. An e-mail to Bryston Service USA revealed that the BDP-2's Linux operating system is incompatible with DSD256.

My Lenovo P50 laptop also needed reconfiguring. First, I had to install the latest version of Bryston's USB Audio ASIO driver. Second, my laptop's installed version of JRiver's Media Center 22 software for streaming digital files needed new setup options, including checking the DSD option, then checking "Bitstreaming: YES (DSD)" on the USB Audio Driver page. That done, the laptop could stream DSD64, 128, and 256 through a USB 2.0 Type B cable.

My Oppo BDP-103 BD/SACD/CD player had to be set up to output DSD64 from SACDs. To view the Oppo's internal setup menu, I attached a small TV monitor to the diagnostic video output connector on its rear panel. Using the remote handset, I then selected "SACD Priority" and "stereo output," to override the player's default multichannel/PCM factory settings. Then I connected an HDMI cable to the Oppo's HDMI Out 2 jack—not its HDMI Out 1 jack, which is not wired to pass along DSD. Only when all that was done would the Oppo output the DSD64 file of "Breathe," from the SACD of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.—Larry Greenhill