BDP-2 Questions

[The Sandman]

I recently received my BDP-2 and hooked it up in place of my BDP-1. I love the Bryston digital players but I do have a couple of questions:

Sonically, what is the ideal setup for file storage? Put another way, is there any significant advantage or disadvantage to using any of the following: thumbdrive, port powered external hard drive, self powered external hard drive, NAS with eSATA connection, or internal SSD?

The BDP-2 has 8 times the system memory of the BDP-1. One of the factors that convinced me to upgrade to the BDP-2 was the fact that the memory utilization was always reporting as 98-99%. With the BDP-2... still in the high 90s - usually 98% regardless of what the player is doing. Is this normal behavior and what exactly does it mean?

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by The Sandman

I recently received my BDP-2 and hooked it up in place of my BDP-1. I love the Bryston digital players but I do have a couple of questions:

Sonically, what is the ideal setup for file storage? Put another way, is there any significant advantage or disadvantage to using any of the following: thumbdrive, port powered external hard drive, self powered external hard drive, NAS with eSATA connection, or internal SSD?

The BDP-2 has 8 times the system memory of the BDP-1. One of the factors that convinced me to upgrade to the BDP-2 was the fact that the memory utilization was always reporting as 98-99%. With the BDP-2... still in the high 90s - usually 98% regardless of what the player is doing. Is this normal behavior and what exactly does it mean?

Hi Howard

The MEM is generally high when loading bulk files but settles down to a lower number after all is loaded.

[The Sandman]

Originally Posted by James Tanner - Bryston

Hi Howard

The MEM is generally high when loading bulk files but settles down to a lower number after all is loaded.

I don't quite follow you. What is the "MEM" exactly - a buffer that holds the current track's file? The next track? The previous track? I don't see it "settling down"....

Also, can you clarify this from the BDP-2 manual:

The bottom rear USB port on the BDP-2 provides ½ amp of current and the top rear and two front USB ports share ½ amp.

The BDP-2 has two bottom rear USB ports and two top rear USB ports in addition to the front ports. I'm currently using a 1 TB WD My Passport drive - is that OK? Can I use a second 1 TB My Passport? A 2 TB My Passport?

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by The Sandman

I don't quite follow you. What is the "MEM" exactly - a buffer that holds the current track's file? The next track? The previous track? I don't see it "settling down"....

Also, can you clarify this from the BDP-2 manual:

The BDP-2 has two bottom rear USB ports and two top rear USB ports in addition to the front ports. I'm currently using a 1 TB WD My Passport drive - is that OK? Can I use a second 1 TB My Passport? A 2 TB My Passport?

Hi

I will ask Chris to explain the Memory for you. The USB ports are a misprint - that's from the BDP -1

James

[unincognito]

Originally Posted by The Sandman

I recently received my BDP-2 and hooked it up in place of my BDP-1. I love the Bryston digital players but I do have a couple of questions:

Sonically, what is the ideal setup for file storage? Put another way, is there any significant advantage or disadvantage to using any of the following: thumbdrive, port powered external hard drive, self powered external hard drive, NAS with eSATA connection, or internal SSD?

The BDP-2 has 8 times the system memory of the BDP-1. One of the factors that convinced me to upgrade to the BDP-2 was the fact that the memory utilization was always reporting as 98-99%. With the BDP-2... still in the high 90s - usually 98% regardless of what the player is doing. Is this normal behavior and what exactly does it mean?

Sonically using NAS vs eSATA vs USB vs an internal SATA drive there is no difference. Depending on how much traffic (although highly unlikley) may cause "hiccups" in play back. Essentially you should notice is how quickly updating the audio database will take. From Fastest to slowest:

SATA/ESATA SSD
SATA/ESATA HDD*
NAS Gigabit*
USB 2.0
NAS Fast

*These two could perform identically under the right circumstance

Cons and Pros to using a NAS

Pros:
*Less resource intensive to the CPU in the BDP. All file IO is handled by the NAS
*Any audible noise that may come from a spinning hard drive (although i find playing music makes this a mute point) can be moved to another room

Cons:
Less reliable then a USB 2.0 connection

Regarding memory usage, if your BDP-2 is constantly sitting at 98% memory usage; well thats not right unless one of the following is occurring.
*During the first four minutes of startup
*While MPD is updating, front display in the lower left corner will show "U"
*Building the Album Art DB
*I'll post if any other conditions come to mind

To see whats using the memory go back into the services page (same back that show memory usage). I believe beside the start/stop button there is another button labeled advanced...... I think. This page will show the raw out put of the linux ps command. Please post a copy of this, or email crice@bryston.com

Cheers,
Chris

[Masterlu]

Chris... Welcome!

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Just to be clear - Chris is one of our Bryston engineers

james

[The Sandman]

Thanks for the reply Chris. I'm out of town until the weekend - I'll let you know what I find when I get back. I can tell you that the MEM started out in the 50s the first time I looked at it soon after hooking everything up, and quickly went up to the high 90s, usually 98, where it stays constantly no matter what the unit is doing. This was the same with my BDP-1 (well, I don't know what it was when I first hooked it up, but since the MEM has been visible it has always stayed at 99).

[The Sandman]

Originally Posted by unincognito

Regarding memory usage, if your BDP-2 is constantly sitting at 98% memory usage; well thats not right unless one of the following is occurring.
*During the first four minutes of startup
*While MPD is updating, front display in the lower left corner will show "U"
*Building the Album Art DB
*I'll post if any other conditions come to mind

To see whats using the memory go back into the services page (same back that show memory usage). I believe beside the start/stop button there is another button labeled advanced...... I think. This page will show the raw out put of the linux ps command. Please post a copy of this, or email crice@bryston.com

Still filling up the MEM with continued usage - it appears that files stay in MEM after use as the MEM slowly increases with each track. It does occasionally go down but not very often. It does reset if I reboot the BDP-2 though.

I tried to grab the Advanced Services log but for some reason I can't highlight it to copy it - it does highlight for a split second but then the highlight disappears and I can't copy the entries. This happens with both FireFox and IE. Is there a trick to it?

The USB ports are a misprint - that's from the BDP -1

So, what is the power supplied to the USB ports, and what size self-powered mechanical hard drives are recommended?

[unincognito]

Hi Sandman,

Each USB port has its own dedicated 500mA supply of power. If the drive you choose requires more then this the. You should be able to acquire a USB cable with two USB ports at one end, this will allow you to supply a dive with 1Amp.

As for your ssd, quickest way to find out what's going on would be a phone call.

Cheers
Chris