Cable options to connect the bda-2 to the Sp3, some advice please

[Ollie]

Currently I use a single spdif out connected to the spdif 1 input on the sp3.

What's the difference in using two single ended rca jacks which says its analog as opposed to digital. And what does it connect to at the back of the sp3?

Third option is xlr? Is that better?

Bryston SP3' Bryston 6b-sst, 3b-sst, BDA-2, Dynaudio Confidence C2 (front), Dynaudio SCX (center), Dynaudio Audience (rears), ocos speaker cables, Vertere USB D-FI DD and most Bryston interconnect cables

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by Ollie

Currently I use a single spdif out connected to the spdif 1 input on the sp3.

What's the difference in using two single ended rca jacks which says its analog as opposed to digital. And what does it connect to at the back of the sp3?

Third option is xlr? Is that better?

Bryston SP3' Bryston 6b-sst, 3b-sst, BDA-2, Dynaudio Confidence C2 (front), Dynaudio SCX (center), Dynaudio Audience (rears), ocos speaker cables, Vertere USB D-FI DD and most Bryston interconnect cables

Hi Ollie


If you connect as you are then you are using the DAC in the SP3. If you use the XLR out then you are also using the DAC in the SP3.

If you use the 2 RCA's out then you are using the digital and analog section of the BDA - plug the 2 RCA's into any of the left and right RCA inputs on the back of the SP3 and set the output to BYPASS 2 channel on the front of the SP3 and see what you think.

james

[SoThere]

James, I'm a bit confused by your XLR reference above: "If you use the XLR out then you are also using the DAC in the SP3."

I use Bryston XLR balanced cables from the balanced analog outputs of my BDA-2 (fed by my BDP-2 via AES/EBU). These are connected to the Balanced 2 analog inputs of my SP3. I'm assuming that the BDA DAC is feeding the SP3 an analog signal and that the DAC in the SP3 is not being used. Sound right?

(I understand that if I were connecting the BDP-2 directly, I could use an XLR AES/EBU cable to employ the DAC of the SP3.)

BTW, the BDP to BDA to SP3 sounds fantastic! All it needs are Model Ts.

Thanks,

Rich
_________________
Whiney Napa Valley

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by James Tanner - Bryston

Hi Ollie If you connect as you are then you are using the DAC in the SP3. If you use the XLR out then you are also using the DAC in the SP3. If you use the 2 RCA's out then you are using the digital and analog section of the BDA - plug the 2 RCA's into any of the left and right RCA inputs on the back of the SP3 and set the output to BYPASS 2 channel on the front of the SP3 and see what you think. james

Wow, I'm so disappointed I had the unit for a year and never realized I wasn't using the Dac in the BDA 2.
Anyway, I connected the bda2 rca's to the sp3 CD RCA inputs and pressed the bypass button. But I can't get any video. I have a Mac mini connected via usb to the bda2 and hdmi to the sp3 CD hdmi port, but I can't get a picture on the tv. (My other hdmi video inputs work fine).

What should the settings be on the sp3 to play the sound of the bda2 via rca's and watch the video of the Mac mini via hdmi?

Bryston SP3' Bryston 6b-sst, 3b-sst, BDA-2, Dynaudio Confidence C2 (front), Dynaudio SCX (center), Dynaudio Audience (rears), ocos speaker cables, Vertere USB D-FI DD and most Bryston interconnect cables

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by Ollie

Wow, I'm so disappointed I had the unit for a year and never realized I wasn't using the Dac in the BDA 2.
Anyway, I connected the bda2 rca's to the sp3 CD RCA inputs and pressed the bypass button. But I can't get any video. I have a Mac mini connected via usb to the bda2 and hdmi to the sp3 CD hdmi port, but I can't get a picture on the tv. (My other hdmi video inputs work fine).

What should the settings be on the sp3 to play the sound of the bda2 via rca's and watch the video of the Mac mini via hdmi?

Bryston SP3' Bryston 6b-sst, 3b-sst, BDA-2, Dynaudio Confidence C2 (front), Dynaudio SCX (center), Dynaudio Audience (rears), ocos speaker cables, Vertere USB D-FI DD and most Bryston interconnect cables

Hi

Bypass is for analog Stereo 2 channel audio only - no video.

james

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by SoThere

James, I'm a bit confused by your XLR reference above: "If you use the XLR out then you are also using the DAC in the SP3."

I use Bryston XLR balanced cables from the balanced analog outputs of my BDA-2 (fed by my BDP-2 via AES/EBU). These are connected to the Balanced 2 analog inputs of my SP3. I'm assuming that the BDA DAC is feeding the SP3 an analog signal and that the DAC in the SP3 is not being used. Sound right?

(I understand that if I were connecting the BDP-2 directly, I could use an XLR AES/EBU cable to employ the DAC of the SP3.)

BTW, the BDP to BDA to SP3 sounds fantastic! All it needs are Model Ts.

Thanks,

Rich
_________________
Whiney Napa Valley

Hi Rich

Yes there is some confusion.

If you use the AESEBU out or BNC out of the BDP into the SP3 you are using the digital section of the SP3.

If you are using our BDA DAC then you only have the RCA or XLR analog outputs which then go into the SP3 analog ins.

So I think the confusion is between which product we are discussing - the BDP player or the BDA DAC

james

[James Tanner - Bryston]

Originally Posted by Ollie

Wow, I'm so disappointed I had the unit for a year and never realized I wasn't using the Dac in the BDA 2.
Anyway, I connected the bda2 rca's to the sp3 CD RCA inputs and pressed the bypass button. But I can't get any video. I have a Mac mini connected via usb to the bda2 and hdmi to the sp3 CD hdmi port, but I can't get a picture on the tv. (My other hdmi video inputs work fine).

What should the settings be on the sp3 to play the sound of the bda2 via rca's and watch the video of the Mac mini via hdmi?

Bryston SP3' Bryston 6b-sst, 3b-sst, BDA-2, Dynaudio Confidence C2 (front), Dynaudio SCX (center), Dynaudio Audience (rears), ocos speaker cables, Vertere USB D-FI DD and most Bryston interconnect cables

Hi Ollie

It may be me thats confused - I thought you had a BDP player plugged into the SP3 digital input?

If you are using the SPDIF out on the back of the BDA that is a pass through - so the signal is untouched by the BDA.

james



james

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by James Tanner - Bryston

Hi Ollie It may be me thats confused - I thought you had a BDP player plugged into the SP3 digital input? If you are using the SPDIF out on the back of the BDA that is a pass through - so the signal is untouched by the BDA. james james

I got it to work, it does sound better through the rca's with 2ch bypass. More natural. More noticeable is the difference between my iTunes library and hi res files via audirvana plus 2.0.
Question; to play dsd multichannel 5.1, whats the Best connection to have between the bda2 and sp3?

Bryston SP3' Bryston 6b-sst, 3b-sst, BDA-2, Dynaudio Confidence C2 (front), Dynaudio SCX (center), Dynaudio Audience (rears), ocos speaker cables, Vertere USB D-FI DD and most Bryston interconnect cables

[gbaby]

Originally Posted by Ollie

I got it to work, it does sound better through the rca's with 2ch bypass. More natural. More noticeable is the difference between my iTunes library and hi res files via audirvana plus 2.0.
Question; to play dsd multichannel 5.1, whats the Best connection to have between the bda2 and sp3?

Bryston SP3' Bryston 6b-sst, 3b-sst, BDA-2, Dynaudio Confidence C2 (front), Dynaudio SCX (center), Dynaudio Audience (rears), ocos speaker cables, Vertere USB D-FI DD and most Bryston interconnect cables

You can forget about multi-channel DSD as its not possible. But, your post is important to me as now I know I need a BDA-3.