[R-Audiohead]

Quote:

I read some comments regarding the volume control on the BHA-1. It is very strange as I'll try to explain.
 
When the volume is turned from 7 o'clock (minumum) to around 9 o'clock, the volume raise is significant. Turning the potentiometer to 12 o'clock doesn't bring that much of a difference. Turning the potentiometer to 15 o'clock doesn't make it much louder either. In essence, the level at 15 o'clock is approximately twice as lound as when the pot is at 9 o'clock. However, passing 15 o'clock increases the level literally exponentially and it becomes too loud very soon.
 
It is strange behavior. Is this normal?

Mine does this as well--
 
It allows for a finer tuning in the "sweetspot" range from 9 oclock to 1 or 2 oclock IMO and I actually prefer it.  And if you don't like the finer tuning and want a lot of volume, you can do that too... just turn the potentiometer wide open (like you said, 15 oclock or more - not that I can listen that loudly).
 
I really like the way the potentiometer is used here

 

[R Giskard]

Hi mate!
 
Oh, don't get me wrong here, I quite like it because, as you say, it allows for very fine adjustment in the range that is appropriate for most people. I am just not sure if this is normal and if this is how they intended it to be. 
 
I have never experienced a volume control like this and I don't know if this is a function of the BHA-1 or a malfunction. 
 
The volume control almost seems to be zoned (for a lack of a better term). There are three zones and the first and third zone are located at the extremes (minimum and maximum respectively) and it it is where the biggest differences happen. The second zone is in between them, it is the widest and  seems to be pretty uniform. 

 

[James Tanner]

Hi Folks,
 
Yes the volume control is designed as the above because we felt given the large amount of Current and Voltage output the BHA is capable of we wanted a very broad range in the middle to allow for the huge variation in efficency headphones have.
 
james

 

[R Giskard]

Quote:

Hi Folks,
 
Yes the volume control is designed as the above because we felt given the large amount of Current and Voltage output the BHA is capable of we wanted a very broad range in the middle to allow for the huge variation in efficency headphones have.
 
james

Hi James!
 
That is exactly what I wanted (needed) to hear! Thank you!
 
You certainly accomplished what you had intended with the volume control and I must say it appears as though the available movement of the pot is broader than on linear volume control. Nicely done!

 

[jtinto]

Quote:

Hi Folks,
 
Yes the volume control is designed as the above because we felt given the large amount of Current and Voltage output the BHA is capable of we wanted a very broad range in the middle to allow for the huge variation in efficency headphones have.
 
james

 
James, thanks for confirming the design.
 
With a W4S DAC-2, the volume control is much better with gain set to low and balanced connections than with gain set to high and RCAs

 

[[H]ardwareNick]

Yet another person with the same questions/concerns. R Giskard - I have exactly the same behaviour and having been through this a while ago, I believe it is normal and as per design (which James has articulated a few posts up).
 
James, perhaps something around the communications/material provided with the BHA-1 to put future uninformed buyers at ease could be in order?

 

[R Giskard]

Hey Nick!
 
Yes. it is normal as James stated. I also received an email from Bryston technical support on this question and they assure me it is exactly how they wanted it to be. They also informed me that there will be a move towards a linear volume control at some point but they can't be sure when will that happen. Actually, I think it is excellent the way it is as it allows for a more precise fine tuning of volume in the range that is appropriate for most headphones. 
 
I also quite like the fact they kept the number of gain stages minimal so there are only two. In combination with a broad adjustment of the middle volume range it makes for a very fine system that is both effective and straightforward.
 
Cheers!

 

[R-Audiohead]

Quote:

Hey Nick!
 
Yes. it is normal as James stated. I also received an email from Bryston technical support on this question and they assure me it is exactly how they wanted it to be. They also informed me that there will be a move towards a linear volume control at some point but they can't be sure when will that happen. Actually, I think it is excellent the way it is as it allows for a more precise fine tuning of volume in the range that is appropriate for most headphones. 
 
I also quite like the fact they kept the number of gain stages minimal so there are only two. In combination with a broad adjustment of the middle volume range it makes for a very fine system that is both effective and straightforward.
 
Cheers!

Agreed.  I would not be in favor of a switch.  Glad I got mine when I did

 

[FormosaWest]

Quote:

Hi all Bryston BHA-1 owners, just thought I'd share an experience and a question with you all.
 
Taken from my post in another audio forum on the internet,
 
 
"Further to my previous post regarding my issue surrounding uneven gain in the volume knob, does anyone else have the same issue or has anyone else even tried to test the scaling of their volume?

Quite simply, if we express two factors, one being total volume output (V) and the other being total physical rotation of volume knob (P), normalised from 1 to 10 with 10 representing the maximum, what has been observed is that:
 

1. Where P is between 1 to 4, V scales from 1 to 6
2. Where P is between 5 to 7, V scales from 6 to 7 (if at all it changes...)
3. Where P is between 7 to 10, V scales from 7 to 10 (audible but not as strong as the first scenario)

It has taken 11 days and myself following up twice, as opposed to their usual 1-2 day response time(to his absolute credit, James used to respond extremely quickly - within hours, even during non-business hours), for them (James was unresponsive before I copied the same email to Brian Russell who eventually chased this up with his engineers and responded to me) to tell me in literally one sentence that uneven gain across the volume knob is normal.

I'm not entirely sure why this design is as such and would love to see if anybody else with a BHA-1 has the same experience as it just sounds rather peculiar to me."

Mine is exactly the same... A bunch at the very beginning, then a whole lot of nothing, then  just before the end, it jumps in output. occasionally i wish it appeared more linear, but i see the benefit of how it is and its not a problem for me. 
 
Wish it had a cross-feed feature set to play with during hard panned recordings. 
 
Does the pre-out mute when headphones are attached? I hope so....    Is the gain okay when set to low and used as a preamp, or is it still too high?

 

[FormosaWest]

Quote:

Hi Folks
 
Got a pair of the HD 800's yesterday - very nice.
 
Now have a good cross section of phones now --- the Audez 2 and 3, the HD 800's the Grado 1000's, the HIiFi Man HE 500's  the AKG Q701's and the Audio-Technica ATH -W5000
 
james

Any favourite cans so far? All around? For classical?
 
market research must be pretty nice

 

[FormosaWest]

Quote:

just curious, has anyone around here heard the bda-2 dac yet? i know its relatively new. i wonder how it competes with the stable of dacs in that range.

I cant tell you if its better or different, but i can tell you i love my bda-1 i play audio from my imac via audirvana through april music stello u3 usb-aes/ebu. It helps me separate my components well from my computer, and sounds terrific. Never a hiccup. Just absolutely pure wonderful music.

 

[[H]ardwareNick]

Quote:

I cant tell you if its better or different, but i can tell you i love my bda-1 i play audio from my imac via audirvana through april music stello u3 usb-aes/ebu. It helps me separate my components well from my computer, and sounds terrific. Never a hiccup. Just absolutely pure wonderful music.

 
+1. Having spent a few hours with the BDA-1 on USB from a laptop with a BHA-1 and LCD3's, it is amazing. Did a blind test with the BDA-1 and V800 (which I own) and picked the difference to my amazement. Having said that, it wasn't like a mindblowing difference and if anything, I think that speaks volumes of just how good the Violectric V800 DAC is considering it's less than half the price of the BDA-1/BDA-2. 
 
Do the DAC's sound great? Absolutely.
Are they worth the money? IMO yes. Having said this, I wouldn't say they're as good value as the V800. IMO, audio past a certain threshold seriously becomes diminishing gains and a game of how brave/desperate you are to keep going for that incrementally better sound.
 
The BDA-1 is a fantastic DAC and certainly looks fantastic with the BHA-1 Suffice to say, I'm in process of selling my V800 to get the BDA-2 (http://www.head-fi.org/t/648778/violectric-v800-dac-price-dropped-yet-again#post_9274420).

 

[[H]ardwareNick]

Thought I'd add here in case anyone was interested - I bought the BDA-2 over the weekend and have spent a few hours with it since.
 
I am totally, totally in love with it. These Bryston products look (my profile pic) and sound terrific together. The BDA-2 has really lifted my rig and listening experience to new heights, there is just about nothing that isn't improved over the previously excellent V800 DAC. The things which are most noticeable to me are the soundstage, separation of instruments, deathly silent background and incredibly well controlled and defined sound at both ends of the spectrum.
 
I highly, highly recommend the BHA-1 and BDA-2 combo. The synergy with the LCD-3's and HD800's is brilliant. 

 

[jtinto]

Heh Nick,
I'm very interested in your comparisons of the BDA-1 vs BDA-2
That's a DAC on my wish list right now
Cheers

 

[preproman]

Quote:

Thought I'd add here in case anyone was interested - I bought the BDA-2 over the weekend and have spent a few hours with it since.
 
I am totally, totally in love with it. These Bryston products look (my profile pic) and sound terrific together. The BDA-2 has really lifted my rig and listening experience to new heights, there is just about nothing that isn't improved over the previously excellent V800 DAC. The things which are most noticeable to me are the soundstage, separation of instruments, deathly silent background and incredibly well controlled and defined sound at both ends of the spectrum.
 
I highly, highly recommend the BHA-1 and BDA-2 combo. The synergy with the LCD-3's and HD800's is brilliant. 

 
Very nice looking combo..  I know the LCD-3 just kick ass with the BHA-1.