Bryston’s BDP-1 digital music player, a companion to the company's BDA-1 DAC (digital-to-analog converter), was designed to give music aficionados the ability to enjoy their library of high-resolution digital music files (resolutions of up to 24-bit/192kHz are supported) residing on a USB storage device, which in turn is directly connected via standard USB cable or thumb drive to the BDP-1 digital music player.

The front and back of Bryston's BDP-1 digital music player

“The BDP-1’s feature set is unique and we have found that it is most easily defined by clarifying what it does not do,” stated Bryston’s James Tanner. “The Bryston BDP-1 does not contain an internal DAC, a hard-drive, a streamer, a CD player/ripper, noisy fans, or switching power supplies.”

Tanner explained that the BDP-1 connects to an external DAC for playback through AES-EBU or BNC digital outputs. “Quite simply, the BDP-1 is an ultra high-performance digital music player when connected to an external drive and DAC,” he said.

The face of the Linux-based BDP-1 is adorned with control buttons and a two-line display, making it a fully-functioning digital music player “right out of the box.” Optionally, the BDP-1 can be connected to a home network using a router and Ethernet connection solely to enhance operability via network-enabled devices such as a computer, Apple iPhone or iPad, which can then provide access to playlists, album artwork, etc. In this scenario, the network is only used to interface with a music library; Bryston’s design philosophy for the BDP-1 eliminates all of the challenges associated with streaming large high-resolution digital files over the home network.

"The BDP-1 is a technically sophisticated digital music player incorporating the finest solid-state electronics,” Tanner explained. “The BDP-1 has been designed to operate either all by itself or link up to your home network to be controlled by a variety of graphic interface devices. The BDP-1’s graphic interface operates under 'open source' software protocols, ensuring long-term future proofing and compatibility with the widest possible range of user interface (UI) devices. We are also looking into developing our own web-based Music Player Daemon (MPD) client, which manipulates the database of digital files.”

The MSRP of the Bryston BDP-1 is expected to be $2,100 USD, with a delivery date later in 2010. Warranty on the BDP-1 is five years parts and labor.