Hi all,
Not sure if this is the right place to post, but here goes...
I am almost ready purchase a new BDP-2 - my finger is poised to confirm the EFT... It is clear that the BDP-2 is some fine hardware and that Bryston's customer service is exemplary. However, my experience with software releases (unrelated to Bryston!) and the various issues raised in forums and ezines have me a touch nervous regarding the user interface/ "control point". For the $ involved I'd really like my player to be an enjoyable user experience and robust. Oh, I'd also like it to be robust! Does Manic Moose achieve this - I have seen a few issues raised - and if it does not suit, does MPad make for a solid, user-friendly control point?
If this is not the right place to post, please direct me!
Cheers!
Docere, I work for Bryston, so take my feedback for what it's worth. We try not to write bugs into our software, but sometimes we just can't help ourselves. I think the same goes for just about every other company out there as well. I use the Manic Moose web interface almost exclusively on my android phone, iPad, and desktop computer. It's way more mature than it was a year ago. The issues that are left are largely some incomplete tertiary features and a few minor annoyances that you may or may not even notice. One of the nice parts of the BDP over other systems that require proprietary control software is that if you don't like our interface, there are plenty of third party ones to choose from. The core functionality of the BDP is rock solid.
If you're new to file based playback, you're going to have a learning curve with any system. If you're not new to file based playback, but coming from another brand universe, I think you'll probably adapt pretty quickly to ours. When you do find bugs, report them here. There's a pretty high chance it'll get fixed in a near-term firmware update. We're averaging about 3 a month if you count the beta channel releases. I suspect that makes the Bryston the most well maintained system of any major brand.
If you're buying a used player, don't pay more for it than you think you can get on the used market if you hate it (not likely). If you're buying a new player from an authorized dealer. make sure your dealer knows how to use it and can coach you. Of course, Bryston and we on the forums are available to help too.
Nobody here is willing to tolerate crap useability even if it means having the best sounding player out there. I think you'll like the BDP. I absolutely love mine.
-Gary
