Guys, including Blik9,
I've said it many times before and I will say it again - the BDA-series DACs do not benefit from a firmware upgrade. You will not get new features such as digital filter or upsampling options. The DACs were and are designed to work as Bryston intended them to right from the factory. A firmware upgrade with devices of this type can do more harm thank you think due to rudimentary (for a lack of a better word) hardware that handles and stores the firmware data. Firmware, while a form of software, is not 'software' in the way you think it is.
If something goes wrong during a firmware update, a power outage, a connection problem or such, there is a real possibility that you will have destroyed the device. not many factories can do these kinds of repairs - replacing the ROM chip that's almost certainly soldered on the main circuit board with pins that you have to look at with a magnifying glass to see clearly. I believe that Bryston dos board-level repairs so you can probably get your DAC repaired.
Some manufacturers will not do this kind of a repair but they will sell you a complete circuit board and it will cost you dearly. I don't perform firmware updates even on far more sophisticated devices like music workstations (synthesizers), unless absolutely necessary to get the latests sounds, features and/or fixes of previous bugs.
That might be a guideline for you too - if a manufacturer doesn't specify what exactly has been 'fixed' with the new firmware, why would you want to update it? On the other hand, if a manufacturer suggests or instructs you to do so and something goes wrong, then clearly, they have to take the responsibility and they should not pass along the cost of the repair onto you.
That being said, Bryston has been and is run by generous people - Mr. Brian Russel, rest in peace Sir - and IMHO, their customer support is one of the best in the business so hopefully, they can sort out the problem you are having.
Cheers,
Antun
