Re: BDA2 and BDP2 Reviews
BDA-2 and BDP-2 user thoughts.
I am new to owning Bryston gear, but not unfamiliar to the brand. First off, I am a techie, being a computer consultant by trade.
Prior to receiving my equipment, I began the 20+ year CD collection of ripping thru DBpoweramp software into my NAS. I also upgraded my home network to Gigabit switches to accommodate the Bryston gear.
...I'm still ripping as I write this, so far over 300 discs in non-compressed FLAC format.
The Bryston gear was easy to hookup. I used the AES/EBU connection with a Madrigal cable.
I have tried various interfaces now. Mpod(on a iPod), MPDroid(on a Samsung Note 2), Bryston Max/Mini(on PC, laptop, various smartphones and Windows 8 tablet), sevenMPC(for my Windows phone 8.1), and Gnome Music Player Client(GMPC) for PC.
Mpod I rate as a 8 out of 10
MPDroid as a 7 out of 10
Bryston as a 5 out of 10
sevenMPC as a 3 out of 10
GMPC as a 8 out of 10
After looking at the MPad video on Youtube, it looks like possibly the winner as far as MPD interfaces go. I am NOT an Apple lover, but they definitely have the best App for the job. I will probably eventually get an iPad Mini for this sole purpose. Each App has their benefits, and it has been fun just using them all.
The Bryston gear itself has exceptional sound quality out of the box(thank goodness no DAC shout), but I noticed as the hours tick by, there is a definite improvement. I first tried it without upsampling my music, but I have a preference to the upsampled sound. If DSD comes to the forefront I will just add another DAC to the BDP-2. Hopefully Bryston will have their own unit. Not sure if I will go for a BOT unit, as by the time it gets out to retail, I will probably have all my discs ripped.
Thanks Bryston for some great digital gear! I can't wait to see how the software matures.
Rod