Anyone try the Bryston BDP-2 or the BDA-2 Dac

#8 torx

Ozzy,

If you want to operate the BDP-2 from a tablet, MPOD is the player, although I use an iPad or iPhone so cannot speak to Android devices. From a laptop, I highly recommend the Gnome music player (free). Much better than Gnome and in fact it is the best player I have found that operates the BDP.

Note there are several useful BDP forums on AudioCircle under Bryston, and James Tanner at Bryston is very helpful. Good luck. Once you are up and running, it it so-o-o easy.

Neal

Nglazer, Thank you for your response. I'm not sure if the MPOD will work with my Samsung Tablet, but I'll check it tonight.

I have the BDP-1 and the BDA-1 and very much like the sound. I am not using exotic cables or fuses. My amplification is Parasound JC1/2.

I have been amazed at the detail and sonic information that the Bryston combo has restored from my CDs, particularly mid 80's pressings I had pretty much given up on with prior CD players (Cambridge Audio 840 and PS Audio PWT). In fact, I used the BDA-1 with both the CA 840 and the PWT, so much of the improvement is related to the BDP-1. It has restored detail that I thought was gone forever, particularly when recalling comparisons to vinyl of the same recording.

I bought the BDP-1 prior to selling my PWT, so I had a chance to directly compare them with identical CD sources. I used dBpoweramp for ripping to flac, and then set both the BDP-1 (playing the ripped flac file) and the PWT (playing the source CD) to coax digital inputs on the BDA-1. I thought I would get a very close to "can't tell" type comparison, but was very surprised to find the BDP-1 significantly better than the PWT in most sonic respects.

The product is not perfect, however, but the problems are usage/software related and not sonic in nature. I have had the BDP-1 lock up at times, where the playback menu freezes and does not update back to my laptop. Refreshing the browser screen usually restores function, but not always. I have had one case where one specific album (React by The Fix) where the menu gets corrupted and the current playback cannot be controlled once started. The user technical information is not up to date and the info in the user manual is not correct for current operation.

All this might be a real negative if it were not for Bryston's superb customer support. Cris has been fantastic at helping me resolve most of these issues, and there are very few companies where you can speak with the main product designer on a tech support phone line. He is helping me, for example, get a firmware update for the Fix album problem by file download to a memory card (since my system is not internet connected). I am also impressed by Bryston's willingness to listen to my "bug" discovery and react positively to get things resolved.

Much better than my experience with PS Audio when I was having operational issues with the PWT.

Tympani,

I have replaced the HIFI Supreme inside my BDP2/BDA2 units with the Super Audio magic fuses. To my surprise the Audio Magic fuses were just so-so.
So, I then replaced those fuses with Synergistic fuses with the Quantum fuse dots.
The secret to using the Synergistic fuses is to use a slightly higher value than specified because they pop so easily. Instead of a 500MA I used a 1A Synergistic. The sound is much better.

But, I just got some of the AMR fuses you liked so much. I replaced the HIFI Supreme inside my BSG QOL with one of the AMR gold fuses and oh my did it really change the sound of my system. Such better performance especially in the bass.

I am very happy with the sound coming from the Bryston units. But, I also purchased some of the smaller AMR fuses with the intention of trying them later on in the Bryston units.

Did you compare the Synergistic with the AMR in your Bryston?