Bryston BDA-1 DAC, any thoughts?

I have one. It doesn't have a remote volume control, you must use it with a preamp.

I prefer it to several DACs I owned previously, including the Benchmark, Lavry and Bel Canto. The USB input is not good, however. I use an external USB -> SPDIF converter to feed computer audio into the Bryston.

How do you compare it to the benchmark? is it worth upgrading to or should I skip it and get the Berkley?

Drubin...which USB-to-SPDIF converter do you use? Thx

I bought one 2 weeks ago and am amazed at what the DAC has brought to my system. The BR2 remote (sold seperately) does not controll volume, sources only and must be used with a preamp.
The BDA-1 is a great unit and is work a listen.

I use the Empirical Audio Offramp to convert USB to SPDIF.

Cerrot, I think it's a meaningful upgrade from the Benchmark. It's not as good as the Berkeley (which I have only auditioned in other systems) but I don't have an opinion on whether the Berkeley is worth the price difference. However, if you are mainly doing computer audio and you are planning to do USB or Firewire, I would probably skip both of these DACs and go with something that is optimized for those interfaces, such as the Ayre ,Weiss, Wavelength, Sonic Studio or Metric Halo products.