Very disappointing, indeed -- particularly if they are just going to shrug their shoulders and respond, "Oh, well... that's just how it is". How long is it going to take for someone with the resources to finally stop and think long enough to get this right? Let's see... I'm supposed to cough up $2500 to the Bryston network for ANOTHER semi-huge box, complete with sterile, uninspired, chunky vanity faceplate, etcetera, to... take a FILE and HAND IT OVER to the buffer reservoir of a DAC -- another semi-huge, semi-vulgar irrationality if it should be theirs? Not to mention more cables... And that's essentially IT? That's basically all it does? And oh yes, the display is so eye-wateringly miniaturized and the controller so off-putting that Bryston's OWN people "prefer" to WALK up to the device each time to survey their options and make a selection [Ref.: cover feature in the recent 'Stereophile']! Turntable and stacks of wax, anyone?
So that -- and this Oppo + your choice of fix-the-Apple-doesn't-give-a-s**t third party software -- are 2011's great audio "breakthroughs", you say (for those of us without $6500 DACs)? So where is the Volksplayer/Server the Oppo might have been? Let me add, as well, that there is serious doubt around some audiophile circles that hyped superchip DACs can play Redbook PCM at all well by high end standards. I know of three cases for sure where slick magazine-favorite-Ayre owners walked away from an encounter with upper mid-level 20- bit Audionote with a somewhat crestfallen look on their faces.
So here I am, anyway, with a universal player/transport for Blu-Ray music/SACD/"convenience"-impromptu CD... a DAC for hi-rez PCM (to be undumbed-down, i.e., modded)... and a DAC for 16-bit and compressed files [Internet radio] (to be rebuilt to higher specification mongrel Audionote)... and I think this isas things stand, a rational experiment! I believe I will be setting up a third turtable for mono and certain forms of vintage vinyl. Someone -- get me out of this (!): ANY music I might want to hear, played really, really well... and [way] under $7K on the digital side of things, PLEASE.