I’m far from a PS Audio fan boy and I’ve had the occasional problem. But your argument is circular and flawed and yet you persist. Ted has explained this to you in detail. The FPGA gets handed a stream and interprets the format information as presented. If the information is corrupt or not understood it doesn’t go further. You keep beating this to death and your yet BDP worked up until it had a board replaced by Bryston. What can you not understand? I must have more money than brains because I’ve dumped equipment in a flash when it didn’t work as expected. Then I move on. The BDP is a legacy product, move on! My life is getting shorter by the day and this thread makes me regret looking at it.
Nice job @ozzymilton diffusing the situation!
1 Like
hthaller, scotte1 and Elk,
Thank you, please enjoy the Holiday!
To be continued…
ozzy
1 Like
The Innuous Zen Mk III can be bought with an internal HD as large as 8 tb and in that configuration is $3300 before negotiating any discount.
You know what the best thing is about the free market? You get to decide with your money! If PS Audio isn’t addressing the issue in a fashion/timeline that meets your expectation, sell their DAC and get one that is compatible with your BDP-2.
You have been saying the same things for almost 5 years now and nothing has changed. It’s time to move on 
It’s ok, I am problem solver. This one is free.
Happy New Year!
Tony
Or keep the really great DSD DAC and get another streamer / solution. Which is what I did.
2 Likes
Thanks, though I must stand corrected, as Ozzy’s offered to send Ted his to try. Ted’s said he’s working on it from another angle and, should that not pan out, that’s exactly what he’ll do with thanks.
3 Likes
IMO, the Bryston should be kicked to the curb! I’d replace it with a better unit, and, keep the DSD.
1 Like
My experience with Bryston is not very good. Way back when I was looking for a high end preamp, I went to a showroom to audition a couple of highly regarded brands. The salesman told me to get the Bryston. He said the Bryston sounds really good is has a 20 years warranty. Wow. Well, i listened to it compared with an Audio Research unit of comparable price. I bought the Audio Research. The Bryston sounded like a AM radio compared with the AR.
My brother bought a Bryston 14B sst. It’s got a good warranty so why not. But his system aways sounded a bit vieled to me. I suggested he try the BHK 250. Well, guess what? He traded in the Bryston for the BHK. Now his system sounds incredible. He is so happy to be rid of the Bryston it’s not funny.
I wanted to add, my audiophile friend, who has the Lamm M2.2 mono blocks wanted to see if getting a 1000w 28B Bryston would help with his dynamics, so he borrowed a pair to audition. I was there along with my brother and guess what, it wasn’t even a contest. The Lamm with just 200w sounded like 2000w in comparison. The Bryston sounded so mushy we thought it was broken. Even the Parasound JC 1’s that we audition that same day were better, but still it couldn’t touch the Lamm’s.
sorry to hear the Bryston products didn’t work for your friends tastes. but these are subjective perspectives.
in my system, for my ears, the Bryston 14B3 amp is a killer unit…and is dynamic, articulate, and smooth. I also compared this amp to Audio Research at a dealer’s showroom. for my taste, the AR sounded dry, weak and muffled. so…I guess it all boils down to personal preference. in my books, Bryston amps are one of the best I’ve heard in my system. I haven’t had the fortune to listen to the BHK amps…but that day is coming and I am hopeful they blow my socks off! love the PS Audio gear.
to each his own…peace. TJ.
I’m sure it’s a fine unit, but, the DSD is a more significant investment. Just a practical thing. I’m sure you’ll do what works best for you. Listen like you mean it!
Strange, I audition Audio Research gear in many places and they never sound dry, weak or muffled, in fact it was the opposite. In comparison to a solid state like Ares, it was the Ares that was dry etc… I guess we all hear things differently. Anyway, I believe the Lamm would sound similar the BHK 300’s. They both are hybrids, using 2 small input tubes in the input stage. My friend told me he really like the sound of the Bugle Boys or something like that. The Lamm’s are tell it like it is type of sound. Whatever is in the recording is what you hear. Incredible resolution. The Bryston is more colored with a touch of warmth. My friend does not have a digital system. He uses vinyl only. He has the Clearaudio Master Innovation TT with the Graham Elite tone arm and the Clearaudio Goldfinger Diamond needle. He just doesn’t have the funds to get a digital system that sounds as good.
The Bryston might be good for digital, but for analog, you need something more revealing to get to most from vinyl. It just sounds more live with the Lamm’s. Anyway, that what we heard at my friend’s place.
My brother’s system is similar. The BHK 250’s sounds more live and exciting. The Bryston sounds smooth but more veiled and you kind of loose interest quickly. Anyway, like you say, to each his own.
How do you guys think the PS Bridge 2 would compare to the Bryston BDP-2?
Sound quality wise?
ozzy
I know nothing about the BDP-2 so difficult to say. If you decide to give the Bridge 2 a try I would suggest you might want to give Roon a look too if you don’t already use it. I wasn’t thrilled with the MControl app used with the Bridge 2 and in my opinion a streamer is only as good as the interface and software. If it sounds great but is a pita to use it’s a no go for me.
cbnbmore,
Thanks for the reply. I am going to try a bridge its on the way!
I only have a pc laptop. I understand that Roon would make a difference. But for comparative sound quality sake to my Bryston is there something I can download to my PC to use the Bridge during the trial?
Anyone?
ozzy
1 Like
The Bridge uses a Ethernet connection. If you are streaming you don’t need your laptop. If your setup is just a laptop and DSD then Roon might not be best. Roon works best when it’s operating in another location than where the DAC is located.
I have my Roon NUC in the basement not far from the router along with my NAS. My DAC is in another room where I have a Ethernet connection running from the same router. It works great and I use my IPad to control Roon. I can also use Roon to control several Sonos speakers throughout the house.
Whilst roon themselves do state that the core and the dac should be separated, I have had good results with a NUC feeding a singxer then feeding my Dsd via i2s (hdmi). That works well for me and actually outperformed all the streamer units that I tried. And I tried quite a few! IMHO, in my system etc…
Nowhere does Roon tell you to separate your Roon server by a room. All that’s required is that your server must be on the same network as your endpoint. I run a fanless NUC with Roon Rock on it feeding a USB signal to a Matrix and it’s exceptional.
Actually they do sort of recommend separation. From Roons site:
…
Our Recommendations
Rule 1: Core and Output on separate devices
To get the best sound quality from Roon, plan for an ethernet cable between your Core and Output components.
One way to accomplish this is with a Roon Ready hardware device.
You can also get there by using Roon Bridge–our lightweight endpoint package. Combine that thing with a Raspberry Pi or Cubox and an audiophile-grade power supply and you have a great little network bridge to use with your existing USB DAC.
You could also use one of our other supported networked devices, like a Squeezebox Touch, or a Meridian MS200, MS600, ID40, or ID41. For more information on setting up these devices, see Meridian Setup or Squeezebox Setup.
Finally, you could use Roon with HQPlayer and NAA (Network Audio Adapter). In this arrangement, we recommend locating Roon and HQPlayer on the same (powerful) computer, and locating the NAA in the listening area. For more information on setting up Roon with HQPlayer see HQPlayer Setup.
We provide many solutions because solving this problem is important to us!
Rule 2: Control and Output on separate devices
Roon’s user interface is a GPU-accelerated OpenGL masterpiece. It works your GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) harder than any other audio app we’re aware of. Do you really want that GPU doing its thing right next to your audio gear? Didn’t think so.
We permit you to connect audio devices to just about any place where Roon’s control software runs. This might be great for members of your household who value convenience and user experience first, but it’s not great for your listening room.
One great way to satisfy this rule is to use a tablet or phone to control Roon in the listening room. These devices are great control points–they wake up, do their thing over WiFi, and then go to sleep when you start listening, thus ending their ability to influence what you’re hearing. Even better, they have no direct electrical connection to anything audio related since they are battery powered.
Rule 3: Keep an eye on the Signal Path
Features like Volume Normalization, Crossfade, DSP volume controls, and DSP Engine all affect what you’re hearing. If you have those things turned on, and you’re not happy with what’s coming out, it’s worth experimenting with turning them off or changing their settings.
Note that Roon’s DSP volume control is a pass-through at 100% volume–so it should have no influence unless it’s being used.
You can always check Signal Path to see what is going on.
Rule 4: Don’t under-spec the server
Slow servers, NAS’s, and network connections can affect sound quality by preventing the Output components from receiving audio in time. This can manifests as clicks, pops, dropouts, and static.
Both Roon and all RAAT outputs use strategically placed memory playback buffers to limit the impact of this sort of thing, but poor performance can still lead to behavior in the CPU or networking hardware as it handles the audio stream in fits and spurts.
Invest in your server components just like you would in your other gear, and remember that there is no downside to a Core i7 with a fan if you’ve got it located two rooms away from the listening area. Take a look at our hardware specs, and try not to come in below our recommended level, and especially, plan on using an SSD to store Roon’s databases.
Rule 5: Use Ethernet between Core and Output
Roon has comprehensive and robust support for WiFi, but the sound quality often isn’t the same.
For your highest quality rooms, plan on using wired gigabit ethernet connections between the Core and the Outputs.
But I want to do it all on one computer!!!
We value convenience and flexibility as much as we value sound quality, so we’re not going to stop you.
Check out Sound Quality in One Computer for more information.
…
Bear in mind they also produce their Nucleus line of NUCs so as always let your ears be the judge :).
2 Likes
I didn’t really want to take this thread off on a discussion about Roon but the OP had asked about it. Perhaps it best to keep this thread on track and keep discussion to the DSD and its performance with the Bryson BDP-2.