Well, I’ve done some more listening. I’ve also had a fellow PS Audio forum member @assisi pop around for some listening and general audio banter. We both agreed the bryston was a clear winner on SQ. the bridge and the W4S were both good, but in different ways. The W4S has more detail but is a bit dry and hollow in the upper mids. The bridge has good midrange, but less detailed highs.
@assisi also brought around a crystal cable power cord. At $3k it is not cheap, but it was a major upgrade to the PWD II sound when connected to the PWD II. It made less (possibly no) difference when attached to the bryston bdp2.
Finally we tried out a synergistic research tranquility base under the PWD II. This was a fun tweak, and has lots of fine tuning options. I think it did best my Herbies tenderfeet under the DAC, but only when fully implemented with the mig feet.
@Stereophilus,
Now if we only knew how the Sonore Rendu against the above four. Anyone have any clues how it compares to Bridge, W4S, Bryston, etc?
The rendu would be another logical competitor. The only reason I haven't added it here is that I would need to get a power supply work-around for 240V in Australia. It is possible to do though.
I backed up my W4S server onto a 500GB SS external drive. The bryston BDP 2 reads this drive perfectly, so another minor annoyance is removed. SQ from the SS drive is the same as for a flash drive.
@stereophilis, thank you for taking the time to do this comparison. I know this shootout focused mainly on sound quality but I was wondering if you had any comments on the user interface of the Bryston versus PS Audio? For me, this is also a critical aspect of enjoying my rather large digital music collection. I was considering the Bryston but am now leaning towards building my own CAPS server to replace my Sonos so that I have more flexibility in terms of user interface and have the ability to stream high res files. Thank you.
Great reviews. Thank you for your work!
tboooe said: . . . leaning towards building my own CAPS server to replace my Sonos so that I have more flexibility in terms of user interface and have the ability to stream high res files.
The Bryston streams up to 24/192.
There are many, many interfaces which work with the Bryston, both browser based and wireless device (Android and Apple, there is even one which works with Blackberry). The number keeps increasing as well.
A computer has great appeal for both flexibility and ease of upgrade.
Well, I've done some more listening. I've also had a fellow PS Audio forum member @assisi pop around for some listening and general audio banter. We both agreed the bryston was a clear winner on SQ. the bridge and the W4S were both good, but in different ways. The W4S has more detail but is a bit dry and hollow in the upper mids. The bridge has good midrange, but less detailed highs.
stereophilus, IMHO you have not reached the W4S's maximum potential. All it needs to be better than your other solutions is an upgrade power supply. I was able to upgraded almost every Sonore music server that shipped with a standard power supply and the difference after the upgrade is not subtle. Most customer's reported "WOW" and some even said, "Holy Shit". The power supply really matters especially in this case....
Jesus R
I believe you Jesus. Having heard the BDP2 now, it seems logical to upgrade the w4s ms2 power supply to see what that can achieve… I’ll pm you.
@stereophilis, thank you for taking the time to do this comparison. I know this shootout focused mainly on sound quality but I was wondering if you had any comments on the user interface of the Bryston versus PS Audio? For me, this is also a critical aspect of enjoying my rather large digital music collection. I was considering the Bryston but am now leaning towards building my own CAPS server to replace my Sonos so that I have more flexibility in terms of user interface and have the ability to stream high res files. Thank you.
I wouldn't use the front panel on the bryston... Very 1980's dot matrix display. Very clunky for scanning through a large library. However, if you add the bryston to your home network you can control it via a web page. This is much easier and not dissimilar to most iPad apps. See the attached photo. Attached files
That looks pretty good - these apps are getting better.
(great film btw - the sound in the bank shootout that spills out onto the streets is spectacular)
That looks pretty good - these apps are getting better.
(great film btw - the sound in the bank shootout that spills out onto the streets is spectacular)
An underrated movie and an underrated soundtrack.
Ultramarine by Michael Brooks is a favourite.
+1
+1
Any luck with trying USB on the Bryston?
Is a power supply on the way for the W4S?
Jesus R is apparently hard at work putting together a new power supply for me… At least I hope he is!
The Bryston is going back to the dealer this weekend =(( I did check with the dealer, who advised me he would prefer I didn’t mess with the programming to get USB output. I have to respect his wishes, as he was kind enough to lend it to me after all. Right now I’m trying to imprint the sonic signature in my mind so that when I get the power supply upgrade from Jesus I will have an imperfect comparison.
Very fair. It makes good sense that the dealer would like to keep it stock.
I greatly appreciate your willingness to share your observations and experience with these units. This, coupled with Jesus’ help, has been incredibly informative.
I agree that it is wonderful that you are filing this comparison and sharing it with us.
THANKS.
J.P.
Cheers Elk, J.P. It has been a fun challenge. I enjoy critically evaluating differences in audio equipment, but I also need to get back to the simple pleasure of listening to music sometimes… Like right now.
Good plan!
You deserve a nice, relaxing break.
agreed - it was fun to read about your experiences with the products
Any news on the power supply,? he asked pestiferously.
Power supply was ordered 2 weeks ago. Latest from Jesus is that he has the parts and is building the unit. Hopefully ready to ship this week or next.