I believe that hiend2 actually may have a point with the sound of the Bryston. The comments that "DAC sounds brighter or duller than a different DAC" are completely based on assumptions.
Here's my reason. I have had the Bryston SP3 processor in my system for several months so I have a intimate feel of how this sounds. While this processor had just about the best and strongest bass, the upper mids and highs just were not snappy and lively enough to get enough excitement out of the sound. In my opinion, this was mostly due to the high bias Class A analog output stage, which appears to be the exact same stage in the Bryston BDA-1 DAC. Some of this may have to do with the AKM DAC chip and I/V stage, but I think it mostly has to do with the Bryston discrete analog stage.
The source/transport does matter and may have a little bit influence on the sound.
You can also try to upgrade the internal fuse to something more aggresive, like an Audiomagic Beeswax fuse (though I would not recommend doing a Hi-Fi Tuning fuse).
Or you can try a faster and more transparent DAC. Mytek Brooklyn was mentioned. There are others.