I had the BRYSTON BDA2 in a prior system before I upgraded to my MOON by SIMAUDIO rig. It was nearly - if not substantively - sonically identical to the BDA3 in its audio performance, so I will offer my thoughts .
Yes … the BRYSTON BDA DAC is a very fine audio performer with a neutral and pleasing sonic signature, IF you have the necessary chops feeding into it. To max out its fine audio performance capabilities , you will need to consider:
(1) a like quality build player/ source , I had its stablemate BDP network player , In my experiences, chintzing it by using a laptop subbing for a dedicated network player as a source is a not insignificant downgrade audio compromise
(2) a quality build digital cables feeding into the BDA DAC. The BRYSTON DAC will graphically reveal all the warts and shortcomings in cheap cables (… THINK …Any and all of USB, RCA, AEC-BNC, and Ethernet … yes …Ethernet too.)
TAKEAWAY
It’s the alchemy of these additional two key upstream factors that helps tame that ethereal “digital edge” and irritating audio digital “hardness”.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that just the BRYSTON DAC alone in isolation is any kind of a magic silver bullet fix . It is very revealing (… as one would expect of a top build unit …. ) of all the upstream warts and compromises of what feeds into it…. Full stop.
Choose wisely .