Bryston BDP-1 vs Bluesound Node 2i

I have seen a few people comment that they hear a difference between Roon and other apps. Before I started using Roon a few years ago, I was using jriver and didn't notice any change in SQ switching to Roon. At the time, I was using a Windows PC as my media server, and my system was not as good as it is today, so this could have been obscuring the differences.

Since then, I have completely changed my system - literally every component - except Roon. My system is dramatically better than it was several years ago, but each upgrade has been very easy to discern (some more than others, of course). I can't say for sure that Roon is as good as other streaming systems SQ-wise, but it sure sounds good to me on my system and doesn't seem to be limiting my ability to make improvements through component changes.

And while I love to change things in my system to experience the differences, I have absolutely no interest in giving up Roon.

So now that you have the Bryston you will be able to switch between Roon and MPD.   But I cant tell yah right now that the Manic Moose (MM) interface is nothing like Roon.  But you will have to use MM to set the BDP to Roon ready and that is where you make the switch.  Just select either Roon Ready or MPD.  You will have to configure Manic Moose to connect to your music service once if you want to try MPD. Once thats done you can jump back and forth between the 2 to compare.   Be interesting to hear what you think.  Since I switched the Roon Core to an SGC Sonic Transport there is not much difference.  But under critical listening i still think MPD has a little bit more life and dimensional image. 

I have a BDP-2 (with IAD) that I use to play ripped files from an connected external DAC through a Yggdrasil DAC.  In that configuration it sounds terrific, although I fully agree that Manic Moose is not the last word in user friendliness.  But it works, and is definitely less time-consuming than cueing up an LP.

Recently, I've subscribed to both TIDAL and QoBuz and have been trying (unsuccessfully) to get the BDP-2 / Manic Moose to stream high-res to the DAC.

Turns out that for TIDAL, it's just not possible.  The folded masters files are not unfolded, even once, in the BDP players  So from TIDAL the DAC only gets 44.1 khz / 16 bit files.  The friendly folks from Bryston verified this is true.  In defense of the BDP, those 44.1khz CD quality files do sound great, nearly indistinguishable from using the DAC to play Redbook CD's from my transport (a Sony XA5400ES). 

Interestingly, my iphone DOES DO the first masters unfold, so connecting my iphone to the DAC gives a higher bit rate signal than the streamer does.  Sounds quite nice, maybe a tiny bit better then from the BDP-2? Maybe not though, is very close.

I haven't gotten QoBuz files to stream from the Bryston at their full FLAC resolution (up to 192Khz) either, but haven't put as much time into that project yet.  However, once again, connecting my iphone directly to the Yggdrasil works fine, Doing that, I can stream full 192Khz QoBuz FLAC files to the DAC.

Since I'm keen on streaming (probably QoBuz) high-res files to the Yggy, I am not sure where I'll go next; the iphone files sound quite good so I might just stick with that, or might try a Bluesound Node.  Roon is another possibility, although I'm not sure if I want to make such a major investment (core, license) just yet.

My apologies for long introduction, but if I had to do it right now, I'd try the Bluesound node first, and would buy from someone with a good return policy and see how it sounds (and works) in your system.  If you're happy with it, then be happy.  If not, then return it and try something else, perhaps from the used market.  While I love the build quality and fantastic sound quality of the BDP-2, it's really not very user friendly with the current software version, especially when streaming (without Roon).

Apparently a new version of the Bryston software called, "Nutty Narwhal" is on the way - perhaps this might address some of the UI and streaming issues? 

@cdrake thanks for your input.  How do you even get Manic Moose.. I looked and there's no iphone app.  I was able to connect to the player through MyBryston.com or something like that but its very basic and mainly used for firmware updates etc.  I would not call it a streaming app. I'm just using roon.. So far I really like the BDP-2 though if you're using Roon.

The BDP-2 (and maybe 1?) can be used with WiFi, the trick is to buy a cheap USB internet adaptor (link to one below).  Then you setup the adaptor to connect to your wireless home network using your PC.  The adaptor stores your login settings.  Then you plug the adaptor into one of the many USB slots on the BDP-2 and turn the player on. 

Once it starts you can choose the wireless network using the front panel - and like magic you can stream to the BDP-2 from your iphone or ipad by opening a browser and typing my.bryston.com into the address bar ...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U2SIS0O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1