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Need DAC/Streaming Advice

I currently own a Bryston BDP-2 digital player that I run through a Bryston DAC.  As far as playing high resolution files via a thumb drive or other external drive, the BDP-2 sounds great.  The streaming part leaves a lot to be desired.  I can stream Tidal but it is extremely slow and the IPad controller is pretty lousy.  I can listen to Sonos through the DAC into my main system but obviously there is no hi-Rez via Sonos. I would like to find a better solution and am willing to start over (I can move the Bryston components to my secondary system).  What I would like to find is a higher end streamer for my main system that would allow me to stream Tidal, Spotify and Deezer if possible while also playing digital files via thumb drive etc. I have no idea if that can be done in a one box solution or if I would need a separate streamer and DAC.  I would very much appreciate any and all thoughts.  Thanks in advance.
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puppyt OP
97 posts
 
How do you add Roon to the Bryston?
mahler123
3,318 posts
 
Puppy
  I’ll be interested in your take on comparing the Manic Moose app versus the BlueOS.  I know that Bipolar Bison (sorry) is supposed to be a weak spot with the Bryston Players and I might be asking Austinbob above for suggestions when I get the BDP3.
  It’s also interesting that there are complaints about speed and reliability of the BDP 1 and 2 and speed and reliability.  A lot of people wondered why Bryston went so fast from BDP 1 to 3, and the reviews tend to mention how fast and stable the BDP3 is but seem to avoid mentioning problems with the earlier players.
  I wasn’t aware that Roon could be added to the BDP2, as the ads for the BDP3 make a big deal of how It will do Roon, which to me implied the BDP2 couldn’t be a Roon endpoint.  Perhaps asosa can elaborate 
jwhitephoto
6 posts
 
Entry level or not, my Bluesound Vault 2i sounds damn fine using the built-in DAC. As far as the cumbersome software, I can agree to a point, Which is why I run mine using Roon on an Intel NUC running the ROCK OS. Works flawlessly and the Roon architecture kicks SQ up considerably.
johnkay74
4 posts
 
Like mahler123 above, I I also encountered significant problems with Bluesound and ended up returning. I initially purchased the older Node 2 and Puse 2 about a year ago. Used them for 3 months and then sold as I could not deal with the bugs I encountered. More recently I purchased a Pulse mini 2i and a Node 2i. Different bugs and not a good experience with customer service (similar to mahler). Ended up returning as I was in the window. I think that a lot of problems occur when multiple units are installed and used as a multiroom system.
wspohn's avatar
wspohn
603 posts
 
I use Sonos to stream my digital music, which is all flac ripped CD sourced.  A friend recently came by and we fed the same material in that format plus some higher res files of the same music. Small improvement on some but by no means all cuts.

Unless you are going into high res formats for most of your listening, it may not be worth upgrading to something else.

FWIW, I use a Hegel HD-12 converter, which is a considerable step up from the on-board Sonos DA conversion.
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