Mrppv
Active Member
I recently posted on AK about the music server I’ve been using since 2011, the Auraliti PK-100. I’ve been quite happy with it, but... ha ha... writing the post made the upgrade bug bite.
Bryston recently announced a new sound card of their own design for the BDP-2, made in-house, and that intrigued me, since up until that point the Auraliti and the Bryston used the same card, a Juli@. Integrated Audio Device is Bryston’s name for the new card.
So I ordered the BDP-2, and have been running it in my system for about a week now. This is my first experience with anything Bryston.
The Bryston does look nicer that the bare-bones Auraliti, but it should considering it’s priced a lot higher. It's also a lot larger, so if rack space is tight, it's something to consider.
Unlike the Auraliti, the Bryston has a display, as well as front panel buttons with which you can control playback. It’s still best to control both players with either a computer, iPad, or mobile device such as a smart phone. (For my use, the panel controls are superfluous.)
As I did with the Auraliti, I have the BDP-2 connected to an Apple Airport using an ethernet cable so that it’s connected to my wifi network.
Also the same is the USB hard drive that holds my music collection, and it’s plugged into the player. Portable flash drives can also be used. My collection is made up of AIFF files, ripped from CDs at full resolution, along with a few purchased FLAC downloads. Bryston included a flash drive containing some high resolution songs with the player.
BDP-2 has six USB ports; two on the front panel, and four on the rear panel. It feeds to my DAC via SPDIF, using the BNC connection (same as the PK-100 did).
I’m using a low-cost iPad app named MPaD to control the player. It works well but you can also use Bryston’s app. Here’s a shot of both MPaD and the Bryston interface, which uses a browser page.
After some initial confusion getting album art to show up, and a question to Bryston about playlists (which was answered promptly; I had always heard that their customer service was good), everything was working.
Since I'm already familiar with MPaD, music playback was easy from the get-go. Sound-wise, I feel like there is an added three-dimensionality, a deeper soundstage with the Bryston. The differences are noticeable but not huge... they rarely are among well-designed audio products, but I'm getting a more immersive experience, and enjoying the music more, and that's what makes it a worthwhile upgrade for me. The extra versatility and the nicer aesthetics are a bonus.
Bryston recently announced a new sound card of their own design for the BDP-2, made in-house, and that intrigued me, since up until that point the Auraliti and the Bryston used the same card, a Juli@. Integrated Audio Device is Bryston’s name for the new card.
So I ordered the BDP-2, and have been running it in my system for about a week now. This is my first experience with anything Bryston.
The Bryston does look nicer that the bare-bones Auraliti, but it should considering it’s priced a lot higher. It's also a lot larger, so if rack space is tight, it's something to consider.
Unlike the Auraliti, the Bryston has a display, as well as front panel buttons with which you can control playback. It’s still best to control both players with either a computer, iPad, or mobile device such as a smart phone. (For my use, the panel controls are superfluous.)
As I did with the Auraliti, I have the BDP-2 connected to an Apple Airport using an ethernet cable so that it’s connected to my wifi network.
Also the same is the USB hard drive that holds my music collection, and it’s plugged into the player. Portable flash drives can also be used. My collection is made up of AIFF files, ripped from CDs at full resolution, along with a few purchased FLAC downloads. Bryston included a flash drive containing some high resolution songs with the player.
BDP-2 has six USB ports; two on the front panel, and four on the rear panel. It feeds to my DAC via SPDIF, using the BNC connection (same as the PK-100 did).
I’m using a low-cost iPad app named MPaD to control the player. It works well but you can also use Bryston’s app. Here’s a shot of both MPaD and the Bryston interface, which uses a browser page.
After some initial confusion getting album art to show up, and a question to Bryston about playlists (which was answered promptly; I had always heard that their customer service was good), everything was working.
Since I'm already familiar with MPaD, music playback was easy from the get-go. Sound-wise, I feel like there is an added three-dimensionality, a deeper soundstage with the Bryston. The differences are noticeable but not huge... they rarely are among well-designed audio products, but I'm getting a more immersive experience, and enjoying the music more, and that's what makes it a worthwhile upgrade for me. The extra versatility and the nicer aesthetics are a bonus.