Brighter sound then Bryston DAC


Hello, Have a Bryston Dac first version love it want something more alive. Help
128x128hiend2
Maybe the problem is the source that's connected to your DAC and not the DAC itself.
I agree with clearthink! Source SQ can vary from abysmal to sublime! All competenly DACs will sound the same, regardless of price.
The idea that DAC A sounds "brighter" or"duller" than DAC B is a perception based upon using sources of questionable accuracy and provenance.
If you want to hear a DAC with "coloration" get one with a tube output. Then you can tube roll for your preference in SQ!
I love my DAC3.  It sounds plenty “alive “ to me but source matters.  I also had a Mytek Manhattan I which sounded more in your face and ultimately I found fatiguing.  However, both Bryston, which relies on now vanished AKM chips, and Mytek, which just had a major schism with their manufacturing wing, might produce vastly different sounding products at this point anyway 
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.
I would look at the Chord Qutest.  You might need to wait for one as they have been routinely out of stock but Chord is an extremely dynamic and forward DAC.  
Give the upsample button a push? 
Try the AES/EBU input? 
Try the balanced outputs?