Move on from my Bryston BDA-1?

Thanks for the responses. All seem to agree the Bryston was advanced for its day and remains a solid performer, at least insofar as the basic internals are involved. Mesch asks "what kind of 'noticeable' difference are you looking for" and that is the fundamental issue that prompted my question. Honestly I can't answer that because I don't know what is out there given the tremendous advancement in delta sigma and R-2R DACS. My assumption is that the Bryston, while indeed capable (and currently providing what I judge to be a better option that the DAC in the Bluesound Node 2i) given its age must have been surpassed sonically by currently available DACs even in a lesser price range. To my ear the Topping D90 added much to the performance of my other system (principally used for home theater) where when listening to music feeds a Denon receiver to a pair of  B&W 805s speakers. While not all vintage equipment has been surpassed in performance by later technology, I guess I just believe I must be missing something with the Bryston. Unable to audition among highly regarded DACs such as the Cord Qutest, RME ADI 2, Denafrips Pontus II (ore even Ares II) and others I looked to the forum for suggestions and guidance.  

dsands, for what it is worth, if I was out shopping today, the 3 DACs you have mentioned would all be at the top of my list in their price range.
All 3 have been very well reviewed. John Darko, when reviewing the RME, directly compared it to the Qutest.  More than price, just a matter of what features fit your needs, and more importantly, what sonic profile best suits your personal preference. 

I had the BDA-1 and then BDA-2 about 6 years ago; I ended up selling the BDA-2 for the  Alpha DAC Series 2 then SimAudio 380DSD which I kept for 5 years or so.   I really liked the BDA-2 though for the money and thought it was a nice step up from the BDA-1.   

If your happy with the Bryston you could snag a used BDA-2 (AKM DACs I believe). The 380DSD (which can also be found pretty cheap used sometimes) is a DAC I really liked and thought was a good step up for me at least over the BDA-2.   

Recently I've tried the RME ADI2FS (also AKM) and Topping D90 and liked the RME the best.  It is too long ago for me to compare the RME vs the BDA-2 but I could have lived with the RME after selling the 380DSD, although what I liked better about the 380DSD over the BDA-2 (a fuller more musical presentation) was also true in this case for my tastes as well which is why I ultimately sold the RME.   I personally found the D90 to be too forward and analytical for my tastes; if your happy or looking for that type of sound though I found the D90 offers a lot of detail for little money...

If your looking for a different presentation from the D90, an R2R NOS with or without tubes would be worth a try.   I ended up with an R2R NOS DAC and I find it so much more engaging and enjoyable than my previous DACs.

Cheers

Interesting comment about the R-2R style docs. For the cost I am  interested in the Ares II which seems to be well reviewed. Regarding the comments regarding tube or tube-like sonic quality, when reviewed against other similarly priced DACs the Ares seems to be the most 'full blossomed", i.e. less analytical.

Be interesting to see what a BDP-1 would sound like as the streamer using the MPD.  You can pick those up cheap now.