Move on from my Bryston BDA-1?

I think you may easily find a DAC that provides a significant improvement to the sound quality, depending on what it is you listen to and prioritize when listening to music. The BDA-3 would be a big improvement over the BDA-1, in my personal opinion. But there are lots of other DACs out there that you may prefer.

Would love to have the BDA-3 but $3,800 is well out of my budget.

The One to Beat: Gustard X26 PRO DAC Review (soundnews.net)

$1300 (on sale now)

I will get this delivered tomorrow. I will compare this to my 2 existing DACs, Benchmark DAC3B and Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE (mentioned above). The review above says it is a step up from the DAC3B which I am sure is better than the Bryston BDA-1.

Would love to have the BDA-3 but $3,800 is well out of my budget.

@dsands In that case I second the RME ADI-2 DAC FS recommendation above, as a much less expensive option that also uses the AKM chipset. The UI can be a bit daunting and lead to accidental misconfiguration, but once set up properly you can choose to never touch the UI again.

If you are looking for something that (I feel) utilizes the CS4398 exceptionally well, then I can suggest the Prism Sound Callia. While there have certainly been major improvements in DAC architecture over the years, there have also been improvements in people optimizing and maximizing the use of older DAC chipsets.

There are really good youtube videos showing all the "ins and outs" of the RME. I found after about an hour watching those going through the steps with the RME sitting on my desk I think I have it all figured out. Not too bad at all.