I’m not associated with Bricasti other than owning a Bricasti dac. If you own a Bricasti dac purchased before 2020, I strongly suggest considering obtaining the newest digital board, the MDx.
It’s that good. There certainly is nothing wrong with any prior BRICASTI digital board. Technology advances, particularly in digital, and the MDx is a worthy advance
Bricasti M21 DAC owners only (FYI): My Bricasti M21 DAC is located on the bottom right shelf of my Salamander Designs Wooden 66” Cabinet. The back of the cabinet is open and to the left of the DAC is also open. The right panel is closed and so is the cabinet door. To the immediate left of the DAC is my integrated amplifier that also run warm. I recently noticed the M21 DAC’s temperature is around 122 degrees as noted on the front status screen.
The Bricasti Manual says “says the maximum ambient operating temperature is 40 C, this would yield an internal temp of 60 C as indicated on the M21 temp display. Exceeding the maximum ambient temperature may cause the M21 to enter thermal shutdown and stop processing sound as a safety”. Since 60 C is 140F, I am okay.
The Bricasti Engineering Team reports "I am fine since the temperature of my M21 DAC is in the normal operating range". Great news.
From my first hearing a Bricasti DAC, probably in 2015, I immediately thought this was great, not merely great for digital. I bought an M1, and in the years since I added the MDX board and 1.11 firmware. Still thoroughly satisfied. I run my DAC with the Minimum 1 filter and on “wide”. When I first bought my M1 I used it with my CD player as an external DAC. By 2016 I was listening to high res downloads via a MacBook Pro. Since 2021 my M1 has been used nearly exclusively with a streaming transport. So while my use had changed my satisfaction has not.
I recently changed the setting on my Bricasti M21 DAC (simple setting on the front panel) from a ladder R2R DAC to a delta sigma DAC. This is a test and I have no final comments. However, the ladder DAC seems more relaxed and musical while the delta sigma seems more direct. To be honest, I like both options and the ability to switch back and forth.
Bricasti Customer Support says “Sigma delta came along and basically replaced R2R more than 20 years ago. It was the next generation of technology and promised better performance: lower noise, distortion, etc. The reason you are noticing the R2R appearing smoother is the resister ladder is less efficient and slower than sigma delta which basically up samples to DSD rates to do its Job. You can hear it clearly when you listen to something very transient like a snare drum hit. With the ladder the snare almost disappears compared to the sigma. Personally, I prefer the Sigma Delta, but many people love the R2R. That’s the beauty of having them both”.
My Bricasti M21 DAC has the MDx board installed and the Bricasti V1.11 MDx Upgrade for (also for the M1SE, M3). My Bricasti M21 DAC substantially improved the sound quality of my audio system. To my ears, everything sounds truly outstanding. The music is clearer, less dark, better bass and sounds more like music.
As per Bricasti's SIM Chip instructions (Bricasti V1.11 MDx Upgrade for my Bricasti M21 DAC firmware updates ), I removed the cover of my M21 DAC and inserted the SIM CHIP in the marked slot. The SIM chip was very easy to align and insert. I had no issues and it works perfectly. I also changed the setting to wide.
After reading their instructions, I was concerned about finding the slot and inserting the SIM chip. However, when I removed the cover, finding the slot was easy and I had no issues. The location of where the chip needs to be inserted is clearly marked and obvious. YES, you have to be CAREFUL inserting the SIM Chip and I used a flashlight to help me. Once you power up the DAC, please watch the screen for a progress report and the words PROG OK. Any questions, please ask. cheers,
I received the new V1.11 MDx Upgrade for my Bricasti M21 DAC. SIM card from Bricasti, As per the enclosed instructions, I have to power down my Bricasti M21 DAC, remove the cover, insert the firmware chip into the unit and turn the power on. The instructions say inserting the chip needs to be done very carefully since there are no pins to guide it.
The DAC will be updated using the instructions in chip. When the upgrade is completed, the chip can be removed. A message will be displayed saying the upgrade is complete.
The instructions also said that some units cannot be updated meaning they have to be returned to the factory. I plan on doing the upgrade Saturday afternoon.
I just ordered the Bricasti V1.11 MDx Upgrade for my Bricasti M21 DAC. They shipped the firmware and instructions for how to install it.
The upgrade features are "In addition to the improved in performance that the MDx offers, there 2 new features in V1.11 for all products upgraded from early MDx versions:
CLK Wide / Fine: On all products is the ability to change the Master clock sync from a fine very accurate setting to a more forgiving wide one, yielding a more relaxed sound and to allow for fine tuning of this change. Both settings yield very low jitter results.
Filter 1: For the M3, M12 and M21 products, the addition of 2 new filters, one for each type linear and minimum phase. These filters are currently found in the M1 and were found to be customer favorites and we feel would be welcome addition to the current simple 2 filters approach in those products".
Agree 100% — it is hard to imagine a DAC doing more to find that elusive sweet spot between detail and sounding just right. The enhancement was immediately noticeable and unless my ears are plying tricks, it sounds even better again after some significant usage.
I had a similar issue on 1.02 but with the right channel. It would intermittently produce a static hiss on idle, but then goes back to normal once I switched it on/off standby. Bricasti sent me the MDx 1.03 upgrade as a fix and I haven't experienced the issue since.
I emailed Bricasti yesterday. Their response was - "Hi Stephen,We are looking into it and it will take time to get it to them for the certification, so we are starting the process. Joe"
Roon just announced as of 9/21 all products not certified Roon ready will not work once disconnected from Roon. currently this would mean m21 and M3 at least! let’s hope Brian moves quickly on this.
In my experience the folks at Bricasti are first rate and go the extra mile to make it right. Couple years ago I had a problem with my M1 - I posted it hear in an effort to see if anyone could offer a solution I could try myself. Someone on this board was able to reach Bricasti on a Sunday and by the time I spoke to Brian on Monday morning he was already 100% up to speed. I shipped on Tuesday and had my perfectly working M1 back by Thursday. Joe and Brian really did go the extra mile for me. There are some companies that refuse to deal with the consumer and instead insist that the consumer interact with the dealer and it’s the dealer who interacts with the company. Sure if the company is in another country it’s unlikely repairs will be handled by direct interaction. Who are, in my experience, the superstars in the US as far as dealing with us folks? In alphabetical order- Bricasti, Bryston (yes- I know- Canada), McIntosh, Pass
Bricasti reached out and explained what was going on and offer to take care of everything on my unit. After the conversation I fell that they do try hard to make sure their customers are happy and well taken care of should any issue occurred. Keep in mind most type of issue could be unforeseeable and what I could do better is to reach out to them differently before drawing the conclusion too fast. It really is a misunderstanding on both sides and I feel I am obligated to provide the explanation here so they are not falsely accused by everyone who sees my posts. They are a good company that produces state of art sounding equipment as well as their service.
Have you called Bricasti to discuss? Maybe they would be willing yo send a new board with the updated MDx installed so you would not have to ship your unit back.
@jglacken did you get any instruction of update, and also did they ask you to return the flash board after you are done with it? I haven't gotten any more info from them after they ask me for shipping info.
The socket is inside the dac. It’s on the MDx board itself. Top cover must come off. Detailed instructions will accompany the flash board board being provided by Bricasti. Once the flash update is done the flash board is removed.
@hgeifman lit could be ike what @zavato. @zavato. I have never done it before. @zavato is the socket located inside the dac so we'll need to open the top first to access? @jglacken that is fast. It'll take a while for it to get to me.
I’ve done an update via a flash drive on my M1 a couple years ago. It’s easy.
The digital board has a socket already there to accept the flash update. The hardest part is unscrewing and removing the lid then reinstalling the lid when done
@jglacken, Based on what @rogerhifi posted above, I am going to repeat what I said above.
"I wonder if the sound and distortion issues are caused by an ‘interface issue’ between your source and the Bricasti DAC. Please disconnect ALL components from the wall plug, wait 2 minutes and then re-start. This process might reset the interface".
only happens intermittently. The last time on turn on. Left channel again. Back to standby and back on and all is normal. I let Brian know when it happens and what it was doing. He says they cannot make it happen but are still working on it.
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