Jeff Rowland Aeris or Bricasti M1?

Why not purchase the better sounding one????

I have not heard the Bricasti M1 in any sort of details but I did listen to the Rowland Aeris in 2 diff locations during the RFMAF2013 - one was at my friend's manuf shop before the show & the other was in Rowland's room during the show(with Jeff Rowland himself doing the demos). That Aeris DAC is really very good sounding. It would be on the top of my list to audition/buy....

The Rowland DAC reportedly offers excellent sound, however in its current release it has a couple of limitations that potential buyers should be aware of. First is that the USB input has a limit of 96KHz, so if you're planning on using it with a PC music server via USB you will not be able to decode higher sampling rate files like 176.4 and 192. Secondly it does not offer DSD support.

Thanks for the input guys, auditions are called for!

I have listened to both. They both produce excellent sound. I do tend to prefer the Bricasti M1. The sound it produced with the Harbeths at RMAF was fantastic.

Also, as Bill_K mentions above, the Rowland has some limitations.

Although an older thread, I thought I would bring it back to life. I had the M1 DAC and recently replaced it with the Aeris DAC. I submit both are great DACs and the other components in your system will determine what DAC works best for you. I have an Jeff Rowland Continuum S2 integrated amp and I think the synergy between it and the Aeris gives it an edge over the M1 in my system.

Hi Classact,

If you already have a Rowland amp, then Aeris would be a better match as mentioned by Ricred, bearing in mind the limitations stated above. With DAC age measured in months nowadays, it may also be a hard sell used.
The Bricasti M1 has been described as a great performer in many threads here and does not have the limitations of the Aeris. Selling used would be easier.
What amp are you using now? If you don't have a preamp, you probably won't need one as both DAC's are designed to go direct to the power amp. As always, your mileage will vary depending on overall system synergy.
Cheers! J.