Quite a few Bricasti M21 DACs for sale cheap

@audphile1,

I also installed the Bricasti MDx upgrade board in my Bricasti M21. My system sounds clearer, smoother, more engaging with more musical details. I like it very much and also highly recommend the MDx board upgrade.

Please read the instructions carefully since it requires you disconnect some cables, remove the old board and install the new board. I had someone help me and the job took about 45 minutes (we moved very slowly).

@tucutrer

I like my Bricasti M21 DAC very much because it sounds great. The DAC has a 24-bit delta sigma DAC, a 20-bit ladder DAC and true 1 bit DSD for DSD content. It includes an Ethernet connection so the M21 is recognized as a DNLA device and becomes a powerful media renderer.

I switched my music streaming to using Audirvana Studio software on my MAC Laptop Computer (14-inch MacBook Pro M2 12 Core/19CPU). I use Audirvana Studio remote on my iPad to find the albums, playlists, etc. My Bricasti 21 DAC connects to the Internet using an Ethernet cable. This setup has resulted in my music being clearer and more open (replaced my Aurender sever). The Audirvana Studio interface is excellent and is easy to use (yes, there is a slight learning curve).

The removal of the music streamer and having the Bricasti DAC connect to the Internet and then to my MAC computer has removed a layer from the Music and made it more musical and clearer. I was not expecting this much improvement. The use of Audirvana Studio App has substantially improved my sound quality very much.

As an example of great product support, my Bricasti DAC was upgraded for $1,000. Their MDx board replaced the existing board in the DAC. The next Bricasti upgrade was a free firmware chip program that needed to be inserted into the DAC to complete the upgrade. Both upgrades greatly improved the DAC for a very reasonable cost. This is an example of a company supporting its customers.

Bricasti OWNERS ONLY:

The Bricasti web site says “The MDx was implemented in production on all products starting January 2020, and is now available for upgrades. In keeping with our upgrade philosophy, all past D/A converter products are eligible for the MDx upgrade including all versions of the M1, M3, M12, and M21”. 

I asked Bricasti its explain how this applies to my Bricasti M21 DAC.  They said "An updated MDx will gain me nothing sonically. The newer revision is solely for the implementation of the new graphics display and IS2 for the M19 Transport. The M21 is identical sound-wise”.

And to also answer the original question, it could be anything.  People are always selling and buying.  Who cares.  The better question is what DAC’s have you listened to and, more important, what DAC do you really like because it sounds great in your system. 

I own the Bricasti M21 DAC in my main audio system and the Benchmark DAC3 HGC in my 2nd system.  

I also tried upsampling to DSD using Audiovana on my MAC computer to my Bricasti M21 DAC.

After listening and comparing for a couple of days, I also preferred the sound when feeding my Bricasti M21 DAC the original bitrate. I usually listen using the ladder DAC but sometimes switch to the delta sigma DAC.

Regarding the OP post, “Quite a few Bricasti M21 DACs for sale cheap”, many components are always for sale. I suggest you not worry about it and purchase what sounds good to you.

Based on my research, it does not appear that Bricasti recommends upsampling before the DAC.  The Bricasti M21 DAC provides multiple processing options, including sigma-delta, R2R, DSD as DOP, and DSD in analog. This suggests the M21 can handle different input formats without requiring upsampling. Please call Bricasti and ask them.