Solid state DAC under 12K retail preferably with ethernet

I rarely post comments in user forums but regarding the Bricasti M1 I feel compelled to comment. For the past few months I have owned the M1 limited gold with built in ethernet interface and must say that it is simply the most elegant piece of electronics I have ever had. I have listened to the Berkeley reference dac and have owned the Empirical Audio Overdrive SX but the M1 with ethernet takes sound reproduction to an etherial level. Listening to recordings through the M1 is like hearing them for the first time. Whether red book or high resolution, classical or popular, the imaging and dynamics (macro and micro) is jaw dropping. For the first time ever I find myself experiencing the emotion that the composer intended the listener to experience. It makes listening to recorded music not only pleasurable but exciting. The detail and texture conveyed is simply amazing. Prior to purchasing the M1 I auditioned the Aurender N 10 with my mac mini/Berkeley alpha usb converter and thought the sound was excellent but the M1/ethernet is far superior....and saves you $8000! Before purchasing a high end DAC I urge you to audition this unit. The standard version of the M1 is excellent but the limited gold version is unparalled.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.   For comparison I used the N 10 fed into the Empirical Audio Overdrive SX (using a Stealth Varig 16 coaxial cable).  At that time my regular set up was the mac mini/berkeley alpha fed into the overdrive sx.  For several reasons I abandoned the overdrive sx and replaced it with the M1 gold edition.  The M1/ethernet is far superior to either set up in terms of convenience and more importantly sound quality.  

I auditioned the SE version and thought it was outstanding.  Fortunately a friend of mine let me audition his gold version and although I had only a few listening hours it definitely had a more refined and natural sound.  Four months down the line I have no regrets in purchasing it.  Yes, it is expensive, but I have come to realize that in a very real sense it is also a bargain.  With the built in ethernet capability you do not need to purchase a separate network player as well as expensive cables.  The sound achieved with the network player is far superior to using a computer source and from my experience much better than using the Aurender N10.  That alone saves you $8000.  If you are considering the Limited  (gold) version i urge you to go for it...you won't regret it.   Aside from the unit itself the customer support is excellent.  Also upgrades in software and hardware are significant and cost wise very reasonable.