Bricasti M1 DAC vs PS Audio Direct Stream DAC

That Yale sounds awesome!!

I liked the Pikes Peak but its seems I'm in the minority on that ones though. Maybe because I was running it in an all tube system?

What about the Yale do you guys think makes it a lot better than Pikes Peak? I'm kinda curious? Thanks

Yale final is killer. It takes the DS to the next level. Much more natural sound...micro and macro dynamics are the best yet. Inner detailing is beyond reproach.Smoother treble but still lots of detail. The best thing is Ted Smith still has lots of magic left in his bag.

Since I'm auditioning amps right now, I put Pikes back in because I was more familiar with the sound. That lasted about 10 seconds. Yale is back up, now.

Over the past couple of weeks, every time I put Yale beta in, I went back to Pikes. It just wasn't engaging for me.

The difference between Pikes and Yale final, for me, is it brings in a huge level of detail, but not in a sharp or fatiguing way. To go from Yale to Pikes to Yale again can be an education. Try it when you have a few moments... I'd be interested in other peoples' findings.

Any hopes we can get some comparisons between the Bricasti and Yale (final)? Have Bricasti hardware (or software) updates completed or are they expected to refine from time to time?
- Josh

The Bricasti is a totally different animal...

I think the way the PSA Directstream is set up for all these changes via downloaded software updates is very cool and it is brilliant from a consumer marketing standpoint.

Once things get a bit stale or something else comes out or just for the heck of it they can just come up with a catchy name and offer up a new update via the their resident mad scientist. Ted gets his Field-‐Programmable Gate Array code writing hat on and bamm everything changes. Very cool...

Bircasti takes a very different approach. Being grounded in pro audio they have a different take on it. A lot of their approach to their M1 DAC came from their development of their world beating recording studio M7 Reverb Unit. It is universally accepted as the worlds very best reverb. With designing the reverb they did a ton of digital phase filter work with passband slopes, stopbands, passband ripple, stopband attenuation, delay and all the other fun stuff that allows the worlds best recording studios to use their M7 Reverb in a recording studio room the size of 12x15 and make it authentically sound like it was from a gigantic 16th century auditorium.

All that work was then focused on a consumer based DAC product built around 14 outstanding proprietary Linear Phase and Minimum Phase Digital Filer technology. They farmed some of this great filter design out to their former co-worker buds from Levinson and Lexicon down in CT.

The M1 features a robust menu of 14 different propriety Linear Phase and Minimum Phase Filers. These are killer and allow you customize the sound to your specific individual system. They had earlier on just offered the Linear Phase filters which were great but when they released their Minimum Phase Filers as an update it was a total game changer. They are awesome and really give the owner of a highly resolving system great versatility to custom tailor the sound.

For myself at first it was nice but when I finally settled on my filter preference and that seemed to be that. I was happy. Well then I changed out a lot of other equipment in my system. When doing so all of a sudden these other filters sounded very different and it was great.

I have recently gone through an exorbitant amount of system changes in my system that is not the norm for me. I have new speakers, new speaker cables, a new amp, new digital cables and a new transport so the changes I have made have been substantial.

With each change each filer offered something different. Having this DAC has been a god send. In a very resolving system these are not subtle differences either. They really change and tailor the sound. The stage moves, the runs higher, the bottom tightens, etc etc. Great stuff really. The more I have gotten used to the DAC and my new equipment the more I have come to appreciate this DACs genuine versatility.

They are both great DACs and both approach things quite different and I enjoyed them both but as far as digital goes you will need to prey this Bricasti out of my dead hands. It is amazing! I am glad to hear the PS Audio guys have a great new update that has improved their DACs as well...