@erik_squires, I purchased the Bricasti M21 DAC and it is truly excellent. I use the laddered DAC option and use an AES/EBU cable from my Aurender N20 Music Server to the DAC. I am very satisfied with the sound quality of this system and so are my friends that have heard it. I also installed the Bricasti MDx digital in the M21 DAC and the sound quality improved. The MDx board is an outstanding upgrade and is highly recommended. The Bricasti M21 DAC is highly recommended. AND PLEASE KEEP READING.
After several phone calls with my retailer, and Bricasti, I ALSO PURCHASED the Bricati M3 DAC in January 2020. It took some time for the M3 to break in BUT it was light years BETTER THAN my previous Ayre Codex DAC. Please NOTE this is a 2-channel home theatre and my LG OLED TV connects to the M3 DAC and then balanced cables to my SimAudio integrated amp. I like this system very much and highly recommend you consider the Bricasti M3 DAC. The addition of the Bricasti M3 DAC “substantially improved” the sound quality of this system.
As was noted above, Bricasti Customer Support is excellent. I have both talked to them on the phone and also using email. Bricasti DACs are highly recommended.
if you have budget is around $5,000 and you are looking for a very good sounding DAC, I strongly recommend the Bricasti M3 DAC. The M3 “offers an incredible array of performance in a more affordable price class. It includes two fully differential conversion channels, separate conversion for PCM and native DSD, and a balanced analog level control circuit, making the M3 suitable for all applications”.
I also looked at the MSB Discrete DAC but everything thing was an extra cost option (USB, AES/EBU, power supply, etc.,). The dCS Bartok was also interesting but, based on my research, I kept coming back to Bricasti. The Chord DAVE was on my list, but I decided to pass (my Chord retailer was very pushy and not helpful). I hope this helps.
