New DAC with streamer

Bricasti M21 would be a great choice if rest of your system is up to snuff. DAC’s with built-in Ethernet card makes sense if you don’t want the hassle of separate boxes. Some of us would tell you that separates offers more flexibility and elevated performance. 

The price of admission and a component’s worth is very subjective as many here feel a good streamer + DAC setup can be achieved for lot less. I am hoping @audphile1 chime in with his direct experience with Bricasti.

I’ve never read a negative word about Bricasti DACs or using them as streamers so hard to see going wrong at all.  That said, and especially at this price level it really comes down to personal tastes, preferences, and system synergy so the real question is does the M1 produce the sound qualities you’re looking for because there are lots of other great options (most not streamer/DAC combos though).  FWIW.

I have a Bricasti M21 and Lampizator Baltic 3. I also compared the M21 to a Berkeley Ref 3. The Berkeley had greater resolution but could be bright and edgy on some tracks. On the M21 you have four decode paths: PCM ladder; PCM delta sigma; DSD delta sigma and DSD native. I was under whelmed by the DSD native performance but other people like it. I really enjoy the ladder DAC.

At this price point there are lots of great DACS and I believe it comes down to personal preference. The value aspect for the M21 comes in its network interface. On the M21 I did a comparison between USB input from an Arunder N200 and network input from a cheap PC running Roon. I used a fiber optic media converter on the network interface prior to the M21 (cost about 100.00). The media converter eliminates electrical noise being transmitted into the M21 from upstream devices and copper Ethernet cables..

I found the two interfaces to be comparable. There might have been some sonic differences but I found them negligible. So with the M21 you do not have to invest in an expensive streamer to get good sound.

Why not a MK II?

How about a Weiss DAC501 new or used. It makes use of a AES/EBU DIgital Interconnect. Scads of great reviews and more on their website. 501 is a two channel DAC and 502 is four a channel DAC.