Bricasti Model 3 DAC

[mrkoven]

2 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

Hey, I thought the EtherREGEN was an "audiophile" switch! 

Guess I need to dial up the marketing-speak on our web site... 

 

Lol touche.. I guess it's so good it transcends the word entirely, it's in a category of it's own!

[Bazinga]

.

[ducatirider]

On 7/3/2020 at 10:34 AM, sircharles said:

 

Your chain looks to be very good. The SNH-10G switch is a very nice way to eliminate any weakness in your chain. If you already have a Bricasti DAC, the addition of the Ethernet card is not expensive and definitely worth a try. The SNH-10G mated with the Bricasti Ethernet card might be a pleasant surprise to you....Plus you get to compare USB vs Ethernet and let us know what you think. Currently i am using Uptone's EtherRen with plans to add a Melco switch when funds allow.  

I think it might be worth it just for reducing the box count alone.  I have so many boxes x2 with lps that I'm running out of room.

[mrkoven]

About 10 hours of listening w/ the MDx so far. It is a great upgrade, definite improvements and refinement compared to previous. Glad I pulled the trigger, especially w/ the intro pricing which ends soon I think. 

[mg248]

Has anybody compared the Bricasti M3 to the Playback Designs Merlot?

[matthias]

On 7/11/2020 at 6:57 AM, mrkoven said:

About 10 hours of listening w/ the MDx so far. It is a great upgrade, definite improvements and refinement compared to previous. Glad I pulled the trigger, especially w/ the intro pricing which ends soon I think. 

 

I have read your great Wavelight thread on Head-Fi.

Do you like now your upgraded M1SE even more than the Wavelight?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

[mrkoven]

18 hours ago, matthias said:

 

I have read your great Wavelight thread on Head-Fi.

Do you like now your upgraded M1SE even more than the Wavelight?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

 

Hi Matt the Wavelight is very good but yes I am enjoying the M1SE more in my system, especially after installing MDx. 

[Airman]

New Bricasti M3 with Network Player Card and MDx. So far it's my best streamer/DAC with Roon. 🙂

[barrows]

I am just loving the M3 combined with my Sonore Signature Rendu SEoptical.  I am running it at DSD 256 all the time via Roon oversampling, and using the Bricasti's analog volume direct into my Purifi amp.  The sound is so good, I am going to a lot of effort to optimize all other subtle aspects of the system to get the absolute best out of it.  

Currently I have IsoAcoustics Oreas on the way for the Signature and the M3, and am building a new super trick design DIY power cable for the power distribution block (formerly was using an older, high gauge, OCC power cable from PS Audio which is a bit slow and dark).  Also am upgrading the rack to bamboo shelves from Plexiglas, and have added Finisar SFP modules to my optical run.  I am also going to experiment with a trick Ethernet cable from the switch to the opticalModule upstream.  This set up is super revealing of small changes, and is achieving this high resolution while remaining totally natural sounding with rich textures and tonality.  Just loving the discrete single bit conversion stage of the M3!

[ssh]

hi Barrows,

 

Could you please elaborate on the Plexiglas bamboo? My google search did not help.

[barrows]

8 minutes ago, ssh said:

hi Barrows,

 

Could you please elaborate on the Plexiglas bamboo? My google search did not help.

Not sure what you mean-I am in the process of changing my rack shelves from plexiglass to bamboo. The bamboo shelves seem to have even less resonance than the (already pretty good) plexiglas.  In the picture you can see the M3 on a bamboo shelf, I still have swap out the top shelf to complete that set up.  I also just put in a Sablon Audio Ethernet cable for the critical link between the switch and my opticalModule (just 1 meter here), resulting in another step up in sound quality.  

But let's get back to how great the M3 is sounding now with DSD 256, awesome!  I am playing Anna Fedorova and Dana Zemtsov's new album "Silhouettes" (a Channel Classics DSD 256 recording) right now as I type, just fantastic.

[ducatirider]

On 9/17/2020 at 6:39 AM, barrows said:

Not sure what you mean-I am in the process of changing my rack shelves from plexiglass to bamboo. The bamboo shelves seem to have even less resonance than the (already pretty good) plexiglas.  In the picture you can see the M3 on a bamboo shelf, I still have swap out the top shelf to complete that set up.  I also just put in a Sablon Audio Ethernet cable for the critical link between the switch and my opticalModule (just 1 meter here), resulting in another step up in sound quality.  

But let's get back to how great the M3 is sounding now with DSD 256, awesome!  I am playing Anna Fedorova and Dana Zemtsov's new album "Silhouettes" (a Channel Classics DSD 256 recording) right now as I type, just fantastic.

the upgrade is worth it for native DSD alone.

[kravi4ka]

Hi barrows,

 

What are you using now under the M3? Cerabase? And could you please share your feelings about the Isoacouatics when they arrive?

[barrows]

28 minutes ago, kravi4ka said:

Hi barrows,

 

What are you using now under the M3? Cerabase? And could you please share your feelings about the Isoacouatics when they arrive?

Those are Stillpoints Minis, but I have found that I almost always prefer a more compliant footer which provides more isolation from external vibrations.  We'll see...

[barrows]

Quick response on the Oreas under the M3, I am using 3 of the Graphite level ones.  One thing about the Oreas which is nice is that one can get them weight matched to the component, and this also gives one confidence that Iso Acoustics knows what they are doing!

Anyway, I threw them in last night, at first i noticed a little less definition (on the pluck) on bass guitar and double bass, with bit more of the sound of the decay and body of the instrument.  At the same time, soundstage depth opened up a bit deeper.  I moved them around a bit under the DAC, in an effort to get the weighting on each footer as close to equal as I could, then let things settle in overnight.

This morning, it is sounding great here, there is still a little less emphasis on the leading edge of things, and a bit more detail in decays, body, and what I call organic sound.  And the soundstage has improved in both depth and separation/focus.  I need to do more listening, but so far I am preferring the Oreas to the Stillpoints Minis.  I really like a holographic sound, with a lot of depth and ambience, and these are a plus in these areas.  One needs to experiment with the placement under the component to get things just right, these make a big enough difference, that tuning the placement is pretty easy, as the differences are big enough to hear.  I have Herbies tall tenderfeet under my amp, will probably need to get some more Oreas to try with the amp as well.

[fds]

For footers I can recommend Ansuz Darkz very much. Unfortunately, they are addictive and lead to quite an investment over time ... at least they will stay in my system for hopefully many years to come.

 

@Barrows. Did you maybe ever get a chance to compare your Bricasti M3 to the Holo Audio Spring or May? I understand that you prefer to have an analog volume control embedded missing on the Holo Audio DACs. Also may I ask which Ayre Preamp you had used before going M3 direct to power amp?

 

 

[barrows]

7 hours ago, fds said:

For footers I can recommend Ansuz Darkz very much. Unfortunately, they are addictive and lead to quite an investment over time ... at least they will stay in my system for hopefully many years to come.

 

@Barrows. Did you maybe ever get a chance to compare your Bricasti M3 to the Holo Audio Spring or May? I understand that you prefer to have an analog volume control embedded missing on the Holo Audio DACs. Also may I ask which Ayre Preamp you had used before going M3 direct to power amp?

 

 

I have not had any Holo DACs here.  I have not used a preamp in long time, and I have no desire to add any preamp to the mix as it can only bring more noise and distortion.  My  Ayre was the overachieving K5xe-MP.

[fds]

Many thanks for your reply, barrows. In fact, I had been using my Metric Halo LIO-8 direct into Mark Levinson 434 monos for a long time. However, after checking out the Ayre KX-5 (non-20) preamp, it was not possible for me to go back. Recently, I had tried to go direct to power amp directly again but I had to add the Ayre back in rather quickly. Will try again and give it a bit more time then. In a way I still think that DAC with volume control going directly into power amp is an ideal solution, exactly in the way you are doing it with your M3.

[barrows]

16 minutes ago, fds said:

Many thanks for your reply, barrows. In fact, I had been using my Metric Halo LIO-8 direct into Mark Levinson 434 monos for a long time. However, after checking out the Ayre KX-5 (non-20) preamp, it was not possible for me to go back. Recently, I had tried to go direct to power amp directly again but I had to add the Ayre back in rather quickly. Will try again and give it a bit more time then. In a way I still think that DAC with volume control going directly into power amp is an ideal solution, exactly in the way you are doing it with your M3.

Not every DAC goes direct into every amplifier perfectly.  After experimenting a lot with both approaches, with a lot of DIY efforts where I could change the output stage to suit the amp, I have found that current headroom of the DAC's output stage seems critical to get a robust DAC direct sound.  Some IC opamps used in output stages only have around 30 mA current capability, where others can have 75 mA, or even over 100 mA.  Of course the stoutness of the power supply powering those IC opamps also matters.  If the IC opamps in the DAC output stage are operating anywhere near their limits, they tend to sound a bit weak in terms of dynamic expression.  

[wahoospiff]

 

Can anyone comment on current status of Roon readiness with network card on M3? Was considering buying an M3 but then learned that as of September 2020 Roon no longer allows non-certified units to connect with Roon. Seemed like a lot of M3 user's were upset (which I can understand) since they were able to use Roon ("Roon Ready - uncertified") but haven't seen any posts in any forum since Sept. 2020. Dealer says Bricasti is working hard on this with Roon to get this done but as of now on Roon's website it says M1 and M5 are Roon Ready but not list M3. Hopefully they will get this worked out but it has been 6 months already. Also surprised at the lack of recent M3 related posts online.

[Airman]

12 hours ago, wahoospiff said:

 

Can anyone comment on current status of Roon readiness with network card on M3? Was considering buying an M3 but then learned that as of September 2020 Roon no longer allows non-certified units to connect with Roon. Seemed like a lot of M3 user's were upset (which I can understand) since they were able to use Roon ("Roon Ready - uncertified") but haven't seen any posts in any forum since Sept. 2020. Dealer says Bricasti is working hard on this with Roon to get this done but as of now on Roon's website it says M1 and M5 are Roon Ready but not list M3. Hopefully they will get this worked out but it has been 6 months already. Also surprised at the lack of recent M3 related posts online.

I'm using Bricasti M3 with Network Player Card as a Roon Ready - uncertified device and have the same question. It's such a great streamer/DAC.

[KLH007]

Good news @Airman and @wahoospiff, I just emailed Bricasti and got this update;                           Last week we finalized the Roon certification for the M3, we are now waiting for Roon to update the app on their side to show it as certified. We have a method to upgrade customers M3 as well and will get a posting about this on our web site and forum as soon as its final with Roon on their end. 

 

Brian also mentioned Bricasti has their own forum now where they will post this kind of info and updates including how to upgrade M3 DACs to Roon certification, here is the link;  https://www.bricasti.com/forum/ .

[Airman]

7 hours ago, KLH007 said:

Good news @Airman and @wahoospiff, I just emailed Bricasti and got this update;                           Last week we finalized the Roon certification for the M3, we are now waiting for Roon to update the app on their side to show it as certified. We have a method to upgrade customers M3 as well and will get a posting about this on our web site and forum as soon as its final with Roon on their end. 

 

Brian also mentioned Bricasti has their own forum now where they will post this kind of info and updates including how to upgrade M3 DACs to Roon certification, here is the link;  https://www.bricasti.com/forum/ .

@KLH007 Really cool, thank you for your information. 

[KLH007]

@Airman and @wahoospiff, Please join the Bricasti forum, they will post the procedure for upgrading M3s once Roon certifies it, and you can talk to other Bricasti owners.

[Airman]

The M3 just appeared as Roon Ready on the partners page.

https://roonlabs.com/partners/bricasti