Bricasti M1SE or Denafrips Terminator Plus?

[Blake]

You can't go wrong either way.

 

I have heard nothing but good things about Bricasti and they seem like a great company but unfortunately have no personal experience with them. 

 

I am exceptionally happy with my Terminator Plus and the distributor, Alvin at Vinshine is as good at customer service as I have ever experienced for any product of any type (audio or non-audio). 

 

I find the Terminator Plus is both highly detailed, with astounding clarity and also organic and analog sounding at the same time.  It is not warm and rolled off and it is not sterile or bright sounding- far from it.  Any sterile, bright or hard sounding equipment is an absolute non-starter for me and gets quickly ejected from my system.  I am finding the Terminator Plus to be very tunable in terms of getting your preferred sound quality.  You can run PCM or DSD, and then you also have NOS or OS with a multitude of input options.  Each input to the Terminator has bit different sound.  Finally, the Terminator Plus has so much clarity and detail, I am finding cable changes are even more noticeable than with any other audio product I have owned, so in addition to PCM/DSD, NOS/OS and the different sounding inputs, you can further tweak the sound with cabling.  

 

From your description, I think you would like USB straight in which is terrific, or if you are able to run i2s, I would suggest that you get a Tubulus Argentus HDMI and run things in NOS.  The Argentus is a very full sounding cable, lots of density but still detailed, and in NOS Mode, the tonal density is further enhanced.  OS Mode sounds relatively more airy and detailed with a bit larger sound stage and Argentus is a good combo with either NOS or OS.

 

I really do believe if this DAC was from a North American, U.K. or European company it would cost double or triple the price.  Anyway, hopefully someone can chime in that has had both DAC's in their system to compare.

[Blake]

3 hours ago, Vangelis said:

I am still interested in Terminator Plus but nearly everyone is companioning the DAC with the Gaia. Did you notice a significant improvement with the Gaia? 

I have no room for a additional chassis or another AC outlet available in my AC conditioner.  The only way I could accommodate a Gaia would be to remove my Innuos Phoenix USB reclocker. The Phoenix USB reclocker provides a subtle improvement where most of the Gaia owners are reporting a night and day level of improvement so that might be something to consider. I would also have to imagine that the clock cables used to connect the Gaia contribute much to it's sound quality.

 

I would think a TPlus + Phoenix will be an exceptionally good combo, but unfortunately I have no experience with the Phoenix. I would be very interested in your findings if you do go with a TPlus and combine it with your Phoenix.

 

Gaia isn't required for TPlus to sound very good.  However, it does allow you to take advantage of the I2S input on the TPlus, which has a bit different sonic presentation/flavor as compared to the TPlus USB- both are good and it could be down to personal taste which input you would prefer.  Adding a Denafrips D/D converter also allows the user to take advantage of the clock out feature of the TPlus which takes clarity/holography to another level and the difference is not subtle, but keep in mind, clarity and holography are still very good without the D/D converter, running USB in.

 

Clarity and holography are a really big deal to me, but others may not feel the same way, in which case there is no need to add the D/D converter.  Perhaps the Phoenix would work the same magic?

 

Clock cables do make a difference.  I experimented with very cheap, hifi, and uber-hifi clock cables and the differences were obvious as you scale up, but even with cheap clock cables, things are impressive.    

 

I am so happy with my Gaia, I ended up ordering an Iris for my Qutest for my "COVID" home office headphone setup (I share the home office with my wife so headphones are a must).

 

Anyway, these are just my personal experiences and I am not an authority here.  Others may have different views.

 

 

 

 

 

   

[Blake]

1 minute ago, PYP said:

 

Not to go too far OT, but...can you mention the cables you tried and what qualities they brought?  Personally, I find that a $40+ (0.5 meter) clock cable is quite good.

 

1. Amazon special

2. Kimber Kable D-60

3. Stealth Audio Varidig Sextet V-14T

 

 

[Blake]

On 9/25/2020 at 10:01 PM, RikkiPoo said:

 

Appropriately I am listening to Temptation by Diana Krall  on Qobuz    "Temptation.....I cant resist"

 

I have a Statement and Terminator and it sounds amazing.....Yet I hear the Terminator is better with I2S.  Wondering if upgrading to the TP and adding a Iris or Gaia to input I2S with the TP's clocks is going to make me happy.

 

Have you compared the Iris and Gaia with the TP and clocks for I2S?  Does the Gaia do it better?  Any information on the Hermes?

 

My Iris has not yet shipped.  When it arrives I will compare to my Gaia.  Unfortunately I don't have any intel on when the Hermes will be released.

 

 

[Blake]

23 hours ago, RikkiPoo said:

I know the USB from the Statement is top class but I wonder if feeding an I2S converter such a good signal and using a converter like the  Iris or Gaia with the  two clock signals would better the USB from the Statement or mess it up.  I would need the TP for the clock outputs.  I have read there are differences with the sound of USB and I2S on the Termy and TP and that the I2S is better?

 

Going I2S from Gaia to TPlus, then engaging clock out on the TPlus upstream to the Gaia is just next level stuff.  Not essential, but if you are chasing for more clarity/detail/holography, it is an amazing combo.

 

In terms of how the TPlus and Gaia with clock out engaged fares against a usb fixer like the Phoenix, see page 4 of the 6Moons Avatar review for Srajan's findings:

 

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/denafrips6/4/

 

[Blake]

6 hours ago, Abyss Man said:

Blake,

Did I read right? The Gaia when clocked by the TP was better than the Phoenix? Wondering how it would do if the Phoenix had a Innuos server feeding the signal. 

 

 

 

Yes, you read that right.

[Blake]

12 hours ago, RikkiPoo said:

Blake,

 

Following up on Abyss Man's question about the Phoenix,  Does adding the Phoenix between the server/streamer have a benefit feeding a Gaia clocked by the TP?

I had a notion that just like feeding a DAC a lower noise/jitter signal (like the phoenix does) makes a DAC's analog output better, feeding a DDC a lower noise/jitter signal will benefit the DDC's digital output and thus further improve the DAC's performance.

Still chasing rabbits.....

 

Hi, unfortunately I don't have a Phoenix so I am not sure.  My best guess is, I would think inserting a Phoenix (i.e. server > Phoenix > Gaia > Terminator Plus) would be overkill.