Bricasti M1SE Stereo DAC Review

[d3l]

How can you say that, because of measurements we know that this particular unit is competent but not outstanding.
Personally if I were going to spend that amount on a ‘pride of ownership’ design I would want a nice case and exemplary measurements.
Keith

If you have a chance take a listen to the unit. The sound is sinply superb. Probably do to the combination of the chip implementation and the filters.

 

[Purité Audio]

It’s a pride of ownership product, like soooo many others.
It works it’s not snake oil it is just no better than any other properly designed unit.
As an individual you have to decide whether you are prepared to spend x times the amount on a smart case.
Keith

 

[EXIF68]

There are also lots of photos online for the inside of this device, if anyone is curious. Here's a random one I selected. The very earliest models (non-SE I believe) used an SMPS for the digital board, instead of only LPS.

They are using mirrored DAC-pcb‘s for left and right channel. That could be the reason for different harmonic spectrum in each channel.

 

[srkbear]

Maybe it’s just me but in this day and age, where everything is transparent at this point, cost tops my list of criteria when assigning a rating to a DAC. Given that our Chinese friends are cranking out the best you can buy for a few hundred bucks, I can’t even justify this box of screws for the ritzy indulgent set—if they’re paying this much it better reflect every single one of those dollars in its performance. In what other luxury market would such mediocrity be tolerated? Seriously? I can’t think of any blue chip brand from any other commodity where it isn’t an a priori assumption that you’re getting the absolute besf there is in terms of quality, and then the aesthetics and arbitrary markups go up from there.

Honestly I think the kinds of people who buy these sorts of things probably couldn’t care less about reviews like this—this is the sort of item that is curated for the ultra-rich by exclusive sellers and all they care about is the fact that it looks extremely expensive and weighs a lot. This is basically a masterpiece of aesthetic design weighed down by lead bricks accompanied by the technological sophistication under the hood of a Sharper Image item from the eighties.

FFS, DACs are done. Perfected. I hate to say a dime a dozen but that’s pretty much where we are. I view this component of my setup as being the least fussy option to invest in, and certainly the cheapest, other than the cables required to plug it in. Maybe some would say I’m going too far to call this thing snake oil, but based on the spirit of the term, I think there are parallels—at minimum this shill of a DAC is a shell game. You’re paying a fortune under the assumption of acquiring the top of the line, and by design there’s no way to tell that you aren’t without a measuring rig. I shudder at the thought of what the charlatans at this company talk about—what person of integrity would sign off on this? Boo! Crooks!

 

[srkbear]

It’s a pride of ownership product, like soooo many others.
It works it’s not snake oil it is just no better than any other properly designed unit.
As an individual you have to decide whether you are prepared to spend x times the amount on a smart case.
Keith

It may be a pride of ownership product, but I know of no other market or commodity where the most exclusive and luxurious option available was able to achieve such eminence without representing the pinnacle of quality at every imaginable criteria. You buy Armani couture, it’s going to reek of quality at every angle, last a lifetime, and leave lesser designs looking clumsy in comparison. I find it odd that anyone who is a connoisseur of audio reproduction would feel pride in owning such mediocrity. We travel amongst some very strange circles in this hobby.

 

[rocksteady]

Would you consider this bad performance ?
https://www.stereophile.com/content/bryston-bda-1-da-converter-measurements

I got one used 10 years ago for almost half of the original price.
When I got it, it blew away every other disc player or DAC I ever had (many !).

Still in use today and can sound better than the analog outputs of the Eversolo DMP-A6 that is attached via Coax spdif (depending on the source material quality).
As much as I would like to get rid of it, it just keeps going.
Also better about 95% of the time Vs a Gustard A26 via USB (which I took out of the system recently and may sell soon).

Comparisons are always at matched levels (within .1dB at speaker terminals) and both sighted and blind with similar results.
It is however very sensitive to the source component via Coax (no USB 2.0 input) so jitter attenuation is not good.
I had the best results with the Pi2designs Mercury streamer V2 before it bricked and almost as good with a Oppo UDP-205 (all via coax spdif).

But I do agree that $10k is way too much for the Briscasti even if this was brand new design with a more modern DAC !!!

I would say yes, poor performance.

"Overall, and assuming the problem with 176.4kHz data was sample-specific, the Bryston BDA-1 measured very well. Still, I was puzzled by the noise modulation in the low treble, and the less-good performance with oversampling was not what I expected.—John Atkinson"

 

[Billy Budapest]

They definitely borrowed their look from Mark Levinson.

The founders of the company left Mark Levinson and appear to have hired the same industrial designer, to boot!

 

[Hart]

The founders of the company left Mark Levinson and appear to have hired the same industrial designer, to boot!

I have always liked the Mark Levinson look. The red dot readout especially.

 

[AVphile]

My wish would be that Amir could test Bricasti's latest version of the M1, namely its M1 Series II. DAC performance is steadily improving, so testing a prior-generation product is, to me, a bit unfair to the manufacturer. Moreover, a side-by-side comparison would give the reader a good sense of whether a model's "refresh" was driven by technological improvements or a company's marketing decision to restimulate buyer demand by using a new lipstick.

 

[dleblanc343]

My Motu M4 will sound the same, has mic and line inputs, phantom power, great meters, is balanced, comes with recording software, is built tough, is small, is USB powered (portable), can mix inputs, has a volume control, HP out and if it dies (not likely) I can buy 50 more for that price. And I prefer the look.
Hand built? So what robot's are more consistent.

I had a fun time with a friend (amp builder, commonly active here and other forums like headspace) A/B/C'ing the MOTU M4, Mivera Purestream DSD DAC & my M1SE at volume matched levels (through REW).

MOTU M4 is off the charts good for the price point and more than what any general consumer should ever care to have in an interface.

That being said, it was categorically worse sounding than the other DAC's in blind tests. Not to say it was bad at all, but it's immediately heard.

The Mivera was really transparent and dynamic, though very fussy and variable in performance based on the file format fed to it (DSD really sounding better). I really dig this sound, very clean, great imaging, and unforgiving but never jagged, hashy or grainy per se.

M1SE is my favorite, though it definitely has a "color" to its timbre. It's a very analog DAC for lack of better descriptors, though it's not got dynamic compression à la Holo May or many R2R boutique DAC's. It's one of the best sources I've heard to date and has lots of flexibility. Is it expensive, yes, absurdly & the folks I've spoken with at Bricasti were pieces of work... but they do construct a great component so credit goes to them as having an objectively and subjectively near perfect sounding source.

The switcher used was this. I don't think it had any restrictions and is a strong recommendation for me to have in tinkering enthusiasts' arsenal.

 

[misureaudio]

My wish would be that Amir could test Bricasti's latest version of the M1, namely its M1 Series II. DAC performance is steadily improving, so testing a prior-generation product is, to me, a bit unfair to the manufacturer. Moreover, a side-by-side comparison would give the reader a good sense of whether a model's "refresh" was driven by technological improvements or a company's marketing decision to restimulate buyer demand by using a new lipstick.

I own M1SE and M3, last gen before Mdx. I tested on bench the M1 Series II, with findings that are no better than the former M1SE. My analysis is completely compatible with the findings and the conclusions by Amir. The only real advantage, is with the M3 NDSD decoder, which is nearly immaculate at measurement bench, and sounds great too with all the DSD tracks I listened to.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

I had a fun time with a friend (amp builder, commonly active here and other forums like headspace) A/B/C'ing the MOTU M4, Mivera Purestream DSD DAC & my M1SE at volume matched levels (through REW).

MOTU M4 is off the charts good for the price point and more than what any general consumer should ever care to have in an interface.

That being said, it was categorically worse sounding than the other DAC's in blind tests. Not to say it was bad at all, but it's immediately heard.

The Mivera was really transparent and dynamic, though very fussy and variable in performance based on the file format fed to it (DSD really sounding better). I really dig this sound, very clean, great imaging, and unforgiving but never jagged, hashy or grainy per se.

M1SE is my favorite, though it definitely has a "color" to its timbre. It's a very analog DAC for lack of better descriptors, though it's not got dynamic compression à la Holo May or many R2R boutique DAC's. It's one of the best sources I've heard to date and has lots of flexibility. Is it expensive, yes, absurdly & the folks I've spoken with at Bricasti were pieces of work... but they do construct a great component so credit goes to them as having an objectively and subjectively near perfect sounding source.

The switcher used was this. I don't think it had any restrictions and is a strong recommendation for me to have in tinkering enthusiasts' arsenal.

Interesting, could tou elaborate more on hiw the DB test was performed?

 

[Cbdb2]

MOTU M4 is off the charts good for the price point and more than what any general consumer should ever care to have in an interface.

That being said, it was categorically worse sounding than the other DAC's in blind tests. Not to say it was bad at all, but it's immediately heard.

So the DAC that measure worse sounds better? And there's no way 2 modern DACs can have different dynamics, thats something that's easy to measure.

 

[Blockader]

I had a fun time with a friend (amp builder, commonly active here and other forums like headspace) A/B/C'ing the MOTU M4, Mivera Purestream DSD DAC & my M1SE at volume matched levels (through REW).

MOTU M4 is off the charts good for the price point and more than what any general consumer should ever care to have in an interface.

That being said, it was categorically worse sounding than the other DAC's in blind tests. Not to say it was bad at all, but it's immediately heard.

The Mivera was really transparent and dynamic, though very fussy and variable in performance based on the file format fed to it (DSD really sounding better). I really dig this sound, very clean, great imaging, and unforgiving but never jagged, hashy or grainy per se.

M1SE is my favorite, though it definitely has a "color" to its timbre. It's a very analog DAC for lack of better descriptors, though it's not got dynamic compression à la Holo May or many R2R boutique DAC's. It's one of the best sources I've heard to date and has lots of flexibility. Is it expensive, yes, absurdly & the folks I've spoken with at Bricasti were pieces of work... but they do construct a great component so credit goes to them as having an objectively and subjectively near perfect sounding source.

The switcher used was this. I don't think it had any restrictions and is a strong recommendation for me to have in tinkering enthusiasts' arsenal.

How did you do the volume matching via REW?

 

[dleblanc343]

Interesting, could tou elaborate more on hiw the DB test was performed?

I just output pink noise at 85dB measured through REW with MMivera DAC, then did the same with M4 and M1SE since they have adjustable volume control. I got within 0.3dB reads across.

85dB is was just arbitrarily chosen as an SPL for a louder than average/ engaging listening level.

I also want to make special mention that despite owning the M1SE, I put ownership bias aside as I do with most gear. I'm not thrilled with how much I paid for it, but I also paid less than $4000.00 for it. I've considered selling a couple times, but I feel comfortable owning it at the price I paid as I don't worry about losing a lot of $ on it if ever for sale. It is a nice machine and the filtersets are a godsend going across various speakers and headphones/ IEM's - I can fine-tune to the transducer pairing and emotional preferences. Understated QOL feature which I didn't think I'd appreciate.

Tested on Minimum Phase Filter 3** this I forgot to mention.

 

[caught gesture]

I also want to make special mention that despite owning the M1SE, I put ownership bias aside as I do with most gear.

You seem to misunderstand how the endowment bias (or any particular bias) works. It is not so simple as you deciding that you have ignored it, or put it aside, in order to negate it’s influence.

 

[dleblanc343]

You seem to misunderstand how the endowment bias (or any particular bias) works. It is not so simple as you deciding that you have ignored it, or put it aside, in order to negate it’s influence.

I'm the person who trashes his own gear most often, or can wake up one day and say I don't want this anymore - but yes I totally get your point, if it's "mine" or in my home system, there's obviously a level of acceptance to it and intrinsic bias

The M1SE isn't the best thing out there though, far from it, and I can definitely name several lower priced sources with a cleaner sound, sharper transients, etc etc.

I would be curious to hear the original boards vs the MDX boards. Some allege MDX is "richer" sounding which isn't something I particularly think the DAC would benefit from. Wonder if any have done the comparison thoroughly.

 

[signalpath]

I got within 0.3dB reads across.

In our experience, A/B level matching must be better than 0.1dB (we use 0.05), otherwise we can often hear a difference, and the louder unit always sounds better. We also do self-blinding on the A/B switch, so we don't know which unit ("A" or "B") until the end of the test. We spend a lot of time doing A/B, as do our clients (pro) and the perceptible differences among DACs are myriad.

 

[PHP]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Bricasti Audio M1SE balanced stereo DAC. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $10,000:
View attachment 354404
The indication says M1 but owner tells me it has the "SE" upgrade. I have been a fan of the industrial design of Bricasti audio products since I first saw them. They remind me of Mark Levinson designs (I believe the industrial designer is the same). While a bit old fashioned with that dot matrix display, it still screams "high-end" to me. The interface is easy to navigate by pushing a button and then selecting things.

The box itself is very heavy and dense. It has an independent linear power supply for each channel which likely is responsible for much of that. It uses an Analog Devices DAC combined with external filtering.

Here is the back panel:
View attachment 354405
Nice to see S/PDIF provided both as RCA and BNC.

Bricasti M1 SE DAC Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard using XLR output:
View attachment 354406
I would have liked to see the output level be 4 volts. Manual says there is an internal jumper that causes the output to be variable and then you can set it to a higher value. But why is the default this odd number? I looked the AD DAC they are using and it has a SINAD of 110 dB so they are short a bit in that front. Still what I measured perfectly matches company specifications and lands the DAC in our competent category:
View attachment 354407

View attachment 354408

RCA output is a bit worse as is typically the case:

View attachment 354410

The issue here is high level of distortion as noise performance is excellent:View attachment 354412

They could do better though as indicated by our IMD level sweep:
View attachment 354414
Linearity test shows power supply noise lowering accuracy at very low signal levels:
View attachment 354415

Jitter performance is very good, albeit with a couple of spikes that should not be there:
View attachment 354416

Multitone test results are better than I expected in critical audio bands (1 to 5 kHz):
View attachment 354417

One channel is worse than the other in the dashboard and we see the same here with 50 Hz stereophile test:
View attachment 354418

There are crazy number of filters here. I demand overtime pay for having had to measure them!
View attachment 354419
View attachment 354420

The implementation is the best I have seen for minimum phase where there is essentially no ripple or early roll off:
View attachment 354421

And you have multiple choices in linear filters as well to get the best attenuation and widest bandwidth:View attachment 354422

The filters are so good that the recommended ones above didn't make a difference in our wideband THD+N test:
View attachment 354424
Alas, we have rising distortion with frequency. Even at lower frequencies, a high-end DAC should do much better.

Conclusions
Many times when I measure a high-end DAC, it lacks measurements. And almost in all cases we wind up with poor measured performance as well. Not so here. The company specifications are very accurate and speak the truth. And that truth lands the M1SE in the category of "competent." Alas, we can buy this level of performance for less than 5% of the cost of Bricasti! You won't get the distinctive and nice look of Bricasti. Only you can decide if you want to pay 95% more for that.

I should note that I think they are being held back by their choice of DAC silicon. The rest of the design seems better than what that chip allows.

I personally can't recommend the Bricasti M1 SE. It is too much money for the level of performance, despite how much I like its looks. But if you have one, you can take comfort in knowing you got what the company promised. And audible performance should be good enough.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Hello
I read your forum for some months now. I'm engineer in product designs and specialized in mechanical vibrations (I was professor in a French Engineer university).
What I like is your science approach of electronics measurements and facts, not fancy reviewers approach. Also I'm frustrated because all your ranking is only measurements. When you listen to a DAC, I could say that they sound very different because of their output (analog) stage, but also their power supply and also their enclosure. If box impedance and damping has nearly no impact on digital, it has on analog, and we listen to analog output.
To be precise I know BRICASTI M1 I had in the past, I tested it against WEISS 502, 502 4CH and also PLAYBACK MPD-8 and MPS-8.
M1 was very good, 502 and especially 502 4ch much better and the Playback were the best by far (especially MPD-8).
I also tested a very good DAC from AUDIONET vs a KHADAS DAC that cost now 150 euros. No sound difference but..... the KHADAS was inside an integrated amplifier and the manufacturer did a special job about power supply and AC filtering as he does not use audiophile power cord. I should say that the amplifier enclosure is massive CNC aluminium body for mechanical impedance.
I also tested this KHADAS integrated DAC vs MPD-8 and the sound result is night and day. Digital better? analogue output better fore sure, and power supply second to none. I have notice the same with streamers, my integrated Playback Stream-X2 with Taiko switch and PS is as good than 20k€ streamers, may be better.
Best
Philippe

 

[Cbdb2]

Hello
I read your forum for some months now. I'm engineer in product designs and specialized in mechanical vibrations (I was professor in a French Engineer university).
What I like is your science approach of electronics measurements and facts, not fancy reviewers approach. Also I'm frustrated because all your ranking is only measurements. When you listen to a DAC, I could say that they sound very different because of their output (analog) stage, but also their power supply and also their enclosure. If box impedance and damping has nearly no impact on digital, it has on analog, and we listen to analog output.
To be precise I know BRICASTI M1 I had in the past, I tested it against WEISS 502, 502 4CH and also PLAYBACK MPD-8 and MPS-8.
M1 was very good, 502 and especially 502 4ch much better and the Playback were the best by far (especially MPD-8).
I also tested a very good DAC from AUDIONET vs a KHADAS DAC that cost now 150 euros. No sound difference but..... the KHADAS was inside an integrated amplifier and the manufacturer did a special job about power supply and AC filtering as he does not use audiophile power cord. I should say that the amplifier enclosure is massive CNC aluminium body for mechanical impedance.
I also tested this KHADAS integrated DAC vs MPD-8 and the sound result is night and day. Digital better? analogue output better fore sure, and power supply second to none. I have notice the same with streamers, my integrated Playback Stream-X2 with Taiko switch and PS is as good than 20k€ streamers, may be better.
Best
Philippe

These tests were done blind or is this just your opinion? As you noted, this is a science based audio forum and opinions and imagination are not science.