Bricasti M1SE Stereo DAC Review

[Lewzke]

OMG, my 99 dollar 9038D USB dongle has better output

 

[Talisman]

Suppose you spend 2k on a really good DAC, (arguably a better DAC) then spent the leftover 8k on better speakers? Now that you would hear. The difference between 3k speakers and 11k speakers is demonstrable. They definitely borrowed their look from Mark Levinson. If the goal is the best sound possible, I think most people put too much money in electronics. and not enough of the budget on speakers. I am guessing a system with a really great 15k speakers powered by a Denon receiver will still sound better than 4k speakers surrounded by 25k of electronics.

I keep repeating this story over and over and over again every time I hear the myth that most of the budget has to go into the source/amplification...
A fosi V3 with Salon 2s will sound infinitely better than a McIntosh with two JBL a190s, and there is no way it will be any other way

 

[firedog]

In audiophile circles, their cheaper ($5k) and more expensive models ($16K) seem to be more sought after: they have a separate 1 bit stage for DSD, so that DSD never is converted to PCM, it's just filtered out to analog. People who like DSD playback and use HQPlayer are looking for that.
There is a relatively small number of DACs on the market that have a 1- bit pathway for DSD.
But even if you are looking for that, there are some much cheaper DACs that do it.

 

[AdrianusG]

As proud owner of the beautiful sounding Chord Dave I’m always interested in other dacs that measure horrible!

Why do you say it measures horrible?, it doesn't! it's fine, especially regarding it's age, it's just too expensive now and likely back then as well, so not for me.

Anyways i'd vote fine because it looks built very well and still works, which has to count for something

 

[Orion76]

*Hugs my Topping D90SE*

 

[Rottmannash]

I keep repeating this story over and over and over again every time I hear the myth that most of the budget has to go into the source/amplification...
A fosi V3 with Saloon 2s will sound infinitely better than a McIntosh with two JBL a190s, and there is no way it will be any other way

Are the Saloon 2's the variant with beer holders on the sides?

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Nice, I really like red matrix display, gorgeous looking.

ps. not sure why but it always reminds me the movie Hardware

 

[Cogito]

Poor value for sure. I've never spent $10K on any single piece of audio gear.

A good set of speakers would be the only part of a system that I would consider paying $10,000 for (My current pair are $5,000). As for electronics, there's a ton of great performing and affordable options. This DAC would be a decent option if it were selling in the $1,500 range, certainly NOT at $10,000+!

 

[welwynnick]

It will sound like every other dac in the top 7/8th of Amir’s list, just more expensive.

I was wondering who would be the one that couldn't resist.

 

[Purité Audio]

I was wondering who would be the one that couldn't resist.

Magic beans on other forums.
Keith

 

[welwynnick]

Magic beans on other forums.
Keith

May I make a suggestion?

 

[sarieri]

I think when this thing was first released, ESS wasn’t this big at all. I don’t think it’s fair for me to compare something decades ago to today’s technology regardless of price tag.

 

[Barry_Sound]

The price is funny but I´d love to do a blind test vs the "my dongle measures better" people.

 

[Talisman]

Are the Saloon 2's the variant with beer holders on the sides?

Ooops

 

[Talisman]

I think when this thing was first released, ESS wasn’t this big at all. I don’t think it’s fair for me to compare something decades ago to today’s technology regardless of price tag.

No one is disputing the performance, for a 10 year old dac that's good performance, I'm pretty sure I couldn't blindly recognize it compared to my Loxjie D40, it's just ridiculous that price for any dac with any performance, the dac is simple technology , pretty basic electronics, that price is just ridiculous.
If you walk around your house you will find at least 40 or so DACs in the most disparate places, TVs, Bluetooth headphones for a few euros, smart devices for the home, telephones, MP3 players and they are almost all good enough to be transparent or close to transparent, even on products for very few dollars.

 

[FrantzM]

I keep repeating this story over and over and over again every time I hear the myth that most of the budget has to go into the source/amplification...
A fosi V3 with Saloon 2s will sound infinitely better than a McIntosh with two JBL a190s, and there is no way it will be any other way

Just one of the numerous myths from the industry.. I remember when I though that, only a few years ago, 2015, I was looking at building a system and... the budget for a DAC was $5000....
...



I cannot stop thanking @amirm for ASR...

Thanks to ASR, approach to evaluating audio (and other things) equipment, I am getting SOTA, yes State Of The Art performance from a $7.95 Apple DAC/Amp driving a $50.oo IEM

my current , immensely satisfying but not SOTA 2-channel system cost me less than $2500, 2 speakers. 2 x subwoofers + DSP + Control. Flat from 20 Hz to 20 KHz , capable of SPL of up to 112 dB at the MLP...

In that context, I voted "Not Terrible"... I may reconsider and vote "poor" for the Briscatti. it works but at its lofty price one can acquire a superb, accurate quasi-full range audio system, complete with DAC and amps: A pair of Neumann KH-420 or Genelec 8361 and ...


Peace.

 

[JustJones]

I think when this thing was first released, ESS wasn’t this big at all. I don’t think it’s fair for me to compare something decades ago to today’s technology regardless of price tag.

The Benchmark DAC 2 came out in 2014. Cost $2000 so 20% of the Bricasti? They used ESS Sabre chips. Fair to compare this?

Link to Stereophile magazine measurements

Benchmark DAC2 HGC D/A processor/headphone amplifier Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Here we go, again … Expensive stuff measuring worse than dongle. And usual set of comments.
Yep, it measures worse than Topping, so what? Still audibly transparent, Still working after 12 years.

What’s not to like?

No offense here , and we do tend to run our mouths on products like this, but…

The interest on a $10000.00 cd would let you buy a new $500 DAC every year forever. Not to mention you still have your $10000.00. If you watch their video it includes everything about how pretty it is , which they say iis something that can’t be measured. Now if this was a car a beautiful aluminum body might be worth it. But I am not walking around fondling this thing.

again it does look nice

 

[sarieri]

The Benchmark DAC 2 came out in 2014. Cost $2000 so 20% of the Bricasti? They used ESS Sabre chips. Fair to compare this?

Link to Stereophile magazine measurements

Benchmark DAC2 HGC D/A processor/headphone amplifier Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

Fair enough. Just like what is SMSL is doing with D6s here today. But that doesn’t mean every DAC with SINAD<120dB is utter trash, does it?

 

[JustJones]

Fair enough. Just like what is SMSL is doing with D6s here today. But that doesn’t mean every DAC with SINAD<120dB is utter trash, does it?

I never said they were. I voted fine for this one. It does what the manufacturer claims. But it's still overpriced in my opinion then again Benchmark is overpriced as well in comparison. You said it wasn't fair to compare with todays technology. I simply offered one device from the same period at 1/5 the price.