Bricasti M1 DAC vs PS Audio Direct Stream DAC

When the DS DAC came along I just looked at all the reviews in general and barely any of them declared the DS to be a game changer, or the best DAC they has ever heard. They only declared it to be 'good' which in the audio review industry means 'not very good'.

This is probably why PS Audio are spending so much time on software updates, trying to extract decent performance out of it.

The Bricasti M1 is the opposite, it seems to have consistent raves.

Agisthos, With a statement like that I would almost be certain you have never listened to a DS with PP OS.

I have owned Wadia,Electrocompaniet and EAD digital playback and listened to countless others,the PSA DS was and is way above any of them in sound quality. Although I have not heard the Bricasti M1...I'm sure it is a great sounding dac. If you get a chance go give a DS a in depth listen,I think you will be pleasantly surprised...

Agisthos,

I purchased the DS after receiving generous credit for my PS Audio Perfectwave DAC II and thought it was a worthy upgrade. I want to be careful not to exaggerate the differences between the DSD and M1, but I think it's valuable to the audio community to discuss/compare different products. Of course it's in the context of my system, my room, and my preferences/biases. For years I've owned Wilson Audio speakers(Sophia 2s, 3s, and Sasha 1s) and like with the DSD the music came at you. I've listened to Rockport Aviors and currently have Aerial 7ts. I submit Aerials and Rockport speakers pulls you into the music and that's what the M1 does. That being said, just like some still prefer Wilsons to others, some may still prefer the DSD to the M1. I strongly prefer the sound of the M1.

Ricred1,

I loved my DSD and am on record as describing it as a great DAC not just a very good one. I think it is the very best in its price range and better than many more expensive ones. I really enjoyed my DSD and think very highly of it. That said your M1 doesn't have many hours on it only being in day 2 which is very very early in the game.

It will still improve from 150 hours to 200 hours. I personally think its true mono construction and triple linear power supplies needs more time than most to truly ripen. Its industrial build is just that, heavy duty commercial like and this needs more time to loosen and open up than the more consumer focused products made in much higher volume levels.

Brian makes them by hand himself one at a time and it takes him almost a week to hand build it. He doesn't stock them up like a buffet under a heat lamps but makes them fresh to order one at a time. You can still smell the sold aluminum block that was just freshly milled a few days before you received it. Its done onsite in his own in-house CNC milling laths. He owns three of them! Heck Jeff Rolland even out sources his stuff but not Brian. For the different filters to truly become effective these needs a lot of good old burn in.

I think it is still sounding better even at over 200 hours. I think a bit later on you won't be as concerned with being " careful not to exaggerate the differences between the DSD and M1" but rather your emphasis will switch to being careful on how you honestly depict the differences without sounding like your needlessly bad mouthing the DSD. Its hard to describe how much better one is without it being at the other expense but the M1 is so much more money and its a more higher focused unit that it should be better. They are totally different price points. IMO it's going to offer you a lot more than just pulling you into the music but that's the fun part of letting it evolve in front of your ears. Once all burned in nice and good it's going to knock your socks off!! Enjoy my friend I am glad you like it : )

Fsmithjack,

For my ears the Berkeley Reference DAC is the DAC to beat at this point in time.