Bricasti M3 vrs Meitner MA3

rsf507//// Thanks for the taking the time to respond so quickly. Much appreciated. Just reading the owners manual for both and trying to understand operating principals. Ill be using it as JUST a Dac. Would like to save some money, so I'm leaning towards the Bricasti. Thanks again. Robert

I may add a streamer in the future, unknown at this time.

By all means add a good streamer — the improvement over using a noisy computer is substantial and immediately apparent.  Best of luck with the DAC choice.

I owned the M3 and own the MA3.   I think the M3 is a fine DAC but much prefer the MA3.   I didn't own them at the same time, but will say I find the MA3 to have a much more organic/analog sound but still with a good level of detail and zero fatigue.   I remember the M3 as having good detail retrieval and excellent dynamics, and not fatiguing or analytical, but I personally found it slightly on the 'thin' or 'digital' side.   I just couldn't get into the music much more than I did when I tried also a very fine sounding but MUCH cheaper RME DAC.    I replaced the M3 with a Mojo Audio R2R and as a reference point that was much more the sound I was looking for.

I think the M3 had a more modern sound (i.e. better detail retrieval and blacker background) than the Mojo but I happily gave that up for the sound the Mojo provided.

Then I heard the MA3 and think it is a great blend of the strengths of the other two.  It reminds me of my Mojo's very musical sound but with another level of detail retrieval and soundstage, without adding ANY hardness, leanness, or fatigue.

Cheers

I owned the M3 and recently demoed the MA3. The MA3 is a touch more delicate, refined and organic. But the M3 may have a touch more drive to the music. 

The built-in streamer inside Meitner MA3 is actually quite good. Unless you're going for high-dollar streamers (think > $10K), you would be hard pressed to find an improvement. I recently bought an MA3 and took it to a friend's house who has also recently purchased Aurender N200. We didn't notice any difference in SQ using MA3 by itself or hooking up to Aurender. I sold both my streamers -- Aavik S-280 (one of the best I've owned thus far), and Innuos Zenith MK3. I plan to use MA3's streamer until I'm able to afford more expensive streamers (> $10K retail).

In my system, the MA3 is fantastic! Very balanced, natural, zero digititus, and a truly three-dimensional soundstage. The focus here is on creating a natural sound vs. hyper-realism.