⌈ BRICASTI DESIGN is a Massachusetts-based high-end audio company founded in 2004, specializing in digital products and amplifiers for both studio and home use. Its co-founders are two American legends of the pro audio industry, BRIAN ZOLNER and CASEY DOWDELL. Both come from Harman International Industries, where Brian spent 20 years as Lexicon's vice president of international sales, and Casey worked as a DSP software engineer at Lexicon. ⌋

IT HAPPENS THAT BRICASTI AUDIO, a company that initially specialized in digital products, which later included amplifiers, was founded in the same year as “High Fidelity”. This means that it is now more than twenty years old. For a long time, its ‘bio’ said it was a “young” but “ambitious” manufacturer whose founders had “vast experience.” The first part just ceases to apply, as Bricasti Design has been around longer than their relationship with their previous employer, Madrigal Audio Laboratories. The next two, though, as the tested SACD player demonstrates, remain valid.

The two founders, Messrs. Brian Zolner and Casey Dowdell, operated under Madrigal Labs, the parent company. It was established in 1984, founded by Sanford Berlin when he took over Mark Levinson. It was soon joined by brands such as Audioaccess, Proceed, Madrigal and Imaging, and in 1997 the Revel Audio loudspeaker subsidiary was formed. In 1990, Madrigal offered an advanced CD player that looked completely different from everything available on the market under the Proceed brand. More players followed, and eventually amplifiers as well.

The company closed in 2003, and its brands were bought by the Harman International Industries group. Changes in the operation of the various companies led to some former Madrigal Labs employees deciding to go their own way and founding a new company called Aevee Labs, which designs circuit boards for electronic devices. Aevee Labs engineers made significant contributions to the development of Mark Levinson products.

Brian and Casey followed in the footsteps of the aforementioned engineers, forming Bricasti Design a year later. As I’ve already mentioned, they were previously associated with the Lexicon brand. This is one of the most interesting manufacturers associated with the professional audio industry, specializing in post-processing (signal processing). Its history dates back to 1969, when MIT professor Dr. Francis F. Lee and engineer Chuck Bagnaschi, creators of digital audio devices for medical heart rate monitoring, founded American Data Sciences. In 1971, Francis F. Lee founded his own company, Lexicon.

Its first products were digital delay lines, which were later joined by reverb systems; in 1986 its most important product, which I too had the opportunity to work with, the digital 480L reverb system, successor to the 224XL, was released. Its distinctive white controller with a forward-sloping screen can be seen in most high-end recording, mastering and post-production studios. In 1993 Harman acquired the company, which would become an important part of the home theater systems of its other brands, offering Dolby/DTS processors and later complete digital solutions for JBL Synthesis products.

Bricasti Design thus originated from a company offering products for both audio enthusiasts and professionals. Initially, its company's efforts were aimed at the pro-audio market. In 2007, it offered its first professional audio product, the M7 stereo reverb processor. It quickly became an important product for audio engineers, and a reference in many studios, known for many of the most important albums, including audiophile ones (see - ECM):

This success allowed Bricasti Design to cascade its technology and expertise by meticulously tuning all subsequent products. The M1 DAC was the first product aimed at the consumer end, and received high acclamation from the press since then. Additionally, the high demand for top-notch amplification in studio settings prompted Bricasti to identify and fill a new gap in the market.

⸜ M7 gold standard, → www.CONNECTINGMUSIC.co.uk, accessed: 27.01.2025.

And it was only after this success that Messrs. Brian and Casey, as well as a few more products like DACs, when it became apparent that their devices found a place in audiophile systems, decided in 2010 to enter this world, repeating the path of companies such as Nagra, for example, and going in the same direction as Weiss Engineering. These two “paths” still have separate tabs on Bricasti's website, but the division between “pro” and “consumer” audio seems to be increasingly blurred.

Suffice it to mention that Grammy award-winning classical music producer John Newton of Sound Mirror Mastering and Recording in Boston (i.e., the “pro” man) uses M28 power amplifiers (i.e., “home” devices), and the D/A converters from “consumer” lineup are based on solutions developed for studio equipment.

▌ M19 & M11 Series II

BRICASTI DESIGN is a company focusing on digital systems, offering also amplifiers. Until recently, however, it offered no signal source, unless you count the optional file transport modules that can be fitted to their D/A converters. The M19, whose full name is M19 Reference SACD/CD Transport, changes that.

This transport plays Super Audio CD and Compact Disc, as well as CD-R and CD-RW with audio signal. It will not play CD-Rs and DVD-Rs with files, which Denon/Marantz and Accuphase players do. Which is interesting, because, as it turns out, the M19 also uses similar Sound United D&M SACD/CD SDCDM-3 mechanics. It's a shame that it doesn't display CD-Text, present on all SACDs and many CDs (you'll find disc titles and tracks on all discs in the Warner Music Poland edition of the “Polish Jazz” series). This is a common problem, however, as Accuphase's, dCS’ players and others do not do this either.

The M11 Series II, the company also uses the name M11 S2, is a DAC coupled with output voltage regulation - it can be connected either to an external preamplifier or directly to a power amplifier. It offers five digital inputs: AES/EBU, BNC, RCA, USB and - as option that will cost you another 2520 PLN - I2S. The first three accept PCM signals up to 24 bits, 192 kHz and DSD via the DoP protocol. To USB we will send PCM signals up to 24 bits 384 kHz and DSD up to DSD256, natively or DoP. Via I2S, on the other hand, we will send PCM 16/44.1 and DSD signals from the M19 transport (the I2S output on Ayon Audio players is not compatible with the M11).

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| A few simple words…

BRIAN ZOLNER
General manager, designer

WOJCIECH PACUŁA • Could you tell us about D&M mechanics used in your transport. I know it is not longer available. Does it mean any problems for customers?
BRIAN ZOLNER • D&M are still making the device for us, we have a contract with them and they are not stopping production, this rumor is an odd story someone reported about last year, DM said they are still producing this for us, as such we can still make the M19 for the foreseeable future.

WP • The DAC in the M11 is a 20-bit one, what is its upper sampling rate? Does this mean that 24-bit PCM signals are down-sampled to 20 bits?
BZ • The M11 sample rate is up to 384k PCM 24bit, of course the converter does not have the low level resolution as the one we use in the M1S2, a sigma delta modulator and even that in practice gets about 20bits of dynamic range 120db. ( 24 bits means 144db and that is not possible! )This is not a "down sample" it's just the resolution of the converter and this is limited by the noise floor of the analog electronics and in the case of a ladder dac the switching noise and the accuracy of the resistors in the ladder.

WP • Is the DSD signal processed natively or is it converted to PCM?
BZ • DSD is down sampled to 352.8k PCM in the M11, there is no other way as it's a ladder dac. But, our M21 and M12 have true one bit converters that we designed and one of the only products in the market that have real analog 1 big modulators and native convert DSD. All other DACs down sample to some form of PCM to create the modulation.

WP • Do you plan to develop a one-box solution in the future?
BZ • No plans for a one box device, we make DACs and they have networking included and all other input types and one can choose what type they want with our range. The M19 works well because its so simple, there is nothing in it to complicate it and the signal path is direct, all linear supplies, only an output section that creates the AES and SPDIF formats and DoP DSD, no upsampling, no extra clocks to run the DACs and other processes. ●

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M19 • M19 IS A SACD and CD transport. It is housed in a very sturdy chassis made of aluminum plates and sits on very good anti-vibration feet from Stillpoints. The latter is interesting in the context of the “pro” industry, which “doesn't believe” in the effect of vibrations on the operation of electronic systems, especially semiconductors.

The knob used to switch between tracks was also taken from professional systems. This is an excellent “patent,” but I preferred it in Sony's rendition. Its knobs, used in MiniDisc players, had a clear track-changing point and also acted as buttons, allowing you to operate the entire transport with a single manipulator.

The chassis is not rectangular, but resembles a rectangle with “reinforcements” applied at the corners. The black body, superbly finished, we should add, is contrasted with silver plates enclosing the case from the top and bottom. Spanish company Wadax distinguishes its equipment in a similar way. The Bricasti Design differs from it with significantly simpler, almost ascetic forms, resulting from the adaptation of professional equipment to domestic conditions, rather than from an effort to make the design more attractive.

The front on the M19 is divided into two sections, rather than three, like the in the DACs of this company. And this is because the part that is the user interface and the one with the mechanics drawer were separated. You can see in this the pragmatism of the “pro” people, striving for maximum clarity and simplicity, but also an afterimage of how Mark Levinson CD players looked like, for example, the No. 390S model. The buttons are elliptical in shape, and the display, quite large, can have one of three color patterns.

WE CAN SEND DIGITAL SIGNAL FROM TRANSPORT via one of three digital outputs: AES/EBU, RCA (S/PDIF) and RJ45 (I2S); the RCA jack can be replaced with BNC. The first two will send PCM 16/44.1 or DSD DoP signals, while I2S will send PCM signals from CD and DSD signals from SACD (natively). The sockets are gold-plated, solid. There's also a mini-jack socket that can work as a trigger, turning the power supply on or off. The manufacturer writes:

The M19 is an SACD/CD transport, refreshingly simple to operate and dedicated solely to the goal of uncompromising performance. The design of the M19 follows simplicity in all aspects, one that would have no need for additional processing, like upsampling, no DAC, no digital inputs or USB to support, all of which complicate the user experience when you just want to put a disk in and play it, and will complicate the digital design as well. All aspects were done in keeping faithful to the original mastered media; to guarantee that no additional processing would be introduced, to yield a clear and clean rendering of the highest order.

⸜ M19, → www.BRICASTI.com. accessed: 29.01.2025.

The unit is exquisitely made and features an extensive power supply. It uses two, sizable toroidal transformers, powering the mechanics and the digital section. The mechanics are enclosed in an additional shield to further protect them from RF and EM noise. Thanks to all these measures, the M19 transport looks extremely solid and stylish at the same time.

M11 Series II • Bricasti Design has unveiled the 2024 M11 R-2R Ladder Series II DAC, which operates based on a 20-bit ladder-type R-2R D/A chip. Its official premiere took place on October 11 and 12 in Mantova, Italy; Brian Zolner, CEO of Bricasti Design, was present.

The new model is supposed, as we read in the press release, to offer “an unparalleled scale of realism of reproduced music.” The manufacturer also pointed out that the new DAC is “inspired” by the flagship M21 model and the solutions implemented in it. It was based on the MDx platform and the company's proprietary technologies. And then:

This conversion method offers a different sonic character than the D/A converters we used in the M1, M3 or M12 models, and is appreciated by many audio enthusiasts. The proprietary MDx processor provides exceptional timing accuracy, minimizes jitter, maximizes processing quality via USB inputs (support up to DSD256) and offers optional Ethernet input, in effect taking sound to a whole new level of precision.

⸜ source: Bricasti Design M11 ⸜ przetwornik cyfrowo-analogowy, → HIGHFIDELITYNEWS.pl, accessed: 29.01.2025.

The device is easy to use due to a sizable display, like that use din the SACD transport, a knob for operating the menu and volume control, and buttons. The DAC offers quite a few settings, not only in the color and brightness of the display, but also in the digital filters, both for PCM (four) and DSD (three) signals. It is also possible to change the absolute phase, as well as set the operation of the triggers with a socket located on the rear panel.

It is a dual mono design. The handmade, milled from solid aluminum chassis houses three transformers - the digital section and two channels of the analog section - and two mono boards for the latter, each with its own dedicated linear power supply, D/A converter, reference clock and analog circuits. The whole, like the M19 transport, sits on Stillpoints anti-vibration feet - as the manufacturer says - designed and optimized for this particular design.

The Bricasti M11 (like the M1 model) is offered in two versions: the standard M11 and the M11 S2 (Series II) equipped with an enhanced power supply and a larger chassis. In addition, the device can be supplemented with two additional modules – file transport and I2S input. Thus, in the former case, we get a complete file player with digital inputs. The surcharge for this version is PLN 5040. We read:

The optional Network player (Roon Ready) offers one of the most sonically advantages avenues for audio playback created in the last decade, with pristine data transmission over long distances, without loss of signal or degradation from cable runs. On the other hand, the module with I2S output enables perfect synergy with the M19 SACD/CD transport to enjoy detailed high-resolution digital signal playback.

⸜ Ibid.

Bricasti is not a manufacturer specializing in audio file playback, so it doesn't have its own app. It recommends using one of the free ones - the Bubble app worked for me - or Roon. On its website, however, it reports that the device has also been certified by the Polish company JPLAY. And that's the direction I would go - JPLAY is an excellent control system; more → HERE.

The digital section is divided into two channels, separately powered and separately clocked. Their basis is an in-house-developed, digital-to-analog converter circuit, built discretely, that is, with switched resistors. A circuit of this type, the R-2R, is known from other DACs we have tested, for example Musician → PEGASUS, MSB Technology or → TOTALDAC, and more recently Laiv → HARMONY. A circuit of this type offers many advantages that are difficult to achieve in several-bit sigma-delta converters, that is, almost all available on the market.

The units come with small, aluminum remote controls, each with its own. Unfortunately, it is impossible to operate both, volume control and transport using one remote, you need to have two. The solution would be a remote control for the M19, but with a volume control, this would suffice.

Both devices look great, they are also perfectly built. This is a good example of the combination of engineering proficiency and market sense - after all, audiophiles are gadgeteers, and this should not be forgotten. Well, and is audio of this class part of the “premium” market, and this means that everything here must be refined, polished and polished. Otherwise we are dealing not with a 'product', but with a 'working prototype'.

▌ SOUND

HOW WE LISTENED • M19 TRANSPORT AND M11 S2 DAC, were treated by me as a complete two-box SACD player. The devices stood one on top of the other, on a Finite Elemente Pagode Edition Mk II rack - unfortunately I had no other option. Placing the transport and the DAC individually, on separate shelves, will surely give a few more percent quality gain. Its sound was compared to the Ayon Audio CD-35 Mk II SACD player and the Lumin T3 file player. I listened to track from Tidal and from a NAS drive, the Lumin L2, with SSD drives.

Bricasti connected to the Ayon Audio Spheris III preamplifier via a Siltech Single Crown (RCA) interconnect. With the router, the player was connected via my system consisting of a SILENT ANGEL N16 LPS dual LAN switch, with its two modules in series, powered by a TIGLON TPL-2000A cable. The signal from the switch to both players - in the M11 and in the Lumin - was carried by a LAN Quadrant Triple-C cable with RLI-1GB Triple-C filters at both ends. The M19 transport was powered using Harmonix X-DC350M2R Improved-Version, and the M11 S2 by Acrolink 8N-PC8100 Performante Nero Edizione (№ 1/15).

» RECORDINGS USED FOR THE TEST ⸜ a selection

→ ˻ I ˺ & ˻ II ˺
⸜ CHARLIE HADEN & PAT METHENY, Beyond The Missouri Sky (Short Stories), Verve Records | Decca Records France/Universal Classic & Jazz (Japan) UCCU-45054, „Charlie Haden – Quintessence of Duo”, UHQCD (1997/2022).
⸜ SLAYER, Live Undead, Roadrunner Records/Metal Blade Records MBCY-9009, EP, SHM-CD (1985/2009).
⸜ The TBM Sounds!, Lasting Impression Music LIM UHD 048, „Limited Edition – First 2000 Pressing”, CD (2010).
⸜ MAŁY ESZ, Bez zabezpieczeń, Aloha Entertainment/Tidal, FLAC 16/44,1 (2025).
⸜ HOT 8 BRASS BAND, Ain’t No Sunishine, Tru Thoughts/Tidal, SP, FLAC 16/44,1 (2024).
⸜ TWICE, The Wish, Warner Music Japan/Tidal, SP, FLAC 16/44,1 (2024).

→ ˻ III ˺ & ˻ IV ˺
⸜ The TBM Sounds!, Lasting Impression Music LIM UHD 048, „Limited Edition – First 2000 Pressing”, CD (2010).
⸜ HEART, Alive in Seattle, Epic, Legacy SUHD 005500, Test Press, 2 x SACD (2003).
⸜ QUEEN, Queen I, EMI/ESM International UICY-80530/1, 2 x SHM-CD ⸜ 1973/2024.
⸜ MARK KNOPFLER, One Take Radio Sessions (The Trawlerman's Song EP), Mercury 9870986, Studio Digital Clone CD-R (2005).

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˻ I ˺ » DAC

HERE IT GOES: I STARTED THE LISTENING PART with: “If you would like to find confirmation that digital technology has come a long, very long way from a bright, harsh sound, to a sound that is simply superb, the Bricasti Design M11 Series 2 DAC will be the best proof of that.” And actually, I should start that way, were it not for the nagging feeling of deja vu that haunted me.

The feeling had to do with the words “digital” and “excellent”. I have an irresistible feeling that I have already, somewhere, once in a test of another device used such a phrase - or a very similar one. The longer I thought about it, the more certain I became that this was the case. And that it had happened to me more than once. Which would be evidence of something bigger than the subject of this test itself - it would speak of a permanent trend in digital technology. One that changes not only itself, but also the perception of it.

After all, if I use such phrases more and more, they cease to have weight, as if they become “transparent” - because, after all, “this is the way it is and everyone knows it,” I might add. Too much optimism? As far as the technology is concerned, as well as the tested player goes - absolutely not. If anything, it would be over the top for audiophiles. We, after all, do not change, and if something is “digital”, and we are fans of “analog”, it does not matter what this “digital” is, right? It is not, so ultimately, about the sound, but about the idea. And this one is unchangeable and unmovable. It is, in addition, fortified with so many “certainties” that it becomes nothing but dogma. And dogmatists cannot be convinced.

However, if you were to find the time to listen to the device we are testing this time, there might be a crack somewhere where roots, still frail but potentially rock-shattering, could grow in. And that's because the M11 S2 plays like a dream. That is, it plays as once dreamed by people betting on digital recording, from Denon to Soundstream, 3M, Mitsubishi, Sony, Decca to Alesis, to cite only the most successful digital audio recording techniques; more → HERE.

This is because the American DAC plays in a very smooth, silky way. Its sound is warm and delicate. You could say - velvety. Yes, it's that kind of presentation. Admittedly, I started the listening with a disc as if specially prepared for all those who want to get addicted to Compact Discs, namely Beyond The Missouri Sky (Short Stories) by CHARLIE HADEN and PAT METHENY, in the 2022 UHQCD version, but this does not explain the filling, deep, low tones I heard.

Bricasti slightly distances the foreground from the listening position, so it doesn't throw everything “in your face.” In other cases, this happens with both over-boosting parts of the lower midrange and bass, and brightening. Not so here. With the character given to it by the designers, the DAC transforms it into a spectacle in which we are the audience. Yes, it's warm, it's intimate, it's tangible - but to a certain extent. For even with such polished material as this we get a deep perspective, where not only warmth matters, but also reverberations, insight into the far space behind the instruments, in a word - resolution.

Reaching for an album from the other side of the extreme, SLAYER's Live Undead, in the 2009 SHM-CD version, I wanted to see to what extent this perspective would be repeated with this kind of music. It turned out that the M11 S2 did not extinguish its energy at all, and even - compared to the reference player - turned it slightly up. This is an almost monophonic recording with a “stereophony” created by the guitars spread across the channels and the slightly widened perspective of the voices from the audience (we're talking about a concert recording). The DAC not only showed the attack of the sound perfectly, but also slightly zoomed in on the image of the drums.

And that's because, so it seems to me at least, it shows off the high notes very clearly and is does not warm the sound up at all, as listening to the previous album would suggest. When Dave Lombardo in the last seconds of the first minute of ˻ 1 ˺ Black Magic hits the large drum and snare drum simultaneously, marking the end of the intro, with Bricasti it was strong and dynamic. The vocals, which entered immediately afterwards, were not brightened up though, and the hissing voices (sibilants) did not pierce above the mix.

Which shows that we are talking about a very tonal-balanced device that gives the impression of warmth. When we change the music to one closer to the “truth” of a studio concert, say ˻ 1 ˺ Midnight Sugar by TSUYOSHI YAMAMOTO TRIO from The TBA Sounds! released by Lasting Impression Music, we will understand even more. It will become apparent that the DAC's dynamics are powerful, both on a macro and micro scale. We will also hear that the bass is perfectly clear, gently warmed up and does not go as low as with the reference player.

However, this extension is not necessary in this case. Perhaps if one were to lower the sound to the level of the Ayon player, the excellent balance one gets with the M11 S2 would disappear. And that's because it is, as it turns out, not quite the same sound, not quite the same look at the musical material. The Bricasti Design D/A Converter plays fast, sonorous, but also velvety sound. It's as if it's giving the material a meticulous preparation, remastering it.

The Ayon, on the other hand, goes deeper into the “gaps” between sounds, more like a reel-to-reel tape recorder, making what we hear rather “raw” material. Similarly to the Bricasti, the sound is smoothed out by dCS DACs, such as the Vivaldi Apex DAC, but they are more strongly open and noticeably more saturated and “sonorous” in the upper part of the band. Further in the direction of precision, slam, speed and openness goes the D1.5 + C1.2 player from CH Precision. And then there's the other end of the spectrum, Esoteric's players, the warmest of the bunch, including the K-01XD.

˻ II ˺ » FILE TRANSPORT

FILE TRANSPORT, a board that we can buy for the Bricasti DAC gives it a completely different character than when the signal was fed from the Lumin T3 file transport. It's an open sound, in which the emphasis is on the upper midrange. The latter has a smooth attack, it's not too bright, but compared to the Lumin it's clearly focused more on upper part of the band and stronger. This came out very nicely in the song Ain't No Sunishine, a cover performed by HOT 8 BRASS BAND. It's a band composed of brass instruments, supported by percussion and, entering only at the end of the fourth minute, vocals.

The tested DAC showed this track strongly, crisply, “forward”. So it was not the same sound as from an external CD transport and files. There is breath in this playing, but between the instruments rather than between us and the performers. The bass from the Intro by MAŁY ESZ hit hard, with a punch, but leaving room for effects, for vocals, for the sound of electronic percussion, for the synth sounds “spilling” across the channels.

With more heavily compressed material, as in 1 The Wish, the title song from the J-pop artist TWICE's album, it drives the sound in the direction of punchiness. We will not be annoyed by brightness, the DAC Bricasti is not like that. However, it will be an expressive, powerful playing. Cool, but also quite different from what we will hear with an external, expensive file or CD transport.

˻ III ˺ » SACD PLAYER

LISTENING TO THE M11 S2 D/A Converter, both in its “pure” form and working as a fully functional audio file player, allowed me to form most of the conclusions that will be repeated in this section. But not entirely and completely. For it seems that when playing CDs and SACDs, working in a system together with the M19 transport, the DAC adds something else that was somewhat lost when the signal was coming from an external device.

Most importantly, however, we're talking about a sound that is remarkably similar to what I hear every day from the reference player, the Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition. Which is, after all, a tube product, with upsampling to DSD256! And yet... the Bricasti plays in a saturated, deep and dark way. In a direct comparison, you can hear that it gives the foreground a bit more distance, and compacts long reverb a bit, while still showing space more clearly. And that its bass doesn't have as much energy; the latter, however, sets the Ayon apart from any digital device I've heard in my system, ever.

So the American system played the individual tracks from The TBM Sounds! in an exceptionally refined way. With amazing resolution, but also respecting the depth of sound, with what I would call natural warmth. And yet, when it needs to, as in the ˻ 4 ˺ Aqua Marine by ISAO SUZUKI QUARTET, when a low double bass, played with a bow by the leader, enters at 2:02, it goes suddenly and unexpectedly low, with tremendous energy.

It's not a warmed up sound either, not by a long shot. When, in ˻ 1 ˺ Crazy on You, the opening track of the concert album Alive in Seattle by the group HEART, Ann Wilson begins to sing, it's clear, but it doesn't jump out of the mix. In fact, I would say that the device further anchors such events, written by the producers into the larger panorama. And it does so without brightening, without sharpening, but also without extinguishing dynamics.

Because it is, after all, an extremely energetic sound. The foreground is not too close to us, the player projects the scene at a distance. So there is an expansive panorama with “breath”, but by the fact that we are talking about tangible sound, it is not a panorama detached from our room. The device opens a window between the speakers, opens it to the space. This is energetic yet attentive playing. The unit doesn't emphasize the beat, doesn't emphasize the “gallop” of the drums, as in ˻ 1 ˺ Keep Yourself Alive from QUEEEN's debut album. It plays evenly, nicely, dynamically, without popping up. This is not a system that would burn something into our system, or 'turn it up’.

˻ IV ˺ » PREAMPLIFIER

LOOSING AN EXTERNAL preamp from the system brings the sound closer to us and raises it tonally. The bass is fast and tight, perhaps even more so than with the preamp in the setup. But there is less of it. Not “too little,” but simply, in direct comparison, “less.” MARK KNOPFLER's vocals from the One Take Radio Sessions (The Trawlerman's Song EP) were closer to me and had more pronounced accented hissing sounds. However, it was not lightened up. That's the thing that's constant with this system - it never plays with a bright treble or upper midrange.

A playback device with built-in volume control retains something that such devices mostly miss, that is “firmness” of the presentation, because I can't call it otherwise. This is dynamic, saturated playing with lots of information. The acoustic guitar opening track ˻ 4 ˺ Greensleeves from the aforementioned Three Blind Mice album was thus palpable, powerful, full, and dense.

So this would be a rare case where excluding an external preamplifier from the signal track does not weaken the energy of the presentation, or if it does, only slightly. It will also be less saturated sound, no longer with as filled and dense bass as with a high-end preamp, you need to know that. But neither will these changes be big enough to dissuade us from the idea of a system without a preamp. It was a really good sound.

▌ Summary

SHOJI YOKOUCHI TRIO's CD album Greensleeves, from which the title track I just referenced is taken, was recorded digitally - a rare exception in the label's library. A Sony system was used for this recording, consisting of a PCM-1 processor and a U-matic BVA-200A video cassette recorder. Despite such a “primitive”, as many would say today, recorder, the sound is excellent and, I bet, almost everyone listening to it thinks it was recorded on an analog tape recorder.

However, the Bricasti Design SACD player showed that when hitting the snare drum, a “flattening” can be heard at the top of the amplitude, as if the signal must have been compressed. And this is due to the fact that we are talking about a very resolving player. However, when the guitar enters at the beginning, it is warm, dense, pleasant. Because, after all, that's how it sounds anyway. The player is also very natural in terms of timbres. It has a saturated sound with a low bass that has an excellent, very natural “flow,” without hardening or emphasis on attack.

The same is true for the treble. Even with Yamamoto's strong piano hits, with the Heart live recordings or the rock pieces from the Queen album, the attack is natural, that is, fast, sonorous, but also filled. It's not an empty slam, but something that carries more information. What I liked most was the system composed of the M19 transport and the M11 S2 DAC. It was with the components playing together that I got a digital player, which could well be the basis of my system. And the DAC, with external digital sources, whether CD transport or files one, plays in an equally engaging and immersive way. For me, the system was even more interesting.

Against this background, the file player module seems to me only something extra, like a phono preamplifier that is part of an integrated amplifier. It's fine, we can enjoy it and play it for years to come. As long as we don't buy an external device. However, it is important to know that for this to make sense, you will have to spend a lot more than for the module itself.

As you can see, the tested system opens up a lot of possibilities, and we should also add to that the very good preamplifier section of the M11 S2. Indeed, the Bricasti Design player is an excellent device and an example of how “digital” is today a mature, sophisticated way to listen to music. The well-deserved RED FINGERPRINT, from us. ●

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THIS TEST HAS BEEN DESIGNED ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES adopted by the Association of International Audiophile Publications, an international audio press association concerned with ethical and professional standards in our industry, of which HIGH FIDELITY is a founding member. More about the association and its constituent titles → HERE.

→ www.AIAP-online.org