KLH007

Have you had enough time to give us your reaction to the COS D10?

@Airman and @wahoospiff, Please join the Bricasti forum, they will post the procedure for upgrading M3s once Roon certifies it, and you can talk to other Bricasti owners.

Good news @Airman and @wahoospiff, I just emailed Bricasti and got this update; Last week we finalized the Roon certification for the M3, we are now waiting for Roon to update the app on their side to show it as certified. We have a method to upgrade customers M3 as well and will get a posting about this on our web site and forum as soon as its final with Roon on their end. Brian also mentioned Bricasti has their own forum now where they will post this kind of info and updates including how to upgrade M3 DACs to Roon certification, here is the link; https://www.bricasti.com/forum/ .

Matt, I don't know why the different spec, perhaps call Brian Monday?

From the Bricasti website; The MDx was implemented in production on all products starting January 2020, and is now available for upgrades. all past D/A converter products are eligible for the MDx upgrade including all versions of the M1, M3, M12, and M21.

This quote from Bricasti was what I referred to in talking about the network interface, the MDx brought a big improvement to the Ethernet connection as well as all other inputs. I was led to believe Brian uses a computer as a source connected to his DACs via Ethernet and is located remotely. In my system, computer/Windows/Foobar 2000, the Ethernet is better than USB.

@jglacken, Brian expressed to me how much improvement eliminating all USB from the chain and using Ethernet direct into the network/streaming card would bring. The network card sends I2S with a short path to the DAC so USB communication is never used. Terry gave the M3 a great review using the AES SPDIF connection, which may not be as good as the Ethernet into Network/streaming card. I haven't made the comparison you are asking about so I can't be sure, but Bricasti has worked long and hard to improve their entire line of DACs by upgrading the timing accuracy and felt so strongly they made it a retrofittable upgrade so I bet the MDx is the best choice. Why not give Bricasti a call and discuss your situation with them?

All Bricasti DACs have the MDx board starting around March 2020, contact Bricasti directly if you question whether or not your has the new board. Barrows is correct, when I scroll the "Status" menu on my M3, MDx 1.01 appears, so try scrolling through the Status menu and see if you get an MDx.

With the MDx board the USB input accepts rates up to DSD 256 in native format, and PCM 384, and if applicable the network (Ethernet) supports up to DSD 128 native and PCM 384k. The MDx processor upgrade is $700 until July 15, then $1000. The MDx is based on one of the latest Analog Devices Dual Core Sharc DSPs, and provides improved Master Clock Synchronization, resulting in overall improvements compared to previous versions of the processor used. The new MDx board is compatible with all Bricasti DAC models produced and was implemented as standard equipment a couple months back, email Bricasti with S/N for precise info. Call or email Bricasti for specific info for your model as there are a few different upgrade options depending on the model.

@dbb, Ric Shultz at EVS has a bunch of mods some DIY for the LKS.

Ted, Thanks for your comparisons.

The Spring replaced an Ayre Codex which was a stand in for a DAC lost in the mail. I heard both DACs, different days & music, and the Evoke Eddies and LTA(Berning) tubes were great both days. Without a direct A/B I can't make a definitive statement, but pushed I think the Spring had a bigger soundstage and was perhaps more refined(smoother).

Tim, How many Kitsune Spring L3 units are out in the USA?

I think you will find the Mapleshade Clearlink to be an improvement. I was at a shootout of SPDIF cables, and the Mapleshade was the best, especially in the imaging/soundstage being bigger in all dimensions with much better depth. Good luck.

Blake, Since you said; I must admit it…. I have a huge soundstaging/imaging fetish. I purchased speakers that excel at soundstaging and imaging and I have my speakers set up to maximize and facilitate my system’s soundstaging prowess (the speakers are around 7 feet from the rear wall and around 4 feet from the sidewalls). Have you looked into the Comet DAC from the new company Exogal? It seems to be a soundstaging champ.