I had the opportunity to hear the Bricasti SE and Total DAC d1 6 comparision in Jeff’s (JWM) system. I did not personally find the performance gap as wide as Jeff describes between the two highly regarded DACs. I am in agreement with the Bricasti SE being the better overall sounding and frankly not bettered by the Total DAC in any individual parameter.
The Total DAC sounds quite good to me but when compared directly to the Bricasti it falls a bit short. Surprising to me was the Bricasti is the more engaging and organic of the two. Given all that’s been written and said about the intrinsic "analogue" like character of R2R topology I thought the Total DAC would prove superior in this particular aspect. Listening proved otherwise. I will acknowledge that this was via ethernet where this DAC sounds better than USB at least in my opinion.
I’ve heard numerous R2R type Dacs over the past few years as well as delta sigma based products. My observation is that either can be implemented successfully and I don’t find R2R inherently superior as some others have stated . As Jeff mentioned above, analogue output stage, power supply quality and I/V conversion are of up most importance.
In my opinion too much emphasis can be placed on digital chips and choice of D to A conversion. Bricasti SE certainly demonstrated what delta sigma is capable of when high engineering and implanted standard’s are utilized.
Charles
