Bricasti Design M1 SE - W/ LAN Network Streamer - Version 1.51 V. Denafrips Terminator


I am stumbling along trying to put together a digital streaming system. Have a tidal account and stream through a Farad Power Supply, Roon Nucleus and a AudioQuest Dragon Fly Red,  into a Pass Labs XP 30 Line Stage Preamp, Pass Labs Class A mono blocs, Klipsch LaScala. Considering Bricasti Design M1 SE - Includes LAN Network Streamer - Latest Clock Upgrade Version 1.51 or Denafrips Terminator R2R DAC. My budget is under $10K and I like to buy used. Would appreciate the Forum's assistance in evaluating these components, how they would would work with the Roon Nucleus and what other components would be necessary or desired. I don't expect to use the Dragon Fly. It was used as a cheap way to get started.  My system is currently fully balanced.

thinman2
You still need a Roon core which is on your Nucleus. The Nucleus can be anywhere in your house as long as it is connected to your LAN. I'll explain how I would do it, there are other ways but to me this is pretty simple. I would place the Nucleus close to my router, it gets the PC which is what the thing is away from the stereo gear. Attach the Bricasti to the ethernet CAT cable then connect the Preamp to the Bricasti analog outs by RCA or XLR. Make sure the Nucleus and Bircasti on on the same network. I'm not sure how you control Roon but I use a Tablet which is on the same network. Open your Roon app and make sure you can see everything and make any adjustments you want. You shouldn't need anything else the Bricasti is Roon ready has ethernet and a DAC. There are a lot of filters and settings in both Roon and the Bricasti it's dealers choice as to what you do with them.
@dpac996 totally agree. Well implemented ethernet DAC is in another league compared with USB and you don’t need all the band-aid solution to make USB work well. 
I think Linn had this whole thing figured out over 10 years ago. I still use my 10 yr old Klimax DS all the time. It’s not as good as the latest DS with Katalyst DAC but it’s good enough that would allow me to enjoy the music without thinking about gear. 
To be fair when I listen to DS Katalyst I get the “holy sh%t” moment quiet often. 
djones51.  I almost get it. My entertainment center has 4 CAT 5 ethernet cables hardwired to my router. Connect the Bricasti to the internet via one of the ethernet CAT 5 cables.  That is the streamer and the DAC. I would probably use XLR balanced connections from the Bricasti to the Pass Labs xp30 line stage preamp. I control the Nucleus with an I pad mini purchased specifically for that purpose. Currently I have the Nucleus connected to the internet via one of the ethernet CAT 5 connections to the router. I replaced the wall wart power supply on the Nucleus with a Farad Power supply. I am still a little fuzzy on how the Bricasti accesses the Roon as a Roon Core? This is a little over my head:  "I would place the Nucleus close to my router, it gets the PC which is what the thing is away from the stereo gear." If PC refers to personal computer I wasn't planning on using a personal computer in the system. Initially I plan on only streaming Tidal. Thanks for trying to explain.
The Nucleus is a computer that's what I was referring to. As long as everything is on the same network it should work. This isn't exactly correct but the easiest way to view it is the Roon core on the Nucleus is your database that accesses the music either on a NAS, hard drive, Tidal, radio stations etc.. and stores the metadata, the Bricasti is your endpoint where the Nucleus sends the stream. The Bricasti takes the stream, converts the digital to analog and sends it on to the preamp. Your iPad is the control center where you pick your music to play make any adjustments to Roon.
If your Roon server is not located near your DAC, then an ethernet connected DAC will have the advantage of not requiring a separate streamer. If it is located near the DAC, then I don't see that an ethernet connected DAC has much advantage over a USB connected DAC (assuming the DAC does a good job handling the USB connection).

With modern DAC implementations, both are asynchronous interfaces, with the DAC controlling all the timing. Some DACs do a poor job of isolating the noise from the interfaces, so you have to be somewhat careful with this, but the Denafrips Terminator that you are considering has an excellent USB interface that buffers and reclocks the data.

The main thing you have to be concerned about is noise on the USB connection being introduced into the DAC. I think you'd probably be quite happy with the Nucleus (using a good linear power supply) connected directly to the Terminator with a good USB cable, but you could always add something like the SOtM tx-USBultra or Denafrips Gaia between the Nucleas and Terminator if you wanted to make sure you were getting the purest signal possible. 

I haven't heard the Bricasti - it could be an excellent DAC. I have a Terminator and I'm quite impressed with it.