ODSE vs. Bricasti M1 - wow a post that actually resembles the thread title!
I'm going to hold opinions about the new Dynaudio Consequence Ultimate speakers for now, other then to say they are truly statement level and are utterly unforgiving to anything upstream that can't deliver the goods.. "Just the facts." Nothing more, nothing less. Oh, and to say that they are forcing me to re-evaluate and manipulate my room treatments; and I have completely and utterly eliminated the balcony affect with careful placement but I have not yet optimized them.
I spent several hours with the Bricasti M1 running with the Total DAC usb filter/cable and then put the ODSE back in and kept the Total DAC USB in to keep things even. And then I compared the Total DAC filter/cable to my current Wireworld Platinum Starligh USB with Empirical Audio Block Filter on my familiar ODSE to see if I could hear any differences.
The Bricasti M1 is a wonderful DAC with many adjustments and settings to fine tune the sound to your liking, reminiscent of the multitude of setting on my Esoteric CD/DAC. I settled in on one setting, that was what the dealer had suggested as well, after trying all the settings out. I don't remember the name but I'll check and post it. To me it gave me the best of all worlds and allowed the M1 to catwalk and keep me most engaged.
What I found most interesting was how different it sounded with difference source material. Truly a chameleon. It's ability to essentially shape shift from Liszt to Bob Dillon and give what each required, or demanded, was most impressive. This is a DAC that can do it all without struggling. Punch, drive, subtly, refinement, with a slightly forward feel and a wide but not expansive soundstage. Not meticulously accurate or HiFi, just correct. I found the tone and texture proper but missed that last element of complexity and true layer that my ODSE and the Rowland Aeris excel at. The M1 was wonderful at extracting the pace and rhythm of the track and bringing you along for the ride while rarely if ever thinking about what it was doing right or wrong. I found it lacking, subtly, at the extremes.
M1 out, ODSE back in. Snap!
There was my layering, my complexity, my ability to hear deeper into the music and the venue. The soundstage opened up significantly, imaging clarified with a finer sense of place and space and everything spread apart front to back with feet between front and backstage. Extremes were, well, extreme. The most significant difference was speed. The ODSE is lightning fast.
I know I've become a broken record, but this little ODSE is a massive achievement and remains in my rack as another DAC has come and gone.
I am hoping to borrow the Aesthetix Romulus Signature to hear it and I may be able to get my hands on the new top tier Meitner Emm Labs DAC as well. I'll let you know if I can. I'm also dying to hear an MSB DAC in my system.
The Total DAC USB/filter cable vs my Starlight Platinum with Short Block.....
Really subtle differences. Both are excellent. I would say the Total DAC is a hair softer and warmer while the Starlight/Short Block a bit less so. Not huge; not even big. Not enough to justify a purchase. I have 3 different speaker wire in my room currently, and all 3 offered way more significant changes in voicing and performance then did the usb cable swap.
Hope that was worth waiting for. Sorry to those M1 lovers. It's an amazing DAC. But to my ears, in my system the ODSE was more to my taste.
I will post about the speakers in another few days. They need more fine tuning, room adjustment and cable swaps. And the Isis will arrive next Wednesday, so there's still that..... :)
