I had to go back to the Bricasti room because I forgot to note what converter they were using to connect their laptop from USB to S/PDIF since the M1 DAC as reviewed in Stereophile (twice) did not have a USB input. Well, it does now.

The color-coordinated setup in the room featured their Model 1 Stereo DAC ($7,995). Reviewed by John Atkinson back in February in Stereophile, which followed a review by John Marks in his Fifth Element column from August 2011. Here's what JM had to say in closing, "Fast, detailed, effortlessly powerful, musically revealing. Fatigue-free listening. The best digital playback I have heard." And here's what JA said in the measurements section of his review, "Bricasti Design's M1 has state-of-the-art measured performance". Sounds pretty good, no?

The Bricasti M1 DAC offers up to 24-bit/196kHz via its RCA S/PDIF, BNC S/PDIF (which can also be used as a Word Clock input), Toslink, AES/EBU, and now Asynchronous USB as well. There's a pair of balanced XLR and single-ended RCA outputs and seven reconstruction filters to tailor the sound to taste (or accuracy if you prefer to think of it that way).