Bricasti M19 CD/SACD
The M19 is an SACD/CD transport, refreshingly simple to operate and dedicated solely to the goal of uncompromising performance. The design of the M19 follows simplicity in all aspects, one that would have no need for additional processing, like up-sampling, no DAC, no digital inputs or USB to support, all of which complicate the user experience when you just want play a disk, and will complicate the digital design as well. All aspects were done in keeping faithful to the original mastered media; to guarantee that no additional processing would be introduced, to yield a clear and clean rendering of the highest order.
Power is the heart of any product. The M19 power supply design was made by adopting two oversized independent linear power supplies with medical grade toroidal transformers. One is dedicated to power the drive’s transport mechanical aspects; the motor drive and loader, and the other for the digital aspects and those related to the audio path. Bricasti wanted to make sure the two sections would be completely autonomous from one another and importantly to supply stable, high current power for the motor and mechanical aspects, ensuring accurate and stable motor speeds, and removing any potential cross-feed contamination between the drive and the rest of the audio path electronics; both of which could be potential sources of jitter, and or power supply ripple.
The M19 is crafted as one complete assembly in a milled aluminum chassis, with the benefit of having its power supply in close proximity to the drive and digital output sections; this significantly reduces the possibility for any RF contamination, and most importantly ensures excellent isolated current delivery from the supply to the drive motor. It also removes any unnecessary cables and connectors, as one should note that this is low current, low voltage DC power, and this approach will achieve the best current delivery possible to all aspects of the device. As such, Bricasti believes that removing the power supplies from the proximity of the drive to be of no practical benefit.
I2S super-performance
The M19 also offers a proprietary I2S digital output to be exclusively used with Bricasti DACs. The I2S interface is designed for use inside our products, for example we use it in our DACs to move data between PC boards. But, when using it between the M19 and one of our DACs, it creates the perfect mate between the devices, as though the DAC were part of the M19. This allows any of our products to be used with the M19 and with exceptional performance results. This yields a clear performance gain across the whole sound spectrum, where additional clarity is brought to the fore. The I2S input is now listed as an option for all new Bricasti DACs, and as an upgrade path for previous customers as well.
This interface is intended for use with Bricasti products only and is not meant for general use with other brand DACs; the AES and SPDIF outputs are there to support other manufacturer’s products as they are a defined standard and will work with any product that supports these standards.
SACD and DSD playback and the M19
When playing a SACD, the DSD playback will be transmitted as Native format via the I2S. When using the AES or SPDIF outputs, the DSD will be sent as DoP. The M19 does not employ any sample rate conversion or up-sampling of the data streams and passes the original sample rate to the DAC for conversion. The only processing done is for creating the DoP format for DSD out the AES/SPDIF outputs.
Either I2S OR the Network Player/Streamer option may be installed. Sorry, both options are not available together.