We had time getting everything tuned in and ready to go with our gracious host @kilkil here in his beautiful home! Now however the fun begins, we look forward to seeing every one soon and can’t wait to read your thoughts and experiences from this year’s Whiskey Fi Meet!
I was really looking forward to hearing the Bricasti M21. I also was hoping that I didn't like the Bricasti, and still be happy with my Yggy. Last night the M21 arrived and was immediately added to my main speaker system. Immediately it was apparent this is a better DAC than the last Bricasti M3h I had in my system and better than the Yggy. Much more detail in bass range and more beautiful female vocals... I might just have to breakdown and acquire an M21.
Edited:
After having the M21 in my system for 2 days, below are some more impressions.
I listened to most all the songs on my Testing playlist: https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/30b8e843-78ed-4c99-ac4e-83bca582e34b
I first listened to "I don't know", this is the only song where it wasn't immediately evident that I would love the M21. I focus on Lisa's voice and Yggy does this beautifully. The M21 sounds a little more accurate and still contains the magic in her voice. After coming back to this song, I listened to the song and not just the vocals, the percussion brush and the fiddle stands out to me as spectacular.
Strings particularly sound amazing on the M21. "Ballad of the Runaway Horse" showcases the bass, so much texture and detail with every pluck.
"These Bones", the Baritone vocal, i don't even know how to describe it, the power and beauty of it.
Final words:
Years ago, I had the NAD M51 as my DAC, and really didn't notice much differences between DACs, then I heard the Yggy at a Head-Fi meet and immediately knew this DAC was awesome and so much better than anything else I've heard up to that point. It took me about a year to actually buy the Yggy. Listening to the M21 had this same feeling of this is so much better than anything else I've heard. Note that I haven't really heard any other >$10000 DACs (I did hear a DCS stack, but it was in a completely unfamiliar system and I wasn't seriously listening).
I had the pleasure of hearing a custom built 2005 Kevin Gilmore Dynahi amp that @kilkil built, and let me tell you, it is the best headphone amplifier I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. I was ecstatic, wallet at the ready, to purchase this amp after I heard it. Unfortunately, custom builds like these are often hard to come by as original parts become scarce. It pains me to admit that I enjoyed this Dynahi amp even more than my beloved Linear Tube Audio Z10, which previously dethroned my GS-X Mini as being "the best amp I have ever heard"
The Dynahi offers a mid-forward sweetness which makes the mids on my Abyss 1266 Phi TC and Sennheiser HD800S (two notorious headphones which many consider to be lacking in the mids) more forward and richer sounding. Speaking of Abyss, the Dynahi has a boat load of power to power them with ease. When using the Auris Euterpe with rolled tubes as a dac going into the Dynahi, it had so much sweetness and a very effortless presentation. Mids are lush and the sound is the most pleasing I have ever heard. When feeding GS-X Mini and my LTA Z10 into the same dac, the Dynahi reigned supreme. My LTA Z10 was a close second, though. I speculate that if I spend a copious amount of money and spend some time with trial and error in tube rolling, then I could squeeze that 10% out of my LTA Z10 to bring it up to the Dynahi's level.
With my Bricasti M3H dac, the Dynahi still had a slight edge over my own tube amp. Kevin Gilmore and David Berning are both geniuses and made some incredible amps. Even though I feel that the Dynahi has a slight edge over my Z10, they are still in my top two of all time and I am enjoying the Dynahi while I can. It has been a blast and I can't wait to spend some more time with it while I can.
I was really looking forward to hearing the Bricasti M21. I also was hoping that I didn't like the Bricasti, and still be happy with my Yggy. Last night the M21 arrived and was immediately added to my main speaker system. Immediately it was apparent this is a better DAC than the last Bricasti M3h I had in my system and better than the Yggy. Much more detail in bass range and more beautiful female vocals... I might just have to breakdown and acquire an M21.
Another great meet at Center Hill Lake ! Good to see some old friends and meet some new ones with great gear, food, Whiskey and conversation.
There were a few things that I hadn’t heard before and a couple I really liked . The DCA Stealth I really enjoyed quite a bit as I use a closed back often and really want to hear these next to a ZMF Verite closed as that was what I was thinking for my next headphone that might have to wait for CanJam NYC . The Bricasti M3 Is another I did also like quite well and wished I would have tried it with one of my amps even though I love my Yggy there is something about that DAC that I might have to check out further. I am not a big Meze Empyrean Fan and after hearing the new Elite’s still not a big Empyrean fan it’s a very good headphone looks great and comfortable and easy to drive but it is just not for me.
It’s always nice to hear a Blue Hawaii SE and a 009 or 007 and Tom’s Dynahi again . I also love Linear Tube Audio amps and the Z10 is no exception it was also nice to A/B my OG AB-1266 with a new AB-1266 TC and nice to know my OG’s still hold up well but the TC is a bit better.
I also have a little story not from the meet. It was something like 1 o’clock Saturday morning before we left I heard a loud noise and the cat went crazy and since I woke from a dead sleep took a look downstairs and upstairs and out the front and back doors and everything seemed fine but it being so dark at the time couldn’t see anything wrong and it was still dark when we left.
Well when we got home Sunday morning Teresa went to look at the deck as they were to hang the doors on the new deck with screened in porch and all I heard was OMG OMG OMG. This is what she saw.
Two weeks ago put a deposit to take the Ash tree down as it’s been dead for about 4 years now from the Emerald Ash borer and was concerned it could possibly hit the house.
Ouch Brent. Is that part of the structure that was damaged? Them old trees have a mind of their own, ya know.
Thanks Tom for the pics. The best deck on on the planet on which to enjoy a Montecristo or my new favorite ... Padron Serie 1926.
I agree that there was a lot of nice headphones that I listened to, I nicknamed many of them as I listened with Walker This was the awesome easy part, Walker changed out the headphone, I got to be extra lazy and put them on, then give my opinion of each one then just hand back. Walkers favorites were Hifiman HE-10RP, named mellow (they are enjoyable and as soon as I listened to them, they force you to sit back and relax) and Audeze 2C with different pads, named pillows (named due to the feeling of the pad, felt like resting my head on a pillow).
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