I have on currently out at a customer who is waiting on delivery of their new unit.
The M3 is musical first. It has a massive soundstage and is incredibly engaging but is not the be all, end all in terms of detail. I would rather listen to Black Sabbath on this DAC than any other I have ever heard regardless of price. You won't gain a ton in detail over the Yiggy but you will gain a lot in terms of soundstage and imaging.
While I feel both are better than any Yggy variant I've heard, I would suggest going for a used M1SE. It'll run less than $6k and is better than the M3 enough to matter.
While I feel both are better than any Yggy variant I've heard, I would suggest going for a used M1SE. It'll run less than $6k and is better than the M3 enough to matter.
I'm glad that my "show conditions" A/B evaluation of M3 vs M1SE in a Bricasti room holds up. It seemed clear enough to be sure at the time.
The M21 was also at that show in the same room, so it was an A/B/C opportunity. The M21 sounded great with DSD. However, with non-DSD material (which would be 99.99% of material I listen to), I didn't feel the M21 price justified the incremental change* vs the M1SE. The M1SE is a real sweet spot, IMO.
*change: I'm not even sure I'd call it an overall improvement. It was "different" for sure. Smoother (maybe to a fault?).
Both DACs are good. But I'd only ever a consider the M3 used because the used price of the M1SE is right around the usual retail price of a new M3, IIRC. Maybe his margins are higher on the M3. Who knows. But "more musical" is not it.
You would be well served to call Bricasti and speak with Brian Zolner. He is a great guy and would openly discuss his products and how they differ internally. Doing so would allow you to make an even more informed decision.