Not sure you want to hear this but my experience as a dCS Paganini full stack and now four box Vivaldi owner is that in each and every instance the same CD played back on a disc is far superior to the track ripped from a computer, played off a stick or streamed. Every time in every place the CD sounds best.
So if I was you I’d buy the Rossini with transport and settle back to enjoy your CDs forever plus have the ability to play streamed music if that floats your boat (it does nothing for me -- I’m a strictly physical media guy)
What I cannot say is if the updated DAC in the Rossini is so much better that even with sub-optimal digital sourcing (i.e. from your server) it will still sound better -- I suspect it will -- but you’ll never know what the same disc played natively could sound like.
One option would be to retain the Puccini as a transport and use it to feed the Rossini DAC .. however the Puccini is short of the better digital outputs (no AES, not even fire wire) so you’ll always be hobbled by having to use the PCM RCA interface which frankly sucks
Sorry this may not be what you want to hear ... |
@folkfreak I wish I had known this. I auditioned the Vivaldi stack a few months ago. Source was a streamer. It was really good, but I walked away slightly underwhelmed relative to the calibre and price of the components and system. Are you saying I need to (must) demo it with a CD transport, preferably a dCS unit? Thanks. (For that audition I figured it was the streamer and not the stack...) |
@folkfreak
Thank you very much for your reply. This is exactly the question I am trying to answer:
"What I cannot say is if the updated DAC in the Rossini is so much better that even with sub-optimal digital sourcing (i.e. from your server) it will still sound better" than CDs
All comments to this question are welcome! |
Auditioning a dCS stack is not at all easy. Suboptimally setup (Cables, footers, clocking etc) they will sound dry and sterile. And in my attempts to use them with direct non physical digital sources such as computer based, USB stick or streaming have always sounded thin and lifeless. Put a good CD in to a well configured setup however and you are away and in my case it’s only my even more religiously tweaked analog rig that beats it ... my system description has a pretty thorough description of the steps I make to optimize my four box setup.
regarding the OPs question. @keiserrg why are you unwilling to countenance keeping your CDs? The marginal cost of the Rossini vs DAC is (in the context of the base price) low and likely less than you need to spend on the interconnect to the streamer itself. You own the CDs, and if you’re bothered about the space needed for storage switch to sleeves like I did. The pursuit of the absolute sound is typically not accomplished by moving two steps forward and one back, better to always be moving ahead 😉
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@keiserrg I’m not familiar with dCS other than my recent audition of the Bartok, Rossini, and Vivaldi DACs and my ongoing interest in the Network Bridge. With that out of the way...
I am confident that a correct pairing of a server/streamer/player and the Rossini, will provide you with excellent sound quality.
Please note MY BIAS: I don’t buy into > "sub-optimal digital sourcing (i.e. from your server)"
Also note that I am heavily invested in streaming and have been since the mid 2000s when I walked away from CDP playback. |
@folkfreak Thanks. I’ll make sure to audition the Rossini and Vivaldi with a CDP to gain a solid reference point. The server used when I heard the setups was a Roon Nucleus with cabling (source related) all of which was not up to the task. |
OP here is our take on the matter, we had a client trade in the same DCS Pucinni you had, however, he did not have the clock.
He traded it in for a Lumin A1 which he found to far outperform his DCS.
As per streaming vs CD we find that a good server with a good USB cable or Ethernet cable for those that have streaming/dac's makes a very audible improvement in the sound.
We have right now in the shop three world class uber streamers, the Laufer Technik Memory Player, the Innuous Statement and a Baetis Reference and they all sound quite different.
We have also run testes of comparing Innuous, Aurender products and a few others vs the more expensive stuff, and the impact that a good server makes is incontrovertable by listening.
A Roon Nuclus is not in our opinion a proper level streamer to power a big DCS rig, and it also depends on how the DCS is receiving its signal and are you using any upsamping or transcoding.
If you want to be blown away by a one piece streaming dac the Lumin X1 is considered a match to the DCS Bartok and many people feel that the Lumin is in reality a class by itself for its price point.
A recent review on the X1 proclaimed it to sound better than most multi box setups at two to three times the price. The X1 is rather extraordinary sounding and as an added bonus it benefits from being feed by a good server outputing a cleaned up ethernet signal as well.
Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin and Innuous dealers |
@audiotroy thanks for taking the time to reply. I am committed to DCS for a number of reasons but appreciate your endorsement of the x1.
In general:
As an engineer (but admittedly, not a great one) it would seem to me an easier task to move saved bits from a digital source (i.e., music file) to a DAC than to: (a) ensure a disk and player are dust/error free; (b) read the bits from a disk spinning a couple hundred RPMs, and then (c) pass such info to the DAC. It would seem to me that the former (all digital) would be, in the long run, inherently advantaged.
I guess what I am really asking is a A/A+ class DAC like the Rossini with digital only finally able to equal/better an older top level CD player like the Puccini? |
OP if you get a really state of the art music server such as an Innuous Zenith or Statment coupled with a good USB cable you should get a sound out of the streamer which should completely outperform the optical playback.
Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Innuous dealers |
Looking to buy a Rossini Player.Currently have an Ayre Cx5MP & QB-9.Can't tell the difference, but I rip using AIF (beats FLAC)
Why not get rid on the PC and run Mosaic in the Rossini?I plan to connect my 2TB SSD to Rossini, use Mosaic to play tracks,and look at streaming later.
Thoughts?
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keiserrg, in response, I think you made a wise choice on skipping a Lumin -- i have tested a few lumins and did not find them appealing. However, I did hear the Innuos Zenith with the Phoenix and it was excellent as a server/player. The Phoenix makes a huge upgrade. The best server/player i have heard is the new Aurender W20SE, but it is $22,500. I have not heard it on DCS equipment, but did hear it on my Light Harmonics Dual Dac and it was amazing. I have been told Aurender mates very well with DCS, but I don't know. |
