@geardaddie You say the Varese was as good as vinyl or tape that was on hand. I have to believe that the tape you hand on hand was not that great, as IME tape is a significant step up in SQ over vinyl, if done correctly. The source is always the quality of the recording and the mastering, but it seems folk forget that when it comes to a digital recording, one needs to ask...are the recording folk using gear as 'advanced' as the dCS Varese supposedly is?? Because the SQ one gets is only going to be as great as the weakest link in the chain.
The new dCS Varese DAC...it is so good that all others are now relegated to history??
In the current issue of 'The Absolute Sound' magazine, Jacob Heilbrun applies about as much hyperbole on the new dCS Varese DAC stack as I have ever read!!
There are references to the sound of a 'live' piano and other points about the 'quantum leap in SQ' of this product.
Yet, i ask this, how is it possible that the digital recording chain can in fact pick up the many incredible subtleties that Jacob references in his review??
Nonetheless, at the price asked for the new Varese, it had better do your washing, cooking and take out the dog for a walk!
Next year, we will hear how the new dCS Varese is being upgraded, and that the new revisions are more accurate, more resolving, more this...more that, for a large price increase. Pathetic on a number of plains. Thoughts?
Showing 10 responses by daveyf
@tunehead Excellent point. When it comes to DAC’s..and maybe digital gear in general, it is an area that seems to evolve at a quicker pace than say...analog, or just about anything else in audio. How many here would pay the ask for the new dCS Varese DAC combo knowing that in a year it could be ( highly likely) relegated to a good DAC combo, but nowhere near SOTA! Plus, to get it up to the then new standard, a new module, or whatever, needs to be added...at another large $$$ |
@kennyc 'Fear of obsolescence' is something that anyone who dips their toes into the waters of digital high end audio should be very cognizant of. Particularly given the speed in which digital improves and given the price asked of products like the dCS Varese. Today's SOTA in digital reproduction can be tomorrow's boat anchor in very little time. Resulting in a major loss of value compared to other areas of the high end. I think we have all seen this circumstance before, and I can see no reason to see why it would not be specially true with the new dCS Varese DAC. Obviously if one has to have the biggest and best at any one time, and couldn't care less about obsolescence, then what you say makes some sense. It's all budget driven, but personally I would never consider a piece like this new DAC at the money asked, regardless of how much $$$ I was worth.YMMV.
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@brite61 I’m pleased that you still like the SQ of your dCS Vivaldi. However, the new dCS Varese is priced at multiples of your Vivaldi, and with the speed that digital advances, it strikes me as a platform that will need upgrading in the not very distant future. I’m sure dCS will offer upgrades for the Varese ( to a point), but at what price? My main point is this: is it wise to be buying the SOTA digital anything at very high cost, when it might make a lot more sense to buy yesterday’s model...and at a considerable discount, since this can usually be accomplished in very short time?
You may have received 80% of your investment into your Scarlati ( sounds like you were lucky), but I know plenty of folk who bought into the better digital offerings, only to receive 30-40% of their investment after a very short amount of time. OTOH, if you are one of the folk who has to have the best, and don’t care about the cost ( there are a few folk like this in this hobby, more than most of us realize, perhaps) --- then you are one of the consumers that dCS is interested in.
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@audio-b-dog Excellent post. I think more folks should have the attitude that you have in regards to high end purchases..of anything. I also think more of us should judge this hobby in the way you state.
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@christopherp Can you tell us what the rest of the system consisted of when you heard the new dCS Varese stack..gear, room, music, etc??
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@audition__audio Do tell us what ultra pricey gear you are associated with?
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@jafant No question that audiophiles need the ultra high end, only question is do they also need the ultra high prices, along with the large depreciations?
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@audition__audio I don't think anyone here is setting limits on purchasing gear for others, certainly not based on price. However, as @audio-b-dog mentioned, as the price rises, the number of consumers that are likely to consider the product diminishes. |