dCS Rossini vs. Berkeley Reference dac 2

Thanks. I've settled on two things. The Berkeley Alpha Reference 2 DAC. And my Wilson Alexia loudspeakers. Will investigate the merits of MQA once its more fully established. I'm still playing with amps. Will likely sell my Atma Sphere amps, mainly on the different presentation of the Berkeley 2. It makes my Ayre amps, now completely acceptable. But as I say that, I have a D'Agostino S-250 on the way. Lol. Will settle on interconnects once the amp decision is made. Also plan to play around a bit with that Shunyata Denali system. It Never Ends.

Thanks imgoodwithtools. I too found isolation a huge factor re digital.
And thanks aldenberry for the info on yours.

The D'Ag will be fun to compare with Nagra.  I've owned both; though I owned a D'Ag Integrated, I've heard the separates.  It's hard to say one is better than the other, but they are different.  Since you're playing with top-end gear and since our systems have a lot in common, let me just tell you that the best amps I've heard are from Vitus, which is now supported in the US.  Best amps and preamps- Vitus and Koda.  I haven't heard the venerated Gryphon products, which as a Rockport lover (I've owned Wilson- outstanding but not my preferred flavor) may represent the best.  Gryphon is not supported in the US.  Just an opinion.  That's all any of these posts are worth.  

And to ptss,
I compared AC cord effects between my Aurender source and Berkeley Ref Dac 1.  Going up the price/ quality continuum, I found that the Aurender was more responsive to cord changes than the Berkeley.  For what it's worth!  Boy are we off topic!

There must not be that many people who have heard both the dCS and the Berkeley DACs. But I did have a dealer, and it wasn't Galen, tell me he preferred the Ref 2 to the dCS stuff. But he is a Berkeley dealer, so take that one with a grain of salt. When I initially talked to Galen about upgrading to a Ref 2, he mentioned to me he was running one direct into a pair of big Jeff Rowland amps in one of his showrooms, to great effect. So, if you have one, I highly recommend at least trying direct. And FWIW, I noted a substantial improvement on AC cords swapping to a Venom Digital on my transport. The Berkeley seems to like the regular Venom cord just fine.