Thank you for the report. I'm traveling to Boston next week for work and will be giving a call to the dealer there to see when we can expect to see/hear one in the states.
DCS Rossini
- Thread starter Barry2013
- Start date
You're Welcome.
Digital cables are important. And I agree to much mixing and matching on cables may not yield the best outcome. I've tried 3 digital cables..Cardas Lightning 15, Purist Proteus Provectus and Transparent Ref XL. All are good. All are a improvement from stock and in the order of my preference (last being best). Unfortunately the best was also the most expensive...how it goes sometimes in this hobby of ours.
I've also found dCS responds to power cables and isolation. I use Shunyata for all my power cables. In fact I'd go for the best power cord before the best digital cable. YMMV.
Great thread here and appreciates perspectives.
Yes I too find DCS appreciates good power cables and isolation and my combination of Stillpoints, Audience Aspect and Entreq Challenger power cables has worked well but there is scope to upgrade the power cable on the clock so will give some thought to that as well as the clock cable. Again agree that the best are usually the most expensive providing you choose ones that have the requisite synergy and don't get carried away by the vagaries of fashion which are as prevalent in audio as in other fields.
Best wishes,
Barry
Got to spend some time during my business travels this week to sneak away to hear the Rossini and get two songs worth of A B comparison to the Debussy (which I have currently).
The Rossini gave me a presentation which was more 3D with improved separation to the individual instruments. To me, the Debussy sound was at bit congested (sorry my music review lingo isn't the greatest).
I'm hoping I can escape work again tomorrow and spend some more time listening before I head home. So far, my wallet is not happy as the desire to upgrade is strong after my first listen.
The Rossini gave me a presentation which was more 3D with improved separation to the individual instruments. To me, the Debussy sound was at bit congested (sorry my music review lingo isn't the greatest).
I'm hoping I can escape work again tomorrow and spend some more time listening before I head home. So far, my wallet is not happy as the desire to upgrade is strong after my first listen.
I have now had chance to read and digest Alan Sircom's review.
It's a rave review which I won't attempt to summarise other than to quote below what seems best to encapsulate the Rossini's qualities.
"......adds a level of precision that is hard to live without once heard. The best way I can describe this is it's about absolute integrity to the recording without adding the word
'slavish' into the mix."
Well worth a read.
It's a rave review which I won't attempt to summarise other than to quote below what seems best to encapsulate the Rossini's qualities.
"......adds a level of precision that is hard to live without once heard. The best way I can describe this is it's about absolute integrity to the recording without adding the word
'slavish' into the mix."
Well worth a read.
I haven't heard or read of any direct comparisons to date but AS in the hifi plus review of the Rossini concluded "the Rossini is a better performer than those previous generation players in almost every respect." That figures given the trickle down effect from the Vivaldi and the decision to discontinue the Paganini and Scarlatti lines even allowing for the loss of the SACD chips/players.
The other fascinating conclusion he drew was that he preferred the sound of CD on the Rossini from that of any other medium and that that was not due to any deficiencies from the streaming performance of the Rossini. To quote " Rather, it's that CD replay is just more 'organic' sounding than than the file based versions of the same"
If that is the case it has some very interesting wider implications for streaming versus CD replay and other DACS !
It would be fascinating, if he were so tempted, to hear how it would perform in Mike Lavigne's system.
I am not surprised. I don't know what streamer he used, but while computers may be jitter-free, they spew out a whole lot of RF noise (that's why Shunyata sells its own dedicated power conditioner just for computers, the DPC-6). If I'd ever go with a dedicated server, it would be a Baetis, which has no other 'computer function', via its 'conventional' AES/EBU output -- just like the output from my current CD transport. No USB, no nothing computerish.
Did AS test the Rossini CD player or just the DAC, via external CD transport?
Thanks Al.
He tested the Rossini player by itself but he also tried it as a transport with other unnamed DACS and the conclusion was the same. He also tested it with the Rossini Clock and found you could clearly hear "the enhancement" and vice versa when he took the clock out.
Two dCS-user friends (Paganini & Vivaldi respectively) and I visited the HK dealer of dCS last week.
We compared Rossini DAC+Paganini Transport vs Rossini Player vs Paganini Transport+DAC vs Vivaldi Transport+DAC.
The pairing components were Magico S5 with Constellation VirgoIII & CentaurII amps.
Summary of our findings :
1. Rossini DAC was much better in all aspects than the Paganini DAC.
2. Rossini DAC+Paganini Transport was much better than Rossini Player (both playing red book CD).
3. The Rossini DAC has a sonic character quite similar to Vivaldi DAC : very musical/analog. The latter was better in the areas of resolution and dynamics. The Paganini DAC sounded rather mechanical when compared to Rossini DAC & Vivaldi DAC.
Eventually my friend who owned an all-Paganini combo bought the Rossini DAC to replace his Paganini DAC.
We compared Rossini DAC+Paganini Transport vs Rossini Player vs Paganini Transport+DAC vs Vivaldi Transport+DAC.
The pairing components were Magico S5 with Constellation VirgoIII & CentaurII amps.
Summary of our findings :
1. Rossini DAC was much better in all aspects than the Paganini DAC.
2. Rossini DAC+Paganini Transport was much better than Rossini Player (both playing red book CD).
3. The Rossini DAC has a sonic character quite similar to Vivaldi DAC : very musical/analog. The latter was better in the areas of resolution and dynamics. The Paganini DAC sounded rather mechanical when compared to Rossini DAC & Vivaldi DAC.
Eventually my friend who owned an all-Paganini combo bought the Rossini DAC to replace his Paganini DAC.
Thanks CKK.
That is both interesting and useful as my thinking was I would be sorry to lose my current SACD capability were I to go for a Rossini player.
Did you play any SACDs with the Rossini DAC/Paganini pairing and was your friend able to see any similar improvement?
That is both interesting and useful as my thinking was I would be sorry to lose my current SACD capability were I to go for a Rossini player.
Did you play any SACDs with the Rossini DAC/Paganini pairing and was your friend able to see any similar improvement?
Most interesting CK, a friend (and owner of an Full Vivaldi Stack) and I are set to visit DCS HQ in a couple of weeks time, the plan being to run through as many combinations of Vivaldi vs Rossini as we have time for.
My mindset, until very recently, had me considering either Rossini DAC + Clock or Vivaldi DAC + Clock as a starting point, however a couple of recent posts ( indicating a notable distance between the two DAC's ) together with Alan Sircom's recent review and my friends own consideration, that they still prefer to run a transport, sees me less sure in that mindset than I was!??!?!
Hi Barry2013,
The diff in net price between Rossini DAC and Rossini Player in HK is <USD4000.
How can the Rossini Player fight with the Rossini DAC+Paganini Transport combo?
HiFi manufacturers rarely set wrong prices!
When a hybrid SACD was played (cd layer by Rossini Player and sacd layer by R-dac+P-transport), the diff was even bigger. The Player was KO in seconds.
Hi Harlequin,
The Vivaldi Transport may be the best transport in the market. It's extremely difficult for a CAS to come close.
As for the Rossini DAC vs Vivaldi DAC, the latter is obviously better and the price diff is not huge. I suggest you to get the Vivaldi DAC if your budget allows and LAN connectivity is not a must.
The diff in net price between Rossini DAC and Rossini Player in HK is <USD4000.
How can the Rossini Player fight with the Rossini DAC+Paganini Transport combo?
HiFi manufacturers rarely set wrong prices!
When a hybrid SACD was played (cd layer by Rossini Player and sacd layer by R-dac+P-transport), the diff was even bigger. The Player was KO in seconds.
Hi Harlequin,
The Vivaldi Transport may be the best transport in the market. It's extremely difficult for a CAS to come close.
As for the Rossini DAC vs Vivaldi DAC, the latter is obviously better and the price diff is not huge. I suggest you to get the Vivaldi DAC if your budget allows and LAN connectivity is not a must.
Barry do you have a Paganini transport now? I'd surely keep that. SACD transports are getter rare. I to have a large SACD collection.
Thanks.
At the moment I have a Puccini with a Scarlatti clock. The rest of my system is on my profile.
Initial thinking was to get a Scarlatti transport or DAC and keep the Puccini or possibly a Paganini before changing the Puccini at a later stage for a Scarlatti depending on the first upgrade.
The Rossini DAC is a new possibility and as is apparent I don't want to lose SACD replay.
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