DCS Rossini

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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I am myself very interested in the ROSSINI to drive my BHSE tube amp + STax SR009 electrostatic set-up.

But, with the Stax SR009 that is already VERY detailed and sometimes a little too analytical, I really need a DAC that is not sounding Digital at all. I need to warm up a little the STAX to preserve musicality while providing all the micro details that the STAX can reproduce. So I wonder if the Rossini will meet that difficult goal ? Or may be a R2R/tube DAC will be a better alternative (TotalDAC D1-Tube ? Nagra HD DAC ? BRINKMANN Nyquist DAC ? Aries cera Kassandra ? ...)

Also, has someone compared the ROSSINI to the Esoteric K-03x (or K-01x) + G2 clock ? The new X series seems to have a much less digital sound than the previous versions ?

View attachment 30086

Hi Bmichels,

If you are looking for non-analytical sound, be sure try the Chord Dave in addition to the TotalDac. Both are amazing.

I too find that DSD upsampling softens and makes the sound boring for all rock & blues, and some jazz. If you enjoy that kind of music, listen carefully
 

bmichels

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Nov 30, 2012
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Hi Bmichels,

If you are looking for non-analytical sound, be sure try the Chord Dave in addition to the TotalDac. Both are amazing.

I too find that DSD upsampling softens and makes the sound boring for all rock & blues, and some jazz. If you enjoy that kind of music, listen carefully

I tried the DAVE, and to my surprise I was not that impress, but the TotalDAC was much more to my taste.
 

MadFloyd

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Caesar, do you have a tube based system?
 

MadFloyd

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Tube pre, class A amps

Thanks. I wonder if your tube preamp is softening transients such that it explains your preference for PCM over DSD...
 

caesar

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Thanks. I wonder if your tube preamp is softening transients such that it explains your preference for PCM over DSD...

No, I heard it on all SS systems as well. In fact, I know a famous dude who digitizes vinyl, and he doesn't even bother digitizing to dsd for the reasons I mention. I think it's just tastes...
 

bmichels

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Nov 30, 2012
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Hi Bmichels,

If you are looking for non-analytical sound, be sure try the Chord Dave in addition to the TotalDac. Both are amazing.

I too find that DSD upsampling softens and makes the sound boring for all rock & blues, and some jazz. If you enjoy that kind of music, listen carefully

thanks for all your advices. Today I compared quite intensively the dCS Rossini and the NAGRA HD DAC with my BHSE tube amp + Stax SR009 headphone.

The NAGRA HD DAC with my BHSE was (to my hear) by far the most involving and enjoyable :D I Finally got some saoul & spirit into my music :) ! Much more than with TotalDAC, DAVE or Rossini. I found all 3 very precise and detailed but... NOT to my taste :-(

Until I heard the HD DAC, I had the feeling that all those high-end DAC sounded almost the same, but with HD DAC there is something more, some emotion I did not get with the other DACs

I wonder if the Classic DAC will bring the same magic or if I really need to get the HD to get this feeling.
 

MadFloyd

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Is Nagra HD the new King?
 

jfrech

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Is Nagra HD the new King?

Vs Rossini....maybe-certainly a diff perspective which is nice. Analog stage on the HD DAC is very nice. Vs Vivaldi no. I've heard head to head vs Vivaldi.

PS, I'm a huge Nagra fan. Ditto dCS..
 

microstrip

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Is Nagra HD the new King?

Not in my kingdom. I still would prefer the Metronome set (also tube transformer coupled) to it by a wide margin.
 
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bonzo75

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Not in my kingdom. I still would prefer the Metronome set (also tube transformer coupled) to it by a wide margin.

You compared the two?

Also metronome is available tube coupled as well?
 

bmichels

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Nov 30, 2012
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Not in my kingdom. I still would prefer the Metronome set (also tube transformer coupled) to it by a wide margin.

Which Metronome DAC do you refer to ?
 

EuroDriver

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Not in my kingdom. I still would prefer the Metronome set (also tube transformer coupled) to it by a wide margin.

Unless you are just using the Nagra HD to play native DSD 128 recordings, to bring out the best sonics from the Nagra HD, one really needs to use HQ Player to convert everything to DSD 128.

It helps if the computer doing this is as well specc'd as the Sound Galleries Music server.

Any forum member interested can send me a PM or e-mail to hear the Nagra HD playing HQ Player upsampled Redbook and HiRes to DSD 128
 

still-one

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Unless you are just using the Nagra HD to play native DSD 128 recordings, to bring out the best sonics from the Nagra HD, one really needs to use HQ Player to convert everything to DSD 128.

It helps if the computer doing this is as well specc'd as the Sound Galleries Music server.

Any forum member interested can send me a PM or e-mail to hear the Nagra HD playing HQ Player upsampled Redbook and HiRes to DSD 128

That's assuming one thinks that DSD is better than PCM. In any case the Nagra HD acquits itself nicely against most DAC's.
 

microstrip

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That's assuming one thinks that DSD is better than PCM. In any case the Nagra HD acquits itself nicely against most DAC's.

The DAC of the Nagra HD converts PCM incoming signals into double DSD - the converter is a pure 5.6MHz DSD. I have read that the converter is a 1 bit type, implemented in a Xilinx FPGA, but could not find more details on it.
 

Mike Lavigne

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That's assuming one thinks that DSD is better than PCM. In any case the Nagra HD acquits itself nicely against most DAC's.

Eurodriver's point, I think, is that HQ Player.....optimally executed as it is in the SGM server, allows the Nagra HD to output top level PCM even though it is a pure DSD dac. I say this because I have the SGM server in house and have a quad dsd (only) Golden Gate that outputs remarkable PCM when powered by the HQ Player equipped SGM server. and my reference for PCM was the Trinity dac I owned for 4 months.....which is top level PCM to my ears and the GG-SGM server combo at least matched and likely surpassed the Trinity dac's PCM performance.

my GG is now on the way back from Poland with some updates which hopefully boost it further with the SGM server.

so the Nagra HD using a dsd dac seems not to preclude it from top level PCM when mated with the proper ancillary gear. one needs not prefer DSD to PCM. either way can work.
 

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