DCS Vivaldi

[BMCG]

In my system with a well sorted USB Feed... found the upsampler deleterious to the soundstage ...reducing width and placement precision notably....

Interconnects were transparent ref XL on AES/EBU...with chord music clock cables

 

[Kingsrule]

In my system with a well sorted USB Feed... found the upsampler deleterious to the soundstage ...reducing width and placement precision notably....

Interconnects were transparent ref XL on AES/EBU...with chord music clock cables

Something's wrong....

 

[MadFloyd]

In my system with a well sorted USB Feed... found the upsampler deleterious to the soundstage ...reducing width and placement precision notably....

Interconnects were transparent ref XL on AES/EBU...with chord music clock cables

How were you feeding it - what music player, did you upsample in the computer (e.g. HQPlayer) etc?

 

[jfrech]

Something's wrong....

+1 in caps.

BMCG ...so it's not your cables...what was the NAS drive? I've found USB key significantly better than USB from laptop. But NAS is better still ...

 

[BMCG]

Lol...something's wrong...ah yes of course...probably my hearing...

But all deprecation aside...dealer concurred.....

Roon via JCAT with HDPLEX linear to card and JCAT isolator in USB feed to Vivaldi DAC or Upsampler...running audiophile optimized win 12 server R2

1 TB Intel PCIE SSD as music source....no dependency on network for music path

USB cables...are jplay "jumper" between card and isolator....with vertere's USB....between isolator and dac or upsampler

( occurs that maybe the extended signal path /processing with the upsampler in the loop..and using USB ONLY. that less may well be more....)

 

[MadFloyd]

Lol...something's wrong...ah yes of course...probably my hearing...

But all deprecation aside...dealer concurred.....

Roon via JCAT with HDPLEX linear to card and JCAT isolator in USB feed to Vivaldi DAC or Upsampler...running audiophile optimized win 12 server R2

1 TB Intel PCIE SSD as music source....no dependency on network for music path

USB cables...are jplay "jumper" between card and isolator....with vertere's USB....between isolator and dac or upsampler

( occurs that maybe the extended signal path /processing with the upsampler in the loop..and using USB ONLY. that less may well be more....)

So you fed the Vivaldi at native rates of the music tracks (i.e. no upsampling) and found that you got better results into the DAC vs into the Upsampler?

 

[BMCG]

So you fed the Vivaldi at native rates of the music tracks (i.e. no upsampling) and found that you got better results into the DAC vs into the Upsampler?

Correct ...

Using Spanish Harlem and Kind of Blue as touchstones across multiple resolutions (I'd need to check listening notes to confirm which exactly) ...

And to clarify for PCM upsampler was feeding DAC with integer multipliers at max ... that is either 352 or 384


Suffice I failed to hear an improvement .....( and that's being generous)

And as previously noted the clock did deliver...both for the Vivaldi dac..and as a swap out for the Scarlatti clock in my Scarlatti dac and upsampler stack..

I was even more astonished by the extent to which the chord musics enhanced the imagery and musicality..I mean these are out of the signal path.. cables...???!!!??...and yes I was sceptical of jfrechs claims on the transparent ref Xl clock impact.......but I heard the same..

(the scarlatti upsampler now seems surplus to requirements...

 

[MadFloyd]

Thanks.

OK, so if you're going USB, you might be better off with the clock; if you're going ethernet you might be better served with the Upsampler.

Interesting!

 

[jfrech]

Thanks.

OK, so if you're going USB, you might be better off with the clock; if you're going ethernet you might be better served with the Upsampler.

Interesting!

Very well could be. I can't argue with BMCG's outcome...I haven't heard that configuration !

 

[microstrip]

(...) Not chamber...but if you like Bill Evans. This is a excellent recording at DSD128 from tape. https://2xhd.nativedsd.com/albums/2...r-time-the-lost-session-from-the-black-forest

Playing now using the Roon trial version - great music!

 

[BMCG]

Jfrechs on Bill Evans.

+1 many thanks for the heads up on this recording.

Picked up both DSD64 and DSD128.....curious as to the extent of difference.

 

[LL21]

Hi

Thank you for the kind words.

I used to have Evolution 900 before the MRAs and they are the only I can compare directly with, especially since most of my gear has been changed a multiple times before i bought my 900 and MRAs.

With MRAs massive power they will play anything with ease. This gives a sense of natural flow in the music which sounds spooky real. They also soundstage way beyond my walls in all directions. The Evolution 900 sounds almost "constricted" in comparison.

Yes, they are very, very big and heavy and use a lot of current and there are probably amps out there with better resoluton. But I dont care. The MRAs was, and still is, my dream amp and still will be in the furure . I just got the Evolution Two connected with even more sonic bliss, so I am very pleased now.

I used to have Velodyne DD18 and Velodyne 1812 and they both sound great. But the Qsub15 is in a different league. Especially the way it blends/integrates. My M Pros plays fullrange and the Qsub is cross overed at 50 hz. In short the QSub15 is definitivt on par with my M Pros and combined they play absolutt fantastic. They project ambience and thunderous, tight bass with great ease and definition. Very adictive sound. And yes, 2 x subs would probably be even better. One day!

Best
Tommy

Thanks for the feedback! sounds amazing...effortlessness is a great word no doubt for BOTH the MRA and QSub15. enjoy!

 

[microstrip]

Jfrechs on Bill Evans.

+1 many thanks for the heads up on this recording.

Picked up both DSD64 and DSD128.....curious as to the extent of difference.

Do you know if we can search albums by digital format using Roon? For example, list only DSD albums when searching?

 

[MadFloyd]

Do you know if we can search albums by digital format using Roon? For example, list only DSD albums when searching?

Yes, you can.

Choose ALBUMS from the main menu.

Then near the top left tap/click on FOCUS

Then at the bottom right there is a FORMAT button where you can filter the formats you want.


EDIT: You can save your filtering as a Bookmark (tap the bookmark icon in the upper right), choose Add Bookmark, name it (e.g. "DSD") and you can then use the Bookmark menu to easily recreate this filtering.

 

[Kingsrule]

Yes, you can.

Choose ALBUMS from the main menu.

Then near the top left tap/click on FOCUS

Then at the bottom right there is a FORMAT button where you can filter the formats you want.


EDIT: You can save your filtering as a Bookmark (tap the bookmark icon in the upper right), choose Add Bookmark, name it (e.g. "DSD") and you can then use the Bookmark menu to easily recreate this filtering.

Or create a tag....

 

[microstrip]

Yes, you can.

Choose ALBUMS from the main menu.

Then near the top left tap/click on FOCUS

Then at the bottom right there is a FORMAT button where you can filter the formats you want.


EDIT: You can save your filtering as a Bookmark (tap the bookmark icon in the upper right), choose Add Bookmark, name it (e.g. "DSD") and you can then use the Bookmark menu to easily recreate this filtering.

Many thanks Ian - it was hiding in the right part of the FOCUS menu ... ROON is really a good program - just exported my recordings list toexcel!

BTW, are you enjoying your Vivaldi DAC? After two months I am still amazed with it!

 

[MadFloyd]

Many thanks Ian - it was hiding in the right part of the FOCUS menu ... ROON is really a good program - just exported my recordings list toexcel!

BTW, are you enjoying your Vivaldi DAC? After two months I am still amazed with it!

I'm enjoying it, but I'm not blown away. Then again I've only heard it so far via an Auralic Aries (not as clean as my NADAC) and an old Classe transport with the dCS supplied AES cable.

 

[awsmone]

THX

Great piece of advice!!!

Yes, you can.

Choose ALBUMS from the main menu.

Then near the top left tap/click on FOCUS

Then at the bottom right there is a FORMAT button where you can filter the formats you want.


EDIT: You can save your filtering as a Bookmark (tap the bookmark icon in the upper right), choose Add Bookmark, name it (e.g. "DSD") and you can then use the Bookmark menu to easily recreate this filtering.

 

[MadFloyd]

Somewhere back in this thread there were reports that the Vivaldi benefits from isolation so I slid a Townshend Sink under the DAC and the improvements were immediately obvious - bass is deeper and tighter and it seems to be more clean overall.

 

[jfrech]

Somewhere back in this thread there were reports that the Vivaldi benefits from isolation so I slid a Townshend Sink under the DAC and the improvements were immediately obvious - bass is deeper and tighter and it seems to be more clean overall.

Agree on isolation. Ditto power. I found the Vivaldi a pit picky on power cords. The normally excellent shunyata sigmas were sterile and flat compared to some other cords. Your mileage may totally vary here ...