DCS Varese

[still-one]

I was unable to attend Friday nights Paragon Global Varese release event but I did get about 90 minutes on my own with the system on Saturday. For the first hour I had the room to myself. I then spent the next 45 minutes listening and talking with Larry the owner of Paragon and David Steven of dCS about the new product.

The system had both a Vivaldi and the Verse connected to a D’Agostino Relentless Pre to allow me to A/B the units. the Relentless pre sent the signal to Relentless amp’s which were powering Wilson Chronosonics. During my session I chose tracks I knew from Tidals catalog.

In the first two minutes and even before A/B’ing it with the Vivaldi, I knew there was something special with the Verse. Everything sounded better. From staging, weight, vocals, placement of instruments, it all sounded right and natural. The longer I listened the more I came to appreciate its overall presentation.

That new display is really nice and with an upcoming software update it will allow you rotate thru and display just about everything you can see in the new Mosaic App.

One small issue for those who thought you might be able to only purchase the Core and DAC’s to start off then add the clock and display module later, that is currently not possible. The Varese currently cannot function as a headless unit… Too many processes are handled by the display unit. Of course for those who can afford this product that is not a concern.

Amazing product. Amazing digital.

 

[LL21]

Great to read first soundings of the new Varese. Given that you have the magnificent Vivaldi Apex...are you tempted?

 

[still-one]

Great to read first soundings of the new Varese. Given that you have the magnificent Vivaldi Apex...are you tempted?

That is a good question. That is a significant outlay and as of yet I have not convinced myself that I want to play in that sandbox.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

That is a good question. That is a significant outlay and as of yet I have not convinced myself that I want to play in that sandbox.

one advantage you have, that i did not when i first heard the Wadax now 4 years ago, was that you had a Vivaldi Apex stack reference in the same system to the Varese stack for a true A/B. i had to ship it into my room to compare it to my MSB/Taiko combo to determine the delta and seal the deal.

still a big commitment and not one that is easy to do. maybe the act of going to the considerable trouble to arrange my in-room demo doomed me to action. probably beyond my powers to ship it back.

 

[Johan K]

one advantage you have, that i did not when i first heard the Wadax now 4 years ago, was that you had a Vivaldi Apex stack reference in the same system to the Varese stack for a true A/B. i had to ship it into my room to compare it to my MSB/Taiko combo to determine the delta and seal the deal.

still a big commitment and not one that is easy to do. maybe the act of going to the considerable trouble to arrange my in-room demo doomed me to action. probably beyond my powers to ship it back.

Did you commit just out of kindness to the dealer.. or what..?? LOL… sounds funny to me!

But I bet you are very happy with the WADAX now… yes..??

/ Jk

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Did you commit just out of kindness to the dealer.. or what..?? LOL… sounds funny to me!

after hearing the Wadax in the dealer's Florida showroom, a showroom i had heard the CH Precision 6 box mono dac in the year before so i had a reference, i knew it was something special and that i was pretty sure it was for me. i would not have had the dealer ship it 3000 miles to my own room unless i was mostly there. but i wanted to know for sure too. if i changed my mind i would have paid for the shipping both ways. but i did have an out. and the dealer understood, but trusted i was very serious. it's not my style to spin anyone's wheels.

But I bet you are very happy with the WADAX now… yes..??

/ Jk

no regrets, but this is a dCS thread. just making the point about how references do help, but still it's a big step and requires that you are all in for ultimate digital. not for everyone. even when you hear it. it either grabs you ENOUGH......or it does not. so it's a number of things; you, the delta, and your situation.

 

[still-one]

one advantage you have, that i did not when i first heard the Wadax now 4 years ago, was that you had a Vivaldi Apex stack reference in the same system to the Varese stack for a true A/B. i had to ship it into my room to compare it to my MSB/Taiko combo to determine the delta and seal the deal.

still a big commitment and not one that is easy to do. maybe the act of going to the considerable trouble to arrange my in-room demo doomed me to action. probably beyond my powers to ship it back.

Mike,
You are correct. Having both DAC's connected to the Relentless pre-amp made for easy comparisons. Paragon knows that I would not ask to demo a product in my own set-up that the odds are I would never pull the trigger on. Save for my speakers every piece of gear (amps, pre-amp, DAC, cables, and turntable) was A/B'd in my room before purchasing. Over the years I have also brought in other units to compare against what I own. For example I had a MSB Reference to compare against my pre-APEX Vivaldi, then I brought in a Select II to compare against my Vivaldi APEX.

Bringing in a multi box Wadax setup or a multi box Varese set-up to A/B is no simple task. Just being able to place them around a set-up would be a challenge for most of us. I guess you had a pretty good idea than you were going to pull the trigger before having them brought in.

 

[still-one]

still it's a big step and requires that you are all in for ultimate digital. not for everyone. even when you hear it. it either grabs you ENOUGH......or it does not. so it's a number of things; you, the delta, and your situation.

Perfectly stated.

 

[Johan K]

after hearing the Wadax in the dealer's Florida showroom, a showroom i had heard the CH Precision 6 box mono dac in the year before so i had a reference, i knew it was something special and that i was pretty sure it was for me. i would not have had the dealer ship it 3000 miles to my own room unless i was mostly there. but i wanted to know for sure too. if i changed my mind i would have paid for the shipping both ways. but i did have an out. and the dealer understood, but trusted i was very serious. it's not my style to spin anyone's wheels.

no regrets, but this is a dCS thread. just making the point about how references do help, but still it's a big step and requires that you are all in for ultimate digital. not for everyone. even when you hear it. it either grabs you ENOUGH......or it does not. so it's a number of things; you, the delta, and your situation.

Thanks for clarifying. I was joking a bit with you… but I’m like that too. I almost all the time know what I want, but to be 100% certain, I like to do try at home before making the decision.

I’m glad you found your perfect component.

/ Jk

 

[pk_LA]

Thank you so much for your comments!

Would you mind a few more? Does the Varese have similar traits to the Vivaldi sonically?

I have spent quite a bit of time with the Vivaldi Apex in my system. It was amazingly resolving and handled fast, detailed transients like no other. But, for me, it lacked a warmth I was wanting for.

 

[still-one]

Thank you so much for your comments!

Would you mind a few more? Does the Varese have similar traits to the Vivaldi sonically?

I have spent quite a bit of time with the Vivaldi Apex in my system. It was amazingly resolving and handled fast, detailed transients like no other. But, for me, it lacked a warmth I was wanting for.

I am not sure if the Varese sounded like any other digital I have heard. (Never spent time with Wadex). To me it made the music sound as it should. With depth, width, separation, timber etc.

When I A/B’d my Vivaldi APEX against a MSB Select II the only area where the Vivaldi came up short, was where it seemed to add a “noise” around the singers mouth during vocals. Nothing glaring but noticeable during quick A/B. This noise is gone with the Varese. The strength of Vivaldi was always its ability to pull small details from a recording and make them clear and identifiable. Even more so with Varese

Just a side note. The Vivaldi was connected with some of Transparents better cables and PC’s. The Varese was using the out of the box PC’s.

 

[jfrech]

Just a side note. The Vivaldi was connected with some of Transparents better cables and PC’s. The Varese was using the out of the box PC’s.

Well I suspect this moves the Varese farther out then in sound quality. I am using the Transparent cabling and know its effect on the Vivaldi. I think you hit the main point for us Vivaldi owners, can we make the financial jump...and I guess in a year or two something will get upgraded on the Vivaldi platform yet again....

 

[Jpspock]

Upgrade can be expected next year as explained on dcs forum.

 

[buzzlulu]

Upgrade can be expected next year as explained on dcs forum.

As an active member of the dCS forum this information has not been explained or posted at all.

The only information came in a post from James Cook which laid out a roadmap for 2025 and planned updates to the current product line. It was stated that dCS have intentions of maintaining the current lineup (V,R,B,L) going forward for the next several years and the aforementioned items are ongoing and not eol

Fascinating News from dcS

Hi all, Thanks so much for engaging with the Edit article and offering your ideas and opinions. We value the input from our community greatly and see your feedback and engagement as a central pillar of our R&D efforts. We have always tried to reward dCS owners’ investment in our products and...

dcs.community

 

[Jpspock]

Isn’t it what I wrote ? They plan to have enhancing, improving and updating in 2025. So we can expect to get some evolution, no ?

 

[buzzlulu]

Sorry - I took upgrade to mean new replacement models - as many have been wondering.
Quite honestly I was in the camp of expecting a new Vivaldi replacement within the next year/maximum two. After reading James post I now believe it may be further out than I had hoped (unfortunately)

 

[Jpspock]

An upgrade like Apex was less expensive than to buy a new model. Same for Vivaldi. To know that our Rossini can evolve in future is an excellent news. If you want to evolve, try to find a Vivaldi clock… great evolution.

 

[Lee]

The Varese is being demonstrated in November at Evolution Hifi in Atlanta. I will attend, take some photos, and share here.

 

[still-one]

 

[microstrip]

An interesting review of the dCS Varese by Jacob Heilbrunn in TAS. I quote from the conclusion: