DCS Vivaldi

JimmyS

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Sep 1, 2013
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Any one else a bit puzzled that Vivaldi One came before the Dac and Upsampler? I still maintain the network card in the Upsampler is an issue that dCS is having trouble dealing with.....

The beta MQA Vivaldi release was playing at Axpona, and I was told they are in the final SW release phase.
 

MadFloyd

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Any one else a bit puzzled that Vivaldi One came before the Dac and Upsampler? I still maintain the network card in the Upsampler is an issue that dCS is having trouble dealing with.....

My understanding is that the reason for that is the Vivaldi One is a simpler configuration. The Vivaldi stack, with 4 separate pieces (where each piece may or may not be present), involves many different user situations so the coding is very complex (as is QA).
 

Enatai252

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Mar 2, 2013
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My understanding is that the reason for that is the Vivaldi One is a simpler configuration. The Vivaldi stack, with 4 separate pieces (where each piece may or may not be present), involves many different user situations so the coding is very complex (as is QA).

This ^ - although I only think it only involves the Upsampler and DAC boxes. The challenge is that MQA license restrictions do not allow the upsampler to send out a fully decoded digital signal that is at high resolution. in the one box units this is not an issue. For the Vivaldi, the upsampler should do the first unfold and send to the DAC (I have a beta version that is doing this now) and then the DAC has to recognize the signal and perform the second unfold and implement the MQA filter. I believe that is the complication of the two box stack over the single box solutions like the One and the Rossini. Hopefully it will be out soon.

While I wait for the Vivaldi, I am using the Rossini to play Masters files and it works great.
 
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microstrip

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Could anyone tell me what the difference is between the Vivaldi 1 and the current version of the DAC?

As far as I know it is only software. The new MAP version operates the ring DAC at 6MHz - it is probably why it can not work on the Scarlatti. The upgrade was free of cost.

The only unit that had an hardware upgrade was the Vivaldi upsampler.
 

Kingsrule

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Yes but how do the Vivaldi DAC + Upsampler compare sonically to Vivaldi One, especially via ethernet...
 

jfrech

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Could anyone tell me what the difference is between the Vivaldi 1 and the current version of the DAC?

Is your question how the Vivaldi 1 (one box player) vs the Vivaldi Dac or the Vivaldi Dac version 1 vs dac version 2?

If one box player, the DAC sections are similar, it's the transport, upsampler and not quite as good as the 4 box separates. It's close and you have no cables to fool with along with less power cords...

if the dac v1 vs v2 Microstrip hit it right...I will add quite a bit of difference on sound quality. It's like a new dac...
 

Pol

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Added today the clock..... what a change
 

MadFloyd

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Added today the clock..... what a change

Don't be a tease. Explain differences please. Also what clock cables are you using?
 

Pol

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Image is MUCH more precise and threedimensional. So is the music.
I use crystal cables for digital connections and power. I think they are magic Opus for ic and speakers
 

Pol

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the bnc cables I use are the crystaldigit dreamline serie.

Again. The clock is a REAL upgrade
 

BMCG

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the bnc cables I use are the crystaldigit dreamline serie.

Again. The clock is a REAL upgrade

+1 definitely my experience
 

jfrech

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still-one

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the bnc cables I use are the crystaldigit dreamline serie.

Again. The clock is a REAL upgrade

I know we are talking something very different but with my Rossini I hear very little difference with the clock in or out.
 

microstrip

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(...) Again. The clock is a REAL upgrade

As you said.

In a Vivaldi system it is very simple to check. When we switch the master clock off, the system mutes for one second and re-starts with a shrinked, less defined image. At the first sight the soloist seems more prominent, the orchestra partially disappears. When we switch the clock on everything grows, we feel that probably we switched it in a moment that loudness and complexity was increasing. Then we repeat it several times. At tenth time we start thinking it is not possible that each time we switch the clock on the music spreads in the orchestra because of the musical score and soloists only play when there is no external clock present ... :)

Checked a few times with the great recording of Dvorak Cello Concerto with Janos Starker as soloist.
 

jfrech

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I know we are talking something very different but with my Rossini I hear very little difference with the clock in or out.

I am surprised by your outcome. When I had my dCS Puccini and U-Clock it was a very clear improvement. What digital source are you normally using out of curiousity? Just wondering if it's a settings issue possibly...
 

still-one

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I am surprised by your outcome. When I had my dCS Puccini and U-Clock it was a very clear improvement. What digital source are you normally using out of curiousity? Just wondering if it's a settings issue possibly...

Sonictransporter i5 running Roon connected via ethernet to my network.
 

jfrech

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Sonictransporter i5 running Roon connected via ethernet to my network.

So your source in this case can not be synched to the clock. What clock synch mode are you using on your DAC, W, M or A (it's a icon with a Gear and a letter, word clock synch, Master Synch, or Audio)? It should be the gear with a W. And this configuration "should" give you better performance using ethernet. Do you have dither on or off? In my Vivaldi I use Gear W, Dither on for my ethernet source (Synology NAS with Roon)

PS my synology NAS isn't clockable either
 

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