I recently purchased a CD player/DAC. The CD mechanism has a 5-10 year life. I decided to purchase an extra CD mechanism from the manufacturer so I should be good for a while.
dCS new flagship
- Thread starter Dunc69
- Start date
Elliot G.
Industry Expert
Rex , I have no idea. I could not even guess as to he amount of time and money they invested to bring the product to market , nor their company overhead. I don't manufacture anything and I did not stay in a holiday inn last night
I also have no idea on their profit margin. One would need to know all these numbers and more to make an accurate guess.
Basic issue is that dCS's transports (and replacement parts I assume) were supplied by Esoteric who has discontinued this policy. In addition, M&S, another major transport manufacturer for several hi end companies has recently discontinued (as of July 1) their supply operation.Nagra. Cd player was 20 years old and had a new laser 2 years ago. Real enough for you
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You know as much as anyone else at this stage however from what I’ve discussed with my dealer and looking at their brochure the “Core is the heart of the Varèse Music System. This technological powerhouse supports most hi-res formats and major streaming services. It handles a multitude of operations, from audio input to the conversion, noise shaping and filtering stages carried out before signals are output to the Varèse Mono DACs. The first dCS product of its kind, it utilises our novel ACTUS protocol to radically simplify setup whilst taking sonic and measured performance to new heights”.
The Core includes the (Remote Control) and “User Interface that works in tandem with the Varèse Remote Control and dCS Mosaic ACTUS app to deliver a rich and engaging playback experience. Its full-colour touch screen displays full album art plus detailed track data, play queues and other settings, allowing you to view more information at a glance. Display modes and visible information can be tailored to suit your preferences, with customisable views, adjustable text size settings and optional dark mode. The User Interface connects with the Varèse Remote Control via Bluetooth LE. It also enables compatibility and integration with UPnP control point renderers and servers”.
As far as I know, existing Vivaldi/Rossini owners can only connect to the Varèse using their CD/SACD players to the Core expansion I/O module. The Vivaldi/Rossini DACS cannot be connected to the Varèse.
The Varèse clock is optional. The Actus cable appears to have Lemo connectors.
Best Sir
Bob
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Thanks very interesting.
From the I/O picture. Those sure look like inputs. USB, AES, Dual AES (for Vivaldi SACD off Transport), S/DIF. But why are they calling it a I/O board? vs an input board? If it can output dual AES, then a Vivaldi DAC could be used theoretically until you saved up for the mono dacs. Hard to say...just thinking out loud...
More competition is always good for an industry. I happen to like the dCS sound which is why I bought the Rossini Apex and I remain thrilled by its sound. I thought the Vivaldi Apex-based system from Quintessence was the best sound at Axpona.
This statement seems misguided at best. dCS has from the start set out to make a true reference digital source. Isn’t the Varese a continuation of that mission?
While I guess it’s fair to complain about really expensive audio, I see a number of benefits from this $315K system:
1. A few sales or more help keep a small operation like dCS stable financially. That leads to more innovation and possibly more reasonably priced products.
2. Moonshot projects like this push the envelope.
3. Varese trickle down technology may create future upgrades for Vivaldi, Rossini, and Bartok customers. Future upgrades may come in software updates and or hardware updates for these V/R/B owners.
4. We can’t all afford this but we can hear it at future audio shows. That helps inform us as audiophiles on what is possible from digital.
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Rex , I have no idea. I could not even guess as to he amount of time and money they invested to bring the product to market , nor their company overhead. I don't manufacture anything and I did not stay in a holiday inn last night
I also have no idea on their profit margin. One would need to know all these numbers and more to make an accurate guess.
I have been told the product was in development for five years.
So many Keyboard Hero’s. So “grateful” to have such a bitter perspective into advances that can trickle down to more affordable product that most here can then purchase.
So lead on. Make videos and continue your valuable contributions.
What a shame.
So lead on. Make videos and continue your valuable contributions.
What a shame.
huge dollar/top dawg digital is fair game, Wadax has taken body blows for three years. big targets get big attention. good and bad. no shame.
I find it interesting how people don't whine and cry they can't afford a Ferrari, yet they whine and cry they can't afford a top end audio piece.
There are lots of things I'd love to have that I can't afford but I don't whine and cry about it.
Don't like the price of something? Then don't buy it. It's a very simple concept.
There are lots of things I'd love to have that I can't afford but I don't whine and cry about it.
Don't like the price of something? Then don't buy it. It's a very simple concept.
There will be a optical cable upgrade sold soon, for the small additional sum of $50K, it is called ASUCKER.
DCS missed out on the opportunity the first time around, focusing on more boxes, but others have shown them the way 
FWIW Lee. Competition for a $300K (or whatever the absurd price will be) statement digital system product that can only be purchased by the uber rich, or maybe, a limited number of extremely serious, wealthy audio hobbyists who can make an informed decision. As for the latter, how many WBF folks would actually consider such a purchase? Very few I suspect.
The ubers don't care about money. Do you believe they will do their due diligence (like most mortals) and compare price vs performance (including substantive listening auditions) between competing products before making a final purchase decision? I don't.
And it seems pretty obvious that the asking price is often determined by what the "other guy" is charging for an "equivalent" product to avoid any significant price delta. In my view, the main reason for the ever escalating cost of hi end audio products. Rant over. Best.
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Not to single out DCS here, but the astronomical prices for uber digital would not be so bad if these things were actually superior to decent analog.
To my ears, optimized CD replay using 80's DAC technology and optics without massive digital processing is the closest to the real thing (analog).
Uber digital with all the processing just seems to go in a different direction.
To my ears, optimized CD replay using 80's DAC technology and optics without massive digital processing is the closest to the real thing (analog).
Uber digital with all the processing just seems to go in a different direction.
I think in cars, the wealthy will buy them for a status symbol if they are not true performance people although that is usually more the Ferrari crowd than the Porsche crowd ime.
Based on some conversations with Wilson and others, buyers of flagship speaker systems tend to be deeply into audio and want the sound and not the status which kind of make sense given the strongly niche bent of this hobby. You can’t show off a stereo very easily either.
As for your last statement, this is armchair speculation. Hard to say without detailed income statement and balance sheet data on the Varese as to whether it is “overpriced” or a “poor value.”
Are you joking? 80s CD technology sucked and was much farther away from analog than current DAC technology.
While my Continuum Caliburn is stellar, when I upgraded the Rossini to Apex level, the digital got a lot closer to the turntable.
I think the real honest answer here is:
It depends on your taste, but not about performance..
(we all prefer different sound signatures)
80's chip were actually really really good, but that time digital was not yet at the stage where full potential could be extracted out from them. Advances in even last 10 years have been significant in diyaudio to push further and further these old chips,
Supercapacitor power supply, recloking with SC cut double OCXO, 4 x 1541 boards to have divided mono signal, simultaneous mode not asynchronous anymore, DEM clock 50 mhz and uncountable others.
This is what my friend Supersurfer writes about his fully modern 4 chip tda1541A dac against DCS Vivaldi with master clock:
"
I m using a quad TDA1541A in fact. Based on the very nice design of @ryanj 3D pcb design.
And it is the best dac I have ever built and heard. I have had some quite expensive high-end dacs next to it, with the most expensive being a dCS Vivaldi with master clock unit. The performance of the dCS was quite shameful next to my old Philips dac chips. It was no comparison, the owner of the Vivaldi said within 20sec after start playing that the difference is ridiculously big and I agreed. The focus, naturalness and lifelike experience was much bigger with my diy dac."
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