I’ve always been a source-first believer. Until recently had an 80w integrated amp with the Bartok. Never moved to a “better” source that didn’t improve sound quality.
The Rossini was a significant improvement vs Bartok. After some burn in time, the difference became immediately obvious. Only added the clock two days ago. At this point it’s not clear it makes much of a difference. It might be the type of thing that best shows it’s value when removed. It’s also possible it too requires a lengthy burn in. Regardless of the clock’s impact, the Rossini is excellent and more than capable for any future downstream upgrades. If I had demoed the Rossini before buying I would’ve skipped the clock. My system isn’t really balanced in that my speakers cost less than the clock which costs less than my speaker wires. Sounds fantastic but the speakers are the weak link. That’s the natural conclusion with the source-first worldview. If Aliaba ever goes above its 2018 low, I’ll just plop in a more fitting pair of speakers and be done with all this.
Nine months or so ago I too ordered a Bartok to front my Electrosatics (ancient Martin Logan SL3’s). It was only then that I read the comments and suggestions made by members on this forum. With some trepidation I cancelled the order and ordered a Rossini. I’m still using oldish amplification (Chord) but have subsequently bought a Rossini clock and upgraded the speakers - staying with electrostatics. I can only say the Rossini / Roon combintion is sublime. I really do appreciate the advice from this community.
There really isn’t much to burn in unlike a DAC with an analogue output stage. The main thing is that the XO oscillators (clocks) themselves are stable. These are run in at the factory so that when they have been calibrated there they will stay accurate within the design target for a long time (years) subsequently. They do, however, need to be held within a correct range of temperatures when operating which will not be met immediately from switch on.
Rossini Clock has no display ( aside from the LEDs signifying dither on or off). So, unlike the Vivaldi clock there is no icon to indicate that operating temperature has been reached. However, using Vivaldi as a guide I would anticipate operating temperature to be met by around 30 minutes from switch on given a reasonable ambient temperature above , say, 20C. Of course you may choose to just leave it on all of the time.
Applying dither or not is a matter of personal choice.
I have owned three different dCS wordclocks over the years but cannot say that I have been able to attribute any improvement of sound to burn in. Reaching the operating temperature is essential though.
I asked because my Rossini Clock only has about 20 hours on it since installed, so I was wondering if the sound will change over time, due to burn in of the clock or cables. Sounds like that’s not the case. Thanks for your response.
Ah, you didn’t ask about cables. That is an entirely different kettle of fish mostly dependent upon the dielectric used. So, seemingly from virtually no time at all (e.g. cotton) to <several weeks/months (e.g. PTFE) would seem to cover the range of alternatives .
Thanks to all for some very helpful comments. If we all bought a Vivaldi in the first place there would be no discussion, but I can’t imagine doing that at the outset.
From comments here and elsewhere it seems that the Rossini is a significant step up from the Bartok, but that the incremental improvement from the external clock for the Rossini is not so great. Maybe the internal clock of the Rossini is already a significant upgrade compared with the internal clock of the Bartok. There has to be a reason for that extra cost and performance.
So there’s only one way to find out, to visit a dealer for a direct comparison. I’ll think hard about that credit card first though. Meanwhile, the Bartok still sounds pretty good.
One more thing I forgot to mention. I’ve been using the Bartok since late February, a rough estimate of use is about 300 hours. But it seems like the sound has improved over the past couple of weeks. Very subjective but that’s how it feels.
Not sure but its hard to believe it requires much if any burn in. Maybe the bnc cables need some time. My clock has been running constantly since Saturday. So far the benefit sounds extremely subtle. I am using one of the “commercial grade” bnc cables included by dCS maybe switching to an audiophile cable might work better.
I found a dealer and took a demo of the Rossini. I had to go back for a second go as the first demo was not relaxed; I think it’s tricky to get into the right mood to really appreciate this stuff just because you’re there, and when the demo system has significantly higher spec amp and speakers than my own setup. Anyway, the second demo included a number of direct comparisons between Bartok and Rossini and the difference became resolvable.
However, the real revelation was towards the end of the session when I suggested playing a CD, (it being a Rossini Player with the integrated transport). In my view the sound was a notch up on the streaming which we’d been using previously. That was unexpected and very impressive.
I’m always cautious when going through these kind of sessions but I’m reasonably confident I’ll reap the reward once set up at home. And the idea of sitting with a remote control to play CDs, without the need for Mosaic, is very appealing. (My 24 year old Copland CD player broke down last month too).
Congratulations on your decision. I am sure that you will never regret it especially if you have a good CD collection. However you haven’t given us much information of how/what you were streaming which I suspect could have been improved on, at least to a point where the CD and stream were almost (or totally) indistinguishable. But I am quibbling. Enjoy!
Pete
Thanks for the comments. I had the same thought myself, why in a dealer demo the streaming setup might not have been showing the full potential. It was using Roon on an iPad but other than that I can’t say and after nearly two hours of sitting in the demo room I was ready to leave. But if at home the streaming and CD can be made to sound the same I’ll be content.
Prior to buying any dCS kit I always thought that for digital source listening my high end Naim CD player sounded better than streaming either via Tidal or from a CD ripped to my NAS drive. It was only when I got a Melco to store my music and used that with my newly acquired Bartok did I realise how good streaming could really sound. As I have ripped my entire cd collection I shan’t be going back to playing cds anytime soon but I know I could get a further step up if I swapped out the Bartok for a Rossini - I’ve had a demo and heard it with my own ears. That step will require some negotiation with the finance director however!
Have you used USB or LAN Player port?
Which Melco do you have?
When I tried the N1A mk1 EX, I was pleasantly surprised by how it improved the sound of incoming streams, as well as the local files that I loaded into it.
I messed up the installation experience because I upgraded my speaker cables and then got a call a day later that the Rossini had arrived earlier than expected. The speaker cables alone had given me an upgrade greater than expected. So to evaluate the upgrade from Rossini alone I had to dig out the old cables. But after a short evaluation I went with the all new cable and Rossini combination.
Final assessment is: first class. Sound is great and I just love being able to sit with remote control in my hand and play a CD without the need for Mosaic. It’s early days and Rossini and cables will probably improve with burn in so I’ll update in a few weeks, but so far it’s a great outcome.