Yeah, well, sometimes you can’t!
The point I was trying to make is that our first impressions - at least in my case - are not great indicators, especially when the changes are subtle, which I expect to be the case here.
The Rossini and Vivaldi share the same Ring DAC board. The Bartok is slightly different because of the extra headphone amp.
Additionally, it might be the case that the improvement is a bit of a wash given the other components in Bartok vs the other DACs (eg power supplies).
My expectation is that what will happen is now that the Rossini has an edge in hardware, the Bartok will get the DSDx2 software upgrade just like the Rossini did a few years back.
Also, to be honest, you get what you pay for. If you want Vivaldi performance, buy a Vivaldi!
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Hate to be pedantic here, but, those last 4 digits on that line are manufacturing date codes actually;
YYWW
1517 = 2015 April
2133 = 2021 August
The rest of that line refers to the chip package type, pin count, and other stuff.
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Yes, indeed. Point taken - there is no serial on the chip, only the batch identifier. I just lost patience… 
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As a Bartok customer I would be very happy to see a 2.0 mapper update and call it a day. Given what we know about Apex, a Bartok Apex board upgrade would likely cost the same as the Rossini and Vivaldi. Personally I’d rather invest in moving up the hardware stack when feasible as it would be a better long term investment.
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Try F3 vs F5 on 16/44.1; the difference is subtle but it’s definitely there.
F1/F2/F3 is definitely there; listen to the highs in particular.
Well - like others here I run a full totl Naim 552/500 system with Kudos Titan speakers and a totl Chord Company MUSIC cable between the Rossini and 552 pre. When I am in Mosaic in Map 3 and cycle between the 6 different filter settings I definitely hear a difference.
Age 62 with recently tested age appropriate or slightly better hearing.
Your mileage may vary
Best
Gregg
uh oh - I guess I am a candidate for the APEX upgrade. Oh s*** - that just cost me $9k
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Bit more technical info regarding APEX
Just see it was already posted, oops
Great comment regarding the ability to discern the impact of filters or not. I can’t really but I’ve never sat for more than five minutes trying.
However, what does trouble me is that last week I got my new Rossini Clock to go with my Rossini Player, and so far I can’t discern any change whatsoever. Does it need time to burn in, do I need better cables, do I need new ears, or do I take it back and negotiate the Apex upgrade instead of the clock? Or sell it?
Let me preface my statement by saying yes, you need to let your clock and cables burn in for about a week for the best sound, but you should notice something.
It should be obvious; I have mentioned in several posts I would not have purchased a Rossini without the clock as it didn’t improve on the performance of my Wadia S7i without it.
What I heard was soundstaging. I was listening to Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” on Reprise, and without the clock I heard Sinatra and the orchestra properly reproduced as points in space, but nebulously. When the clock was turned on suddenly I could head exactly where they were in the studio as well as the size of the studio itself and their placement in it. Turn the clock off and the studio went away and they became blobs in space again, turn it on and the walls came back. It was uncanny.
I certainly would try different clock cables; I originally used Cardas Clear but was shocked that clock cables could make such an audible difference when my dealer suggested I try a pair of AudioQuest WEL Signature. (I bought them.)
Also make sure the clocking mode on your Rossini is set to a word clock mode and isn’t using just recovery from the data stream. (The clock indicator is either “W1” or “W2” rather than “A.”)
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You aren’t the only one. I couldn’t identify much of a difference when I added a clock to my Rossini. When I moved to Vivaldi I still don’t hear a difference when I have the clock powered off in my set-up.
I respect your assessment, but to me it is night and day.
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As mentioned, above, same here.
I didn’t make the decision to purchase the Rossini Player and Clock because of a difference I couldn’t hear, and again, I wouldn’t have purchased the Rossini Player without the Clock as it wouldn’t have been an upgrade from what I had.
That’s a little concerning, for a unit costing £14,000.
Book now and get the upgrade in May
Itching now
Whoops… removed. 
Interesting comments from a London dealer a few days back on Instagram. In a head to head between the Rossini and Apex models they found there was a “good” difference between the machines.
We have been offered a home audition by our dealer in March to hear what Apex brings to our system.
My dealer just contacted me. The upgrade to Rossini Apex DAC will cost here € 7900 incl VAT, and will be done by the local distributor. Available in May.
He mentionned this is a introductory price, whatever that means.
Hi,
May you ask him the price for the Vivaldi dac upgrade ?
That would be nice of you.