Confirmed by my dealer: the price of both the Rossini and Vivaldi Apex upgrade is € 7900 in The Netherlands.
Better price in NL than France 
Hmmm, 5-10% improvement is almost the margin of error. Before I put myself in the queue, I will wait to read more in-depth tests. I think Mono&Stereo started a review of the dCS Rossini, I imagine it’s the APEX version. Personally I don’t believe that I could perceive subtle but essential differences during a comparison at my dealer. I should do some tests at home, but it will not be possible I think. I’m still optimistic and I’d be surprised if dCS released an insignificant update.
I’d be curious to hear what you think if you return to your dealer in a week or two when the APEX has had a chance to break in.
I know my current Rossini Player was unpleasantly bright for the first few days I had it.
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It’s very curious to me that dCS didn’t include any big digital processing changes in this upgrade. Maybe that will happen in the next upgrade cycle.
Yes. Confirmed by my UK dealer, Studio AV (Chobham, Surrey). £6,000 inc. VAT, which covers my dealer collecting from my home address, shipping to and return from dCS and final delivery by my dealer, back to me.
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I read this review on Audiogon. Given that the analog output stage is one of the main changes, I think it is pretty important to level-match the output with a signal - unclear if this is what was done in this case.
just switched the pre-amp as far as I read, making notice that there was a volume difference between the two
I don’t understand the two last posts …can you please explain a little bit what you did ? Thank you
Given that Apex has a new analog output stage, unless careful and measured level matching was performed, it is quite possible that what was heard as improvement is largely attributable to higher output on the new unit; simple psychoacoustics. That the improvements were due to the lower noise level of the Apex variant is highly questionable, given that any dCS device (and just about any high-quality DAC out there) has an inherent noise floor much lower than can be detected by human ears—much less so when actual music is playing.
I am not saying by any means that improvements aren’t real or possible; just pointing out a couple of items to take into consideration.
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as explained by Mwilson
OK, understood, thank you!
I received a call from my dealer this afternoon double checking the serial number of my DAC. They need to provide this to dCS so a new APEX version rear plate can be made with the proper serial number.
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Same here except they wanted my SN to get me in line for an upgrade.
Listened to the Rossini Apex today at my dealer, first impressions are positive, I am interested to hear the unit in his main set, next to the “old” Rossini (after a few weeks of running in)
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And level matched by measuring the output of a sine wave with a true rms meter.
From The Absolute Sound Facebook page: first impressions of the dCS Rossini Apex:
APEX_Rossini.pdf (2.3 MB)
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Thanks for posting, Erno — sounding positive. Hoping my Rossini and Clock clear customs soon. So very boring knowing that they should have been here a week ago, but maybe it just builds the anticipation 
Likely that the DAC heads on out for an Apexing not long after it arrives…
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Congrats Ben for upgrading to Rossini. I thought you already had the Vivaldi Clock??
Yep, I did, but sold it when I realized I’d be spending a year or so without anywhere to play it (travelling). Then — typical! — we ended up stuck in a tiny apartment for a while, so I went bonkers on headphones with the Bartok, then headphone amps that bettered the Bartok’s internal amp for certain 'phones (Susvara and 1266 Phi TC). One very steep slippery slope later I have about ten pairs of headphones and a Rossini and Clock on the way to tide me over until I get my Vivaldi stack.
Whoooooooooops 
Still, means I can start playing on these Apex threads soon, I hope, whereas the Bartok would have had me sidelined…
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