Well a few weeks back i decided to upgrade my vinyl side of the system, as since getting my rossini and clock, i just stopped playing vinyl.
Well a few weeks back i got myself a SME 20 with a V arm, dynavector drt xv1t cartridge and this set up has certainly altered things, since getting it i havent used the rossini once. Yes i know its new and i am in the honeymoon period still, but i do find the way it provides the music, is more natural and enjoyable, so much so i am contemplating selling my dcs and getting a much cheaper dac, to run along side my melco N10.
Probably being silly, but the N10 will provide my streaming and new album hunting and as long as i get a half decent dac, hopefully be good enough for when i canāt be bothered to get up and down when vinyl listening.
So come on talk me out of it, am i being silly?
Dunc, I did the other way aroundā¦sold my 1000x records, full spec LP12 to jump first on ND555 and now dCS.
I sold my records because they consumed too much space/storage! Starting vinyl is cool but think anout the end. Yes, sometimes a LP12 sounds much better, but sometimes notā¦really depends on source material.
Running dCS+Melco feels like ādonāt look backā!
Agreed. Is that enough to convince you? 
Here are some better reasons.
You still need to access and enjoy digital music. If you sell your Rossini you will both suffer a significant monetary loss and can only anticipate a replacement of inferior SQ unless you spend the same again which would seem to defeat the purpose. Further using the Melco as a streamer also means reverting to a USB connection to the DAC ( I just checked my Melco user manual). That alone is enough to kill the idea for me.
You are indeed in a honeymoon period . You will find in a few weeks that the SME 20 is just āthereā. Nice to have but you wonāt feel excited every time that you look at it.
I can only anticipate the sense of regret that you will have if you do it.
What are your music discovery habits? Do you like to own your material? Do you prefer to discover music online then purchase? Is your sole priority SQ?
I used to purchase, listen for a month or two, then store away often never to be heard again
I was never into building a classic library worth revisiting year after year ā¦ notwithstanding Miles and Steely Dan
I donāt miss the ritual of loading CD/vinyl and reading sleeves
The monthly cost of streaming is a fraction of the price of buying the new music I listen to each month
So I stopped buying once I had Bartok/Tidal
If you feel like I do (with apologies to Peter Frampton), having owned dCS, I wouldnāt sell 
I have 7000 records on the shelf and a maxed out LP12. I have been streaming since 2011 with a Linn Klimax DS/1, then/2, and finally /3. The Linn now resides in a headphone only system and the Rossini/clock in the Naim 500 system.
Even with all of that vinyl streaming is the main way I listen today. I do not even listen to my 3k CDās - just the streaming services.
Dunc - donāt do it!
Best
Gregg
No, it is not silly, sell the Rossini, play vinylā¦you probably shall not fall in love with an average Dacā¦You will play more vinylsā¦until you hear a Vivaldi Dac, with Upsampler, or with a Network Bridge 
Youāre only silly or crazy if you donāt do what you want to do.
Yes probably being silly, but i will see how i feel in a month or two, if i am still not using it, then i might down grade my digital end.
As for vivaldi, then not for me, to many boxes to start with
Hi Dunc
No interest in the Vivaldi as well. With both of us being Naim users we know the fatigue of multiple black boxes and Fraim shelves. I thought twice about the Rossini and Master Clock as that meant moving from my single Linn Klimax DS box to two dCS boxes.
One day I will do as several other Naim friends have done and bin it all for a super integrated 
Best
Gregg
Hi Dunc,
Iāve been reading through many of the threads on this forum, especially yours and your posts on the Rossini DAC/Clock and Melco N10 combo. Now, I havenāt been posting much of anything because Iāve been in the middle of a move, but Recently had some time with the Rossini DAC/Clock and N10 combo with an integrated tube amp. Iāve also been listening to other DACs around town.
Your system is much different than mine, but in my system, and after having compared the Rossini/Clock combo with an MSB Premier/Premier Power Base with Ethernet out of the N10 running and balanced out to my integrated, I definitely prefer the MSB. The Rossini combo beats it in detail retrieval and bass heft, but the delicacy and realism of the Premier makes me forget about the Rossini combo. My eyes were watering while listening to the Premier, while my eyes were dry listening to the Rossini Combo. I really, really wanted the Rossini Combo to be my resting place for a while, but, sadly, it just wonāt be the case.
Iāve also heard the Brinkmann Nyquist MkII extensively in other systems compared to the Premier and always loved what I heard, but the sound is uniquely warm and bounces along, but the detail is a bit less than the Premier.
I hope some of that helps!
MSB Premier DAC and Powerbase would be a bit pricey!
I suppose the used market could be an option. There might even be a Premier owner wishing he or she could make the switch to a Rossini combo. Or even a Brinkmann owner willing to put up some extra money on top. Who knows!
Maybe others here would agree, but trying to go cheap in this hobby usually winds up costing more in the long run, especially when moving in a substantially different direction. At the end of the day, though, itās all about whatever letās you relax and connect to the music the way you want. I would say that the best connection to music will come by achieving harmony of heart and mind. Let your connection to the music guide you, not your budget. Maybe the connection sought doesnāt include a digital side much more than a Bluesound Node 2i paired with some excellent interconnects.
If I do decide to sell them both, then it will be for a much cheaper option, yes I know its not going to preform as well, but my main source will be the turntable and digital side just for finding new music and for when I just want to play music and not listen to it, if you see what I mean.
I think a much cheaper dac will still be close enough for that sort of task.
But as said will see how I feel going forward as I donāt need to sell it, but at the same time donāt want such an expensive bit of kit, just sitting there not being used
How many LPās do you have?
Like Dunc I have flip flopped between digital and vinyl ever since buying my first CD player in 1987 and not buying an LP for six years (big mistake). Bartok ruled supreme for two years but vinyl is currently in the ascendancy thanks to a Lyra Etna Lambda, Project VCS RCM (what a difference a clean record makes!) and a glut of all analogue reissues. My advice would be to remember that every flip is followed by a flop, by a flipā¦
And probably reason number one why this guy will never flop back. I know some people enjoy this, and other aspects of the vinyl ritualāand I respect their personal choiceābut not me. Vinyl gets in the way of my enjoyment of the music. To each their own!
Havenāt got that much vinyl, but i do have enough and find its what i am buying, when i do buy an album.
Have a bit from the 80ās and 90ās, then over the last few years i have got more, but as i said i stopped buying vinyl once i got the rossini, but now i have a better turntable, it has once again become very enjoyable.
Used the rossini last night for the first time in weeks, enjoyed it very much
Duncan,
Youāre not going mad. In fact, your reactions are rational. In my personal experience, my analog front end is far more realistic sounding than my digital front end. Despite the extra effort required to store, catalog, and clean 3,000+ LPs, I couldnāt imagine making the choice to sell the LPs. But you must trust your ears. So I advise keeping your dCS for a little while longer just so you can do some more comparisons and be sure.
I bought my first CD/SACD player 11 years ago, and it was a dCS Puccini + U-clock. Thatās coming late to the digital party, but I wanted to be able to hear new music that wasnāt released on LP. I never expected much from digital, so whenever there was spare $ to improve my system, I put it into the analog front end: Basis Inspiration, Superarm-9, Lyra Atlas, AR REF-10 phono stage. My bias in favor of analog became self-fulfilling, as the analog front end approached state-of-the-art, while the digital front end was stuck in the past.
The perceived gap between them grew, until I found that I was disappointed every time I listened to digital. Just last month, I replaced the Puccini ā¦ but not with another dCS model. While I have auditioned the Rossini and Vivaldi One, neither offered up the magic that I hear with my new digital front end. Iām leaving it unnamed intentionally, because Iām not here to start a war.
If I tried to describe the subjective difference between my digital and analog experience now, itās quantitatively small. Thereās a much greater variation in quality between average SACDs and top quality SACDs, than there is difference between digital and analog. Thereās a much greater variation in quality between average LPs and top quality LPs, as well.
The Rossini is a good DAC. If you can keep both it and the SME, and adjust your expectations, itās what I would do. But trust your ears, and donāt let me or anyone tell you what sounds right.
There wonāt be a war George, this is a much more civilised place than the Naim community - or any other forum Iāve visited - so go on, youāve piqued an interest
Is it the BorderPatrol DAC SE?