Congratulations, dCS Marketing Team!
I am running a LINA, love the sound, and welcome this form factor and volume knob. I don’t know why anyone would complain about bringing this forward when it just fleshes out the product line and provides more options for audiophiles to get into dCS at the bottom.
I think it’s very well considered and fills an obvious niche. Good job.
Remember that last year we ran the Lina DAC and Clock into a “big” system at Munich and this year we did the same but with Lina DAC X and Clock (using VTL amps rather than D’Agostino) - both systems (IMO) sounded really good (which is quite a feat for a show environment) but I would very very happily live with the sound that we had in that room…
The only change I would make for my own preferences would be to use the D’Ags rather than the VTLs as they suit my choice of music better but those VTL monoblocks were really quite stunningly good.
P
I really like this passage. It emphasises that matching audio equipment to your tastes and needs is essential. There is no best for everyone.
I know d’Agostino and VTL amps and expect my tastes mean the opposite to yours. Given a choice between the two, it’s VTL for me. However neither of us us wrong in any way.
BTW, being what this forum is, just about every item featured here is worthy.
There needs to be a match between the amplifiers and the speakers too - it seems that the match of VTL and Wilson was particularly good. For me (and the three friends I was with) the dCS room exhibited the show’s best sound of those that we got to experience - though the full Kii Atmos setup also sounded excellent.
Then again, there was plenty of dreadful music being played many places…
I remember when I last went to Munich a few years ago one exhibitor had a blackboard at the door of his room: “We will not play” followed by a list of guilty parties ( as it were).
I know the feeling. When summing up after the show we were discussing tracks we will have to remove from our repertoire as we heard them in too many other rooms.
I tried to keep it varied while I was MC, rotating between classical, jazz and rock with a ratio of roughly 20/20/60 (except for Sunday afternoon when went a bit “off road” and started playing The Jackson 5 and seventies disco like The Tavares). I only managed to clear the room once when I played Ray of Light by Madonna. Got a lot of flak from my colleagues for that one but I stand tall. I love Madonna! I redeemed myself with some thumbs ups for oddball picks like Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga.
I’m not a Madonna fan but found myself playing the ray of light track the other day and it sounds really really good on my Rossini / ch precision / stenheim rig !
The D’Ags simply drive current like there’s no tomorrow (which is ideal for my taste in electronic music) whereas the VTLs are somewhat more polite in their presentation but they still did very well when I got to play some of my own music (Yookie, Deadmaus, Infected Mushroom, Daft Punk etc.) before the show opened - just to get the morning frost off the amps of course.
I’m also really liking the new Watt/Puppys too … this is the second time I’ve done a show with them and they have been pretty awesome both times (but of course do require careful setup) - the subs worked well with them and were a valuable addition but I could quite happily “live” with just the Watt/Puppys if I were in the position to have a set at home.
My only regret is that I didn’t get to play Rammstein’s “Adieu” as our last track…
Hello everyone, I found a video of @James explaining the dCS Lina DAC X internals and differences to the dCS Lina:
(at 2:04 the main differences between the two DAC’s)
Source: Part-Time Audiophile
Published today:
dCS: Two New Reasons to Listen (dCS Lina DAC X at HEM 2025)
https://www.stereophile.com/content/dcs-two-new-reasons-listen
Hello @James,
i stumbled over your comment to add AirPlay in the future…
Is there any estimation when this will be available? I’m currently thinking to order a dcs…
Like mentioned for example in this report “https://www.stereophile.com/content/dcs-two-new-reasons-listen” - i would expect a small improvement in SQ with the new model.
Otherwise in need to go for Bartok APEX… 
Some additional info:
I’m running Roon - so for Audio no problem.
But for netflix etc. I need/want the sound of my macbook via the stereo without cables.
(So if there is another simple way to achieve this without Airplay - i would love to learn.)
Hi @stereo-joe
AirPlay is coming to LDX but there are a few things that still need to be sorted before we can hit the go button on that … I don’t have a schedule for that at the moment but it is coming.
Hope that helps.
Phil
Maybe run optical out from your tv to your Lina?
Hi Johannes and I hope that you will enjoy reading and using the community forum.
I am unsure what SQ comparison you are expecting. Although the LDX has a larger cabinet than the original Lina any improvement relating to better placing of components will indeed be small, particularly in comparison with a unit with Apex. The latter is a pretty significant improvement. If you are seriously considering Bartok Apex as an alternative I would advise gritting your teeth and getting that. You will soon find out why and hopefully quickly get over the additional cost.
Airplay for Netflix +on Macbook sounds like a good idea. Airplay can be great for services that are not available via dCS Mosaic. Airplay has limitations with Airplay 2 ( which version n would expect LDX to have in due course) due to the possibility of compression. Nevertheless I think it will be fine for Netflix. I use it to listen to streams from BBC Sounds portal ( I am in the UK) and have no complaints using Airplay 1 ( limited to 16/48 without impression but BBC Sounds is compressed in the first place being AAC<320kbs).
OP does not want to use cables. An optical cable is still a cable. Further TV to dCS can have issues depending on the manufacturer of the TV. We know from several postings that LG sets, for example, cannot be used successfully as is.
I read this or took it to mean no cable from the macbook, not no cable at all.
I see your point regarding some tv compatibility but I myself use my LG tv with my Vivaldi on occasion using optical without issue. Ymmv but an optical cable is cheap to try.
Hi
yes, this helps - something like expect it September 2025 would have been better but I understand that this might become a boomerang.
@PAR: Good point. I’m not sure I’m seriously considering it. The problem is that I need a power amp at the same time, as I’m coming from a Devialet (Expert Pro250)… so nothing that could be reused. So I just keep adding euros in my mind!
@August: This might be an easy solution if I had a TV. I have a projector with a “hidden” HDMI. It would be about 7m to the LINA and I just don’t want to pull an extra cable. Airplay is also fantastic because it somehow (as if by magic) recognises the temporal distance between my projector and the stereo system. In terms of quality, Airplay is OK for Netflix.
Thanks again to all of you for your input. The dcs.community with its various topics has been a great help! I’ll keep you updated.
Does anybody know if the power supply is the same between the Lina DAC and the Lina DAC X? It’s apparent that the isolation and position are different, but what about the power supply itself? Is it the same, just re-positioned and repackaged?
Yes, identical apart from the positioning of the transformer.
The Taiwanese site MY HIEND has a new article with lots of photos (and video), including of the interior of Lina DAC X:
Here’s the link to the google translated site:
Source: https://tw.my-hiend.com
