However the choice of which direction dCS will take is going to be based upon management information that we ( rightly) do not have access to. If Varese is significantly more successful than targetted, new products aimed at the enthusiast market could be substituted by those solely aimed at the highest end luxury market due to the limited production resources of dCS. If Varese performs less well than is targetted tor then other options might be explored.
David Steven mentions in the presentation the addition of AES and SPDIF inputs (which would be needed for Varese to work with Vivaldi and Rossini transports, which has been promised by dCS I think). And Iâm guessing that the empty back panel on the clock might be a place for a conventional coax clock cable output.
He also, in the same part of the presentation, makes the claim the the addition of various modules will enable the system to âdo everyone you need to turn ones and zeros into musicâ or something similar. Connection to network storage was also noted.
This is all a bit hypothetical for me. Perhaps new models, further down the range in terms of price, will be a possibility.
I think that may well be a possibility. As for additional inputs/outputs for Varese I expect that to depend upon demand. The high end luxury market is very odd viewed from outside. The technical side is not relevant as the market is based upon conspicuous consumption. I somehow doubt if too many Varese customers have or will be interested in optical disc replay, for example. Speaking with high end dealers you may be surprised at the number of Vivaldi/Wlson speakers etc. that are now gathering dust in a corner having exhausted their 9 days wonder for their wealthy owner and his mates. Sadly many Varese systems will have a similar future.
That leaves us; nerds and enthusiasts. How many $200k-$300k customers amongst us.? Plus 20% VAT to Europeans .
Not me, I deem myself fortunate enough to own a second-hand Vivaldi and transport, hoping to complete the set in the next year or so. Just maybe in another ten years time a second-hand Varese will become attainable to me, but Iâm not sure if that will happen.
According to the information posted by Ruud and Bob above the I/O Module (which appears in practice only to be an âIâ Module) will be required even for the Varèse disc transport implying there will be no ACTUS connector on that unit?
Regarding the clocking, thinking this through I donât see dCS adding 75Ί BNC outputs to the Varèse Master Clock. Given the migration to ACTUS, the only place I see it making sense to provide legacy connectivity options is at the Core.
Apologies if this question had been made already. Based on the information available on Varese, is there a possibility to upgrade from Vivaldi full stack? Or would this mean replacing the whole system with the associated cost, etc? Thanks. \F.
So far the only backwards compatibility that has been presented is with legacy transports via the announced I/O Module. Hopefully dCS will be presenting more information about any envisaged migration strategy or whether the move to the ACTUS platform marks a watershed in their product evolution.
Of course there is. You will need to buy the entire 5 box stack and see what offer your dealer makes in part exchange.
I am not anticipating that individual units can be swapped in as there not true equivalents in the existing ranges nor does the architecture of Varese allow this ( aside from the possibility of legacy transports as @struts001 notes). There may be changes in the future but such things are impossible to predict.
Thanks Pete. Sounds like a NO for me for the moment unless my dealer would over value my Vivaldi but still not sure itâd be worthwhile. I would have hoped for a more flexible system.
I would like to give some precision concerning my comment about msb cascade. When I said it didnât impress me , it doesnât mean it was bad. No just a lack of good feeling, but I will certainly listen to it many times in in a near future and will have a better idea than.
Concerning my integrated Rossini, I listen only to cdâs. Something that all dcs owners can do is trying to get the quintessence of his dcs gears.
I mean by that to get good modulation cables, or power cables. Add a clock when possible. This is what I did since many years, and last test I did concerned clock cable, and it was incredible difference you can have between two different cables, yes this little bnc cable. Difference doesnât mean it was better or not, sometimes, different. And finally I decided to listen shunyata cable, first sigma V2 and after Omega. Ok, you are right, prices, omg⌠but f it can spare you to spend more money to go new things, why not. Results of it , is amazing. For me , changing to Omega brought at least as much impact as Apex version, from my point of view.
This is for me how to improve and try to get the quintessence of my Rossini and Vivaldi clock.
Some photos from the HK show. The remote control feels quite solid and nice ergonomics, should also work well sitting on the coffee table next to you, solid enough not to move around. USB-C charging slot. The lower left Core ACTUS slot is for the clock. The other slots can be freely used and it detects what specific module you plug in Iâm told.
I know many if not most of the participants on here likely understand the digital world better than i do but why cant the apex update be an abbreviated version of the new dac technology in stereo single box (of4) form and why cant it be built upon with an alternate control unit and other software and hardware improvements that still improve the functionality of previous units. The 911 wasnt abandoned when the gt3 rs was built or the st even though they are built on the same platform and a 60 yr old design concept.
I donât think any of the things you mention are impossible Barry, they are just not the way dCS chose to go with this new flagship line.
I am reasonably sure we can expect other trickle down lines over the next few years that are packaged in a way more reminiscent of the existing generation.
I see two main questions here:
Does dCS intend to try to lure Vivaldi (and Rossini) customers into incremental box-by-box upgrades with I/O Modules that offer the necessary backwards compatibility for legacy DACs and Clocks?
They may do that if they think it makes commercial sense or they may take the view that anyone who can fork out nearly a quarter of a million for a DAC (plus 50k for a rack to house it) can afford the whole enchilada and is not interested in half measures. The aftermarket will look after itself.
Which of these new innovations are sufficiently compatible with the existing platform to be offered as retrofittable upgrades to existing units? The Differential RingDAC is an obvious candidate.
Again, dCS might take the view that DRD updates at 10k a pop x the number of units in circulation x a given take-up rate are good business. Or they may take a view that each platform has a finite lifespan and the Vivaldi generation has now reached the end of its.
Hopefully we will get some answers to these and other questions next Tuesday.
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