OK Anup - you did such a nice job laying out an upgrade path for Vivaldi owners…
now what about Rossini owners???
I’m all ears
Is the Varese UI necessary?
Is it possible to forgo this box and utilize an OS or iOS app to control things?
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I am sure that control will be available via Mosaic just as it is now. The displays on the current ranges serve a sighly different need and I expect ( as with the current displays) many people will prefer the additional information or confirmation of what is occurring that a “hardware” display gives.
So it might be possible to forego the UI for session to session control but I expect that many scenarios, like set ups, will need the UI given that there are no displays on the individual units.
Pete my hope was having the UI as an option for those who cannot go for the full stack
Anyone who can afford the rest of Varese is going to have no issue over the cost of UI.
As I said in another thread:
," reduced m.s.r.p from circa $225K to $190K* would not be worth it IMO. It’s still unfordable on the one hand or an easily bridgeable gap on the other for the wealthy."
- Or whatever.
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Unclear at this point.
From the descriptions available currently, to me it sounds as if they’ve split the Vivaldi’s Control functions out from just a single box (Upsampler+) into two boxes, the Core and UI. 
So, sell all Vivaldi, and buy Varèse, over time, but also buy a IO and Output Module?
250K (not including Varèse Transport) + 25 K - trading-in = 200K…
Not very likely, IMHO.
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I agree with @Ermos. There is no reasonable upgrade path for the majority of V/R users, IMHO.
It is just too expensive.
I have a nice car, and every once and a while I like looking at the Bugatti Veyron, but I will never buy one.
Here is an alternative upgrade path:
(a) Wait for
to improve, which will happen very rapidly with AI;
(b) Upgrade other parts of your system: amp, speakers, cables.
For example, the Rossini Apex is so good that at this point the speakers are the weak link in my system. For half the price of the Varese I can make transformative changes there.
Wilson Alexx V, YG Sonja, Mágico M3, Rockport, etc.
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I’ve been told by dcs that varese is the new line and vivaldi will continue to be an active line, not replaced by the varese at all.
I’m still not sure about the upgrade path, especially how to technically use the vivaldi boxes with the varese boxes (mainly the Core) and will have an answer later.
At least that’s a relief for vivaldi owners as the products will stay in production and we’ll continue getting excellent support and assistance from the company.
Have a nice week ahead everyone.
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I may receive brush back on this comment however I think many will think long and hard before committing $100k to a product which is going on year 13.
At a bare minimum they will at least cross shop the newly released boxes from other players in the high end space ie MSB, WADAX etc.
As always your mileage may vary
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I expect this has occurred to many others here as well…
The MOST logical product development upgrade path for dCS to consider is to replace the Vivaldi Up Sampler with a new Vivaldi User Interface based on the Varese UI box. The module panel on the back of the later suggests it wold be possible to architect a new solution with outputs and inputs compatible with Vivaldi.
The Vivaldi Upsampler has similar functions as the Varèse Core.
This’s only because we now know about varese existence, but without it, people like myself still decided to buy the vivaldi apex boxes for digital playback but not msb or wadax despite being aware of their new product lines which were released earlier compared to varese.
But as you said, we’re all different so I have no further comment on that.
Msb sounds great to my ears but they don’t have a decent transport so I didn’t consider them due to a large amount if cd and sacd here.
Wadax, I can’t afford all of their boxes and cables, not to mention that their sound only impressed me once so far, hence I stayed away from them.
Dcs is my long term favourite since the first time I’ve seen and heard them, so the story goes :).
And while typing these words, dcs has confirmed me that we can’t use vivaldi and varese hardwares together.
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Thanks @Sonrock . That at least is very clear!
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of course true but dCS can do what they want with the real-estate. The Varese UX box appears to be a 2U chassis with a screen. No interior shots yet of the UX box but my guess is there is plenty of room in there to merge control and core stuff for a future Vivaldi upgrade.
a new Core/upsampler/UX box could make a very tasty upgrade for Vivaldi owners
It’s like V/R are not good anymore because they are more than 10 years old… A linn LP is always on market and have a lot of evolution. Same for V/R with version 2.0 and Apex, and who knows in future. Are Wadax, Mbl better than others because they use new technologies ? I don’t think. I listened to both and they didn’t give me envy of changing. I am sure, most of you have a superb listening at home. Will dcs continue to support dcs customers ? I am sure as they did in the past. So we can be confident.
To get new technologies is a good thing, like technologies used in Formula 1 were implemented in other common cars.
Dcs knows, as small company, they need to hold their customers, and most of them cannot pay a Varese. Already same for me to buy a Vivaldi especially with increased prices observed past years.
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Well listening to my vivaldi apex 3 box stack right now, and guess what it still sounds fantastic.
I am so glad i upgraded to it just last year.
If dCS never bring another SQ upgrade for it again, i will still be happy.
But if they want to dish out some nice free upgrades now we splashed out for the apex upgrade, i am more than willing to take it.
I very much dought dCS will forget about the vivaldi and it’s owners any more than rossini or bartock owners going forward, as it was only last week the vivaldi was the top in the range.
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My 2 cents. I don’t think there is an upgrade path from Vivaldi to Varese, but Varese is a halo product in a completely different price bracket and will remain an extremely niche product by definition (like Magico M9 speakers and other such things). It does look like there is still some life left in the V and R platforms though, since dCS has just increased their prices once again - i.e. they are not trying to clear out their inventory. My guess, is that these platforms will march on, at least until a direct successor at those price levels is introduced by dCS and that can take at least 2 or 3 years given the small size of the company. Then they may offer some way to upgrade at the corresponding price level, either with discount/trade-in pricing for existing owners or, less likely, by gradually buying/trading-in each component separately. BTW my Vivaldi still sounds wonderful, significantly better than when I got it over 3 years ago. I also can’t fathom that something can sound appreciably better, but then I haven’t heard the Varese.
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May be it is not an upgrade path, but rather an upgrade program, like Hasselblad did in the past.
You return your Vivaldi system and you buy Varèse with a discounted price…Something like that.
This has been possible in the past, in fact I once sold a couple of Delius+Purcell systems that were traded in at dCS a long time ago in the days of Scarlatti. I’m not sure if it would be exactly the same with the current distribution channels, but I do expect this to be possible. What you get as trade-in value might depend on the specific dealer/importer.