Quality of the internal streaming engine in rossini

dCS Products
1

dear community,
how do you rate the internal streaming engine of the Rossini?
did one here compared it against some other sources like Aurender, Melco USB/, Innuos, Lumin etc?
Many thanks!

2

I am wondering what your question means? If it is about sound quality that is impossible to say as in all cases the sound solely considered as a result of of the streaming engine cannot be separated from the rest of the digital processing chain such as the DAC and analogue output stage. Further one rationally would not buy a Rossini then interface it with another brand of streamer. So on this basis my opinion is that you either want a Rossini or you donā€™t. You buy the whole package.

Are you then asking about comparative control applications e.g. Mosaic v. Conductor and/or available third party services e.g. internet radio, Qobuz, Tidal, Spotify etc? The former will be a matter of individual preference and the latter can easily be answered by a bit of research on the web.

All I can offer is that streaming via any of the dCS components with this function is world class save for a few small issues that should be fixed in the next version of Mosaic which we understand currently is in beta test and hopefully will be with us shortly.

3

If you compare two scenarios:

  • Rossini connected via Ethernet, streaming via internal streaming board
  • Streaming via an external streamer (PC, one on your list) connected to the Rossini via USB

the consensus on this forum seems to be that streaming via Ethernet results in significantly better sound quality. I have come to the same conclusion in my own comparisons

4

thanks Pete,
no I was thinking about this:
Rossini + internal streaming vs Rossini + Aurender/Melco etc.
SQ wise, not controlling wise.

5

agreed Rudi,
tested internal streaming vs Melco, Innuos and Mac- Ethernet streaming wins.
I thought it coud change if the source (f.ex Aurender W20 or Innups Statement) would be betterā€¦

6

You immediately run into two issues with an external streamer - inevitably leading to some loss:

  1. Youā€™ll need a cable from the streamer to the Rossini
  2. You may or may not have a clocking issue: not that many streamers about that you can feed with a clock, so it will have to be recovered by the DAC.
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7

Subjectively, you may prefer one of the external streamers.

However, objectively speaking, on the assumption that the Rossiniā€™s streaming board and itā€™s interface out to the rest of the DAC is identical to that of the Vivaldi Upsampler, then I can tell you categorically that nothing will better the Rossiniā€™s internal ā€œstreaming engineā€ because itā€™s already bit-perfect and synchronised to the Rossiniā€™s clock.

Regardless of whether you use Roon or Mosaic, the bit stream thats clocked out of the dCS stream board into the Ring DAC is a bit-for-bit perfect preproduction of whatā€™s on your source file - I know this for a fact because I measured it on my Vivaldi Upsampler (clone mode) :slight_smile:

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8

Better how and better than what? Even if the USB or other digital inputs of the Rossini were equal to the Ethernet input, and by all accounts, they are not, what would you be making ā€œbetterā€?

9

That was my questionšŸ˜€ internal streaming vs top notch usb/spdif connected source like W20 f.ex. But it seems - and I did only some basic tests here as well - that Ethernet streaming is the best way to listen.

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10

Candidly, when Ethernet is as well-executed as dCS, for example, there is just not much reason for the megabux boxes like Aurender, Innuos, Pink Faun, Taiko, etc. I really wanted a reason to ā€œneedā€ the 432 EVO server, aside from the pitch control algorithm which is pretty cool (but there goes bit perfect), but into Ethernet, there is just no need. And if oneā€™s DAC is doing the clockingā€”and short of a master clock, it should beā€”thereā€™s just no reason for all the souped-up, hyper-unobtanium-isolated-with-kryptonite-clocks-that-measure-time-so-accurately-it-goes-backward inside the server, let alone the silly reclocking they do. Doesnā€™t change the sound.

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11

I have had the items below and place them in order, going up
Melco best model (canā€™t remember which one)
Innuos statement
Aurender w20
Vivaldi upsampler/streamer

12

Thanks Bruno!
You rate the Aurender as best external source here? Guess with AES or USB?

13

I am a bit of a comparison freak, and I am happy to state that I have never heard a usb that gives as good as a good aes. My current usb is the best I have heard (having sampled many) so my comparisons are fair in terms of a level playing field. I am taking delivery of a Tyko extreme shortly and findings so far from my dealer (who knows my system inside out) are that the usb initially performs but once the aes (or indeed BOTH cables) settles then the aes comes through tops again (to his surprise). And he has used my usb and confirms it is top notch - so I am pretty confident. My AES is by the way Entreq Olympus. And dual aes between the upsampler and dac is also the ā€œway to goā€

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14

I used to use the Rossini streamer until I heard the Aurender W20se via dual aes and clocked to the Rossini clock. The music seemed more refined and relaxed.

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