Rossini APEX upgrade

dCS Products
42

That sounds pretty arbitrary , is it confirmed anywhere?

43

Well, this was true as I bought my Rossini within 6 months of the APEX launch date. That said, itā€™s been more than 6 months since they announced it in March, so I donā€™t believe that applies to anyone anymoreā€”so this might be why you donā€™t hear much about it now. But that did apply when it first was launched. Presumably they did that so all new customers wouldnā€™t be upset for just purchasing a unit and then a couple months later it wasnā€™t the ā€œcurrentā€ model anymore.

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44

A friend who owned a Rossini DAC was called by his dealer about the higher price. Soā€¦.

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46

What is the higher price?

47

Not exactly determined yet as far as I know. And of course it depends on which country you live in. But it will certainly be more than 10,000 euros. So draw your conclusion. They apparently didnā€™t expect it to get that much use and now they have to make a new (more expensive) batch.

48

Might also mean future prices of dCS DACs will increase.

49

Better investment than money in the bankā€¦
However, an upgrade to a better DAC becomes more difficult to pay. But that goes for the non-millionaires among us.

50

I ordered my APEX in August and didnā€™t get it! If dCS raises prices now and I have to pay more Iā€™m done.

51

I know this might be rubbing an open wound, but I keep being shocked by how much better the Rossini APEX sounds. So if anything, I think it is worth the wait.

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52

Hi Miguel, I think it might be hard to tell objectively without having them side by side. Btw, Why didnā€™t you go for the Vivaldi?

53

No itā€™s not hard to tell without having them side by side. I lived with the Rossini, in the same system, in the same room, for 5 years, 3 of which was with Rossini 2.0 firmware. Its sound is imprented in my brain. I find it shocking that just analog stage and regulator changes make this much of a difference.

I did not go for Vivaldi because I did not want that many boxes! Simple as that.

6 Likes
54

This is one of the main reasons Iā€™m considering switching from Chord to dCS :slight_smile:

Not worried about confirmation bias? I feel like I canā€™t trust my memory, I barely trust my impressions when Iā€™m A/B-ing.

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55

I have the same. Within 5 seconds with an upgrade I hear if it is better, or not. At least, with a meaningful upgrade.

56

Yes i tried the "dont want all the boxes " then i compared the apex rossini dac to the vivaldi apex dac. It didnā€™t take many seconds for that to be blown into next week.

57

No, not when the difference is so large. Noone should need blind testing to tell the difference from Pepsi to Coke. The difference is not subtle at all.

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58

Fair enough. Iā€™m curious if the Rossini would be worth it for a headphone system as opposed to a Lina.

59

Rossini surely sounds better than Lina - for one it runs v2.0 software, Lina runs the old Bartok/Rossini v1.0 software. However, Lina has Expanse whereas Rossini does not.

PS: dCS: Pls add expanse to Rossini and Vivaldi, yes?

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60

I wouldnā€™t expect them to add it, purely from a business perspective. I assume the mappers will find their way into Lina sooner or later. As far as I know, Lina has filters specifically created for headphone use, as opposed to the Bartok. Which people that hated the Bartok (V1.0) universally find better. As well as completely different boards.

61

There were people who ā€œhatedā€ the Bartok? v 1.0 or otherwise?

Sure, there were folks who thought it was too expensive or whatever else, but I never heard a single review, report, anything about hatred for it.

I for sure loved my Bartok and, for me anyway, it was my entry into the wonderful dCS world. Based on what I heard Iā€™ve moved up to the Rossini plus (over time) the Rossini clock. And am soon (hopefully) going to step into the world of the Rossini Apex; supply chain permitting!

I too loved the Expanse upgrade to my Bartok and miss it. Since I got my Rossini my headphones have had zero usage as I donā€™t have a separate amp. Oh well.

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62

My system is headphone only. I too worried that the Rossini was overkill for headphones, I soon found out that Rossini and Clock took headphone listening to another level and Apex a level above that

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