When considering a Clock for my Rossini and then the Apex upgrade, the extra ~$20k involved, would essentially purchase a Vivaldi Apex, or a darn good flagship DAC from a company other than dCS. Thus, I’m asking myself what could I do with the $20k, plus my Rossini? What other DAC’s, including the Vivaldi, could be purchased for that sort of outlay?
So, why shouldn’t I take the ~$20K difference and procure a Vivaldi (or something outside the dCS ecosystem)? Well, because the Vivaldi’s input is apparently important. Now, that dCS’s Network Bridge is no longer available and only the much more costly $25k bridge/upsampler is, the Vivaldi question is more moot than not. If I were a cynic, I may think that dCS quashed the Network Bridge to keep those like myself from contemplating an upgrade from a Rossini to a Vivaldi, but I digress. Buying a $25k device that alone, is the price of a pretty great DAC and all it does is provide a network connection and upsamples, for me and my wallet, just seems wrong. Oh, I could rationalize it. But I’m asking myself, why should I do so?
For me, I suppose, I’m just not the prototypical dCS owner. Paying Tesla Model S prices (north of $90k not including cables) for several boxes in the ever changing digital world, is just not something I can rationalize. By the same token, paying ~$36k for a DAC is not something that many, if most, could either afford, let alone rationalize. And not owning a flagship DAC for $46k, without opting for all the add-on (bells and whistles), doesn’t fit dCS’s marketing paradigm. Because another $45.5k must be spent for ancillary hardware, to achieve supposed greatness.
Whatever the Vivaldi has, that the Rossini doesn’t, is a question that is more moot than otherwise. Whatever the differences are, some say that the Vivaldi is appreciably better than the Rossini. But then is that with $25,000 bridge/upsampler &/or the $19,500 clock, neither or both? This suggests why should I consider upgrading a Rossini for ~$20k, rather than choosing the better Vivaldi? But it is not that simple, is it?
So, is the Vivaldi by itself better than the Rossini? Who knows? By design, the 2-devices are not comparable. One is network connectable and natively up-samples and the other doesn’t, without doubling the initial monetary outlay from $46k to $91k. A great marketing and business plan for dCS, but one which gives a customer like myself great pause. If the Vivaldi is better software, hardware wise, than the Rossini, then network and upsampling capability could be added to it (like the Rossini has) and a more cost-effective upgrade option could be available without foregoing the purchase of a BMW to get there. Sorta’ like buying an individual pre-amp & amp verses an integrated amp. I don’t see that happening however – e.g., having a Vivaldi lite as it were (or is that the Rossini)?
For me, as a stop gap measure in my ruminating process, this then begs the question, has anyone found a network bridge that could drive the Vivaldi as well as dCS’s upsampler, at a less than atmospheric $25k cost? Are there options like EMM Lab’s NS1 network bridge for example and has anyone had good luck comparing these bridges with the Vivaldi, against the Rossini & its internal bridge?
