The clock isn’t so much of an upgrade in sound quality as it is in specificity of sound.
For example, soundstage is the same with clock and without, but without it instruments and vocals are a little diffuse and you can tell, say, Sinatra is in a studio.
With the clock, instrument placement becomes precise, and you hear the micro-resonances that tell you the size of the studio he’s in.
The APEX upgrade is similar, but to me it helps with soundstage depth and again placement.
Basically the upgrade better defines placement, the clock allows better reproduction of the space the music was recorded in.
So for example, if you listen to a lot of multitrack pop where the engineer/mixer plopped the different instruments into place in the soundstage (and heck, the performers may have all recorded their individual tracks at home and sent them on to the producer), the clock might not do a lot for you.
If you listen to recordings like Sinatra’s or jazz or orchestra recordings where everyone was playing in one space at one time, the clock becomes vital at that point to palpably define that space.
I have just been informed by my retailer that the APEX update for my Rossini will not be available until mid August at best. I made a deposit in mid-April. So be patient, be patient. I trust the wait is worth it.
My Vivaldi has been back at my dealer from dCS America for the last 3 days being burned in. I’m back in town and will pick it up tomorrow. Can’t wait to do some listening over the long weekend.
Good to hear. You seems to be the first report I’ve heard of a Vivaldi DAC upgrade to APEX on this forum, let alone coming back from Boston. Keep us updated on how it initially sounds and develops over time. With any luck my DAC will head to my dealer for shipment back East by the middle of this month.
By the way, how long did it take for turn around (delivery to dealer and return to dealer)?
My dealer turned around my Vivaldi Apex upgrade in one day (Audio Concepts-Dallas- definitely recommend them for their expertise and customer service). Back and reinstalled and doing some critical listening now.
I had my Vivaldi DAC upgraded to Apex last Saturday at my dealer here in Florida. He did it in about an hour and a half in his showroom while I auditioned some stuff, including their new Rossini apex which I honestly found quite impressive and (from my limited memory of hearing the Rossini prior to that) superior to the regular Rossini prior to the apex upgrade. After listening to my Vivaldi for almost a week, i feel the apex brings even better imaging (almost like the music exists separate and independent from the speakers) as well as layering within the music (Vivaldi was extremely impressive in that department before, but now different layers are even better defined and independent of each other). I would say it is a must have upgrade at this level.
My dealer sent me a shipping label on Thursday. I boxed and shipped on Friday, it was delivered to dCS on Tuesday (Monday was a holiday) and my dealer had it back a week later (we’re on the East Coast). When I picked it up today, my dealer said they are going to start doing in store upgrades, except for the Vivaldi One, which he said is a lot more complicated to get to the DAC board. He said about 2/3 of his customers have gone for the upgrade, so far.
How will we all live without our dCS DAC, while we await the upgrade. Especially if you’re on the Left Coast waiting for Waltham to do its thing, rather than a more adventurous dealer upgrade?
My days of driving cross country are long in the past. I’ll leave it to however my dealer chooses to ship. Hoping it’s FedEx as we’ve had issues the UPS in the past. I don’t care how much they insure the Vivaldi if it gets back to us broken, let alone lost, etc. While it’s away, my Schitt Yggdrasil will have to stand in.
Totally get you, Steve. I hope the shipping goes smoothly. I’ve been jumpy ever since FedEx (they’re all as bad as each other in my experience) lost my Rossini for three months.
Their updates went from:
It’s delayed, but don’t worry.
It’s delayed, maybe worry.
It’s probably lost.
It’s definitely lost, claim on insurance.
It’s not lost, we left it on your doorstep with no signature.
It’s your fault — you didn’t put the label on properly.
Heh, I haven’t heard my Vivaldi since May 25, the day before I dropped it off with my dealer. But then, I have been on a road trip ever since. Thank goodness, without having to rely on tapes or discs!
Good timing for the handoff. However, I’m betting you’ve still brought along some nice portable tech with, a fine collection of tunes. Though I certainly hope your travel experiences are taking precedence!
Steve, the trip is going great. I’m about 5300 miles in and as of Monday, July 4, officially headed westward and eventually home. And yes, I’ve got lots of tunes.
The person who did mine had already done several at the showroom (both Vivaldis and Rossinis) and he said it was not that difficult to do. He had a PDF pulled up with instructions to help. He removed the top cover - apparently there are long screws that go from the bottom plate into the top to hold the unit together. He then just swapped out the board (they keep it, but i could check out what the ring dac looks like in person). The most difficult part, he said, was actually exchanging the back plate to say Apex, as you had to remove (and replace) the little metals tabs for the AES cables with a special tool. I am not sure if they would do a Vivaldi One in house, as that box apparently is packed with different boards and is not as straightforward.
