The 7th February, something is coming?

The Adrián Berenguer track accompanying the teaser is a very nice touch. Time to guess composer names? :smiley:

I will venture maybe a cheaper line of DACs

Next generation could be the replacement of the Vivaldi line…based on the Apex…Instead of doing Apex MkII and MKIII etc…Less boxes, more modular or more compact ?

The only thing I cannot imagine is that it could be more expensive :laughing:

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The only thing I cannot imagine is that it could be more expensive :laughing:

Ha! That’s the easiest thing to imagine!

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Anyway, the “next generation” of what? The successor to Vivaldi makes perfect sense, and it is probably my bet. Even a free Apex upgrade to Barton would not constitute a “next generation.” Lina has already made claim to the headphone amp/DAC standard.

Perhaps not a new line, but the Ring DAC core itself? A new generation Ring DAC would set the stage for succession paths for all tiers.

Streamer? Server? Streamer/server?

Espresso machine?

The Jacob Heilbrunn TAS review commentary that Erno posted was probably the first clue something big was imminent.

Coming almost exactly a decade after the Vivaldi’s launch, a next-gen flagship system would make sense. :wink:

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Amplifier…following Lina’s steps. Why headphone’s amplifier and not speaker’s amplifier? And also why not a new and nice streamer?

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Why would you come out with Apex and immediately replace it? Makes zero sense.

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I am guessing amplification

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I hope you are correct Miguel, because that will save me money.

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I told the wife this morning to expect an upgrade expenditure, and she goes; What do I get? :man_facepalming:t2: … So, yeah, likewise, an Amplifier would save me “double” :rofl:

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According to the photo, it has 2 AES/EBU inputs, 3 BNC (maybe WCK) , SPDIF (1 RCA ,1 BNC ,etc) , Unbal Analog outputs . The interface layout is the same as Bartok & Rossini , while there are 4 AES/EBU Inputs in dCS Vivaldi. Back to the topic: the next generation. Maybe it is a Bartok Apex. Or it is a non-CD/SACD version of Vivaldi One Apex

If I were a betting man, I’d be looking at a new DAC ring platform - in a mono chassis. But who knows - I’d rather not bet!

Wasn’t the Vivaldi One discontinued recently? (Or was it always intended to be limited in numbers?)

I’d be up for that being replaced…and for it not to have a disc spinner. Puts me off a machine that I would otherwise love.

One box DAC/Streamer.
One box Clock.

Yes please! But not if the streamer spins discs. A spinner makes me think it’ll a) go phut one day and b) look as dated as a hotel’s iPod Dock radio in two days.

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I agree with you, mono Vivaldi design can beat the current

To get a year’s worth of APEX upgrade revenue out of current owners before discontinuing the current generation of products? I don’t mean to be cynical, but it does make for a great business case as otherwise upgraders might have waited for the new model(s).

In addition, as much as they say the capability is not needed, it may be getting embarrassing when inexpensive Chinese DACs sold on Amazon can process DSD256, DSD512 and DSD768 and you can only process up to DSD128 on your flagship products.

(No matter how much you say it’s silly, many people do shop on specs.)

My guess is a new flagship, and Vivaldi will be discontinued with Rossini continuing until it gets replaced after the Vivaldi follow-on captures a round of upgrades from those who currently own Vivaldi as well as Rossini.

That would leave nowhere to go to upgrade other the new flagship, and when that market is saturated after another 18 months or so they will release the Rossini follow-on; if they release a Rossini follow-on too quickly, Rossini owners might upgrade to that rather than the new flagship.

In the mean time someone who can only afford Rossini will still buy Rossini because the jump to the Vivaldi follow-on is too pricy and they may not want to wait for the Rossini follow-on to be released.

(Also, Vivaldi One APEX was announced as a very limited edition.)

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My thoughts exactly. I remember a rumour 2 years ago that a brand new Vivaldi was ready to go however its release was delayed due to COVID and the world wide situation. They could finally be ready to unleash it however I cannot help but think current Vivaldi owners, who just spent money upgrading to APEX, would be slightly upset at the introduction of a new machine so close to the APEX upgrade.

If that were to happen some of the Vivaldi to Vivaldi Apex owners might even have paid their $9k for an upgrade that they don’t have yet! Wouldn’t be the smartest of moves from dCS if that happened. (In my opinion.)

Plenty of other potentially ill-conceived options, too — Vivaldi Apex upgraders who would rather have stumped up more money for the all-singing, all-dancing dCS Bonzo Dog for example.

dCS make lovely gear. They’re likely clued up on all these different scenarios. Will be fun to see where this goes :blush:

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Something different than Vivaldi. Next generation, right? A new name, new device. Integrated touch screen, like Lina. APEX. Optimized for streaming, nothing else. Built in storage. Maybe a built in clock.

No recent upgraders shafted. No, this must be something new.

They would not make this big a deal about a Bartok APEX.

We shall see.

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If that were to happen some of the Vivaldi to Vivaldi Apex owners might even have paid their $9k for an upgrade that they don’t have yet! Wouldn’t be the smartest of moves from dCS if that happened. (In my opinion.)

Plenty of other potentially ill-conceived options, too — Vivaldi Apex upgraders who would rather have stumped up more money for the all-singing, all-dancing dCS Bonzo Dog for example.

Anyone willing to upgrade to the latest flagship won’t be dissuaded by the fact they just upgraded their Vivaldi to APEX last year.

It’s possible some of those waiting on APEX boards might cancel their upgrades, but you’ve got to figure that the new flagship will be at least $20K higher than the price point of the current Vivaldi APEX (or at least $11K more than the price of the APEX upgrade) and dCS will continue to make APEX upgrades available (no reason to give up that cash flow from those who cannot/don’t want to move to the new box.)

Note this also means we’ve likely seen the last firmware update for Vivaldi and possibly Rossini as dCS doesn’t update the firmware for discontinued products.

Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not trashing dCS here, it’s just product churn is inevitable and required in this industry, particularly for products as old as Vivaldi and Rossini are.

The APEX not only was a nice revenue kicker, it is a wonderful upgrade for those who can get it, and it nicely shows proof that dCS will update the new flagship in the future.

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