Yes and no, they have a built in streamer already and their own streaming app, so in essence, they already address that.
They also believe their ethernet connection is optimal and superior to usb for streaming.
If I’m interpreting correctly, a new-style high end upsampler with local storage and updated/improved control software and Roon end-point ? Could be used with Rossini and Vivaldi and be the first element in whatever Vivaldi replacement is coming.
Yeah, something like that is what I have in mind. The Grimm does upsampling as well, but as I said this is not integrated in the dCS eco system.
So you mean an I3 Nuc 
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That’s exactly what a Vivaldi Upsampler is. Streamer + Upsampler.
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Bartok Apex?
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As I mentioned it would make perfect sense - while putting the finishing touches on the next generation you sell perhaps hundreds of APEX upgrades and keep the revenue stream high.
Your customers are going to be much more likely to do the APEX upgrade than spend six figures in US dollars for the new flagship, and it reassures those who may buy the new flagship that dCS has their back when it comes to future upgrades.
Also again, PCM768, DoP DSD 256, and native DSD256, DSD512 and DSD1024 may be silly, but $91 audiophile competitor DAC chips as well as inexpensive Chinese DAC components can handle those formats, and it looks terrible if you as a premium alternative cannot.
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I disagree. You would sell more of the next gen if you didn’t have and Apex upgrade just kicked off.
Makes absolutely no sense.
Also, DSD1024 and the like make absolutely no sense in terms of sound quality.
I am just going to wait a week and see what happens. Too much speculation going on here.
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No it’s not. That unit doesn’t have local storage, nor can it host Roon. It’s also limited to the Vivaldi components. What I’m envisioning could be used with any dCS DAC.
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If the results are superb, why should the mere implementation technology matter?
If they hadn’t come out with APEX they wouldn’t have sold all the APEX upgrades they have over the last year.
As far as DSD1024, if a $91 DAC chip and a $300 DAC from Amazon can do it, it looks bad if dCS can’t, plus you can purchase music in native DSD256 and DSD512 formats now that is of no use to you if you have a dCS DAC.
It’s fine to say results matter more than numbers but you know as well as I do many people don’t shop that way.
People will buy one car over another because it goes 0-60 in 0.1s less than another when they never drive on anything other than city streets.
I, for one, don’t appreciate being taken for a fool. It’s a cheap pc in a case 10x more expensive with some upsampling filter and a nice story. Just like Taiko etc. You can buy Hqplayer for 200$ and run algorithms far more demanding until you get bored. I did for a year.
You can do that with a Holo May Or a Chord Dave if you really want to overpay for an upsampler. A lot of what dCS is charging for is making everything comes together nicely.
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They would sell more of the “next gen” if there had been no Apex upgrade. The margin on that would be much higher.
I don’t see any high end DACs chasing features of $91 DACs that make no sound quality sense. And I am glad about that. They are chasing sound quality itself. Proof of this is Apex itself - there is no change to the digital decoding in Apex - they could have easily make a change as the entire DAC board is replaced. They instead focused on sound quality, which is exactly what I want from them.
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Next Gen facts, and line-up:
- Announced for disclosure on the 7th February, 2023
- Bartók 2.0 Apex is coming
Bartók Apex will differ from Rossini Apex only by 1 extra transformer in Rossini (apart from case work).
If dCS want to maintain the product differentiation in their line-up, then I would say something has to go Next Gen on Rossini and Vivaldi (or their successor’s name). Either in firmware / software, and/ or in hardware.
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They do need to focus on sound quality but we both know you have to keep the lights on as a business.
By releasing APEX they’ve generated a good revenue stream, especially when you remember that many of us who got the upgrade aren’t in a place where we’d pay say $130,000 to upgrade to a next generation Vivaldi replacement instead.
But we also know that sales to people who compare on features and specs also help keep dCS in business and you can’t do that when someone may have a library of DSD256 and higher files they can’t play at all if they buy a current dCS DAC.
Wadia suffered this same issue, their 24/96 processing sounded great but they lost a lot of sales to people asking about 24/192 and higher.
So, a customer looking to upgrade from a more modestly priced DAC can’t play their DSD256 or DSD512 files on a dCS DAC.
A customer cross shopping MSB sees they can play their DSD256 and DSD512 tracks on say the Reference or Select but not the Rossini or Vivaldi.
You get the idea.
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In all fairness, you can play any file on a dCS DAC so long as your server is Roon or similarly capable. The files definitely can be played, though one may not believe they are getting their full benefit (whatever that may be).
P.S. I agree that, while specs are overrated, there is a balancing act between specs and SQ/product development. All the SQ in the world may not be enough to overcome a market perception that a product line is antiquated.
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Tell a Ferrari owner “your car doesn’t have a big screen like my Tesla”. They will look at you funny.
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AES outputs have pins, not holes.
Duh. Should have realized. So much for that thought. 