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.
I suspect that’s what dCS is fighting here.
On a different note, what if dCS has come up with something like MSB’s Digital Director? (No idea how they’d interface it to existing dCS DACs though, where MSB already had a way due to their modular architecture.)
so it’s an Apex Bartok then… 
That advert was added yesterday to this thread already, see above
TAS March edition has an advert on the Bartók Apex
Yes, we know:
In some way, the Vivaldi Upsampler is the equivalent of the Digital Director, as far as I can tell.
We’ve already had some discussion about the DD here and here. At first, that’s what I was wondering as I examined the photo, but as Erno pointed out, my clue-reading wasn’t very strong. And even if that were the case, the DAC still needs to be upgraded if one of the “new Upsampler” capabilities is higher resolution playback.
Again, as we say a lot here, don’t get me wrong. I would love a more muscular Upsampler and DAC without having to replace my current stack. My bet is still that they will be in the form of a Vivaldi successor/replacement/topper. On that last thought, it’s not inconceivable that Vivaldi could become the #2 in the dCS lineup, not replaced, but demoted. I don’t expect that. The clues all point to a new top tier DAC & stack. Vivaldi got Apex-ed. then Rossini. And now it’s happening to Bartok. So what could conceivably be “the next generation” other than a new top tier stack? When I bought my Vivaldi stack, I actually expected this possibility to be sooner than now.
I’m excited to see what dCS do here.
I don’t see that given the drive to produce the Apex upgrade. Plus other clues I have had over time that I don’t want to get into as it is speculation.
My expectation is that the announcement will be:
1- Bartok Apex (and I would expect no board upgrade for current Bartoks, you will need to replace - my understanding is the headphone amp part makes the board different)
2- v3 Ring DAC software only for Rossini, Vivaldi
3- Possibly new software for the Upsampler
No other changes.
My opinion is all those super-high sampling rates are irrelevant to sound quality. Once you get in the realm of 192/384 and DSD128 there is little to be gained in true sound quality. I would not want dCS to be chasing to match a $91 DAC “feature” set - all that added complexity detracts from sound quality.
Finally, I think the line is pretty densely populated at this point. If a successor to Vivaldi comes in, I would expect Vivaldi to get dropped.
May be they wud be adding the new Streaming interface as in LINA to the Vivaldi, Rossini, Bartok stacks ?
Regards,
Sourav
I quite agree with Greg, but it would still be nice if there was a possible evolution between the new possible top line and the Vivaldi 4 boxes.
I agree with Miguelito on “My opinion is all those super-high sampling rates are irrelevant to sound quality. Once you get in the realm of 192/384 and DSD128 there is little to be gained in true sound quality”.
I don’t understand what you mean. Rossini and Bartok are streaming DACs already.
Miguel, you’ve made your views on the timing of the Apex known; I respect them but do not find them persuasive. Whether the pandemic has messed up the timeline, or whether dCS see Apex as a way to support current customers while generating revenue and still pursuing the next generation DAC, or whether Apex is a hard stop in the road for the current lineup (just as likely it seems to me as your speculation), nothing about the timing itself is inherently dispositive of the type of announcement. Car makers have been juggling this problem for decades, choosing what improvements go into the current generation model and what gets reserved for the next gen. And the folks who buy into a current long-in-the-tooth design, even one with lavish upgrades, know they are risking being antiquated quickly. 
Vivaldi may have been due for its successor long before now. I am actually impressed by how well dCS keep this sort of thing under wraps. We’ll know soon enough. I am not a betting man, but I would not bet against a completely new line.
I would love it if you were right about v3 Ring DAC, though it would be odd (I think) for Vivaldi and Rossini to get it at the same time. Any enhancement for the Upsampler would be nice. And while I agree about the actual utility of higher-res playback, we’ve discussed ad nauseam here that it’s not about whether it is really higher SQ. There is not much argument. But it’s not all about SQ. As BillK and others have noted, dCS can only go for so long being perceived as technologically second tier.
[As for Bartok Apex, inasmuch as the advertisement is known and published, it seems very unlikely that it would be a key component of a teased announcement. I could be completely wrong about that, but there is hardly any suspense around it now, is there?]
Well I meant the User Interface of Lina which includes both Streaming as well as Dac related configuration if I am right.
Also if I understood it correctly the streaming back end used by LINA is different than in Rossini, Bartok and Vivaldi stack.
Regards,
Sourav
I am sticking with my predictions. I don’t find any of the arguments here plausible.
Not even “plausible,” eh? Man of conviction, I guess.
Do you mean a touchscreen? I think a touchscreen on Lina is related to it’s key design as a headphone-based system. I wouldn’t care to have a touchscreen on my DAC to be honest.
I am not sure that the streaming back end is any different but of course I don’t know.
I just find the arguments here vis-a-vis other things dCS has done, rather weak. It makes zero sense from a deployment complexity and the frankly meager return to release an Apex upgrade if you’re going to revamp the line. You might as well just wait to revamp the line.
Having said this, Vivaldi and Rossini were released in their initial form a fairly long while back. But so have the MSB units. So that bring some (albeit in my opinion extremely unlikely) plausibility to get Vivaldi replaced.
So I am still sticking with my predictions!!!
I just asked ChatGPT about what is coming 
What is to be expected from the dCS The Next Generation?
dCS (Data Conversion Systems) The Next Generation is likely to be a new product or series of products from the company dCS, a high-end audio equipment manufacturer. The company specializes in digital audio playback systems and its products are known for their advanced technology and high performance.
As the name suggests, dCS The Next Generation is likely to feature updated technology and improved performance compared to the company’s current offerings. However, without specific details from the company or product announcements, it is not possible to say exactly what to expect from dCS The Next Generation.
