It is great that people are entitled to their own opinions.
Absolute Sound, 2016:
“Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), a new digital technology that delivers better-than-high-resolution sound quality at a bit rate comparable to that of CD.”
“Rather, MQA is a nearly-ground-up rethinking of how to best deliver to the listener as close a facsimile as possible of the original musical event”
"We ended up in this predicament because each improvement in digital audio was merely an incremental evolution of conventional ideas and models. No one had gone back to first principles and rethought how best to record and distribute music.
"Against this backdrop, Master Quality Authenticated emerged. In a single stroke, MQA solves all these problems, from the technical, to the business model, to the sound quality, to the easy accessibility of that sound quality, and to the communication between artist and listener.
“In addition to delivering unprecedented sound quality, MQA offers record companies a compelling solution to delivering to consumers the best possible sound while still protecting their archives.”
Exactly Pete, that is my point. The AS basically just took MQA talking points and unsubstantiated claims, and wrapped them into a massive PR boost for the technology. Hence my position on their credibility. These were the two main articles. Cheers, R
Likewise with Stereophile, the turning point for me was JA’s blind insistence on MQA, and following that JA2 taking over as Editor where he seems to suggest they stand on the side of Vendors, and less so in the interest of the consumer.
My dCS distributor published the new Vivaldi Apex review of Stereophile. Here it is:
Conclusion
If someone were to give me $100 for every review that extols “state-
of-the-art” equipment, I’d have enough money to buy a house on
the water with a music room fit for a queen. So, rather than falling
into that trap, let’s talk instead about music.
Recorded music has never sounded as full, rich, flowing, reward-
ing, and natural as with the Vivaldi Apex. It is rare, in a home lis-
tening room, to experience anew the full impact of great orchestral
music heard in a concert hall. But the Vivaldi Apex DAC, Vivaldi
Upsampler Plus, and Vivaldi Master Clock together have made that
possible, repeatedly. I haven’t heard every DAC on the market—
certainly not in my listening room, where all other variables are
known—but nothing I have encountered in stores or at shows has
come close to the Vivaldi Apex. Every listening experience has
been extraordinary. The finer and more concentrated an artist’s
focus, the finer the Vivaldi Apex system sounds. It conveys inspira-
tion and genius like no other equipment I’ve heard.
I hope that you get to hear and enjoy it, in a system worthy of
its company. If you’re fortunate enough to own one, you will have
read this review with a knowing smile.
so the main listening was done with USB attached Innuos or with the dCS Upsampler and streaming?
I wonder why he needed the Upsampper then…
…this review sounds like the Rossini Apex is broken
Nice review. Thanks for posting. I like the focus on music. Interesting distinctions drawn between the Vivaldi and Rossini; not very illuminating though. Also note the USB connection between Innuos Statement and Upsampler (while it may be Innuos’s preferred way, it’s not dCS’s, and I find that preference more compelling.)
This bit about the connections was a tad confusing, partly because he referred to both the “Upsampler Plus” and the “Upsampler.” I believe he is referring to the same box, the current Upsampler, and which is called simply the Upsampler over at dCSaudio.com:
Lately, an Innuos Statement Next-Gen music server running Roon has been handling file playback on my system. I wanted to sample the Innuos proprietary playback software (which I’ll discuss in a future follow-up review), but it wasn’t yet equipped to work with the Vivaldi Apex DAC. Because Innuos prefers USB to Ethernet as its optimal way of sending files to DACs, we installed a USB cable between the Innuos Statement and the Vivaldi Upsampler and Ethernet cables between the Nordost QNet Ethernet switch, Innuos, and Vivaldi Upsampler Plus. Switching cables between the Vivaldi and Rossini Apex DACs and Clocks while maintaining distance between interconnects and power cables during comparisons was loads of fun.
And he’s a server-streamer guy.
P.S. I enjoyed getting some new and old music recommendations in this article. I’ve gone back to Roberta Flack with newfound appreciation, and I am enjoying trying out The Wheel and the Bach Trios.
I think the “Upsampler Plus” bit is an editing mistake, and that what went to press:
“This limitation was now removed, as John Giolas, dCS’s vice president of sales and marketing, sent me the Vivaldi Upsampler Plus. I would finally be able to hear files at the same resolution via the Rossini Apex and the Vivaldi Apex system.”
…should have been:
“This limitation was now removed, as John Giolas, dCS’s vice president of sales and marketing, sent me the Vivaldi Upsampler. Plus, I would finally be able to hear files at the same resolution via the Rossini Apex and the Vivaldi Apex system.”
My thinking being that the previous paragraph he says he couldn’t compare the Rossini and Vivaldi with upsampling on both.
I don’t think there’s an Upsampler Plus on your horizon (yet?), Greg
Edited to add: Maybe there are other instances of the Plus. Haven’t read further yet. Here goes nothing!
Edited edit to add: “Upsampler Plus” does appear elsewhere in the article. And in the Dutch distributor’s price list posted elsewhere: https://www.moremusic.nl/prijslijsten/dcs.pdf
The only time that I am aware of dCS using the Pus suffix was back around 2000/2001 when Elgar and Purcell were upgraded to process DSD from SACD with IEEE1394 ports and became Elgar+ and Purcell+.
Yep, if it was just the one instance, I think your editing correction would be spot on. But it is also listed as the “Upsampler Plus” in the equipment inventory for the article. My guess is that somewhere, someone informally used “Plus” to identify the hardware upgrade that I believe the Upsampler received a while back. Interesting about that Dutch price list. Anyway, not a big deal I guess. I just found that paragraph a little hard to lock down mentally. Not enough coffee yet at 5am maybe. It’s also interesting to note that it appears as though they had the Innuos connected both via USB and Ethernet, but thereafter made no reference to listening to both.
The Vivaldi Upsampler went Plus with the Vivaldi 2.0 launch - it was the only unit that got a hardware upgrade during the 2.0 launch (to the network board). Curious that dCS has “removed” the Plus moniker on the website now.
Ah, interesting, Anup. I’d never noticed a Plus before — anywhere. Before my time with dCS. Back when I didn’t agonise over the Rossini/Apex differences
Most folks don’t remember (or even know) prior to the 2.0 Plus upgrade the Upsampler could only accept 192kS/s tops on all interfaces, including on USB and network.
Going through the review again now — an enjoyable read. The Roberta Flack is lovely, too.
Must confess a minor disappointment to have another comparison where the improvements contributed by the Vivaldi Clock vs. Rossini Clock aren’t explored though. Perhaps it’s just my pet hypothesis that a decent portion of what some people love about a Vivaldi stack vs. a Rossini stack is the clock. I’ve said before that I preferred the Bartok (1.0 mappers no less!) with the Vivaldi Clock to the Rossini with 2.0 mappers and no Clock.
Maybe I should shut up before I sound even more like a broken record, but p’raps one last time: if you have a Rossini and Rossini Clock pairing and don’t try the Vivaldi Clock at the same as other prospective upgrades we can’t be friends
