About SQ and various HDDs: Is that your own impression, or do you have any data?
Seriously? That’s their verbiage. It’s their marketing pitch. It’s practically proof there is nothing real happening. It’s one thing to say that “we did XYZ to the circuit/metallurgy/clock, and we’re not sure we know why, but it sure sounds better to us,” and quite another to claim realignment of packets and reclocking of Ethernet. The latter are BS, and when people use BS to sell their product, one can rightly be circumspect. One should be circumspect. When someone claims to have found a way to make a known protocol like Ethernet and TCP/IP behave differently than it does in every other one of millions of installations, one can rightly ask “how so?”. There might be a legitimate answer to “how so,” and if so, what great news for everyone! But there is no reason not to ask “how so?”. We should want the answer to that question. If we hear something make a difference in our systems for which we have no clear explication, we should ask “why is that?”. Otherwise, we’re just snake oil volunteers.
In the meantime, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
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That yellow goo is the music oozing out 
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(Apologies folks for detracting from the original thread 
)
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That’s not my point. The point is, and should always be is to listen to (any) component and make an INFORMED opinion for yourself of how something sounds. If you hear a difference, positive or negative, or no difference at all, then you’ll know.
To keep going on and on about how something sounds or doesn’t sound because you think the marketing is ridiculous, is just as ridiculous.
Lastly, let’s keep the thread as it’s original intent regarding dCS products. Anyway, I decided on the Rossini, and I’m sure the clock will follow in the near future.
The Debussy was the entry level product of the now discontinued second generation series. Rossini is next to the top of the line of the third generation and has itself gone through a second iteration. So things have moved on substantially since Debussy ( dCS do not release anything that is not both a significant technical and audible advance upon its predecessor). You are in for a treat.
This point is perfectly valid. But time and money are precious, especially the former. Before I spend time trying something out, I like to have an understanding of how or why it might improve or change my system. I’m glad it works for you, especially since it is relatively inexpensive. But without more info about why or how, or perhaps even more detail about your system before and after, it’s still just a pig in a poke to me. Marketing nonsense does not help make the case, because that’s where a credible company will put its best foot forward. Yes, it may overstate the case with fluff—cough, everybody, cough—but not raw BS intended to prey on the well known audiophoolish paranoia. Claims of reclocking Ethernet and realigning packets are such unmitigated BS that they detract from any possible credibility the company and product might have had. In the absence of some real live engineering explanation, this ends up sounding more like a case of confirmation bias (which does have a scientific basis).
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I’m looking forward to it.
Just to revisit the original question one more time. Not knowing at this point what I may or may not add at this time if I purchased just the Vivaldi DAC alone, do you guys still feel that it sounds better than a Rossini plus Rossini Clock?
I think the general consensus (if there ever is such a thing in this hobby) is that each step up the range is better than the previous level, even if you add the extras (like the Clock).
I’ve seen very little indeed about the weirder combos, though — such as a Bartók with the Vivaldi Clock as I’ve gone for — but in a week or so I should have something more useful to contribute 
For now, to these ears, my Bartók and Vivaldi Clock bettered a DAC of comparable (when combined) cost. Makes me wonder how much of the dCS range’s other improvements are from software rather than hardware. I intend one day soon to get my teeth into both. Om nom nom
Sigh!
They are not comparable. One is a DAC. One is a DAC/Network Player/Upsampler. The one that is just a DAC is a component from a 3 or 4 box digital player system which requires one or more of the other components from the system to work as intended. It is inherently better than Rossini but if fed with data from a source foreign to its native system all bets are off. Everything else being equal a network connection to Rossini will probably sound better than USB to Vivaldi. Network to Vivaldi will be better than network to Rossini. To have network connection with Vivaldi DAC however means buying Vivaldi Upsampler too.
There is no answer to your question if the data source to Vivaldi is not defined. At least with Rossini the source ( except for the storage of local files) is known and optimised .
If you are talking about playing silver disc you need to use either Vivaldi Transport, Rossini Transport or a dCS legacy player . Other transports may work in a fashion but will not play SACD and/or will not accept a wordclock input to synchronise them with either Vivaldi or Rossini.
I appreciate that you are thinking of spending a lot of money but do not choose Vivaldi DAC just because it has higher prestige than Rossini if you are unable to fund the necessary additional components to make Vivaldi perform as intended. If you can run to Vivaldi Upsampler too ( not for upsampling per se but for the network connection) then yes. If not buy the Rossini.
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Vivaldi alone (with Network Bridge), way better, no competition…
Not to quibble, but I don’t think that’s what “alone” means. 
Well, that isn’t Vivaldi alone is it? It is Vivaldi with a legacy dCS component which provides the network input. However as Network Bridge is no more this makes its choice for RGS 2020 problematic unless he can find an NOS piece out there. BTW, I mentioned this combination earlier in this thread.
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Not to worry guys I’ve already decided on the Vivaldi. I’ll then plan for the Upsampler in the future.
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Good choice 
, you won’t regret it…
I’m already working on the money for the upsampler now. I’m gonna start delivering pizza.
Or start a crowdfunding, that is popular these days…
Greg Question how are you liking the Kronos1 with your Vivaldi stack I’m looking at it, i have the Sotm 10hz clock now going into the Vivaldi and it deff opened up my sound stage big time…