So I’m very close to pulling the trigger on a Vivaldi apex dac, upstreamer and upsampler stack. Are there any updates around the corner where I should wait? Will the varese and the actus cable system trickle down to a Vivaldi 2? I like that it has a network streamer built in. Should I consider a msb cascade or wadax studio dac? It’s very hard to find places to audition these.
Where are you based if I may ask.
I’m just north of New York City.
Yes there are;Vivaldi DAC will be updated shortly to version 3.0. No need for you not to pull the trigger now, however. Updates are made via Vivaldi’s app control system ( (Mosaic). You simply use Mosaic to find and download the update. These might occur once or twice annually.
I short, dCS products are made with updates in mind so they do not become redundant. For example, my Vivaldi Apex dates from 2017 (Apex from 2022) and I look forward to the v.3.0 update which will be announced later, Buy Vivaldi now and enjoy it. When the update is available you just press a button and wait a few minutes for it to download and install.You will then have a fully up to date model irrespective of when it was purchased.
These firmware updates are free BTW.
Thanks, that is helpful. I wonder if there could be a hardware update for a complete new Vivaldi system where you couldn’t just download a software update or buy a new card like the apex.
There’s a possibility of that happening; for example, the Vivaldi 2.0 update in 2016 included a physical board update in the Vivaldi Upsampler (which turned it into the Upsampler Plus), easily handled by dCS dealers.
IMHO, any such update shouldn’t stop you from acquiring a Vivaldi stack right now.
For clarification, the have been two hardware updates to date.
No future hardware updates or are known or rumoured. this does not mean that it cannot happen. However, importantly, both hardware updates made so far (Streaming added to Upsampler and Apex to DAC) could have been retro-fitted via the dealer network for older units. The dCS company ethic has been to recognise the serious investment that the customer has made and provide lengthy support.
Presumably the will be a replacement model for Vivaldi eventually but this is just speculation. Nothing is known. As Anup says:
Most has already been said but, dCS is a fantastic company to buy into, they offer fantastic support and really look after you far more then i have ever experienced with any other hifi company.
They could have easily had a Vivaldi mk2 when they introduced the Apex upgrade, but choose to do it as an upgrade to the existing model range, rather than make you sell to buy the next new box.
This to me shows what dCS is all about, obviously something new will eventually turn up as it always does, but that doesn’t mean that the Vivaldi suddenly stops working, sounds any different or stops being supported. Plus to better the Vivaldi has taken 2 ring dacs, so really any future developments look to be going down that road. I did think that dCS was going to look or are looking at doing something that would give you a stepping stone up towards the Varese, using 2 mono dacs, but with the Vivaldi upsampler, then you can add the core and control when funds allow.
But I feel inpovement to the Vivaldi is not easy without really stepping on the Varese heels and making it work with say the Varese mono dacs could be a great way to do it and help to achieve going to Varese in a few stages.
But getting back to your main question, then i wouldn’t hesitate to get on board with dCS, the Vivaldi is still among the best digital systems you can buy, it’s about to get new firmware to add to the huge existing choices you have and looks to be well rooted going much further forward.
Cheers and hopefully see you soon enjoying the dCS experience
Dunc
Thanks. As long as all updates could be retrofitted in the next 3-5 years that would be great. Just hoping there would be a major overhaul that would require replacing it any time soon. The verese core and user interface modules could be interesting to bring to the Vivaldi. And the actus cable system.
I can certainly see the actual cable system being used on every new product going forward as why wouldn’t you
The Varese mono DACS or any other Varese unit cannot be added to Vivaldi I’m afraid. . If Actus connectiivity is used by dCS outside of Varese this is likely to be be for some future new product.
Hardware updates are made available in cases where they fit with the existing platform . However they cease to be available once the unit becomes a legacy product i.e is no longer manufactured. Hence there is no way to guarantee a 3-5 year peruod,
Of course the exact predictability of the future applies equally to MSD or Wadax 
.
One word. Cost.
Not of the ACTUS Cable itself, but the infrastructure inside Varèse to enable ACTUS to work is pretty darn complex.
Just my personal opinion; a retrofit on existing V/R/B to get it to work with a Varèse Core or DAC pair is not realistic.
As said above no guarantees on anything going forward with any company as things change.
My response to the Vivaldi was down to me asking that question when I visited the factory this year, it was mentioned that they wanted to see if such a stepping stone could be done, but i realise that such an upgrade isn’t easy, and maybe not possible at all.
But we do know that V3 is coming soon, plus another update that will be nice to have.
The fact that dCS just completed a beta test of a new software upgrade for the B/R/V which (hopefully) will shortly be released, leads me to believe the Vivaldi system will be with us for longer than several have hypothesized. I am coming up on 2 years since I upgraded from Rossini to Vivaldi, so my decision has been validated - the only issue is I should have done it sooner 
How would you describe the upgrade from the Rossini to the Vivaldi?
Basically just more of everything, but more importantly to me was it just sounded more real and seemed to do it effortlessly and not sounding like it was trying or being pushed if you get what i mean. plus the Rossini is no slouch in the first place.
But the extra cost involved to getting the Vivaldi over the Rossini is considerably more and is why I said i feel the Rossini is the sweet spot in the range, but that doesn’t stop you wanting more i know, and i also felt like that. But I think I can honestly say as far as digital goes this is my end game product, and i am more than happy and fortunate to be able to say that.
What he said 
Do we know that version 3.0 is coming for the Vivaldi. I’ve seen beta testing for the Bartók and Rossini but not the Vivaldi. Or did I miss that?
Yes. some posts ago dCS confirmed that there will be a Vivaldi version.
For the beta test they limited access to Bartok and Rossini users as they are the largest user base. As you may imagine the cost of Vivaldi limits the number of users.
Agreed. I actually expect future B/R/V upgrades to be limited to software going forward, given the age of the lines.
I also expect the “lower-tier” follow-on to the Varèse to be released “soon” and for it to be 3-box: Digital processing box (aka Upsampler); dual mono DAC in one chassis (similar to the newer Esoteric offerings); and Clock. All Actus cabling.
Fun to speculate but I have no insider info of course.
Cheers