Lina user manuals are now online on our site here.
Reason for the delay is that we will have online HTML versions of the Lina user manuals shortly, but these aren’t quite ready yet, so have uploaded the PDFs for now.
We have the PDFs available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
@James Is it correct that dCS use the Alps RK271 as potentiometer in the Lina headamp for attenuation?
Apart from the potentiometer, can you shine a light on how the volume control is working on the Lina headamp?
Am I the only one miffed by the LINA introduction? My complaint has to do with the Expanse technology, which I have not heard but of which I have read only rave reviews. My understanding is that this technology is housed within the LINA DAC and not the headphone amp. As a loyal dCS owner how does this benefit me (Rossini plus clock with an order in for the weeks/months backordered Vivaldi APEX)? The dCS HA may indeed turn out to be phenomenal but I already have two phenomenal amps with which I am quite pleased. To experience Expanse am I to purchase the LINA DAC and use IT over the Vivaldi??? My questions are:
1–Is Expanse an actual circuit board (hardware) that must be housed in the LINA DAC?
2–Is Expanse just software that can be downloaded into our DACs?
If the answer is 2 then great. If the answer is 1 then I am of the opinion that dCS has done its loyal fan base very wrong by not making this technology readily available.
Expanse is firmware running on the FPGA(s) on the Ring DAC board inside certain dCS DACs (Bartók HDAC and Lina DAC, so far).
It would be great if dCS would (want to) find a way to make it available to us Rossini and Vivaldi suckers 
Totally agree with Ermos.
Expanse really should be added to the Vivaldi and Rossini firmware.
Please dCS!
If, then we will get Vivaldi and Rossini Apex-panse 
Maybe @diken1957 wants to start a new topic about this? So that we do not go off-topic (Lina) here.
[edit] : Here is the new topic, thanks @Goodstuff 
Im a fan of expanding Expanse (sorry!), but I’m having a very difficult time understanding this negative reaction. How is it that Expanse on a separate circuit board would do the dCS customer base “wrong”? By this logic, no manufacturer could ever develop new technology that requires a new hardware architecture without “wronging” its customer base. Daft.
Is the expanse firmware in the non headphone bartok?
From the Release Notes of Mosaic 1.1.1 which contained the new feature dCS Expanse:
Support for dCS Expanse: Mosaic Control includes settings to enable / disable
dCS Expanse on the Bartók Headphone DAC
https://dcs.community/uploads/short-url/wV67FyDfjLCEJKYvW2Fa5nreYzR.pdf
So it does not work (currently) on the non-headphone Bartók.
I’m a long term headphone user (Wharfedale Isodynamic, anyone?), and interested in Expanse, but I’m happy to wait for it to be introduced higher up the dCS range.
If technically feasible, and the reaction to Expanse is very positive as it seems to be, I expect it will appear as a software upgrade on Rossini and Vivaldi eventually. dCS are a small company, they make their money by selling hardware, and the software upgrades are always free. Let’s be patient.
Another raving review just came out of the dCS Lina system:
Thanks. Interesting how he goes out of his way to state Lina beats Bartok (albeit without clock perhaps).
Also without the new Mapper that is imminent.
And also without any clarity on whether it’s the DAC that’s better (my vote: unlikely), the headphone amp section that’s better (my vote: likely, especially with harder-to-drive ‘phones), or both.
Looking forward to trying the Lina, but expecting that a 2.0 Bartók will better it as a DAC. It may even better it without the mapper upgrades, actually — that sounds most likely to me. dCS likely wouldn’t enjoy the idea of the cheaper Lina being better than the Bartok, clock or no clock.
The reviewer says:
The Lina is a super stepped-up system that exceeds the performance of the Bartók.
So the 3 box Lina system is a better headphone system than the Bartók HDAC.
That much was expected for me — there’s a dedicated clock, by all accounts a beefier amp, and it costs more 
The comparison I’m looking forward to is a Lina DAC and headphone amp vs. Bartók (on old mappers) + Lina headphone amp.
Love that this is out there now. Wonder how much of the dCS design language for Vivaldi and (eventually) Rossini replacements is evident in the Lina. Fun times!
The new software for DCS Bartók HDac 2.0 will probably force a revision of this review to take into account the sonic improvement it will bring to the sound.
The “reviewer” also says they no longer have their Bartok, so how exactly did he compare them???
I have ordered the Lina headphone amp today. My regular dealer is not able to deliver it, as he is not part of the “select dealers” in the head-fi trade. He is not at all happy about that!
So in due time I can make an assessment of how the Rossini + Clock + Lina sound, with a direct comparison of the Lina and Benchmark HPA4, both with Abyss 1266 TC and Susvara.
We’ll look forward to that!
Yeah, I wonder if dCS will get pushback from dealers unable to carry Lina.
