The Lina network DAC on its own is £12,500.
I have a dSC network bridge, a new version of this would be good! 
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As you probably know, the Network Bridge has been discontinued, so it’s a legacy product (AFAIK, it’s still supported with firmware updates).
It remains to be seen whether or not there will a new version/replacement product…
Personally, I doubt it.
my wild guess is a Varese UX + Core combo box that could replace the Vivaldi Upsampler. But who knows!
Yes that’s correct, the red boards are development boards and we use black boards for finished products. The inputs seen on the boards let us get audio in when we were doing basic testing of the raw DAC boards - this was before we had the Core, ACTUS, or any of the other necessary stuff developed to actually run it.
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@James the Hifi Show Live preview (https://www.hifinews.com/images/2024_Hi-Fi_Show_Preview_4.pdf) is suggesting that Varese will be available for listening. Is this correct? Might be the make-or-break on me deciding whether to make the journey or not.
This is likely to be be in the show area of Absolute Sounds, the dCS UK distributor. So the only completely reliable data may be from Absolute Sounds.
I would be pretty sure that every effort is being made to ensure that it is there. However there’s many a slip etc.
I would take the risk. I would love to attend but that is not feasible for me.
Hello there
I thought I’d clarify that the system will not be on demonstration at the show.
Best get in touch with Absolute Sounds for information on where and when you will be able to hear Varèse.
It will be at Ascot though on display should you wish to see it in person!
Thanks
Mark
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My dCS dealer has a Varèse on order – with January ship date – at $305K for a full stack w/CD-SACD & I/O module is likely out of reach – he’ll have a full Vivaldi stack for comparison. Gonna be fun.
Best to all,
Bob
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Please let us know your impressions once you have a chance to hear them.
Sounds fascinating. We all want to hear what you hear.
Looking forward to early next year.
On the other hand, of academic interest only as far as I am concerned ( and I suspect ,most others).
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Thanks @Ermos, it’s a nice piece. Just a small but important point of clarification (maybe superfluous here but you never know). While Varèse displaces Vivaldi at the top of the dCS totem pole it does not displace it from the product line-up.
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sigh of relief
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I just found this new article on the dCS website!
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Those who might like to get an idea of its functions and if they fit your needs may like to look at the user manual which is now online at Only the Music/support/documents.
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Thanks Pete,
Indeed! Here
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Some of my observations regarding the just revealed Varèse differential DACs internals:
- Button / coin cell battery
- Heatsink with underneath a SSD? For BIOS and buffer?
- Looks like a USB3 port?
- Analogue section PSU
- Digital section PSU
- Heatsink with underneath the FPGA
- Clock crystals
- Differential Ring DAC
- APEX output stage
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I wonder what the battery powers and if it is user replaceable?
Actually I thought that batteries were a remnant of the period prior to Rossini and was initially disappointed to see this appearance. Then I thought, why be concerned, I will never own Varèse anyway 
.
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The battery is replaceable, but not meant to be by the user (although it can be done). It looks very much like a PC motherboard. In that case, the battery powers the BIOS of a PC, which basically lets it make its startup. As long as the unit is connected to mains, this battery will not drain (for many years).
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Thanks however even if the battery may last for years I wonder if other units in the stack are similar leading to a significant issue of interruption and cost at some inevitable point not dissimilar to the situation with a Vivaldi system?