Big step up(or gapped up) in the early stages…. Especially when stepping onto dCS ladder. But once reaching Bartok, any changes thereafter were much more incremental
I started with a Nakamichi OMS-7 in 1985 which I had for 20 years. Then I went to an Esoteric DV-50S and made the fortunate “mistake” in 2012 to listen to a dCS Paganini full stack at my dealer. That was all it took. Held onto the dCS stack for 10 years and late 2022/early 2023 went full throttle with a dCS Rossini Apex DAC, matching clock and CD/SACD Transport.
I’ll never forget that dCS Paganini experience. I’ve been more than thrilled with dCS ownership and the support by not only my dealer, but dCS Americas & dCS HQ. Always so helpful & courteous.
Best to all,
Bob
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- Wavelength Audio Brick (this is Gordon Rankin’s company that specialized in USB DACs connected to a computer) - what a piece of crap the Brick was but it did show me how convenient computer audio could be.
- Wavelength Audio Cosecant - much better SQ than the Brick
- Antelope Audio Silver USB DAC
4, Antelope Audio Gold USB DAC - the Antelope series of USB DACs were a significant upgrade in SQ as their pedigree is with professional recording studios - dCS Paganini full stack
- dCS Rossini with Rossini Master Clock
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Benchmark DAC1
Wyred4Sound
Mytek Brooklyn
Holo Audio Spring 3
Benchmark DAC3B
Schist Yggdrasil
Aqua Formula
dCS Lina/Rossini clock
Colin
Digital journey started with CD players - Marantz (various models) then Tag Mclaren DVD32R + TagMclaren AV32R.
Then got into Streaming:
Marantz streamer (cant remember the model)
Naim NDX SX
Naim NDX
Naim NDX2 + 555PS
and nor
Bartok
Every change brought an improvement - will be looking to go the APEX upgrade shortly (need to sort out my power amp first)
Hi folks,
Thanks for starting and continuing this thread. Very interesting!
Here is my DAC ownership history. The components in bold were kept in my system for significant time. There were many streamers also cycled through since 2019, but the combined story would get really long.
- Technics SL-P370 CD player (1990)
- Yamaha BD-S677 BD player (2014)
- Marantz HD-DAC1 (12/2016)
- NAD M51 (1/2017)
- Bluesound Vault 2i (6/2019)
- LUMIN D1 (12/2019)
- Topping D90 MQA (4/2020)
- Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 digital (5/2020)
- Meridian Explorer2 (5/2020)
- Sonnet Morpheus (8/2020)
- Luxman DA-06 (7/2021)
- Chord Hugo TT2 (9/2021)
- Chord Hugo TT2+M Scaler (9/2021)
- Mola Mola Tambaqui (10/2021)
- Aurender A10 (2/2022)
- Aurender A20 (3/2022)
- Merging+NADAC (10/2022)
- dCS Lina Streaming DAC (12/2022)
My system isn’t nearly as high-end as most of yours, but my search is finally over. Within minutes of hearing the Lina in my system I knew it had what I was looking for. Coherence, transparency, detail. Finally my digital is better than my modest vinyl setup.
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Haha, great question!
Ayre QX-5 Twenty. Superb(!) DAC but about half the price of my Bartók and you get what you pay for.
I’m a returner after last owning a Verdi/Purcell/Verona/Elgar four-pack in the early noughties. Sold that when I moved abroad and we started a family. Needed to simplify and go solid state (the amplification was Nagra and tube-based). From there to Boulder (2010/2060) and from there to Devialet D-Premier. Thence to Weiss (now serving my bedside table) and thence to the Ayre.
I can honestly say it was more than the sound:
- The innovation. When I first read about the Ring DAC I was captivated. Such an innovative approach to Digital to Analog conversion. A DAC that’s entirely analog!! I could never have come up with that. Re-spect!
- The fact that they are always at the forefront. When something important comes (Roon, DXD etc) dCS are there. No delay, no excuses.
- The overall solidity of the dCS. The fact that the software and firmware always work. The fact that they are upgradable. The fact that the hardware is upgradable. It’s solid engineering which has intrinsic value. It’s like a Bristol car. You may lose money, but you can lose a helluva lot more elsewhere…
- Oh, and the sound. Of course, but you said “beyond the sound”. And I guess we’re all already here so we get that bit!
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I have got the same illness as you’ve got ! But with shoes 
I have much too many pairs, my wife says I should go to a psychiatrist !
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Went a similar path to currently the Lina Stack. I am extremely happy with DCS products
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Originally, Bryston BDA-3 fed by their BDP-2. I replaced my ARC LS 27preamp with Macintosh C2700 using the internal DAC 2 fed by Roon Nucleus (and streamer.). Now I have just put into play a Lina DAC (using its streamer) using Cardas Clear Balanced cables into my Mac. Amazing!! I still use Roon as core with Qobuz.
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Great comments, I could not agree more
Happy for you. I started out with Lina when it was introduced. Loved it “The Butt” curse in the hobby. If this sounds this good , wow what else don’t I know about that’s even better? Went around, tried a few set ups like most but the “But” did not go away…in the end I a right back with my full Lina stack. Many great things have been said by owners and more for sure all true. However for me, its kind of saying just from its looks, this is serious for headphone, it compact, built like a tank, has great functionality and synergy , dead silent amp…no noise…and it sound as good and most better than anything else I tried some at even higher cost? So when you reach and end game , my advice is to try and accept it!! stop searching for while because what you have in the LINA Stack something that is TOTL end game choice for many. INHO just was suggesting to save some of the $$$$$ I spent finding this out to come to my conclusion… enjoy!!!
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My first standalone DAC was a Chord Hugo II for head-fi listening. I then got a Naim NDX2 with XPS power supply for combined streaming and DAC. That was followed by a Linn Selekt DSM with Katalyst DAC, which was replaced by a T+A DAC 200. Now own a Bartók.
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I basically started backwards. Bought a cable I liked and then looked for a DAC that would match the sound of it. That‘s how I ended up at dCS from the Violectric 590 PRO Mk2 which I kept because it’s a great HP amp. The only standalone DAC I owned before was the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt. Kept that one, too, because it sounds great with an iPad mini and is fantastic when on a train with IEMs.
Would you say that every time you changed it was for better ? I ask the question because your Naim and Linn gear were supposed to be excellent hifi dac/streamer already !
I had a Simaudio 380 (I think that was the #) before I bought my Bartok and Rossini clock. I have since moved up to a Rossini Apex. Sounds great!
Hi ChrisK, what we want out of systems changes over time. Different houses / rooms and different needs. It had been a while where I didn’t have HiFi gear before I bought the Naim gear. The Naim system (300DR / 252 + Supercap / + NDX2 + XPS) was more about the forums and the hobby than it was about the music. Buying kit, upgrading, tweaking and ultimately being unsatisfied because I was listening to the system not the music. The Linn gear was about rejecting complexity and going toward a fully active DSP controlled system and returning to the music. Then I moved house, with a different room construction / size etc. This current system is about listening to music not the system. It’s quite basic but has everything I am looking for from it.
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Switched from a bare Naim NDX2 to dCS Lina network dac and couldn’t be happier.
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Lots of ex-Naimies here it seems. I started writing a post but realised it should probably be a separate topic so I started one here.
Naim ND5 XS2 into Chord mScaler/Qutest
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