1985 – Marantz CD 74 (CD Player)
1989 – Accuphase DP-80 / DC-81 (CD Transport / DAC)
1990 – Accuphase DP-80L / DC-81L (CD Transport / DAC)
2002 – dCS 954 (DAC) + dCS 974 (DDC) (continued to use Accuphase DP-80L)
2011 – Accuphase DP-700 (SACD/CD Player) (continued to use dCS 954 + dCS 974)
2014 – Accuphase DP-900 / DC-901 (SACD/CD Transport / DAC)
(continued to use also dCS 954 + dCS 974)
2018 – Mutec MC-3+ USB Clock
2019 – dCS Vivaldi V2 (continued to use Accuphase DP-900 and dCS 974)
2021 – Mutec REF 10 SE120 10MHz Reference Clock
2022 – dCS Vivaldi APEX upgrade (continued to use Accuphase DP-900 and dCS 974)
2 Likes
I had Luxman DA-06 and then moved to BorderPatrol DAC SE (I still have this little beauty). Now I have a Bartok and in the process of upgrading to Rossini Apex.
1 Like
I had in this order , not good memory for years…
Behringer U-control (the first)
Logitech Squeezebox Touch (still in use)
M2 Tech Young (the first)
Ifi nano iDSD (still in use)
Marantz HD1 ( still in use)
Auralic Vega
T+A DAC 8 DSD
Topping D70 MQA (still in use)
DCS Bartok ( 2021 now 2.01 till now)
Also …
Audioquest Dragonfly Red (still in use)
Marantz SA 11 S3 SACD and DAC (still in use)
THX Onyx DAC and headphones amp (still in use)
These are some fascinating journey’s!! Let’s hear some more!
Chord Qute - added external PS and Regen
Auralic Vega mk1
Auralic Vega G2, then added G2 Aries streamer
dCS Rossini and clock, soon to be Apex’d
I’ll just go back to 2017 as further would stretch my mind:
2017 PS Audio Direct Stream DAC, Modified with Outboard Power Supply and Edcor Transformers.
2021 Waversa VDAC
2022 dCS Bartok
1 Like
In the last 15 years, I’ve only had two DACs: Wyred4Sound DAC 2 DSDse and PS Audio Directstream. I get my Bartok this week…
5 Likes
I actually still have my Dave here, and been comparing it to the Rossini + clock for a month now with a Ferrum Oor and Meze Elites. I find the Rossini better in all areas, detail included. I know some like to spin that Dave is even more detailed than the Vivaldi and is just a "different flavour " but…having them both side by side, that’s a joke imo (though i’ve never heard the Vivaldi). M-scaler or not.
3 Likes
Having heard a dave with the mscaler against a non rossini player and clock, the rossini did everything the dave did, plus more off it, and sounded more musical as well.
The apex will have now increased that gap and the vivaldi apex is even more further ahead, its not even worth considering really, if you at at this level.
6 Likes
I agree. At the time I was comparing the Bartok (v1) with the Dave alongside the M-Scaler - and (for my ears) the Bartok won. I bought the Bartok and, a bit later, upgraded to the Rossini Apex, which I suspect is as detailed as the Dave without being as clinical.
Listening with the Stax SR-009S, to my ears the Dave sounded more detailed than the Bartok v1, but less musical. That said, one has to remember that these headphones deliver every detail the source provides, almost to a fault.
I’ve since moved to the Stax SR-X9000, which are truly amazing headphones 
3 Likes
lol oohhh the old Pioneer stable platter CD player - forgot i used to have one of those too - back in the day 
None! I used for since I believe 2014/5 Devialet, starting with the 200 and upgrading until the 440 Pro CI with my Metronome Cd transport and my Wilson speakers that I’ve been upgrade until now.
And if you ask me if now my darTZell and dCS Bartok Apex sound better than the Devialet? Sure it does, but for the money i still believe that nothing beats the Devialet.
Good listenings
Did you fell a big step in quality every time you did an upgrade?
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
5 Likes
- 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
3 Likes
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.
3 Likes
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!
5 Likes