Behind the Lens

PREVIEW
dCS Rossini DAC
$23,999 www.dcsltd.co.uk
PREVIEW
Those feeling the six-figure cost of the four
box dCS Vivaldi is just too damn much,
take heart. You can have awesome dCS –
ness for a lot less money. Just $24k puts
the Rossini DAC in your rack and on all but
the most mega systems, the sound quality
is frightfully close.
Physical media owning, silver disc
spinning music lovers take note; the latest
generation of dCS transports no longer
play SACDs, so if you have a large SACD
collection, a different transport option will
be required. Our publisher is using his
Paganini transport with smashing results.
Connection via dual AES cables is all that
is required. dCS USA’s John Quick assured
us that spare parts are available forever for
customers with legacy dCS transports to
put your fears at ease. If redbook playback
is all you require, the $28,999 Rossini Player
may be the perfect solution.
The Vivaldi broke ground as the first
dCS DAC with streaming capabilities. Building
on the success of their streaming app,
they have licensed the Roon player, (which
should be available by the time you read
this) and makes the Rossini the perfect one
box digital solution. Well, two if you add a
clock later, but we’ll cover that as a follow
up review as it becomes available.
$24,000 is still a lot of money for a DAC,
but considering that the Rossini borrows
heavily from the volume control and output
stage of the Vivaldi, unless you want to
hear the specific voicing of your linestage,
you won’t need a preamplifier with this box.
If you happen to be an all digital listener,
you’ll save $20k on eliminating an equally
proficient line stage, power cord and pair
of interconnects, making the Rossini one of
the best values in high end audio. Watch for
our full review in issue 76.
130 TONE AUDIO NO.75
November 2015 131