dCS Introduce New Apex Ring DAC to Rossini + Vivaldi, Come In To Compare Original Rossini Against Apex - UPDATED!

28th February 2022

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UPDATE 21/3/2022!

Hi all,

We are 3 weeks in now to having the Apex Rossini on demo which has been running daily, so is nicely run in, so I thought I’d have another listen, especially as I had my ears syringed the other day which has made a huge difference to my hearing, best HiFi upgrade I’ve ever done to be honest, so I can most certainly hear more of a difference now between the standard and Apex Rossini’s, basically the Apex is more refined through the whole spectrum, it really reminds me of what Stax did when they went from the SR-009 to the SR-009S, subtle but noticeable, all the detail is still there but the top end is a little sweeter and more refined, now I never had a problem with the standard Rossini, it is one of my favourite bits of HiFi ever, but when you compare A-B the standard Rossini can sound a little edgy in comparison, especially on female vocals, the Apex certainly is a more natural presentation.

There is also a tad more warmth through the frequency with more bass definition, especially in the upper bass, so to sum up I’d say the Apex is definitely a nice upgrade, taking digital another step closer to the analogue sound we all love, we have had a few people in now to compare and the general consensus is that everyone can appreciate the difference, it is now a case of if they want to spend the £6000 for the upgrade.

We’ve still got the 2 units side by side so if you would like a listen for yourself please feel free to get in touch to make an appointment.

Cheers,

Paul.

Hi Everyone,

So this is big news, dCS have just announced that after extensive research and development they have made major changes to the hardware portion of their Ring DAC and have developed an all-new analogue output stage taking both the Rossini DAC + Player and Vivaldi DAC to a whole new level.

The great news also is that if you are an existing Rossini or Vivaldi owner you can send your unit back to dCS for it to be upgraded to full Apex Specification, please feel free to get in touch for more details on this.

Also for a short time, we will have a standard Rossini Player + a new Apex Rossini Player side by side so you can come in to listen to the improvement, for this we decided to hook them up side by side on our Reference system comprising of the Wilson Audio Alexx V speakers, D’Agostino Momentum Pre/Power all with Transparent Reference cables with both Rossini players connected to a Melco S100 ethernet switch so all you have to do is switch inputs on the Pre to compare both units.

We have decided to run them without clocks for now as we only have one clock but I have a feeling this would help show the improvements even more but with a bit of cable swapping this can be tried if required, I had a listen on Saturday and even though the new Apex Rossini Player was brand new and not run in compared to our standard Rossini the improvements are clear to hear, again I feel once the Apex unit has more hours on it the differences will be greater again.

So what did I hear? firstly it is obvious that the noise floor is lower, this is something dCS actually measured but it is clear when you hear it so this gives the music a better foundation to play from resulting in a more open and sweeter presentation with definitely better bass definition and texture, this is what I noticed the most, you really can follow the bass notes better, especially in the upper bass, this in turn really helped to open up the mid range with cleaner and better separated vocals, overall I would say it is an excellent step forward adding refinement, control and an openness that is a true step up over the previous generation of Ring Dac, and let’s be honest, that was brilliant before dCS introduced Apex, I guess to sum up I found Apex to be more engaging and insightful which is what I guess we are all after.

Would I upgrade if I was a Rossini or Vivaldi customer? well first I would come and have a listen to our Rossini’s side by side to make your mind up but once you hear the difference then there is no ignoring the step forward and I personally would want to go Apex, but first please do and come and listen.

Finally I should also mention that our Vivaldi DAC went back to dCS the other day to be upgraded to Apex Specification, really can’t wait to get that back I have to say.

Please find a dCS video below introducing Apex and a link to dCS on our website + a few pics of the 2 Rossini’s side by side in our Reference system –

And if you would like to come along to compare please feel free to get in touch.