New dCS Puccini 1,21 version

I emailed dCS a couple of months back after John Atkinson's follow-up report in Stereophile on the new firmware version. They are still in the process of working out all the kinks in the software and the CD would probably be available from your local distributor maybe early next year. Can hardly wait!

Elberoth2,
Was there an update on the release date - like, much sooner than next year?

Any updates on the release date? Sure wish that it would be available before Christmas.

Elberoth2,
You probably would have uploaded the new version by now. Tell us the exciting news.....! I am still waiting for mine.

Hi Loycheekiong,
Congrats! Did you get yours from High End Research?
Hope to get mine soon.
Best regards from a fellow countryman, Jon.

I got the CD uploaded a few days ago and it's the best Christmas present ever.
Just to add to loycheekiong's set-up tips :-
1) When playing Redbook CD's, do not upsample to DSD. Go to the setup menu and choose PCM and then use the remote to choose the Asymmetric Filter. This gives a better sound than going through DSD upsampling.
2) When playing SACD's, the result may vary - some discs sound better with DSD Filters than with DSP Asymmetric Filter, and some others vice versa. But most SACD's sound better with DSD upsampling. After this step, either the DSD or DSP Filter choice is yours, keeping in mind that some SACD's are not pure DSD but remastered from PCM.

Elberoth2,
There is indeed no DSD upsampling with SACD. That said, with the Puccini, when playing an SACD, you can go to the set-up menu, and still switch between what dCS describes in the manual as DSD upsampling or PCM oversampling modes. And then from the remote, one can choose from the various DSD filters or DSP filters. In DSD mode, dCS calls it DSD upsampling in general, but of course, when playing an SACD, there is no DSD upsampling. I guess dCS uses the term generally but more in reference to redbook CDs, recommending that redbook CDs be upsampled to DSD for best results. But now with the Asymmetric filter in PCM mode, the game has changed by leaps and bounds.

A few more interesting observations as I play through more and more Redbook CD's :-
1. For JVC XRCD recordings - better with PCM -> Asymmetric Filter
2. For regular CD's
- if system is warm/tubey, better with PCM -> Asymmetric Filter
- if system is lean/bright, better with DSD -> Asymmetric Filter
Hope this helps. Enjoy!