ARE DCS Dacs worth the high cost?

@davneinla, I know you can play MQA tracks on the Rossini but my understanding is that they won't fully unfold until dCS provides the MQA firmware. Does MQA firmware exist for the Rossini?

I am considering a Rossini to replace an Aesthetix Pandora Signature and ARC Ref5se

i do have 8 m XLR to drive to power amps....

those of you with Rossini, are you doing similar ?

I’m currently using DCS Vivaldi full four stacks consisting of Vivaldi master clock, Vivaldi upsampler, Vivaldi DAC, Vivaldi CD/SACD transport in my dedicated two-channel reference room. The volume control is set to fixed gain and the Vivaldi is used strictly as source components going XLR analog out to my Naim Statement NAC S1 linestage analog preamp. I’m also using the Naim Statement NAP S1 monoblock power amps driving the Magico M6 speakers.

I also have a Kronos Pro turntable with the Audio Research Reference 10 phonostage preamp going XLR analog out to my Naim Statement NAC S1 linestage preamp. That’s the main reason I cannot use the volume control in the Vivaldi DAC.

The DCS Vivaldi stacks or any DCS products are very sensitive to placements - as to how and where they are being placed on. They are also system dependent and when set up right and paired with the right downstream electronics and speakers they will sound amazing. It does MQA.
The DCS Vivaldi stacks are in the same league with the Esoteric Grandioso full stacks, which is Esoteric’s flagship line.

The DCS Paganini stacks are quite old and the new Vivaldi stacks are in different league sonically.

The Rossini is nice and I highly recommend it.

I’m contemplating whether I should trade in my Vivaldi stacks for the MSB Select ll DAC with dual powerhouse or dual PSU, one for the digital side of it and the other for the analog side of It. If I decide to upgrade to the MSB Select ll DAC I might keep my DCS Vivaldi CD/SACD transport. Not sure.