2. digital
  3. 130818-92322

ARE DCS Dacs worth the high cost?

Looking at a new DCS Rossini and wonder if anyone has compared other Dacs to the DCS line and if they come close to the performance.
128x128samgar2
caphill
665 posts
 
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.
thieliste's avatar
thieliste
813 posts
 
I'm curious how the new Totaldac d1-Twelve mk2 would do against the DCS Vivaldi.
phantom_av's avatar
phantom_av
319 posts
 
I did a few installs and room acoustic design for clients who own the DCS Dacs. Personal opinion of mine and those who work with me, the DAC is not worth the money and is marketing is very clever and more focused to those with high-income salaries or business owners who have no time to sit all day reviewing or comparing dacs. The marketing is focused more on Bragging rights and Magazine Reviews which i assume is paid somehow.

Simply put it if you Own a DCS DAC you have the utmost bragging right as you can afford to pay silly amounts of money on something very expensive. 

Want something musical? There are many DACs now on the market which can beat and compete with DCS at a much lower cost.
phantom_av's avatar
phantom_av
319 posts
 
I also think if it was MSB vs DCS, to me MSB always sounded fuller and less fatiguing 
hgeifman
2,110 posts
 

@samgar2, The DCS Rossini DAC is only one piece of the entire audio system chain including the source, amplifiers, speakers, cables, power cords, the room and other things. The DCS Rossini DAC may sound great in one system and horrible in another. In some cases, the listing room may also influence the overall sound quality.

The answer to the question of price vs. sound quality depends on the person listening. If you like the way the DCS Rossini DAC sounds and, can afford it, then you purchase it. Everyone on the forum knows that there are many DAC’s available at many different price points and, obviously, many different levels of sound quality.

For me, it is a balancing act between what I can afford and what sounds good. I cannot afford the DCS Rossini DAC, so I ignore it. The difficult part of any DAC decision is the auditioning of many DAC’s in your system to decide what DAC sounds best at your price level. Unfortunately, in this hobby, it is very difficult to audition 5+ DAC’s in our home audio systems so we read reviews, talk to retailers, friends and comments posted on Audiogon, etc.

This makes the purchasing decision process even harder since no one has the exact same equipment, room, or listing tastes. OR, in other words, everyone has a ’different opinion’. For me, it is more important to hear the equipment in my space so I can best judge what sounds good (to me!). I purchase equipment that sounds great at my price point in my audio system.

This hobby is weird. It is very easy to look at the next purchase, the next DAC or another mod, and forget that what you already own sounds excellent.

I own the Bricasti M21 DAC with the MDx board upgrade and like it very much. This DAC has both a signal delta DAC and a laddered DAC so you have 2 options. I usually listen to the laddered DAC option since it sounds the best to me.



More to discover