[Somatic]

Put a wire to a screw on the back and listen and other side to earth on the inlet. My high tone was imidiatly gone. I use unshielded rca and since than had that high pitch tone. Earthing and it was gone

Hmmm. Can you show me a pic or go in a little more detail on the "earth on the inlet"? How should I do this? Thanks.

 

[MvRBE10]

Hmmm. Can you show me a pic or go in a little more detail on the "earth on the inlet"? How should I do this? Thanks.

I got earthing on my ac blok and put the other side under a xlr screw

 

[Somatic]

I got earthing on my ac blok and put the other side under a xlr screw

I see. I don't think my AC block has an earthing plus like that ...

 

[MvRBE10]

I see. I don't think my AC block has an earthing plus like that ...

I designed the block myself but the simple wat is to just put it in the earth lip.

 

[zen87192]

I got earthing on my ac blok and put the other side under a xlr screw

Hi, long time no speak. Hope you are keeping well… DAVE Farad LPS doing very well! What’s that stick poking out of your power block supply?

 

[Reactcore]

I see. I don't think my AC block has an earthing plus like that ...

Dave's housing is hardwired to line and HP signal ground. So youre connecting RCA gnd to earth.

I know this cause i terminated my buffercaps to the pcb screw island which is in the housing.

For what its worth.. i disconnected Dave's netpower ground using it 'floating'

 

[auricgoldfinger]

I see. I don't think my AC block has an earthing plus like that ...

You could buy something like this plug at Amazon or a hardware store and attach it to one end of your ground wire. You can plug it into an unused, grounded AC outlet.

 

[Reactcore]

Now after listening for some days to Dave with added buffercaps and my HD800 it keeps amazing me how this evidently made the bass more present making the whole sound fuller and authoritative without influencing transparency. This 1mohm ESR (2x 2mohm in parallel) has quite some impact.

I hear more details in the low end. Also the mid range benefits from it shaping instrument identities. It must be heard to believed..

 

[Triode User]

It is arranged. My friend with his Rossini Apex is visiting this coming Friday.

Well Friday was the day!!

My friend and his brother drove 2 hours to bring their dCS Rossini Apex so we could hear it in my system compared to my ARC6 Dave and Mscaler.

The main tracks we used are shown below. Although this is a screen shot from a Roon playlist, for the actual listening we used Squeeze and Squeezelite on the Antipodes Oladra streamer. All tracks were locally stored rips on the Oladra internal SSD. For both the Rossini and Mscaler/Dave we used the BNC output from the Oladra connected via a well known make of ferrited BNC cable to each of the DACs.

Both of the DACs have volume controls so we were able to connect both directly to my ATC SCM150 active speakers (using Iconoclast OCC 4x4 Gen 2 XLR cables).

I have heard some older generation dCS DACs but I have never before heard a Rossini but my interest was aroused by a few mentions on here and elsewhere. The format for the listening was that we played the whole of a track with one of the DACs then with the same track we swopped DACs and listened to the whole track again. Generally we then swopped back to the first DAC and then finished by playing the track again on the second DAC. ie playing each track 4 times.

Another friend popped in for a couple of hours in the middle of the session. He has an earlier generation dCS system which he outputs through ATC 40 active speakers.

I will do a plot spoiler now and say that none of us felt that we could categorically say that one DAC was wholeheartedly better than the other. In the final analysis it came down to personal preferences and a cost vs value judgement of each DAC.

This is very much a personal thing but I felt that the Rossini had a certain amount of ‘air’ around the upper frequencies which gave it an overall character which some might describe as being life-like but which I found could tend towards the ‘incessant’ end of the spectrum. This is a subtle effect but compared to the Dave’s refinement it was definitely something which I could hear. On some tracks such as the Chris Jones ‘Thank You’, both the Rossini owner and I agreed we would be happier with the volume being turned down a notch or two (it wasn’t very high anyway) but with the ARC6 Dave by contrast I was itching to turn up the volume. I also felt that whilst the Rossini might initially give the impression of more detail compared to the Dave in reality I preferred the Dave’s calmer presentation which I think gives more space around notes and that the Dave actually had a better level of fine detail compared to the Rossini ( ** see edit below). I emphasise again that this was just my ears and what I heard on the day but I felt that the Dave combination avoided any tendency towards cloaking or a slight smearing of subtle detail.

** Edit. For me this effect is exemplified on the Rajaz track by Camel where I find the acoustic guitar plucked notes to be cleaner and to have more fine detail on the ARC6 Dave whereas I found the Rossini Apex made the notes rather more ‘splashy’ and as a consequence the fine detail of each note could not be heard. The Rossini version made the acoustic guitar more ’immediate’ but I preferred the subtle detail revealed by the ARC6 DAVE.

There was a general agreement amongst all of us that the ARC6 Dave and Mscaler sound was a fuller presentation in the lower mids and bass. The Alison Krauss track revealed this quite easily (by the way, I had never heard this track before but I can highly recommend it. It left me itching to hear the rest of the album).

So, after quite a few hours of very pleasant listening and chatting the Rossini Apex and its owners went home. We never did reach a consensus and whilst each of of us could understand what the other saw in their own DAC I am pretty sure that neither of us intends to investigate buying a different DAC. I have wanted to hear the Rossini for quite some time and having now heard the Rossini Apex as far as I am concerned I have eliminated any lingering thought that it might be better than my ‘pimped’ Dave and Mscaler. Also I feel sure that with the impending Choral range Scaler, the ARC6 Dave is likely to take a further quantum leap in sound quality when that becomes available.

On Friday we did a rough back of envelope cost comparison. The Rossini Apex is the thick end of £27k with the ARC6 pimped Dave + Mscaler comes in at around £23k. If we had time it would have been interesting to compare a non pimped Dave/Mscaler to the Rossini Apex but there is only so much that one can do in a single day of listening.

There is one review from October 2020 by Sam Rosen at Positive Feedback where he felt that with suitable cables the Dave + Mscaler (unmodified, factory spec) was a similar level to the Rossini (that review was pre Apex) so it was interesting to now hear the Rossini Apex vs a pimped Dave.

In conclusion, it is clear that the Rossini Apex is a good DAC. It was just that I thought my Mscaler + Dave was better overall in several very clear ways and was the DAC which I would be happiest listening to long term.

System : Innuos PhoenixNET, Antipodes Oladra streamer with internal SSD and running Squeeze server and Squeezelite player apps, BNC ferrited cable to Mscaler or Rossini Apex DAC. Dave powered by Sean Jacobs ARC6 LPS and with internal Sean Jacobs Cap Board. Speakers : ATC SCM150 active.

 

[Reactcore]

Well Friday was the day!!

My friend and his brother drove 2 hours to bring their dCS Rossini Apex so we could hear it in my system compared to my ARC6 Dave and Mscaler.

The main tracks we used are shown below. Although this is a screen shot from a Roon playlist, for the actual listening we used Squeeze and Squeezelite on the Antipodes Oladra streamer. All tracks were locally stored rips on the Oladra internal SSD. For both the Rossini and Mscaler/Dave we used the BNC output from the Oladra connected via a well known make of ferrited BNC cable to each of the DACs.

Both of the DACs have volume controls so we were able to connect both directly to my ATC SCM150 active speakers (using Iconoclast OCC 4x4 Gen 2 XLR cables).

I have heard some older generation dCS DACs but I have never before heard a Rossini but my interest was aroused by a few mentions on here and elsewhere. The format for the listening was that we played the whole of a track with one of the DACs then with the same track we swopped DACs and listened to the whole track again. Generally we then swopped back to the first DAC and then finished by playing the track again on the second DAC. ie playing each track 4 times.

Another friend popped in for a couple of hours in the middle of the session. He has an earlier generation dCS system which he outputs through ATC 40 active speakers.

I will do a plot spoiler now and say that none of us felt that we could categorically say that one DAC was wholeheartedly better than the other. In the final analysis it came down to personal preferences and a cost vs value judgement of each DAC.

This is very much a personal thing but I felt that the Rossini had a certain amount of ‘air’ around the upper frequencies which gave it an overall character which some might describe as being life-like but which I found could tend towards the ‘incessant’ end of the spectrum. This is a subtle effect but compared to the Dave’s refinement it was definitely something which I could hear. On some tracks such as the Chris Jones ‘Thank You’, both the Rossini owner and I agreed we would be happier with the volume being turned down a notch or two (it wasn’t very high anyway) but with the ARC6 Dave by contrast I was itching to turn up the volume. I also felt that whilst the Rossini might initially give the impression of more detail compared to the Dave in reality I preferred the Dave’s calmer presentation which I think gives more space around notes and that the Dave actually had a better level of fine detail compared to the Rossini. I emphasise again that this was just my ears and what I heard on the day but I felt that the Dave combination avoided any tendency towards cloaking or a slight smearing of subtle detail.

There was a general agreement amongst all of us that the ARC6 Dave and Mscaler sound was a fuller presentation in the lower mids and bass. The Alison Krauss track revealed this quite easily (by the way, I had never heard this track before but I can highly recommend it. It left me itching to hear the rest of the album).

So, after quite a few hours of very pleasant listening and chatting the Rossini Apex and its owners went home. We never did reach a consensus and whilst each of of us could understand what the other saw in their own DAC I am pretty sure that neither of us intends to investigate buying a different DAC. I have wanted to hear the Rossini for quite some time and having now heard the Rossini Apex as far as I am concerned I have eliminated any lingering thought that it might be better than my ‘pimped’ Dave and Mscaler. Also I feel sure that with the impending Choral range Scaler, the ARC6 Dave is likely to take a further quantum leap in sound quality when that becomes available.

On Friday we did a rough back of envelope cost comparison. The Rossini Apex is the thick end of £27k with the ARC6 pimped Dave + Mscaler comes in at around £23k. If we had time it would have been interesting to compare a non pimped Dave/Mscaler to the Rossini Apex but there is only so much that one can do in a single day of listening.

There is one review from October 2020 by Sam Rosen at Positive Feedback where he felt that with suitable cables the Dave + Mscaler (unmodified, factory spec) was a similar level to the Rossini (that review was pre Apex) so it was interesting to now hear the Rossini Apex vs a pimped Dave.

In conclusion, it is clear that the Rossini Apex is a good DAC. It was just that I thought my Mscaler + Dave was better overall in several very clear ways and was the DAC which I would be happiest listening to long term.

System : Innuos PhoenixNET, Antipodes Oladra streamer with internal SSD and running Squeeze server and Squeezelite player apps, BNC ferrited cable to Mscaler or Rossini Apex DAC. Dave powered by Sean Jacobs ARC6 LPS and with internal Sean Jacobs Cap Board. Speakers : ATC SCM150 active.

Nice writeup!

Its not easy to be totally neutral in observing.. one easily tends to like ones owned apparatus..

Have you tried Mscaler on the Rossini too?
See if it would add anything to it

As far ive seen the Rossini has no direct HP output so a Amp adds to the sound signature

 

[Triode User]

Nice writeup!

Its not easy to be totally neutral in observing.. one easily tends to like ones owned apparatus..

Have you tried Mscaler on the Rossini too?
See if it would add anything to it

As far ive seen the Rossini has no direct HP output so a Amp adds to the sound signature

Thanks. As you say it is difficult sometimes not to be partisan but at the end of it all I simply preferred the Dave sound. Given more time I would like to have tried the Mscaler with the Rossini but equally I would ideally have liked to borrow the Rossini for a couple of weeks. We all know that a dat really isn’t long enough.

The lack of a HP output on the Rossini would not bother me at all because I never use headphones.

 

[Articnoise]

Well Friday was the day!!

My friend and his brother drove 2 hours to bring their dCS Rossini Apex so we could hear it in my system compared to my ARC6 Dave and Mscaler.

The main tracks we used are shown below. Although this is a screen shot from a Roon playlist, for the actual listening we used Squeeze and Squeezelite on the Antipodes Oladra streamer. All tracks were locally stored rips on the Oladra internal SSD. For both the Rossini and Mscaler/Dave we used the BNC output from the Oladra connected via a well known make of ferrited BNC cable to each of the DACs.

Both of the DACs have volume controls so we were able to connect both directly to my ATC SCM150 active speakers (using Iconoclast OCC 4x4 Gen 2 XLR cables).

I have heard some older generation dCS DACs but I have never before heard a Rossini but my interest was aroused by a few mentions on here and elsewhere. The format for the listening was that we played the whole of a track with one of the DACs then with the same track we swopped DACs and listened to the whole track again. Generally we then swopped back to the first DAC and then finished by playing the track again on the second DAC. ie playing each track 4 times.

Another friend popped in for a couple of hours in the middle of the session. He has an earlier generation dCS system which he outputs through ATC 40 active speakers.

I will do a plot spoiler now and say that none of us felt that we could categorically say that one DAC was wholeheartedly better than the other. In the final analysis it came down to personal preferences and a cost vs value judgement of each DAC.

This is very much a personal thing but I felt that the Rossini had a certain amount of ‘air’ around the upper frequencies which gave it an overall character which some might describe as being life-like but which I found could tend towards the ‘incessant’ end of the spectrum. This is a subtle effect but compared to the Dave’s refinement it was definitely something which I could hear. On some tracks such as the Chris Jones ‘Thank You’, both the Rossini owner and I agreed we would be happier with the volume being turned down a notch or two (it wasn’t very high anyway) but with the ARC6 Dave by contrast I was itching to turn up the volume. I also felt that whilst the Rossini might initially give the impression of more detail compared to the Dave in reality I preferred the Dave’s calmer presentation which I think gives more space around notes and that the Dave actually had a better level of fine detail compared to the Rossini. I emphasise again that this was just my ears and what I heard on the day but I felt that the Dave combination avoided any tendency towards cloaking or a slight smearing of subtle detail.

There was a general agreement amongst all of us that the ARC6 Dave and Mscaler sound was a fuller presentation in the lower mids and bass. The Alison Krauss track revealed this quite easily (by the way, I had never heard this track before but I can highly recommend it. It left me itching to hear the rest of the album).

So, after quite a few hours of very pleasant listening and chatting the Rossini Apex and its owners went home. We never did reach a consensus and whilst each of of us could understand what the other saw in their own DAC I am pretty sure that neither of us intends to investigate buying a different DAC. I have wanted to hear the Rossini for quite some time and having now heard the Rossini Apex as far as I am concerned I have eliminated any lingering thought that it might be better than my ‘pimped’ Dave and Mscaler. Also I feel sure that with the impending Choral range Scaler, the ARC6 Dave is likely to take a further quantum leap in sound quality when that becomes available.

On Friday we did a rough back of envelope cost comparison. The Rossini Apex is the thick end of £27k with the ARC6 pimped Dave + Mscaler comes in at around £23k. If we had time it would have been interesting to compare a non pimped Dave/Mscaler to the Rossini Apex but there is only so much that one can do in a single day of listening.

There is one review from October 2020 by Sam Rosen at Positive Feedback where he felt that with suitable cables the Dave + Mscaler (unmodified, factory spec) was a similar level to the Rossini (that review was pre Apex) so it was interesting to now hear the Rossini Apex vs a pimped Dave.

In conclusion, it is clear that the Rossini Apex is a good DAC. It was just that I thought my Mscaler + Dave was better overall in several very clear ways and was the DAC which I would be happiest listening to long term.

System : Innuos PhoenixNET, Antipodes Oladra streamer with internal SSD and running Squeeze server and Squeezelite player apps, BNC ferrited cable to Mscaler or Rossini Apex DAC. Dave powered by Sean Jacobs ARC6 LPS and with internal Sean Jacobs Cap Board. Speakers : ATC SCM150 active.

Where are the pictures???

 

[FunkyBassMan]

Fantastic read! Thanks for sharing this great information.

 

[Triode User]

Where are the pictures???

Sorry, we were talking so much and then my friend realised they had to quickly set off and in all the haste I didn’t get a picture with the Rossini in situ. This was the set up for the day. The Rossini simply took the place of the Dave when we did the swop.

 

[alxw0w]

Sorry, we were talking so much and then my friend realised they had to quickly set off and in all the haste I didn’t get a picture with the Rossini in situ. This was the set up for the day. The Rossini simply took the place of the Dave when we did the swop.

Beautiful desk.
One day I hope to get similar one to my future 2.0 system.
Just gorgeous.