The purest expression
Powerful and graceful too, the Rossini renders music with the utmost precision and care, delivering a fluid and natural sound without the slightest hint of harshness or glare. From the softest strings to the sharpest brass, and the quietest intake of breath, it unearths each aspect of a recording to reveal a performance that feels layered, lifelike and whole.

No matter how complex the music, it never loses its composure, or its sense of rhythm and flow, tracking even the swiftest shift in dynamics and pace with a sense of utter control. With its unshakable focus and astonishing insight, it presents a holographic view of a recording, and the atmosphere and space in which a performance takes place.

Designed and hand-assembled at our headquarters in Cambridgeshire, England, the Rossini is born from meticulous craft, exhaustive development and an obsessive attention to detail - a relentless pursuit of musical purity that has inspired us to push the limits of sound reproduction.

Combining robust engineering with an elegant aesthetic, the Rossini is built to withstand even the most intensive use and deliver a truly immersive sound at all levels and outputs. With its flexible, future-proof design, it’s a system that can grow and evolve, delivering a state-of-the-art listening experience for years to come.

An esteemed cohort to our renowned Vivaldi system, it features our proprietary Ring DAC system, digital processing platform, and clocking architecture - a combination of hardware and software that is unrivalled in its sonic and technical performance.

New for 2022, the Rossini APEX benefits from the latest generation dCS Ring DAC APEX hardware. This major upgrade brings a range of measured and sonic improvements, allowing us to further enhance the performance of this much-loved and multi-award-winning system, and provide an even richer experience for listeners.

APEX: A Closer Look

Learn more about the development of our new Ring DAC™ APEX hardware and the various benefits it delivers for listeners. This week, we're celebrating the launch of our latest innovation with an in-depth look at the creation of the dCS Ring DAC APEX. Following the launch of our APEX short film, we've published an article which offers a deeper insight into our development process and the steps we've taken to further enhance the Ring DAC's performance. The article features insights from dCS Managing Director David Steven and Director of Product

• Development Chris Hales and explores the following topics:

• How we enhanced the Ring DAC’s analogue performance, including specific modifications made to the Ring DAC’s hardware.

• How we approached the development process, from initial exploration through to listening tests.

• The subjective and measured benefits of APEX.

• Our motivations and objectives.

Learn More and FAQ >>

APEX is a new, enhanced version of the dCS Ring DAC: the Digital to Analogue conversion system found inside all dCS DACs. First developed for our professional audio products, this unique system has been subject to continuous development and refinement over the past three decades, and remains renowned for its technical and sonic performance.

With APEX, we've reconfigured the Ring DAC's circuit board and developed a new analogue output stage. This has allowed us to further reduce distortion, and increase linearity, resulting in a range of measured and sonic improvements - including an even greater sense of dynamic drive, detail, finesse and vitality.

DAC Key Features

Latest generation dCS Digital Processing Platform brings state-of-the-art signal processing and flexibility

dCS Ring DAC APEX, as used in Vivaldi playback system, delivers enhanced sonic and technical performance

 High quality streaming from TIDAL, Qobuz, Deezer and internet radio via the dCS Mosaic Control app

Roon Ready, AirPlay, Spotify Connect and UPnP compatible

USB, AES, Dual AES and S/PDIF digital audio inputs.

Accepts encrypted SACD data from dCS Transport via Dual AES inputs

Multi-stage DXD oversampling design with optional DSD upsampling; user-selectable DSP and DSD filters.

Auto clocking system improves ease of use and minimises jitter.

Multi-stage power regulation and twin mains transformers isolate analogue, digital and clock circuitry.

Firmware-upgradeable for future functionality and performance upgrades.

Features a full MQA™ decoder. This MQA™ implementation is unique, as it is the first opportunity to enable a DAC which, by providing exact rendering to beyond 16x (768 kHz), matches the desired temporal response with very low modulation noise.

Specifications

Type
Upsampling Network DAC.

Colour
Silver or Black

Dimensions
44mm / 17.5” x 435mm / 17.2” x 125mm / 5.0“. Allow extra depth for cable connectors

Weight
15.6kg/34.3lbs

Converter Type
dCS proprietary Ring DACTM topology. Operates at 6MHz (Map 1 or 3) or 3MHz (Map 2)

Digital Inputs
Ethernet network port on RJ45 connector, accepts 24-bit 44.1 – 384kS/s PCM, DSD/64 & DSD128 in DFF/DSF format; USB 2.0 interface on B-type connector, accepts 24-bit 44.1 – 384kS/s PCM, DSD/64 & DSD128 in DoP format; USB On-The-Go interface on A-type connector, accepts 24-bit 44.1 – 384kS/s PCM, DSD/64 & DSD128 in DFF/DSF format; 2 x AES/EBU inputs on 3-pin female XLR connectors, accepts 24-bit 44.1 – 192kS/s PCM, DSD/64 & DSD/128 in DoP format; 1x Dual AES pair, accepts 24-bit 88.2 – 384kS/s PCM, DSD/64 & DSD/128 in DoP format; 1 x SPDIF on RCA Phono connector, accepts 24-bit 44.1 – 192kS/s PCM & DSD/64 in DoP format; 1x SPDIF on BNC connector, accepts 24-bit 44.1 – 192kS/s PCM & DSD/64 in DoP format; 1 x SPDIF optical on TOSLINK connector, accepts 24-bit 44.1 – 96kS/s PCM

Analogue Outputs
1 x pair balanced outputs on 2 x XLR connectors. Output levels: 0.2V, 0.6V, 2V, 6V rms for a full-scale input, set in the menu. Output impedance: 3Ω. Maximum load: 600Ω (10k-100kΩ is recommended); 1 x pair unbalanced outputs on 2 x RCA connectors. Output levels: 0.2V, 0.6V, 2V, 6V rms for a full-scale input, set in the menu. Output impedance: 52Ω. Maximum load: 600Ω (10k-100kΩ is recommended)

Wordclock I/O
2 x Word Clock Inputs on 2 x BNC connectors, accept standard Word Clock at 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192kHz. The data rate can be the same as the clock rate or an exact multiple of the clock rate. Sensitive to TTL levels. 1 x Word Clock Output on 1 x BNC connector. With Sync Mode set to Master, a TTL-compatible Word Clock is output

MQA
Full decoding and rendering of MQA data from the Network and USB2 inputs. Final rendering of unfolded MQA data only from the other inputs

Residual Noise
24-bit data: Better than –113dB0, 20Hz - 20kHz unweighted. (6V output setting)

L R Crosstalk
Better than -115dB0, 20Hz – 20kHz

Spurious Response
Better than -105dB0, 20Hz – 20kH

Filters
PCM mode up to 6 filters give different trade-offs between the Nyquist image rejection and the phase response. DSD mode: 4 filters progressively reduce out-of-audio band noise level

Conversions
User selectable PCM upsampling to DXD, DSD or DSDx2

Software Updates
Loaded from CD-R via PCM digital inputs or PC via USB input. Download and update functionality available via dCS Mosaic App

Local Control
dCS Mosaic App for Unit Configuration and Music Playback. RS232 interface (controlled by a 3rd party automation system). IR remote control – dCS Universal Remote available as an optional extra

Power Supply
Factory set to either 100, 115/120, 220 or 230/240V AC, 50-60Hz

Power Consumptions
23 Watts typical / 28 Watts maximum

Operations Systems
Windows Vista / 7 / 8.1 / 10, Mac OSX 10.10. dCS USB driver is required for Windows in Audio Class 2 Mode