dCS Vivaldi Apex DAC Upsampler Master Clock Review.

APEX is a new, improved version of the dCS Ring DAC™: the digital-to-analog conversion system found in all dCS DACs. Originally developed for their professional audio products, this unique system has been continuously developed and refined over the last three decades and remains renowned for its technical and sonic performance.

APEX is the latest generation of the dCS Ring DAC™ analog card, introduced in March 2022. After extensive research and development, dCS has made several improvements to the Ring DAC hardware. The APEX represents dCS’s latest thinking on analog gain stages and voltage regulation and offers a number of sonic and measurement improvements.

With APEX, dCS has reconfigured the Ring DAC™  and developed a new analog output stage. This has further reduced distortion and increased linearity, resulting in a number of measured and sonic improvements – including an even stronger sense of dynamics, detail, finesse, and vitality.

• dCS Ring DAC APEX™ hardware further reduces distortion and improves linearity for enhanced musical performance
• Utilises the latest generation dCS Digital Processing Platform for state-of-the-art measured performance and unrivalled fidelity
• Designed for maximum flexibility by accepting audio data from a variety of digital sources
• Flexible output configuration can be optimised in systems with or without preamplifiers
• Comprehensive clocking architecture plus an auto-clocking mode used in the Vivaldi range improves ease-of-use and minimises jitter
• USB interface allows easy connection to a computer, accepting PCM data at up to 24/384 and DoP (DSD/64 or DSD/128 over PCM)
• The interface runs in asynchronous USB mode, making the DAC immune to jitter from noisy computer master clocks
• Improved power supplies give lower running temperature and superior tolerance to AC supply variations
• Multi-stage regulation ensures sensitive analogue circuitry is unaffected by digital interference
• Separate power circuits for the digital and analogue sections further enhance the purity of the power supply
• Aerospace-grade machined aluminium chassis fitted with tuned acoustic damping panels reduces magnetic effects and vibration
• 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

After my dCS, Rossini Apex DAC/Clock engagement and review came many inquiries about the well-known dCS filters, mapper options, and adjustable output.

In addition to A/B evaluations, and blind listening tests performed by myself and the guests, many objective aspects make certain settings sound more pleasing than others. 

In most cases, I would prefer the F1 filter with both DXD and DSD upsampling. There are certain scenarios that F3 or even F5/F6 filters would fit better, but the differences are far more subtle than with Mappers and voltage output. 

The 2V/6V setting depends largely on the gain and impedance matching between the preamplifier and amplifier, but in general, 6V leads to more speed, dynamics, more brute raw force, and a more rigorous lower register. But!!! The music can also sound too pumped if the voltage matching is not optimal. 

My suggestion is to try it out and see the technical specs of the preamp and amp, or even discuss it with the manufacturer of the electronics. 

With a certain type of music, 6V may feel better and it will depend on the mastering or how it was recorded. Especially with live acoustic music without limiters or where a compressor is used slightly. 

The 2V is the most universal setting that will work optimally for most systems and will not push the sound into dynamic congestion.

Mapper 1 operates in the range of odd harmonics and Mapper 3 in the field of even harmonics. These two settings can be heard instantly. It was interesting to observe how various people react to the changes because the differences are not imperceptible.

Some who prefer more detail-oriented listening might choose Mapper 1. It’s of course system dependable, but Mapper 3 creates a more inviting, slightly dark (natural) warm feeling that is so closely related to the sound of real instruments in a real acoustic space.

I have also found myself reaching for Mapper 1 when I am fully focused and immersed in the music. On the other hand, when too tired or listening after a long, wearying day, I reach for Mapper 3.

There’s also the original, the Mapper 2, which keeps the legacy alive. I can understand why some owners of earlier dCS units would favor this Mapper, but in my experience, both Mapper 1 and 3 offer considerable performance shifts up.

With three boxes and all the cables needed to connect the Vivaldi Apex DAC to the Clock and Upsampler, the task may seem daunting, but anyone who follows the instructions should be able to do it rather quickly.

With the Vivaldi system, there is no complicated menu diving, as everything is laid out logically. After a quick scroll through the submenus of all three devices, I set the stored states to Lock & Load on each power-up sequence.

My appreciation and affection for such tactile interaction go way back. Vivaldi’s logic of operation and interconnectivity brought back pleasant memories of working and interacting with hardware music devices, including samplers, synthesizers, studio effect processors, etc. To this day I am still fond of these interfaces. There is something tactically alluring about hardware, and dCS Vivaldi embodies this in the best possible way.

Having used dCS Mosaic software extensively with dCS Rossini Apex, there was zero transitional lag and no getting used to the interface. Playback is easily managed through dCS’s proprietary Mosaic platform, which lets you browse music from multiple libraries and make settings through a single, easy-to-use mobile app (Android and iOS). I am a purist at heart, and Mosaic appeals to me for its straightforwardness, with all the necessary controls for hardware and software logically and visually appealingly arranged. It’s easy to find music, create internal playlists, or even add or remove tracks from the existing Tidal playlist.

Since I am constantly evaluating digital front-ends, I have gotten into the habit of using the Tidal playlist to easily evaluate music with each new product in circulation.

Last but not least, design. My fondness for industrial design extends to watches, cars, furniture, sneakers, etc. A refined industrial design adds value to the well-executed and seamlessly-functioning high-end audio device and the dCS Vivaldi Stack represents a pinnacle of high-end industrial audio design with its sculptural beauty that is not only exceptionally stylish but also highly recognizable. Nothing looks like dCS and they have managed to create a strong visual identity that so many brands are looking for.

In today’s world, it’s important to talk about esthetics, as more and more people of all ages are entering the world of high-end luxury audio with high expectations of what they have come to know and appreciate in dealing with upper-echelon products from other luxury industries.

Vivaldi looks unmistakably different, with the stylishly carved luxury front panels inspired by the shapes and lines of nature, which immediately capture the attention of even people who have no concept of high-end audio.

Combined with the performance, build quality, and refined industrial design, Vivaldi is one of the (if not) most complete and great-looking ultra-high-end packages.  

There is simply no dearth of great music, and the Vivaldi Apex System has performed with sovereign strength in all genres of music, undulating with ease along with every type of music in focus from electronica to classical.

Vivaldi Apex, Vivaldi Master Clock, and Upsampler have removed some underlying layers and allowed to hear more of what is, a deeper dive into the art of how an album was produced, mixed, and mastered.

The way dCS Vivaldi Apex captures a musical moment is something very special, and that was immediately evident on “Phantoms,” Low Roar’s album 0.

“Phantoms,” with its tremendous sonic power and spectrum, not only provides a solid foundation for hearing what any digital front end (especially cost-no-object) is capable of, but it is also expertly mixed and mastered, pushing the evaluation of any digital front end to the extreme. 

The dCS Vivaldi Apex system expanded transparency by avoiding the artificial gloss and sheen that is often added (even to top-of-the-line DACs) but presented an ethereal appeal without laser focusing on sonic details, enabling the sonic power at its core and released potency of the music language to run freely. 

The Sea Change is among Beck’s most personal works, it reminds me of a particular time with some challenging changes in my own life.

With the dCS Vivaldi Apex Stack Sea Change, emotiveness and expressiveness unfolded even more profoundly, inundating the listening experience with more emotion and deeper affinity.

The Vivaldi Apex DAC system also fetched an interesting dynamic momentum that I felt had no limit to scalability. It reproduced minutely comprehensive details and musical intervals harmonically and with a far greater sense of involvement than I would have even remotely expected. 

As an analog aficionado, constant globetrotter, and owner of a high-tech studio with multiple highest-gate electronic music devices, Bieger’s relationship to music composing and sound is quite different and very sublime.

The “Stars” sound rich and expansive on their own, but the combination of dCS Vivaldi Upsampler, Vivaldi Apex DAC, and Vivaldi Master Clock brought out even more subliminal molecular forces of this minimalist but magnificently composed and sounding music with a new level of expansiveness and control.

A newfound authority, density, and intensity permitted the kick drum to form a remarkable epicenter unaffected by the surrounding frequencies of the lower registers, while the space between the notes grew larger to take on their intended shape and factor. This a remarkable achievement that deserves high praise for any digital front-end, regardless of price. 

The ethereality of Boards of Canada’s “An Eagle in Your Mind'” is unique and still resonates well all these years after its release.

The dCS Vivaldi unfolds the beauty of this kaleidoscopic, surreal masterpiece with even more depth, bringing out the tonal diversity and melodic variations of the Technicolor-esque “An Eagle in Your Mind'” more radiantly and with better dynamics, making it an even more enticing sonic escapade with lasting impact that invites repeat visits to discover what else is hidden in these aural landscapes. 

Superunknown by Soundgarden is still perhaps one of the most memorable and rock genre-defining albums of the 90s and “Black Hole Sun” a song that shaped the era and still inspires so many musicians and music lovers.

The dCS Vivaldi Apex Combo sheds new light on the iconic, melancholic nature of “Black Hole Sun” and expands its vastness and immensity, bringing out the musical mark by extracting and encapsulating the best moments with a neutral dynamism, creating a sense of more stretch in the aural field and an increased density that grants it, even more, affecting interactivity.

Too often, even the top-tier DACs merely abstract around a particular idea. In contrast, and most obviously with Superunknown, the dCS Vivaldi largely materializes the music without tampering with the progressive harmonic structure, bizarre narrative, or detached mood of the era. A splendid outcome!

With the dCS Vivaldi Apex digital Stack Contrasts for Orchestra: V. Allegro marciale – Presto – Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (Minnesota Orchestra) – Antal Dorati – Paul Fetler – Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (Minnesota Orchestra) – Antal Doráti.

“Contrasts for Orchestra: V. Allegro marciale – Presto” was not just another subject to a different interpretive framework. dCS Vivaldi brought the orchestral narrative to forte, making Contrasts for Orchestra a full-fledged embodiment of a symphony of colors and textures that sounded more vital and closer to reality, without reducing a central energy that can all too easily become off-center even with digital front-ends at this level.

The dCS Vivaldi Apex Stack easily presented an obligatory, much larger picture of the orchestra without obliterating dynamics or bursting the bubble of a harmonic whole, that in the real-world scenario travels toward the listener as one unified entity. Perhaps most importantly, Vivaldi Apex resolves the dilemma of adequate formation and propagation of orchestral music in the digital domain.