The British HiFi brand has been teasing its APEX technology for quite a while now. And a lot of audio enthusiasts have been waiting to see what the technology can bring to the table. The wait ends here! DCS has released its first models featuring the all-new dCS Ring DAC Apex technology.
Basically, the news about the Apex technology has been hovering around for about a month now. And it was soon overdue as the previous DAC technology that dCS was relying on had become quite dated at this moment. So, dCS did manage to win the hearts of the audio enthusiasts by launching the dCS Rossini APEX player, Rossini APEX DAC, and Vivaldi APEX DAC.
Let’s first start with the dCS Ring DAC. It is now an integral part of all of the dCS integrated music players and dCS DACs. But the great part is that the team of dCS engineered the system from the ground up. At its core, it features a combination of proprietary software and hardware. All of that was engineered in-house in Cambridgeshire, UK.
So, what changed in the DAC system? A lot! The team has completely overhauled the entire system by making extensive changes to the Ring DAC’s hardware. But if you are more interested to know what did not change, it is the resistor array. That part seemed to be the same. Apart from that, everything is different for the Ring DAC APEX system.
Nonetheless, the modifications revamped the reference supply. This supply feeds the Ring DAC. And for the modifications, the new systems see a lower output impedance. Eventually, the upgrade will also enhance the filter, output stages, and summing of the Ring DAC.
Additionally, with the improvement in the symmetry of the summing stages, you are basically looking at an all-new output stage and a lot of reconfigurations on the main circuit board.
What about the Vivaldi APEX DAC and Rossini APEX DAC? Well, the new iteration has the same array of features as the previous one. The main change is the new Ring APEX DAC. But for the Rossini player, you will see a custom UPnP steamer. It will now combine the CD transport, streamer, and DAC in the same package.
However, dCS did make this digital to analog conversion system exclusive to their premium audio part. So, do not expect it to be present on any of the budget-friendly options.
But if you already own existing Vivaldi and Rossini devices, there is good news for you. You will be eligible to make purchase the upgraded APEX DAC without needing to throw your old system in the trash. And the best part is that the upgrades will be available throughout dCS distributors worldwide. However, you still need to wait up until May.
Images: Unsplash & dCS
Slava is a man of mystery and no-one seems to know exactly where he is at any point in time. When he isn't enjoying writing about all things audio and technical he can be found researching his next project of interest. The man never rests.