Devialet pro and Chord technology

[Pim]

We have communicated before and I value and respect your knowledge about high end audio.  Since this topic has come up again, let me rehash the issue.  If the chord Dave and M scaler work so well with the 1000 pro, would it be safe to assume that so will the dCS Vivaldi Upsampler? Thank you

Yes it would for whatever happens in the frequency range below 48kHz (or 96kHz depending on how you configure it) and to the SNR and THD corresponding to 24bits which is around 144dB.

After that it is a matter of opinion, some people are convinced that what happens beyond those frequency matter, other don't (I belong to the group that considers that what happens beyond the bandwidth of the ear is at best irrelevant and at worse detrimental if improperly handled, but be aware that this position is not universally accepted within high end audio).

I am also of the opinion that the ADC and DAC stages of most equipment (unless grossly mis engineered) is absolutely transparent to the ear and therefore what matters are the filters and the analog stages of the equipment. 

This is what make de Devialet a unique amplifier and if the dCS Vivaldi Upsampler is bringing you benefits, I would assume that they are coming from the analog and/or filtering stages and therefore would faithfully be carried through by using the Devialet as a pure amplifier. 

it would be ideal if you could test it on your own system before taking the plunge, because at the end of the day, what really matters is the perception that we have within our environment. 

Jean-Marie

I am a bit late relying to this - I missed it when posted.

As a point to note, the dCS Upsampler is not a DAC, so it has no analogue stage.  Basically it is digital in, digital out.  It can play music from a USB drive to act as a music server.  It is now Roon Ready, and can accept music via AirPlay, Tidal, USB and so on.

So it is better described as an upsampling network attached end point, or something like that.

I have listened to one feeding a Devialet D800 (with and without the associated master clock), and I have to say that it is just about the best thing I have ever heard feeding a D800.

I would have bought one, but for me it was far too much money for something that is in product category that seems to be developing very rapidly these days.

Would it be any good with a 1000 Pro?  I suspect it would, but only if the very high cost was not a concern.  I have also seen reports that the dCS Vivaldi Master Clock is improved if used with the Mutec REF10 as a 10Mhz reference clock.  So that is a £3k+ reference clock to feed a £12K Master clock, to feed a £17K upsampler, which is more money than is needed to buy a 100Pro.  So not exactly the value proposition.  Which probably explains why I never bought the Vivaldi kit, and now run a cheap and cheerful Mutec MC3+USB + Mutec REF10, with upsampling thanks to budget price HQPlayer software.  Probably not as good as the Vivaldi kit, but it gets close and leaves enough change to buy a modest car, a new Ducati, retire a year earlier, have a very good night out, or something like that.

It was very good with the D800 though!  And cheaper at the time I listened to one.  If anyone has a second-hand one for £4K or cheaper, I'm in!

Confused, you and others have written about the upsampler here before. What is it about the sound that makes it the best you had ever heard? Is it more open? More full bodied? Is there more detail? I'd be very interested to know what it is.