[carabeeno]

The new dCS Scarlatti Upsampler ($12999) has been introduced at RMAF and provides the ultimate in performance from ALL digital sources, including PC/Mac based digital music files.

dCS research has uncovered virtually all of the limitations of current designs in both media servers and home-grown setups using a PC or Mac, set up solid design principles including “Musical performance cannot be compromised by the choice of source (PC vs. Compact Disc)”, and produced a product that allows ultimate performance from any digital source.

This development, more than any other in the history of digital music, finally links the absolutely best sound quality with maximum convenience and access.  The Scarlatti Upsampler is truly a landmark product.

Getting into things a bit deeper, dCS identified the following limitations where at least one was found in existing media servers-

 -No  industry  standard specifications  exist  for  media servers
 -Extremely  difficult  to  switch  from  one  media  server  to  another 
 -Complex  installation  and  set‐up  often  requires  specialist  assistance
 -Proprietary  user  interface  and  accessories
 -Support  for  limited  number  of  file  types  (e.g.  FLAC,  WAV)
 -Fixed  storage  capacity  (Example:  1  x  SACD  requires  9Gb)
 -Only  able  to  play  back  music  stored  on  the  hard  drive
 -Internal  PC  (running  TCP/IP,  UI  etc)  damaging  to  D/A  process  due  to  noise  and  jitter
 -No  additional  digital  inputs  or  outputs
 -Inadequate  backup  and  failover  features
 -No  more  functionality  than  an  average  PC  and  Sound  Card
 -Exciting  new  software  to  support  Playback,  Remote  Control,  Ripping  etc.  is  written  for    Windows™  and  Apple™  not  the  high  end  media  server  manufacturers.

dCS has also identified current problems noted with using  a PC/Mac as a source-

Sound Cards-
 -Cheap but poorest in terms of high-end performance.

USB to SPDIF Converters-
 -None use asynchronous mode of data transfer
 -None provide word clock outputs for lower jitter slaving of DAC, making the converters vulnerable to data induced jitter
 -None use a high grade oscillator such as a OCXD or provide an input for a word clock, so even if they were to use asynchronous mode, jitter and absolute frequency would be worse.

USB DACs-
 -Having  USB  natively  inside  a  DAC  unit  means  another  clock  inside  the  DAC  that  is  not  correlated  with  audio  clocks.  This  can  cause  clock  contamination.
 -USB  is  also  capable  of  carrying  EMI  from  the  PC  inside  the  DAC,  causing  noise  in  delicate  analogue  electronics.
 -A  standalone  DAC  has  no  capability  of  slaving  to  another  clock  source,  which  the  consumer  might  own  and  prefer  for  its  improved  sonic  performance.
 -A  standalone  USB  DAC  does  not  exploit  the  investment  and  quality  of  a  standalone  DAC  unit  which  the  consumer  might  already  own.

The newly patented dCS Scarlatti Upsampler addresses and solves all of the above problems and issues.  Availability - immediately

For more information, please view these new resources available from dCS-
http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/?p=product&id=33
http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/assets/prod_33-1222351077.pdf

[carabeeno]

[Jon L]

The newly patented dCS Scarlatti Upsampler addresses and solves all of the above problems and issues.  Availability - immediately

Well, I have read the dCS links.  All they say about their miracle USB cure is:

"Asynchronous USB
In USB, there are numerous modes for synchronising the audio between the PC (the host ), and an audio device. The most popular of these, Adaptive, is where the audio device synchronises itself to the USB "frame" provided by the PC. This tends to be relatively poor in terms of both absolute frequency and jitter. The one used by the upsampler is called "Asynchronous" (NOT to be confused with asynchronous rate conversion). In this scenario, the audio device synchronises the audio by providing a feedback pipe to the PC. The PC then is effectively locked to the audio device, which can have a much more accurate clock and much lower jitter. In our case, the use of a master clock can mean excellent absolute frequency as well."

There is absolutely no specific detail about what's being used and done.  Which USB chip is being used and did dCS write their own software for the asynch protocol? 

[*Scotty*]

DCS says that all digital inputs will accept a 24/96 PCM data,this includes the USB input. I have been unable to find a USB codec from any mfgr that will output anything other than a 16/44 PCM data stream regardless of what might come out of the PC and hit the USB interface chip. I think they rolled their own circuit and I don't they invented a paper tiger for marketing purposes.  Friends whose ears I respect have not been overwhelmed by hard drive based playback from music servers whether done via WIFI or USB based connections.
Perhaps their identification of time based errors from the PC partially explains the observed phenomena. I can also understand why they are not specific about how they asynchronously
interface with the PC. You don't want to give away intellectual property to your competitors and help them improve the performance of their products.
Scotty

[mcullinan]

when I think dcs I think mad $$$$$$$$$$$$
That I don't have. Yet.

[dwk]

There is absolutely no specific detail about what's being used and done.  Which USB chip is being used and did dCS write their own software for the asynch protocol? 

I'm not sure whether there is any off-the-shelf audio chipset that uses async mode; if there is, it's probably pretty new. Search for posts by Gordon Rankin of Wavelength over on AudioAsylum as a start for info on async mode - he's been working on it for a while and it looks like it was basically a 'code the device from scratch' approach.

Not to suggest that $13k is cheap, but I was actually expecting a higher price tag given the ultra-high-end trends.

[Jon L]

Not to suggest that $13k is cheap, but I was actually expecting a higher price tag given the ultra-high-end trends.

You guys realize the $13K is *just* for the upsampler, not including a DAC.  In my world, that's simply too much no matter how "ultra-high-end" it is. 

[*Scotty*]

I agree that price of the DCS solution for the PC to DAC interface is expensive. I think with some of the problems with the interface defined it remains for other players in the industry
to step up and implement more economical  solutions which effectively deal with synchronizing the PC with the DAC. The USB codecs available are confined to outputting a 16/44 PCM
data stream and will not deal with 24 bit word lengths or higher sample rates. With potential for downloading high resolution media looming on the horizon a cheap chip designed to interface the PC with inexpensive PC sound systems and media systems has no place in any product claiming to deliver high end performance. The timing problems and how the mfgr solves them should be the first question you ask closely followed by how they designed their analogue output stage.
Scotty

[serengetiplains]

Scotty, are you sure USB passes only 16/44?  Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio has many times spoken of 24/96 in his USB designs.  I claim absolute ignorance, myself.

[*Scotty*]

Steve is probably not using an off the shelf USB codec to do the job of interfacing the PC with the DAC. The PACE-CAR appears to do the same job as the dCS Scarlatti without over- sampling the incoming data. The Pace-Car Type 1 drives a Master Clock back to the server device, replacing the internal clock in the device, similar to Transports that have a "Word Clock" input. Mods to the "device" are required. The Pace-Car Type 2 reclocks incoming data but does not control the clock of the incoming signal. An interesting horse race would be to pit the Pace-Car Type 2 against the Scarlatti.
Scotty

[serengetiplains]

Thanks for the info, Scotty.  At 12% of the price, I think I'll take that Pace Car test! 

[dwk]

Not to suggest that $13k is cheap, but I was actually expecting a higher price tag given the ultra-high-end trends.

You guys realize the $13K is *just* for the upsampler, not including a DAC.  In my world, that's simply too much no matter how "ultra-high-end" it is. 

Sorry, I didn't mean appear to 'defend' the price - it's clearly in 'crazy' territory. (I think I've got about $3.5k in my entire rig), only that compared to other stuff in the recent Audio Unlimited flyer (ultra-high-end Denver dealer who is very prominent at RMAF) including $150k turntables and $180k speakers, it's only 'crazy' rather than 'completely bonkers'.