The Stereo Sound Best Buy award was highlighted in the December print issue of this renowned magazine. Here's what the editors had to say:
The translation below was provided by our friends & partners at Taiyo International Inc, Japan.
Lina Network DAC
Lina is the latest series from dCS, a British company that continues to produce truly world-class products in the field of digital equipment. Although the Lina was originally designed for headphone listening, this D/A converter is also perfectly suited for speaker listening. The best thing about this compact size is that it delivers the elegant, high-resolution sound that is typical of the company. (Koji Onodera)
Bartók APEX
The dCS Bartok is a versatile product with DAC functionality at its core and support for UPnP network playback and Roon Ready. The update to the latest generation Ring DAC APEX has yielded significant results, with a greater amount of information and S/N than its predecessor. The new product has rich and detailed tonal textures, even down to the weakest notes. Moreover, it achieved the ability to bring out the silky feel of strings and voices to the utmost limit. (Tadashi Yamanouchi)
Vivaldi APEX DAC
APEX's top-of-the-line model, sublimating its unique 5-bit processing and patented ring DAC with minimal conversion error to the ultimate in sound quality. Although Rossini and Bartok, which can also be networked as a standalone unit, are functionally superior to the Vivaldi DAC, the sound of this unit is exceptional. I wondered if it would be suitable for the "Best Buy" list because it is so expensive, but judging by the sound quality, I have to give it my recommendation. (Takahito Miura)
Explore Stereo Sound, Japan here.
