Our Boldest Ideas, Realised
Experience exhilarating realism and
undiluted immersion with our most
advanced music system to date
THE VARÈSE MUSIC SYSTEM
Varèse features a unique architecture devised for total precision and absolute fidelity. Its novel design and bespoke technologies bring a level of performance beyond anything we had previously dared dream possible.
SPECIFICATIONS
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Radical Innovation
Varèse is our most ambitious undertaking to date – the culmination of a series of intensive projects that began when we asked ourselves: how do we create an even more profound and immersive experience for music listeners of the future?
Our engineering team have developed new processes, products and protocols, once again stretching the limits of audio engineering to create our best-performing, most revealing and most intuitive music system to date.
- David Steven, Managing Director – dCSVarèse is the most challenging undertaking of our careers in audio. We set out to redefine state-of-the-art whilst at the same time creating an entirely new and immersive user experience.
We knew we had to embrace a singular vision, and be brave and relentless in our pursuit of this, to bring listeners a system that is measurably and demonstrably special.
CORE
The Core is the heart of the Varèse Music System. This technological powerhouse supports most hi-res formats and major streaming services. It handles a multitude of operations, from audio input to the conversion, noise shaping and filtering stages carried out before signals are output to the Varèse Mono DACs.
The first dCS product of its kind, it utilises our novel ACTUS protocol to radically simplify setup whilst taking sonic and measured performance to new heights.
MONO DACs
The Varèse Mono DACs encapsulate our relentless focus on absolute performance. Driven by a desire to further enhance the sonic and technical capabilities of our DACs, we embarked on a radical reinterpretation of our DAC architecture and technologies.
We created a dedicated DAC for each audio channel, along with an all-new version of our renowned dCS Ring DAC™ hardware. We also devised a patented clocking protocol, dCS Tomix, to ensure perfect synchronicity between the Mono DACs.
These innovations have enabled us to take our signature ultra-low distortion performance to a new level whilst significantly lowering noise floor, bringing listeners an even more compelling and visceral sonic experience.
Discover new depths of detail and emotion in your music, and prepare to fall in love with your favourite recordings all over again, with the sublime capabilities of these extraordinary components.
MASTER CLOCK
The Varèse Master Clock brings all the benefits of a dedicated dCS master clock – including improved imaging, focus and presence – to the Varèse Music System. It ensures absolute timing accuracy and synchronicity for optimal performance at all audio sample rates.
The Master Clock utilises our new ACTUS and dCS Tomix protocols to deliver unrivalled jitter performance, providing our lowest jitter, lowest drift and most accurate clocking signal yet.
Its design is informed by our decades of experience developing audio master clocks for both professional and home use.
USER INTERFACE
The Varèse User Interface works in tandem with the Varèse Remote Control and dCS Mosaic ACTUS app to deliver a rich and engaging playback experience.
Its full-colour touch screen displays full album art plus detailed track data, play queues and other settings, allowing you to view more information at a glance.
Display modes and visible information can be tailored to suit your preferences, with customisable views, adjustable text size settings and optional dark mode.
The User Interface connects with the Varèse Remote Control via Bluetooth LE. It also enables compatibility and integration with UPnP control point renderers and servers.
REMOTE CONTROL
With its ergonomic design, backlit touch icons and focused hot keys, the Varèse Remote Control provides an intuitive and highly tactile way to interact with your Varèse Music System.
Use the volume dial to adjust levels or perform a range of functions such as play, skip, pause and mute with just one tap, all whilst remaining immersed in your music.
The Remote Control charges via USB-C and connects to the Varèse Music System via Bluetooth for maximum convenience.
Meticulously crafted, it features a capacitive touch glass screen with illuminated icons and CNC-machined aluminium casework.
MOSAIC ACTUS
The new dCS Mosaic ACTUS app offers a rich browsing experience and refreshingly simple navigation.
Its intuitive design allows you to set up your system, browse music and control playback with the greatest of ease, so you can spend more time immersing yourself in your favourite recordings.
ACTUS CABLE
The Varèse system utilises a bespoke interface, dCS ACTUS, to deliver audio, control and timing signals between Varèse components. This means that components can be connected with a single ACTUS cable running from the Varèse Core to each unit.
The ACTUS cable is made up of six twisted pairs of copper cable, carrying asynchronous & error corrected audio signals, control signals and a master clock signal sent via our patented dCS Tomix protocol.
Components
- CORE
- MONO DACs
- MASTER CLOCK
- USER INTERFACE
- REMOTE CONTROL
- MOSAIC ACTUS
- ACTUS CABLE
CORE
The Core is the heart of the Varèse Music System. This technological powerhouse supports most hi-res formats and major streaming services. It handles a multitude of operations, from audio input to the conversion, noise shaping and filtering stages carried out before signals are output to the Varèse Mono DACs.
The first dCS product of its kind, it utilises our novel ACTUS protocol to radically simplify setup whilst taking sonic and measured performance to new heights.
MONO DACs
The Varèse Mono DACs encapsulate our relentless focus on absolute performance. Driven by a desire to further enhance the sonic and technical capabilities of our DACs, we embarked on a radical reinterpretation of our DAC architecture and technologies.
We created a dedicated DAC for each audio channel, along with an all-new version of our renowned dCS Ring DAC™ hardware. We also devised a patented clocking protocol, dCS Tomix, to ensure perfect synchronicity between the Mono DACs.
These innovations have enabled us to take our signature ultra-low distortion performance to a new level whilst significantly lowering noise floor, bringing listeners an even more compelling and visceral sonic experience.
Discover new depths of detail and emotion in your music, and prepare to fall in love with your favourite recordings all over again, with the sublime capabilities of these extraordinary components.
MASTER CLOCK
The Varèse Master Clock brings all the benefits of a dedicated dCS master clock – including improved imaging, focus and presence – to the Varèse Music System. It ensures absolute timing accuracy and synchronicity for optimal performance at all audio sample rates.
The Master Clock utilises our new ACTUS and dCS Tomix protocols to deliver unrivalled jitter performance, providing our lowest jitter, lowest drift and most accurate clocking signal yet.
Its design is informed by our decades of experience developing audio master clocks for both professional and home use.
USER INTERFACE
The Varèse User Interface works in tandem with the Varèse Remote Control and dCS Mosaic ACTUS app to deliver a rich and engaging playback experience.
Its full-colour touch screen displays full album art plus detailed track data, play queues and other settings, allowing you to view more information at a glance.
Display modes and visible information can be tailored to suit your preferences, with customisable views, adjustable text size settings and optional dark mode.
The User Interface connects with the Varèse Remote Control via Bluetooth LE. It also enables compatibility and integration with UPnP control point renderers and servers.
REMOTE CONTROL
With its ergonomic design, backlit touch icons and focused hot keys, the Varèse Remote Control provides an intuitive and highly tactile way to interact with your Varèse Music System.
Use the volume dial to adjust levels or perform a range of functions such as play, skip, pause and mute with just one tap, all whilst remaining immersed in your music.
The Remote Control charges via USB-C and connects to the Varèse Music System via Bluetooth for maximum convenience.
Meticulously crafted, it features a capacitive touch glass screen with illuminated icons and CNC-machined aluminium casework.
MOSAIC ACTUS
The new dCS Mosaic ACTUS app offers a rich browsing experience and refreshingly simple navigation.
Its intuitive design allows you to set up your system, browse music and control playback with the greatest of ease, so you can spend more time immersing yourself in your favourite recordings.
ACTUS CABLE
The Varèse system utilises a bespoke interface, dCS ACTUS, to deliver audio, control and timing signals between Varèse components. This means that components can be connected with a single ACTUS cable running from the Varèse Core to each unit.
The ACTUS cable is made up of six twisted pairs of copper cable, carrying asynchronous & error corrected audio signals, control signals and a master clock signal sent via our patented dCS Tomix protocol.
INNOVATIONS &
TECHNOLOGIES
Actus
Audio - Control - Timing - Unified - System
ACTUS is a bespoke interface that delivers audio, control and timing signals between Varèse components. This novel innovation enables the Varèse Music System to be connected with a single cable running from the Core to each unit.
The ACTUS protocol is unique to Varèse. Building on learnings gained through four decades of audio design, we set out to radically simplify setup whilst further enhancing musical performance.
This novel innovation removes the complexities associated with multi-component audio systems and provides a simple yet high-performance solution for listeners.
DIFFERENTIAL RING DAC
Achieving the Impossible.
The dCS Ring DAC™ has earned global acclaim for its technical and sonic abilities. This unique digital-to -analogue conversion system resides at the heart of all dCS DACs. It has been carefully refined over many years to reproduce sound with the utmost clarity and precision, bringing listeners a profoundly natural and highly detailed musical performance.
In 2022 we delivered major enhancements with the launch of our Ring DAC APEX hardware. Not content with our achievements, we continued exploring how we could build on our accomplishments and once again improve the capabilities of dCS DACs. After thorough investigation, we decided this could only be achieved with a comprehensive redesign of the Ring DAC’s architecture and operations.
We made a number of developments, creating a new design with twice as many current sources and introducing a new differential mode of operation. Our extensive changes have made it possible to further increase linearity whilst significantly lowering noise floor and delivering a host of additional benefits.
The biggest change to our DAC architecture in a generation, the Differential Ring DAC elevates the dCS experience onceagain, bringing an experience of even greater presence, immediacy and intensity…
Tomix
A Novel Approach to Mono DAC Synchronisation.
dCS Tomix is a patented clocking technology which enables the Varèse Mono DACs to operate in complete synchronicity – ensuring the left and right channels of each audio sample are converted at exactly the right moment – whilst simultaneously maintaining the highest degree of clocking accuracy within each DAC.
While developing Varèse, we carried out an exhaustive review of existing protocols and found that no current technology enabled us to achieve perfect sychronicity when sending signals via IP link. We felt there was scope to create a novel solution and our investigations led us to develop dCS Tomix.
This breakthrough allows us to harness the sonic benefits of a Mono DAC arrangement whilst maintaining the exacting standards we have set for clocking performance.
INNOVATIONS &
TECHNOLOGIES
.jpg)
Actus
Audio - Control - Timing - Unified - System
ACTUS is a bespoke interface that delivers audio, control and timing signals between Varèse components. This novel innovation enables the Varèse Music System to be connected with a single cable running from the Core to each unit.
The ACTUS protocol is unique to Varèse. Building on learnings gained through four decades of audio design, we set out to radically simplify setup whilst further enhancing musical performance.
This novel innovation removes the complexities associated with multi-component audio systems and provides a simple yet high-performance solution for listeners.
DIFFERENTIAL RING DAC
Achieving the Impossible.
The dCS Ring DAC™ has earned global acclaim for its technical and sonic abilities. This unique digital-to -analogue conversion system resides at the heart of all dCS DACs. It has been carefully refined over many years to reproduce sound with the utmost clarity and precision, bringing listeners a profoundly natural and highly detailed musical performance.
In 2022 we delivered major enhancements with the launch of our Ring DAC APEX hardware. Not content with our achievements, we continued exploring how we could build on our accomplishments and once again improve the capabilities of dCS DACs. After thorough investigation, we decided this could only be achieved with a comprehensive redesign of the Ring DAC’s architecture and operations.
We made a number of developments, creating a new design with twice as many current sources and introducing a new differential mode of operation. Our extensive changes have made it possible to further increase linearity whilst significantly lowering noise floor and delivering a host of additional benefits.
The biggest change to our DAC architecture in a generation, the Differential Ring DAC elevates the dCS experience onceagain, bringing an experience of even greater presence, immediacy and intensity…
Tomix
A Novel Approach to Mono DAC Synchronisation.
dCS Tomix is a patented clocking technology which enables the Varèse Mono DACs to operate in complete synchronicity – ensuring the left and right channels of each audio sample are converted at exactly the right moment – whilst simultaneously maintaining the highest degree of clocking accuracy within each DAC.
While developing Varèse, we carried out an exhaustive review of existing protocols and found that no current technology enabled us to achieve perfect sychronicity when sending signals via IP link. We felt there was scope to create a novel solution and our investigations led us to develop dCS Tomix.
This breakthrough allows us to harness the sonic benefits of a Mono DAC arrangement whilst maintaining the exacting standards we have set for clocking performance.
- Andy McHarg, Technical Director – dCSI've been at dCS for over 30 years .... I think it's fair to say that Varèse is the most complicated and challenging project I've been involved in, but I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of the team and the system they have created.
Experience Varèse
Varèse is available from select dCS distributors and retailers from late 2024. Click the link below for more information