dCS Network Firmware [398] release announcement

Announcing dCS Network Firmware version 398

We are pleased to announce the release of dCS network firmware version 398 for all of our network streaming products. This version was released earlier this month for Vivaldi Upsampler and it is now available for Vivaldi One, Rossini, and Network Bridge. All of our streaming products will now be running on a common codebase.

This is primarily a maintenance release and includes a number of bugfixes and stability enhancements in all areas of the software. This release should significantly improve performance and stability when using Roon.

The release notes (linked below) contain details of the changes as well as preliminary documentation of new features. The update will be available at 9:00AM GMT on 29th October 2018.

There are no updates to any of the dCS apps associated with this release.

As with all of our network firmware releases the update can be initiated from within the dCS app:

Configuration > Information > Versions > Check for Updates

You can also update via the embedded web page by selecting the “Device Settings” tab and then clicking on “Check for Update” under the Internet update section.

Network Bridge owners will also receive a main board firmware update to 1.01 which is being released to address the issue of the front panel LED not flashing when the network firmware is updated. There are no other changes in Network Bridge 1.01.

Release notes for network firmware 398 can be downloaded from this link:

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask them here.

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Great set of fixes and improvements guys! Amazing.

Very happy to be a customer!!!

Checking for new firmware updates on both the web interface and the dCS app. Nothing showing.

Current versions on Rossini are Net:368 / Control:1.10

Sorry, going to have to wait a couple of days :wink:

We were trying to get in front of this one rather than release first and tell people later.

Jeezzz. You guys balance out great tech skills with truly awful PR!!! Fergodsake.

Ah… c’mon man, It was clearly stated in the announcement when the update would be available!

I can’t seem to win. Announce on the day and someone is mad that they didn’t get a heads up. Give people a heads up and that doesn’t seem to work.

That’s it. All future updates are cancelled! (and we had some really cool stuff planned) :grin:

It was clearly stated in the announcement and it was the same for the previous one. You can wait 3 days ? It is quite fair from dCS to announce it this way with a lot of information on the fixes, enhancement and still bugs to be fixed (missing the UPnP not gapless in the list).

My bad @AMP. Sorry.

BTW, I got it very wrong… Making the update available Monday morning certainly is much more advisable from a PR standpoint as everyone would be in the office to resolve any issues ASAP.

Again, my bad.

Update done on my Network Bridge. Let’s see

After update Rossini Dac:
Playing a 24/96 MQA on Tidal.
Then switch to another album also 24/96 MQA
When I push the play button in Roon: a very loud klick.
Music is playing on the same volume.
Now no reaction when I turn the volume or push a button on the dac.
Also with the dCS app: no reaction.
Power off and on at the rear and everything works ok.

I have actually noticed a pop in a few track changes. In my case it was redbook but upsampled within Roon to 352.

@roony, this sounds like the part of the FPGA that controls the front panel locked up. The network firmware has no ability to influence the device to that level. If this happens again please let us know.

Was this two redbook tracks going through a natural transition or did you skip to the next track? Were they both from the same disc? If you change the buffer setting on the DAC do you notice a difference?

This very loud click happend before the second last update, and it was gone. Now it is back.

Natural transition. Same with a DSD128 album (Amber Rubarth, Sessions from the 17th Ward). This behavior is definitely new.

Have not changed the buffer setting. Actually made sure to reload defaults.

What are your upsampling settings and filters in Roon?

How are the following settings configured on your Rossini:
Upsampling setting (DXD or DSD)
PCM Filter
DSD Filter
DAC Buffer
Output voltage
Typical volume control level

If there’s a Tidal album that exhibits the problem then please let me know what that is. I’ve been playing various redbook content through my Rossini all day using Roon’s DXD upsampling and it hasn’t made any noises at all.

Due to the way that Roon works I wouldn’t expect there to be any noise on transition. With or without upsampling the core sends a continuous stream as long as the sample rate / format don’t change. You could queue up 20 redbook albums and from the DAC’s perspective it would be just like playing a really long track.

All setting on Rossini are default factory, have not changed anything.

When I play redbook, it is playing with power of two upsampling in Roon to PCM (hence 352). Also default settings in Roon upsampling.

The Amber Rubarth DSD128 album has a small pop (on the right channel in my system) on every song transition. Odd. Maybe it was there before and never paid attention.

Added a 100ms sync delay (maybe between tracks it went back to PCM?) but no difference in behavior.

As a side note, the Rubarth album mentioned is stunningly beautiful. A must have.

I’m running a dCS Network Bridge, with a Debussy DAC.

Some time ago, I think I followed instructions in this forum to configure the bridge (in roon device setup) as MQA “Decoder and Renderer”.

If I load defaults after this update, it shows “Decoder Only”.

Which is correct? (It seemed to have been working fine with the “Decoder and Renderer” setting.)

thanks

I think “Decoder Only” is the answer. Rendering means selecting particular upsampling filters specified in the Decoded bitstream - which any rendering DAC should be able to pick up and render. The NB is NOT a renderer.

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“Decoder Only” is the correct default state as there’s no way for the Bridge to know whether or not the connected DAC has a renderer. If an MQA-capable DAC is connected then the user can override the setting in Roon.

The difference between the two settings allows Roon to make decisions about how to handle the bitstream if it’s MQA.

With normal playback Roon sends the file to the Bridge and the Bridge does the MQA decode.

If Roon’s DSP is used then the behavior is different:

Decoder only: Roon does the MQA core decoding process, applies DSP, and sends that stream to the Bridge. That stream has no MQA signaling flags embedded so no further MQA processing can be done on it.

Decoder and Renderer: Roon does the MQA core decoding process, applies DSP, re-attaches the MQA signaling information, and sends that stream to the Bridge. This allows the downstream DAC to perform the MQA rendering stage.

In your case “Decoder Only” is the correct setting as the Debussy has no MQA functionality.

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