Hi all,
I’m wondering if I could replace the Purcell Upsampler feeding my Delius DAC with a Scarlatti Upsampler if it acts as a Roon endpoint?
The alternative I guess would be to add a Network Bridge.
If the Scarlatti is Roon Ready would this feeding the Delius be better than a Network Bridge to Purcell to Delius?
Thx P
The Scarlatti lacks a network interface and is not (nor will it ever be) a Roon Ready device.
That’s an excellent choice and this is one of the use cases for which the Network Bridge was intended.
Unfortunately, the Purcell is limited to 24/96 on its AES input, so you might be better off connecting the Bridge to the Delius directly. It can be made to work with the Purcell in the chain, but the Bridge will downsample content over 96K.
The Scarlatti cannot be used as a endpoint.
Just use the Network bridge or…
If you want a better sound sell everything and buy a Rossini DAC/ streamer.
Thanks for replying Andrew!
Ah, I thought I could have my Mac Mini running Roon Core connected to the dCS Scarlatti via USB and then upsample to the dCS Delius.
I really want a replacement for a glitching Halide Design Bridge USB to SPDIF from my Mac to dCS stack.
I have hardly any high res music on the Mac, mainly 16/44.1, nor do I use Core DSP to upsample, so I’m not too worried about a 24/96 input limit.
Looking forward to hearing the dCS Network Bridge today with Paul at HiFi Lounge!
Thanks for the tip Roony!
Alas, a Rossini streamer lies outside of my budget.
The budget solution would be to use something like a microRendu or similar. I used to use one (on another brand DAC) and it worked really well with pretty high performance.
Sorry, I misunderstood you. Roon Ready implies a networked device so I read your question through that lens.
Connecting to the Scarlatti Upsampler via USB is no problem and should be a nice overall upgrade over your Purcell. I’d recommend putting a call into your dCS dealer on this as we have a number of these units in Certified Pre-Owned stock which have been thoroughly gone through and have a warranty.
From my experience, I have used in the past (with a non-dCS DAC):
1- USB direct from mini running core
2- USB + USB Regen
3- USB + W4S Reclocker
4- microRendu + LPS-1 power supply
The above is in order of sound quality, with the microRendu being far and away the best. So if you’re on a budget (ie don’t want to spring for a full Vivaldi stack just yet 
) this is a great solution. And you get Airplay, Spotify, etc optionality as well.
I decided to go for a Network Streamer so I can keep my existing dCS kit.
I auditioned the dCS Network Bridge and a BlueSound Node 2 in £100,000 system at HiFi Lounge - wow!
It’s worth noting first what a great place HiFi Lounge is: multiple listening rooms (acoustically treated), high end kit and with Paul and Wendy being so helpfull and friendly.
The signal path was: Roon/NAS; dCS Network Bridge/BlueSound Node 2; dCS Rossini Player; Audio Research LS28; Audio Research Reference 160M; Martin Logan Renaissance ESL 15A.
I listened first to the BlueSound Node 2 and then the dCS network Bridge with a mix of music but mainly acoustic, classical and classical instrumental.
My preconception was that the differences in sound between the two would be small and I listened carefully to the Node 2 for some time finishing with a Bach Cello suite. It took me all of 10 seconds listening to the same suite on the dCS Network Bridge to know this was the one for me.
Via the dCS Network Bridge the music was almost overwhelming, making the Node 2 sound rough, ill focused and with a forward presentation by comparison.
My initial reaction was to reach for the credit card and put in an order, but then sat back for a while to enjoy the music while I could.
After tearing myself away, I put in an order for the dCS Network Bridge, which due to high demand, means I may have to wait a while. Time is dragging already!
Many thanks to all those who replied.