Tuesday, August 14, 2012

dCS Vivaldi Transport






































Vivaldi Transport is designed to extract revelatory levels of detail from both CD and SACD and is the ultimate machine for silver disc replay. All signal processing in Vivaldi Transport is controlled by electronics designed by dCS. It uses the TEAC Esoteric VRDS Neo™ mechanism which provides a brushless motor with heavy flywheel for stable disc rotation and super rigid construction.

The powerful digital processing platform of Vivaldi Transport is based around Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chips and a microcontroller system. All of these use code developed and maintained in-house by dCS. Vivaldi Transport represents true state-of-the-art in digital audio by offering twice the logic capacity of previous generations, delivering unmatched sonic and measured performance.

In order to enhance the cleanness of the power supply and isolate the mechanism from the electronics Vivaldi Transport features a completely new chassis design that has separate power circuits for the digital processing and CD/SACD mechanism sections. This has resulted in near silent operation.

Vivaldi Transport features a Dual AES output that supports dCS-encrypted DSD (1 bit data at the rate of 2.822MS/s) to a dCS DAC from CD or SACD. Vivaldi Transport also offers the option of upsampling CD data to DXD (24 bit data at the rate of 352.8kS/s) and transmitting this data over the same Dual AES interface. SACDs are played in their native DSD format, again using the Dual AES interface. Native CD data is available from 4 PCM outputs (1x AES/EBU and 2x SPDIF, 1x SDIF-2), as is down-sampled SACD data.

Vivaldi Transport is intended to be used with the matching Vivaldi DAC or with any suitable industry standard DAC. The unit may be run either in Master mode or with the DAC as the system clock. Performance will be enhanced further by adding Vivaldi Clock to the system.

The dCS ‘soft’ approach to programmable logic makes it extremely easy for users to update Vivaldi Transport software, whether adding new features, installing performance upgrades or adapting to changes in digital formats.

Used as part of a complete Vivaldi digital audio playback system Vivaldi Transport gives a performance of effortless realism each and every time.


Key Features

Utilising the latest generation dCS Digital Processing Platform which offers stateof- the-art measured performance and unrivalled musical experience.

Plays Red Book CDs in their native 16/44.1 format AND upsamples the data to either DSD or DXD.

Plays SACDs in their native DSD format AND downsamples the data to CD format.

Improved power supplies give lower running temperature and improved tolerance to AC supply variations.

Multi-stage regulation ensures sensitive analogue circuitry is not affected by digital interference.

Features separate power circuits for the digital processing and CD/SACD mechanism sections to further enhance the power supply cleanness.

Aerospace grade machined aluminum chassis fitted with tuned acoustic damping panels reduces magnetic effects
and vibration.


Specifications

Type
Upsampling CD/SACD Transport.

Mechanism Dual laser CD/SACD mechanism (TEAC VRDS NEO™ VMK3)

Digital Outputs
1x Dual AES interface on 2x 3-pin male XLR connectors, outputs dCS-encrypted DSD data, whether a CD or SACD is playing. A menu setting changes the format to DXD (24/352.8) when a CD is playing.
1x AES/EBU on 3-pin male XLR connector, outputs CD format data (16 bits at 44.1kS/s), whether a CD or SACD is playing.

2x SPDIF on 1x RCA Phono and 1x BNC connectors. Each outputs CD format data, whether a CD or SACD is playing.

1x SPDIF optical on a Toslink connector, outputs CD format data, whether a CD or SACD is playing.

1x SDIF-2 interface on 2x BNC connectors, outputs CD format data, whether a CD or SACD is playing..

Clocking
Word Clock output on 1x BNC connector. With the transport in Master mode, a TTL-compatible 44.1kHz
Word Clock derived from the internal crystal oscillator is available on this output. The calibration accuracy when shipped is +/-10ppm, not temperature compensated.

Word Clock input on 1x BNC connector, accepts standard Word Clock at 44.1, 88.2 or 176.4kHz.
Sensitive to TTL levels.

Software Updates
Updates are loaded directly from CD-R.

Local Control
dCS Premium Remote handset is supplied with Vivaldi DAC.
RS232 (controlled by a third party device).
dCS-programmed Nevo Q50 Remote handset is available for the Vivaldi range as an optional extra.

Power Supply
Factory set for 100, 115, 220 or 230V AC, 49-62Hz.

Power Consumption
28 Watts typical/40 Watts maximum.

Dimensions
444mm/17.5” x 435mm/17.2” x 196mm/7.8”.
Allow extra depth for cable connectors.

Color
Silver / Black