Asserting its reign over the British hi-fi scene once again, dCS continues to expand its catalogue, this time tackling a whole new world: headphone listening. And while the Bartok – an incredible all-in-one DAC/pre-amp/network player – summed up all the brand’s expertise in a single device, the new DCS Lina set takes the opposite approach, separating the DAC/streamer, the headphone amp and even the clock in an uncompromising three-headed monolith. The new benchmark for the genre?
Founded in 1987 in Cambridge, England, Data Conversion Systems (or dCS to its friends) offers top-of-the-range digital systems designed for demanding and wealthy enthusiasts. Its products are often classic in form, but revolutionary in substance, reminiscent of another great name in British high-end, Chord Electronics – born just two years later.
Led by its founder Mike Story, an engineer who had just graduated from the prestigious University of Orford, the company first made its mark in the world of aviation and aerospace thanks to its unique expertise in the fields of electrical signal processing and modulation. Their work was crowned with success, leading them to develop the Blue Vixen radar, used by the UK Ministry of Defence in its fighter planes.
But it was two years later, on the eve of the summer of 1989, that Mike and his friends achieved their second masterstroke, announcing the dCS 900: the world’s very first 24-bit analogue-to-digital converter. It was an ADC that was to make a real splash, establishing the brand in the biggest recording studios for a long time to come, and was endorsed by the likes of Bob Ludwig (Gateway Mastering Studios) and Tony Faulkner (Green Room Productions).
Then, in 1993, came the dCS 950, the first 24-bit digital-to-analogue converter, a direct extension of the work undertaken on the 900. A new entry, driven by the first version of the Ring DAC, whose sonic explosion was echoed as far afield as the Land of the Rising Sun, where the DAC beat the biggest players in the sector to the punch.
Its success has never been denied, with dCS working year after year to perfect its art with a view to blurring the boundaries between analogue and digital. So much so that in 1997, the manufacturer introduced the 972, the first digital-to-digital converter to offer… upsampling. An avant-garde process for its time, it was soon to become the standard for many competitors years later.
Then, 18 years after founding it, Mike Story left the company, handing over to the late David M Steven, who was replaced by his son David J in 2009, and Andy McHarg, a new team who reoriented the brand towards a new audience, far from the recording studios. This second birth led to a total visual overhaul, without ever betraying the original leitmotif of ‘moved by details’.
This change of direction was successfully implemented, and dCS has since established itself as THE standard, taking the top step of the podium every year with its extraordinary systems, such as the Rossini (previously tested in our columns), the immense Vivaldi ensemble (Vumètre No. 1) and the Bartok, the quintessence of English sound.
Now complete with a new entry, the Lina, a network streamer and DAC… but not only.
The DCS Lina
ELike the Vivaldi or Rossini, the Lina is much more than just a DAC. A true hi-fi system under a single name, it brings together no less than three devices designed to work in concert, for better reproduction.
The brain of the operation, the Lina DAC takes the broad lines of the Bartok in a more compact, but no less dense chassis, still carved from a solid block of aluminium, reinforced with an internal damping system capable of blocking both vibrations and parasitic waves. At its heart is the indestructible patented in-house converter, the Ring DAC, powered by a Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA processor – a process obviously reminiscent of Chord, another British manufacturer using a proprietary system.
At the opposite end of the spectrum from a conventional DAC, the Ring DAC is built entirely from discrete components, using a symmetrical schematic and a very high sampling rate, the absence of an integrated circuit freeing the converter from any limitations induced by an IC circuit. This technological feat enables the Lina to oversample and then filter each of its inputs, before encoding them again on the Ring DAC model and finally transmitting them to the Analog Board, where a set of 48 switches shape the analogue signal.
In practice, the dCS Lina DAC will be able to decode all the files on the market, whether PCM or DSD streams, either via its extensive digital connectivity or via its network input – the Lina DAC is, let’s not forget, a genuine network streamer.
Backing up the DAC is the iconic (Lina) Master Clock, the beating heart of the DAC, designed to eliminate any risk of jitter, thanks to its two Quartz oscillators oscillating at 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz. Also directly inspired by the prestigious Vivaldi, a legacy of a glorious past in the world of professional studios, it relieves the Lina DAC of the thorny task of ensuring perfect precision of the digital signal. The +/-1ppm figures indicate that the probability of the signal shifting is less than one femtosecond over one year!
The Master Clock is equipped with oscillators that guarantee precise synchronisation for all audio samples and all frequencies. It allows the Lina Network DAC to be locked to a single master signal for improved audio performance. It minimises the risk of jitter and synchronisation irregularities that can affect playback. It provides a significant increase in sound quality when streaming or listening via USB.
Finally, the self-contained design with isolated chassis and power supply protects the clock signal from external interference.
To give voice to this duo, we have the eponymous Lina Headphone Amplifier, which will have the onerous task of bridging the gap between the DAC and our headphones. Designed to power the most energy-hungry models on the market, it shares a common base with the Bartok and boasts some quite exceptional figures: output impedance of less than 0.090 ohms, frequency response covering five times the audible spectrum and an infinitesimal level of harmonic distortion (<0.005%… at 6 V!).
The circuit design provides Class AB operation with a DC servo system that offers high power, formidable efficiency and excellent linearity. The all-semiconductor construction provides consistent, clean performance.
The latest extras
The Lina DAC features the new Expanse processing platform, which brings the headphone experience closer to the studio listening experience. Its unique processing method reproduces the effects of studio listening, where sound is projected into the space around us, rather than inside our heads, without altering the reverberation of a recording or affecting the performance of a system.
This new technique allows the recreation of the original soundscape in a recording, while preserving its unique tone and timbre, giving a heightened sense of realism when listening to a wide range of music. This optional feature has been created to provide a more immersive experience and natural alternative to traditional cross-feed optimisation.
All audio DACs require a range of filtering and processing operations to reconstruct the audio waveforms. dCS has developed a range of bespoke filters for different audio formats and sample rates. This means that customers with a dCS DAC such as the Lina can select the filter that best suits their chosen audio format and listening preferences.
Creating bespoke filters is a complex and time-consuming process, but it ensures that DAC performance is not compromised due to inflexible filter responses, and that all dCS customers get the best possible sound from their system. This gives dCS customers greater flexibility, allowing them to choose the filter that best suits their tastes. The Lina Network DAC offers a choice of three filters, accessible via the Lina DAC’s touch-screen user interface or the dCS Mosaic Control application.
The set up
Entirely designed, produced and assembled in the UK, each module is the result of meticulous work, with every element scrutinised with maniacal care to match the brand’s standards.
Supplied in three separate boxes, the dCS Lina set is a real eye-catcher. Sharing almost identical dimensions (only the amp is taller), the combo measures almost 40 cm high, 22 cm wide and 35 cm deep, weighing a total of 23 kg when stacked. A sober-looking monolith, but one that will leave no one indifferent.
It’s worth noting that the brand explicitly indicates a precise order, should you, like us, have the idea of stacking them. The amp at the base, the clock in the centre and the DAC at the top, to ensure better heat dissipation while limiting parasitic vibrations.
Once installed, it’s time to plug everything in. And, once again, a precise order is required to get the best out of the trio:
– First, connect the Master Clock to the DAC, using the two BNC cables supplied;
– Then connect the DAC to the amp using the two XLR cables, via the inputs on the left (unbuffered);
– Finally, to activate the Power Link function (identical to video CEC), connect the RJ45 port on the left of the DAC to the Master Clock, and the right to the amp.
Once you’ve done that, all you need to do is connect each module to the power supply, via an IEC cable, before connecting your sources to the DAC, which boasts a plethora of connectors: three SPDIF inputs, two USB ports compatible with UAC 1.0 and 2.0, plus two XLR AES ports, compatible with dual AES to confirm the signal’s parity.
As for the amplifier section, the Lina does even better than the Bartok, offering no less than three headphone outputs. A classic 6.35 mm (unbalanced), accompanied by the usual XLR 4-pin (balanced) and two XLR 3-pin outputs, again for balanced connection. The Lina ‘amp’ has been designed with the main objective of being able to power the most difficult headphones on the market. So don’t panic, you can connect it to any model…
Finally, while it is possible to operate the Lina via the front panel controls, we strongly advise you to install the dCS Mosaic application, which will enable you to fine-tune the (very) many playback options – from filtering to upsampling mode – as well as updating the internal software.
The sound
‘Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.’ – Carl Sagan
Sensational, the Lina is quite simply the best DAC/Ampli combo our team has ever tested. Fitted with our venerable Audeze LCD-X, it only took ten seconds or so and as many notes for dCS to overturn everything we’d come to expect, proving once again the mastery of its teams.
A true goldsmith of sound, the Lina gracefully distils the most subtle nuances, without ever losing its authority. An iron fist in a velvet glove, this monster of detail highlights the incredible work accomplished by these men and women from Cambridge, a tribute to the passion that unites us all: music.
Relegating all the DACs in our collection, the Lina is a direct descendant of the Rossini, boasting mind-boggling definition without ever compromising on musicality. On each track, from the very first notes, the dCS immerses us in an unprecedented ocean of sound, with abysmal dynamics, reinforced by the incredible liveliness of the rendering, then magnified by a precision almost unheard of before on a headphone DAC.
Melodious but never syrupy, powerful without being aggressive, the DAC/Ampli liberates voices, makes strings vibrate and, note after note, breaks down the wall of doubt. Yes, the Lina doesn’t use a conventional DAC, but that’s its strength, as the oversampling works wonders, sweeping away all our preconceptions.
Better still, the addition of the amp and clock completes an already idyllic picture. Almost superfluous, the ensemble transforms the unheard-of into the phenomenal, obliterating any colouration or emphasis and magnifying even the most discreet timbre, from the rosin of a bow to the ivory of a keyboard.
A blend of elegance and refinement that the Meze, undoubtedly one of our favourite headphones, brings out superbly thanks to its large isodynamic diaphragms, servo-controlled as never before. Whether we’re talking about the polyphonic electro of Infected Mushroom or the candour of Stacey Kent’s jazz, we’re captivated by the inconceivability of the sound.
The same is true of the BeyerDynamic DT 900 Pro X, a pair of headphones whose reputation in the studio is well established, with the amp once again demonstrating its ability to reproduce, almost photographically, the ambience of the recording. Taking advantage of the Lina’s incredible dynamic range, the alchemy of sound works at every moment, even when fed from sources as basic as… Spotify.
In short, the dCS Lina is unrivalled in its price range and size, even by our former tenor, the Chord Dave. What’s more, it’s a 100% made-in-UK feat.
Our conclusion
Sumptuous, marvellous, prodigious… we have nothing but praise for this new dCS creation! A real coup de Trafalgar, the DCS Lina is a total success, establishing itself as the best headphone listening solution ever, propelling the manufacturer, already a benchmark, to the firmament.
Its atypical format may disconcert some, but that’s the only complaint about this system, as the whole subjugates with its prowess, head and shoulders above anything we’ve heard to date. And while the price remains high, once you’ve plugged it in, it’s impossible to take your eyes off it! An essential that you must listen to, if only once, but beware, there’s no turning back.
Author: Haja Randrianarison
Technical sheet: dCS Lina – DAC/streamer
- Origin: United Kingdom
- Price : €14,250
- Dimensions : 121.5 mm x 220 mm x 339 mm
- Weight : 7.4 kg
- Converter : Ring DAC (proprietary dCS converter)
- Managed streams: CM 16/24/32 bits – 44.1 kHz/384 kHz/DSD 64/128
- Residual noise: -96 dB0 (16 bits) -113 dB0 (24 bits)
- Output voltage: Adjustable between 2 V and 6 V
- Outputs: XLR (balanced) – RCA (unbalanced)
- Inputs : USB-B, USB-A, SPDIF (Cinch), SPDIF (BNC), SPDIF (Toslink), AES x 2 (XLR)
- Additional connections: 2 x Clock (BNC) compatible with Lina Master Clock, 2 x Powerlink (RJ45)
- Network: Ethernet (RJ45), DNLA/UPnP compatible, AirPlay 2, Airable, Roon, Spotify, Qobuz, Deezer, TIDAL, Internet radio
Technical sheet: dCS Lina – headphone amp
- Price : €10,250
- Dimensions : 121.5 mm x 220 mm x 356 mm
- Weight : 7.5 kg
- Usable headphone impedance : 8 ohms to 600 ohms
- Output impedance: <0.090 ohm
- Frequency response: 1 Hz – 100 kHz
- THD/SNR/Crosstalk: 0.0005%/110dB/>100dB
- Outputs: 6.35 mm jack (unbalanced), XLR 4-pin (balanced), XLR 3-pin (balanced x2)
- Inputs : RCA (unbalanced), XLR (balanced), XLR + buffer (balanced)
- Additional connections: 2 x Powerlink (RJ45)
- Output power: 2 W at 30 ohms, 0.48 W at 300 ohms
Technical sheet: dCS Lina – clock
- Price : €8,250
- Dimensions : 121.5 mm x 220 mm x 339 mm
- Weight : 7 kg
- Clocks : 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz
- Accuracy: +/-1 ppm
- Synchronisation time: 10 min
- Outputs: 2 x TTL clock with buffer memory (44.1 kHz and 48 kHz)
- Additional connections: 2 x Powerlink (RJ45)
