dCS Lina Network DAC Reviews

5 Rating 1 Reviews

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“The DCS Lina Dac/ Streamer was not originally in my sights as i was looking at Dac/ Pre amps and a separate streamer but had a listen to this and for me was head and shoulders above the other dacs i was hearing at around the £6k mark originally (and they was still very capable good dacs) but the DCS Dac is definitely another level all together yet it was hardly much more than buying a £6k Dac/ pre with a very good streamer separately but with the Lina you get it all in one box with no compromise on each area it performs in wether as a pre amp, a Dac or a streamer. The Lina is a very accomplished (pardon the cliche) organic natural analog sound to it which is very easy to listen to yet the amount of micro detail you hear with this Dac is breathtaking at times the way it delivers a vast expansive and precise sound staging easy on the ear yet so insightful with all the small delicate details as sounds so naturally stitched together in it’s presentation. Yet you will hear the short comings of bad recordings through the Lina Dac still but it will still be somehow enjoyable without killing your ears and then good to great recordings can be mesmirising to listen to. Once you bed in with living with the Lina Dac it has a myriad of filters and mapper options it has it’s very worthwhile spending a good week trying the different options available to fine tune it to your own preference of music you listen to predominantly or using more than one setting if used with very polarising different types of genre from one of the spectrum to the other. I have a fairly eclectic range of music i am into and found one that was a good middle ground for most of the genres i listen to and am now happy to leave it now it’s set and just enjoy the many hours of music through the Lina. The solid tank like build with a great small footprint for a unit that is a pre/ Dac / streamer at this level is something and the UI and navigating using the menu’s with it’s on board screen or using the mosaic app is easy to get hold of and flexible with using hot keys you can program. For those that do not use Roon (or like it) the DCS Mosaic app in truth does what it needs to do in a clear and simple to use manner but really does need an overhaul to an extent on how it works (and looks) if you use it to be the app for streaming on as i use Qobuz but will be quite a while before they bring out the connect feature. But sometimes (a lot in fact) it is still nice to have a traditional remote to hand for quick button commands instead of keep delving into my phone/ iPad to go through screens for certain command settings or simple volume/input adjust and even power on/ off as the app cannot turn it on once off. Which is why my only criticism is really have for this great sounding Lina Dac though i understand you are getting a lot for the money at this level with the sound they have been able to produce from it. …But this still cost £12.5k at time of purchasing, would it really hurt to include a fairly good comprehensive useful remote control that fits in the hand nicely even if made from plastic composite included (for example how Primare can make a remote included)? ….instead of one of the overpriced austentatious billet bloc aluminium £500 weapon that is not practical (unless used as a weapon!) that DCS offer as extra. Apart from that niggle I am totally stoked with finally settling on the Lina and what a piece of engineering feat it is with it’s articulate natural sound as a Dac with a top streamer in it’s own right also and ended up choosing this over the also very good Linn Selekt DSM Organik pre config in the end.”

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Posted 5 months ago