Our design philosophy behind the Paganini range was to build a system as close as possible in performance to Scarlatti, but more accessible. The same high engineering standards and electronics are common throughout the dCS product ranges.

The Paganini range has a similar feature set to Scarlatti with the main differences being in the chassis, CD/SACD transport mechanism and the remote handset. These differences mean little is lost in the resulting musical performance and we think Paganini has a very special kind of magic.

The Paganini range is built to the highest specifications, it features a sleek solid aluminium fascia, thick aluminium casing, all metal buttons and a smooth transport mechanism. The Paganini Transport uses the TEAC EsotericTM UMK5 mechanism which is solidly constructed and features a metal tray built specially for dCS. All signal processing and electronics in the Transport is dCS.

Paganini Transport upsamples CD data to DSD and transmits the data over the 1394 interface. SACDs are played in their native DSD format, again over the 1394 interface. Native CD data is available from 4 PCM outputs (2x AES3 and 2x SPDIF), as is down-sampled SACD data.

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

All of the Paganini products benefit from our 'soft' approach to programmable logic, which allows new software to be loaded from a dCS update disc to add new features and adapt to changes in digital formats.

• Paganini Transport upsamples Red Book CDs to DSD format and plays SACDs in their native format.
• All dCS products use a sophisticated multi-mode phase locked loop (PLL), which significantly reduces clock jitter.
• Faster, 100% accurate DSPs (within the bounds of their resolution) give improved filters revealing yet more fine detail.
• Higher capacity FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) give more logic capacity and increase the scope for additional features and enhancements.
• Improved power supplies give lower running temperature and increased tolerance to AC supply variations.
• 16-bit micro-controller for a generally improved control system.
• High grade aluminium chassis and laminated acoustic damping panels, reduce magnetic effects and vibration.
• The Paganini range features a low-power LCD display that makes the user interface easier to read, keeps the power requirements down and minimises electrical noise.
• Our 'soft' approach to programmable logic allows dCS products to adapt to changes in digital formats and add new features by loading new software from a CD.