[Articnoise]

I am interested in the Bartok as well, primarily for downsizing / simplifying my digital front end (9 boxes in total with relative cables etc.).

Only, I would regret going that route if sound quality get worse ...

Any direct comparison between Bartok and M Scaled DAVE would be highly appreciated!

P.s. I am visiting a dealer around Christmas to audition the Bartok myself, I will bring my Abyss with me, but I cannot bring all my digital spaghetti system there so a proper a/b will not be possible. I will report back here nonetheless

Have you read this revive by @austinpop. He did a comparisons with the Chord Hugo M Scaler + Hugo TT 2 and I believe he has a Dave now.

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/dcs-bartok-review-r849/

 

[dsyzling]

There was a very favourable review of the Bartok in the December issue of The Absolute Sound, in this case not used as a headphone amp. Interestingly they also compared using the Bartok as a preamp into a set of Pass Lab mono blocks to using a Pass Labs pre. The result was that the reviewer couldn't tell any significant differences between using the Bartok as a pre vs using the Pass Labs pre (XP 22 I think). So I'm wondering in a speaker system whether this could be used effectively straight into a power amplifier and really cut down on the box count. I guess it depends and will be system specific.

I'd be interested in any first hand experience anyone can offer. I did visit someone who has Pass Labs mono blocks and uses the DAVE straight through without a preamp - although when he uses a Border Patrol 300B amp he prefers adding a Music First pre - so context dependent.

 

[miko64]

I do not use Bartok, but Rossini directly with passlabs xa30-8 and wilson sabrins
As. This is stunning - no need for preamp. As I understand the preamp section of Bartok is very similar.
In summary highly recommended. Additional benefit: you can use iphone et al as a control.

 

[dsyzling]

I do not use Bartok, but Rossini directly with passlabs xa30-8 and wilson sabrins
As. This is stunning - no need for preamp. As I understand the preamp section of Bartok is very similar.
In summary highly recommended. Additional benefit: you can use iphone et al as a control.

Thanks for the comment, that's very interesting and encouraging, one advantage I see is the ability to simplify the number of boxes within a setup. Potentially removing the need for a preamplifier alongside the removal of separate streamer boxes, power suppliers etc. would be a major advantage.

 

[miko64]

Thanks for the comment, that's very interesting and encouraging, one advantage I see is the ability to simplify the number of boxes within a setup. Potentially removing the need for a preamplifier alongside the removal of separate streamer boxes, power suppliers etc. would be a major advantage.

That was the idea whybti take Rossini and played out very well - I use this set up since a year and did never regret.

 

[jscmd2000]

After mainly streaming high res and playing digital files, I decided to get a decent cd player from Jay's audio, been feeding bartok via aes.
I realize all those high numbers don't mean much.
I was contemplating selling my HMS but it does add worthwhile improvement to the chain. A poor man's approach compared to dCS' upscaler and transport...

 

[onsionsi]

After mainly streaming high res and playing digital files, I decided to get a decent cd player from Jay's audio, been feeding bartok via aes.
I realize all those high numbers don't mean much.
I was contemplating selling my HMS but it does add worthwhile improvement to the chain. A poor man's approach compared to dCS' upscaler and transport...

So what do you have now in your chain?

 

[jscmd2000]

So what do you have now in your chain?

The Bartok is only a few months old. I have the roon nucleus connected to m-scaler/dave for headphones, sometimes use pass xa25 to drive the susvara and harbeths.
The susvaras sound great directly connected to the Bartok. I actually brought my susvaras in when auditioning the Bartok, because the susvaras are difficult to drive.
I had two criteria when auditioning, is it much better than the dave and can it drive the susvaras.

 

[Student_Driver]

Am waiting for a Bartok due in late Jan. How do other owners have their Bartok set up. Servers, NAS, Ethernet, audiophile switches off USB etc. Have been told Ethernet (with an unshielded Ethernet cable to the router) is the best setup. Any advise welcome.

 

[jscmd2000]

When I auditioned the Bartok, they only had an Esoteric CD player connected to the Bartok I could listen to that sounded very impressive. They told me the CD player was more expensive than the Bartok and why they thought, as of now cd's are best in sound quality. When my unit arrived, it basically replaced the dave in my setup that I had connected to roon nucleus+singxer su1+Mscaler. This did not sound as impressive, although noticeably better than the dave. I tried connecting directly via ethernet that sounded very revealing but still digital. I did get a decent cd player since then. I had it connected directly to the Bartok via aes/ebu that sounded very nice. Adding the Mscaler to the cd player and connecting to the Bartok via bnc sounded the best to me so far. I think cleaning up the ethernet or wifi signal or adding a decent server like innuos or something similar might be a good idea if you are only looking into streaming or playing digital files. I don't have a huge cd collection but wanted something really impressive in sq when I wanted and work on buying some more cd's. I think would be very expensive to achieve similar level for streaming, if even possible.

 

[Ross]

...Adding the Mscaler to the cd player and connecting to the Bartok via bnc sounded the best to me so far. ...

As I understand it, the Bartok already applies massive upscaling using the DCS Ringdac technology. So adding additional (and very different) upscaling by using the M Scaler with the Bartok does not seem like it should produce good results, particularly as you will not be getting the full upscaling with a single BNC connection. Perhaps you have been conditioned by the DAVE/M Scaler to prefer the brighter, more etched sound that the M Scaler produces.

I haven't heard the Bartok but did live with the DAVE/M Scaler for a long time before moving on to something else after finding the M Scaler in particular to produce a bright, bleached, lean sound which I ultimately found fatiguing. I agree it can sound "impressive" but that is not necessarily synonymous with "good" or "musical". Perhaps you should try living with the Bartok for a while without the M Scaler to see if ultimately you prefer it, which really should be the case given that the Bartok is undoubtedly extremely good and has very different design goals to the Chord gear.

 

[ZRW0]

When I auditioned the Bartok, they only had an Esoteric CD player connected to the Bartok I could listen to that sounded very impressive. They told me the CD player was more expensive than the Bartok and why they thought, as of now cd's are best in sound quality. When my unit arrived, it basically replaced the dave in my setup that I had connected to roon nucleus+singxer su1+Mscaler. This did not sound as impressive, although noticeably better than the dave. I tried connecting directly via ethernet that sounded very revealing but still digital. I did get a decent cd player since then. I had it connected directly to the Bartok via aes/ebu that sounded very nice. Adding the Mscaler to the cd player and connecting to the Bartok via bnc sounded the best to me so far. I think cleaning up the ethernet or wifi signal or adding a decent server like innuos or something similar might be a good idea if you are only looking into streaming or playing digital files. I don't have a huge cd collection but wanted something really impressive in sq when I wanted and work on buying some more cd's. I think would be very expensive to achieve similar level for streaming, if even possible.

I fully agree with @Ross here, I don't see the point of using an external upsampler.
Also, from my own experience, the Bartok takes some time to burn-in and to progressively settle its bass and soundstage.
So, although it may sound already very good out of the box, it may not sound quite right until hours of usage.
After 3 weeks of daily usage, the sound both in LS and HP mode has greatly evolved, and is even more enjoyable on my side.

And regarding its headphone amp, I followed the recommendation of the user manual with the gain setting removal to get comfortable volume between -30dB and -10dB (relatively high).
I then got significantly improved details with this configuration.

Regards,

Erwan.

 

[jscmd2000]

As I understand it, the Bartok already applies massive upscaling using the DCS Ringdac technology. So adding additional (and very different) upscaling by using the M Scaler with the Bartok does not seem like it should produce good results, particularly as you will not be getting the full upscaling with a single BNC connection. Perhaps you have been conditioned by the DAVE/M Scaler to prefer the brighter, more etched sound that the M Scaler produces.

I haven't heard the Bartok but did live with the DAVE/M Scaler for a long time before moving on to something else after finding the M Scaler in particular to produce a bright, bleached, lean sound which I ultimately found fatiguing. I agree it can sound "impressive" but that is not necessarily synonymous with "good" or "musical". Perhaps you should try living with the Bartok for a while without the M Scaler to see if ultimately you prefer it, which really should be the case given that the Bartok is undoubtedly extremely good and has very different design goals to the Chord gear.

Thank you for the thoughtful consideration. I will have to keep this in mind and try living without the Mscaler for a while, see if it is a false perception. I was told about the brighter and leaner sound of the hms/dave but did not know what it meant until getting the Bartok. It would be a huge benefit for me if I can agree with your suggestion and recycle the Mscaler to someone who really wants it.

I fully agree with @Ross here, I don't see the point of using an external upsampler.
Also, from my own experience, the Bartok takes some time to burn-in and to progressively settle its bass and soundstage.
So, although it may sound already very good out of the box, it may not sound quite right until hours of usage.
After 3 weeks of daily usage, the sound both in LS and HP mode has greatly evolved, and is even more enjoyable on my side.

And regarding its headphone amp, I followed the recommendation of the user manual with the gain setting removal to get comfortable volume between -30dB and -10dB (relatively high).
I then got significantly improved details with this configuration.

Regards,

Erwan.

I actually brought my susvaras to audition the Bartok since the susvaras are kind of difficult to drive. I wasn't going to spend the extra money if it couldn't drive them. At highest gain, I think 0, and -15dB is a comfortable volume for me, but will try slightly lower gain and up to -10dB and see if that makes any difference. The hp amp is a worthwhile option for the money and tremendously revealing, but for susvaras and definitely for my harbeths, I think having a separate speaker amp is not a bad idea at all.

 

[jscmd2000]

Has anyone successfully updated the firmware to version 503?
Keep getting stuck at "applying update"

 

[Student_Driver]

First listen straight out of the box with zero break-in -> It’s the biggest single upgrade I’ve ever made. Only played through the speakers thus far. Tomorrow will break out the cans.

Nucleus +/Bluesound Vault (as NAS)/DCS Bartok/ARC Ref 6/CJ MF200/Wilson WP 5.1