[TheMiddleSky]

The only place I can find prices even approaching what you are suggesting is on hifishark, and they are the scam listings. You have to be careful with hifishark, lots of scams, though they are usually pretty obvious. I've sent emails to a couple of these scams (usually on marche, and annunci.it) and they only accept bank transfer, no paypal. RED FLAG.

Now, thats not to say that getting GREAT deals is impossible, its not. However, there are not "many" DCS Vivaldi V2's for sale on the used market, let alone sub 15kusd. The going rate for a Rossini without the clock is about $16-18kUSD. The Vivaldi V2, on its own, you are looking at 20K+USD.

Now, with an excellent relationship with a dealer and a demo model they have for sale, you might achieve 60% off the retail of a vivaldi V2, but that is hardly the most common situation.

And even if you were getting that sort of deal on a vivaldi from a dealership, one would assume they would offer a similar deal on a bartok, which means it would be about $6kUSD, so again, your argument is moot pretty much.

Congrats to @ajaipuriyar on your Vivaldi, hope you love it mate.

On point.

Although I never heard as well about 60% discount for private offer to loyal customer haha, but I get your point well.

 

[Ake_Y]

After reading comments and feedback. I just demoed Bartok at local dealer yesterday. My preferred types of music are Pop, 90' R&B, Jazz, and Rock.

Using DCA Ether 2 with Spotify and dealer's music via Roon, my impression on the sound are details, smoothness, and no background noise.

What I like most about Bartok are the functions, interface, and upgradable firmware. However, I could not hear any sound differences when changing filters and upsampling. Only difference that I could detect is when turning hp crossfeed on/off ( IMHO crossfeed off sounds fuller and better )

In the end, I think that Bartok is not for me. It may be more suitable for classical and audiophile.

Enjoy the music and be safe..

 

[Jon773]

Hmmm I am very surprised you couldn’t hear the difference from the filters. Moving from 1 to 2 is super subtle but going from 1 to 4 can quite easily be heard with both my sets of headphones.

i have not tried changing the upsampling yet; will try tomorrow and report back.

Remove the pop music from your list and I listen to all the other genres. I have found the Bartok to play the music extremely well.

 

[radnor]

Hmmm I am very surprised you couldn’t hear the difference from the filters. Moving from 1 to 2 is super subtle but going from 1 to 4 can quite easily be heard with both my sets of headphones.

i have not tried changing the upsampling yet; will try tomorrow and report back.

Remove the pop music from your list and I listen to all the other genres. I have found the Bartok to play the music extremely well.

You simply cannot demo at a retail location and expect to hear differences... It’s absolutely critical to take the gear home and try it out for a couple of days it’s the only way to get a read on whether you like it or not.

 

[wristmachine]

If the difference from what your ears are accustomed to is night & day, you can spot it anywhere. Retail location or at home. IMO of course.

 

[jscmd2000]

I have seen threads where there is a manufacturer or representative participating in a positive way, such as answering members' questions, helping with warranty issues, etc.
Then there are threads where they argue and defend to promote their product. Not very respectful or graceful regardless of who started the thread.
If you have to say how good you are...

 

[jlbrach]

if it is between a bartok and a modest DAC perhaps but if you intend to compare to something like a dave there is no way to do it at one of those noisy and crowded shows

 

[Bling23]

The Dave just sounded more natural without the mscaler. To me the mscaler could make the Dave sound harsh with some music. I also think that the mscaler makes more difference with the hugo 2 and qutest. I am not convinced that it is the be all end all that some have made it out to be. I found that the auralic Aries g2 made more of an improvement in my system when I had the TT2 than the mscaler did.

Some folks said that it was due to bnc cables. I was using the transparent premium bnc cables transparent makes great cables so I doubt that I the reason. The person that said that was also involved with a British cable company that is heavily involved and invested in the Chord ecosystem with the mscaler.

Any thoughts on the 2.1 v Inous v Aurender

 

[Jon773]

Any thoughts on the 2.1 v Inous v Aurender

You should start a new thread for this question; you will get more replies to your query. This is specifically a Bartok thread.

 

[Jon773]

...
What I like most about Bartok are the functions, interface, and upgradable firmware. However, I could not hear any sound differences when changing filters and upsampling. Only difference that I could detect is when turning hp crossfeed on/off ( IMHO crossfeed off sounds fuller and better )
...

I spent some time listening to a few different tracks and switching back and forth between DXD and DSD upsampling. There is a difference, but it takes some concentration to notice it. I was listening to PCM files, and when i decided to switch back from DSD to DXD upsampling (because it sounds ever so slightly better to me when switching back and forth) I happened to have been listening to Coltrane's Blue Train (24/192).

So there is a difference in sounds, but i am not surprised you didnt hear it in the shop. Its a minor difference; changing filters is easier to hear.

 

[Bling23]

You should start a new thread for this question; you will get more replies to your query. This is specifically a Bartok thread.

Thanks Jon773 I think you need 15 posts here to be able to start a tread so im logging air miles ,

 

[adrianm]

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/dcs-bartok
TLDR : a bit overpriced

 

[Jon L]

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/dcs-bartok
TLDR : a bit overpriced

Absolutely useless review of the Bartok, not offering ANY direct comparisons to any other DAC's. Why even bother writing a review

 

[CreditingKarma]

Absolutely useless review of the Bartok, not offering ANY direct comparisons to any other DAC's. Why even bother writing a review

Because what hifi seems like it pushes chord products. Look at the top dacs from last year. Also the rossini review is a joke too. Their reviews have very few if any comparisons.

 

[ClicketEKlack]

Curious to hear what Bartok owners think of MQA sound quality. On the Chord threads, they act like MQA is COVID.