[Jon773]

I would love to hear your feedback on the (potential) differences between the input you use now vs. usb stick




I am not sure if I understand it right, but for the "Ethernet" input you would need a streaming service, right?

My NAS connects via Ethernet. But also Tidal.

 

[Jon773]

I'm wondering if someone can enlighten me about the sonic qualities of the usb dongle input. I am planning to use the Bartok offline, with a USB stick attached and navigation will be made on the front panel. All my music is 44.1-192 & DSD64-128 so I'm good on that front with the usb dongle input but does it sound as good as with the other inputs? Thanks in advance!

Also you need Mosaic or Roon to control the Bartok and play songs. I cant see how its done from front panel only.

 

[Skywatcher]

I would love to hear your feedback on the (potential) differences between the input you use now vs. usb stick




I am not sure if I understand it right, but for the "Ethernet" input you would need a streaming service, right?

Not necessarily. You can "stream" your local files that you have on a PC, Hard Disk or NAS, for example.
You can do that with any UPNP/DLNA software as the Bartók is a UPNP renderer/player.
Two main ways to do that. One is to install a UPNP server software, this indexes your local music and makes it available for UPNP control points (like the dCS Mosaic app), that can then instruct the UPNP renderer (player) to go and pull that music file. Your player is the Bartók in this case. dCS recommends MinimServer as their preferred UPNP server software.
You can also use software that is both UPNP server and control point (and even renderer) all in one, like J River Media Center, for instance. In JRiver you can see and organize your music collection and "push" the playing duties to the Bartók as J River will see it in the network as a possible player, so you only need to select it as your output in JRiver instead of the local PC. You do all the music selection and queuing, etc. from JRiver that will act as a remote control for the Bartók.

The Bartók is also a Roon endpoint. Roon uses RAAT as the music transport/streaming protocol instead of UPNP. Roon is by far my favorite option because of all the great organization capacities of all your files, liner notes, artwork, relations between all the artists in different albums, etc. Roon has extensively tested the Bartók (and the remaining dCS stack, as well as several other vendors) so the Bartók is Roon certified. This means that when you select the Bartók as your player in Roon, it auto configures itself for the optimal settings in order to work with the Bartók. If you also subscribe to Tidal or Qobuz streaming, Roon is great because it serves as the single player for your local collection as well as those streaming services, so you can create your playlist with both local and remote files in a transparent fashion.
Roon is quite more expensive though, but I love it.

In any case, if you want to use the ethernet connection to play your existing collection, that is absolutely possible and there are some fantastic pieces of software, both free or paid that allow you to do that and have a much more pleasant interface.

 

[Peti]

Great responses gentlemen, I really appreciate it. The only thing that is holding me back to get the dac/amp version is the fact that the pair of headphones I use is hard-wired to single-ended and I have heard from many sources that the balanced output is superior to the single ended on the Bartok. Anyone can refute/substantiate that, mayhap?

 

[Skywatcher]

Great responses gentlemen, I really appreciate it. The only thing that is holding me back to get the dac/amp version is the fact that the pair of headphones I use is hard-wired to single-ended and I have heard from many sources that the balanced output is superior to the single ended on the Bartok. Anyone can refute/substantiate that, mayhap?

My personal opinion, after comparing the same headphones for which I have both cables in both balanced and single ended (Abyss 1266TC and Audeze LCD-3f) is that the balanced output has more energy, and, as such, can drive the headphones louder. I wouldn't call it better quality, just more energy. If I push the volume more in single ended I can't find any difference from balanced a few dB's down. I connect them via balanced cable mainly because of the extra headroom that sometimes comes in handy on the 1266, but for the LCD-3f is clearly overkill.
I also heard the Hifiman Susvara on the single ended output (didn't have a balanced cable) and it was sublime.
I am really happy with the class A amp on the Bartók.

That said, if you value the flexibility of testing different amps to see which one(s) has(/have) better synergy with a specific pair of headphones you may want to go with the solo DAC version and then try different amps for your headphones.
Well, you can also do that with the the DAC/Amp version of the Bartók, of course but if the idea is to test different amps you can perhaps save some money there.

 

[Peti]

I am pretty set on amps - and that means to me the DNA Stellaris. I have heard that amp and owned the predecessor Stratus many times with my HD800 and that was the best combo to these ears. Sundry Apex, Eddie Current models come second. And I am pretty certain that the Stellaris will be the better amp compared to the Bartok but the temptation is so huge to just get one big box with an upgradeable dac in it and call it a day. Long story short, if the difference between the single-ended and balanced output is just more power I will just go with the Bartok amp/dac and leave out the purchase of a separate amp, extra power cord, interconnects, etc. Been there, done that. Simplicity as sexy.

 

[Jon773]

I am pretty set on amps - and that means to me the DNA Stellaris. I have heard that amp and owned the predecessor Stratus many times with my HD800 and that was the best combo to these ears. Sundry Apex, Eddie Current models come second. And I am pretty certain that the Stellaris will be the better amp compared to the Bartok but the temptation is so huge to just get one big box with an upgradeable dac in it and call it a day. Long story short, if the difference between the single-ended and balanced output is just more power I will just go with the Bartok amp/dac and leave out the purchase of a separate amp, extra power cord, interconnects, etc. Been there, done that. Simplicity as sexy.

The HP Amp in the Bartok is excellent. I am sure there are some improvements to be had from other amps, but as a one box solution its hard to beat the whole Bartok package. I am very pleased with mine and I also didn't want to go down the separate amp + cables route. As for headphone cables, well if you have ones you like, why not get them re-terminated? This is what I did with one of my Forza cables. Upgraded the main plug to Furutech XLR and the HP connectors to 3.5mm to fit my Stellia's. Didn't cost too much, given the price of the original cable and new parts.

 

[Acemcl]

so finally got everything up and running and it's been about 4 weeks of listening at this time.

My rig is Roon Nucleus-->DCS Bartok--->Viva Egoista--->Headphones

Have to say, the sound is sublime. Really like the combination of Viva with the DCS, brings more low end grunt and a bit of warmth to the signature which is perfect for my tastes

 

[Ross]

My rig is Roon Nucleus-->DCS Bartok--->Viva Egoista--->Headphones

Very nice set up. Do you use your Roon Nucleus as a Roon core, or as an endpoint with core elsewhere?

 

[CreditingKarma]

so finally got everything up and running and it's been about 4 weeks of listening at this time.

My rig is Roon Nucleus-->DCS Bartok--->Viva Egoista--->Headphones

Have to say, the sound is sublime. Really like the combination of Viva with the DCS, brings more low end grunt and a bit of warmth to the signature which is perfect for my tastes

I would suggest trying to use the network input on the Bartok. I have found it to be the better option over usb. Also nice set up i love the amp.

 

[Acemcl]

Very nice set up. Do you use your Roon Nucleus as a Roon core, or as an endpoint with core elsewhere?

My nucleus is core, controlled with an iPad

 

[Acemcl]

I would suggest trying to use the network input on the Bartok. I have found it to be the better option over usb. Also nice set up i love the amp.

I use both! If i'm listening to Qubuz, then it's on the network. I have to admit, the differences between my hi-res files via usb and network haven't been apparent to me yet but may be i need to do more listening

 

[Frankie D]

so finally got everything up and running and it's been about 4 weeks of listening at this time.

My rig is Roon Nucleus-->DCS Bartok--->Viva Egoista--->Headphones

Have to say, the sound is sublime. Really like the combination of Viva with the DCS, brings more low end grunt and a bit of warmth to the signature which is perfect for my tastes

Very nice!

 

[bluecar]

Very nice!

knowing how big the Bartok is, that is one hefty beast of an amp, and those tubes....... great pic, thanks.

 

[Roasty]

Just a random thought that passed through my mind..

If I sell my rockna dac, forego the rockna streamer pre-order, sell innuos phoenix, sotm streamer, farad lps and silver dc cables and all the pink faun lan and usb cables bridging the components, I could probably get a Bartok.

Simplifies my chain getting rid of a lot of spaghetti..

Hmmmm tempting..