[TFEC West]

dCS Bartok Sound Signature - some of my favorite albums

• Presence and Spatial Accuracy

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Each instrument resides in aural space, both horizontally and in depth. I have spent many hours listening to live jazz in the club. The feeling of "being there" that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck is the elusive quality that I treasure. the dCS Bartok has it in spades.​

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Chet - Chet Baker (Riverside 1959 - Keep-news Collection) The interplay between Chet’s trumpet, Pepper Adams baritone sax, Herbie Mann’s alto flute, Bill Evan’s piano, Paul Chamber’s bass and Philly Joe Jones drums​

▾ Treble

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Many systems can deliver soaring and edgy treble, but it is the nuance and delicacy that the dCS Bartok brings to the listening experience that moves me emotionally - and that's what it is all about.​

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Scheherazade- Fritz Reiner - Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1960 RCA) The opening track The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship starts with a violin solo which is so beautiful and delicate that it can get lost on other systems. The dCS Bartók brings out this solo with such clarity and precision, that it brought tears to my eyes.​

▾ Midrange

This DAC/AMP is nothing short of "delicious" in the way that it renders vocal presentation. The clarity and detail are so natural, it is as if they are singing right next to your ear, nothing forced or edgy. So clear you can hear every nuance of their voice and breath. Several great examples that I loved were:​

• Love Scenes: Diana Krall (1997 Impulse! Records)​

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• Come Away with Me: Nora Jones (2002 Bluenote)​

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• The Carpenters - Singles 1969-1981 - Karen Carpenter (2000 A&M Records)​

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• Magnificat - Arenesen (2014 2L)​

▾ Bass

If there is one thing that I cannot stand, it is "muddy" bass. So many systems over-drive the bass presentation and ruins it in the process. The bass delivered by the dCS Bartok is crisp and clean and deep, without drawing attention to itself. The enhancement of bass can be a real distraction from the music - when you just want to hear the music being played as it would be in a club. Two excellent examples of this quality are:​

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• Wood - Brian Bromberg (2002 A440 Music Group)​

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• Cross-Platform Interchange - Misha Mullov-Abado (2017 Edition Records)​

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MQA: The Bartok's ability to render MQA encoded streams on Tidal is a big plus for me, as I can appreciate the time correction that MQA can bring to the party, eliminating some of the "time-smearing" which was evident in the original release. MQA is not as good as well mastered DSD high resolution files, but the tradeoff of being able to discover and stream a huge number of songs is well worth it to me.

ROON: I use the dCS Bartok with Roon Remote running on an iPad Pro 12.9; Roon Core running on a Roon Nucleus; and the Roon Ready dCS Bartok for rendering. I use a pair of Focal Utopia headphones with a balanced Transparent Ultra cable with mini XLR4 connections the Bartok. It is a great combination, and contributes to the overall quality of the music listening experience.

Summary: the dCS Bartok gets just about everything very right IMHO. It is consistently a pleasure to listen to, and is non-fatiguing.

Caveat: As is always the case, the original mike placement and mastering have a lot to do with the quality of the recording, and the Bartok cannot make up for substandard recording or mastering.

@tmarshl
I just joined the forum today, so I have not been able to update my profile yet. Just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading your review and comments about the Bartok DAC/headphone amp. I also have a Roon Nucleus+ as one of my main source components. It currently feeds the Bryston BDA-3 DAC, and then on to a Bryston BHA-1 head amp/pre-amp. Phones are Focal Utopias with the Moon Audio Black Dragon XLR4 cable. Amp is the PS Audio S300, feeding a pair of Magico A1 speakers. All interconnects and speaker cables are Cardas Clear. Just this week I added the Uptone Audio ISO Regen and the Phasure Lush USB Cable between the Nucleus and the DAC, which made a HUGE difference! I should have the JS-2 linear power supply from UpTone by the end of March, and that may further improve what I get out of the Nucleus. This is my office set up, which is also my main listening system.

I was extremely interested in your review of the Bartok because this seems to be the perfect fit for the next evolution in my system. It could replace the Bryston DAC and headphone amp. Like you, I listen mostly to jazz and classical music. And I’m very intrigued by MQA. I’ve never heard MQA fully decoded, just Roon doing the first unfold, and then my Bryston DAC presenting the highest resolution that it can without the ability to render MQA. Even that sounds amazing to me in many cases. As you’ve said, still not as good as DSD, but really good on a lot of recordings. I’m now trying to figure out how I can sell my Bryston DAC and headphone amp for as much as possible, so I can use that money toward a Bartok.

Question for you: I see in your profile that you have a Moon Audio balanced cable. Is that an interconnect, or is that the cable you used with your Utopias before you got the Transparent cable? I’m trying to determine if the Transparent cable would be better than the Moon Audio black dragon I currently use. Based on what I’ve read from you and others, it seems like a no-brainer, but if you have experience or advice on that I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks again for your comments in the forum on the Bartok. They were very helpful in my decision to pursue that as the big improvement in my system.

 

[judomaniak57]

you already have a awesome amp, bryston, why not just buy the DSC without the built in amp and save some money. I love my bryston amp driving my focal stellia's

@tmarshl
I just joined the forum today, so I have not been able to update my profile yet. Just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading your review and comments about the Bartok DAC/headphone amp. I also have a Roon Nucleus+ as one of my main source components. It currently feeds the Bryston BDA-3 DAC, and then on to a Bryston BHA-1 head amp/pre-amp. Phones are Focal Utopias with the Moon Audio Black Dragon XLR4 cable. Amp is the PS Audio S300, feeding a pair of Magico A1 speakers. All interconnects and speaker cables are Cardas Clear. Just this week I added the Uptone Audio ISO Regen and the Phasure Lush USB Cable between the Nucleus and the DAC, which made a HUGE difference! I should have the JS-2 linear power supply from UpTone by the end of March, and that may further improve what I get out of the Nucleus. This is my office set up, which is also my main listening system.

I was extremely interested in your review of the Bartok because this seems to be the perfect fit for the next evolution in my system. It could replace the Bryston DAC and headphone amp. Like you, I listen mostly to jazz and classical music. And I’m very intrigued by MQA. I’ve never heard MQA fully decoded, just Roon doing the first unfold, and then my Bryston DAC presenting the highest resolution that it can without the ability to render MQA. Even that sounds amazing to me in many cases. As you’ve said, still not as good as DSD, but really good on a lot of recordings. I’m now trying to figure out how I can sell my Bryston DAC and headphone amp for as much as possible, so I can use that money toward a Bartok.

Question for you: I see in your profile that you have a Moon Audio balanced cable. Is that an interconnect, or is that the cable you used with your Utopias before you got the Transparent cable? I’m trying to determine if the Transparent cable would be better than the Moon Audio black dragon I currently use. Based on what I’ve read from you and others, it seems like a no-brainer, but if you have experience or advice on that I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks again for your comments in the forum on the Bartok. They were very helpful in my decision to pursue that as the big improvement in my system.

 

[Acemcl]

you already have a awesome amp, bryston, why not just buy the DSC without the built in amp and save some money. I love my bryston amp driving my focal stellia's

I have my DCS Bartok with the headphone amp for sale in the Source components forum if anyone is interested

 

[mammal]

Owners of Bartók and Formula S, which version did you get? XLR or RCA? And why?

 

[CreditingKarma]

Owners of Bartók and Formula S, which version did you get? XLR or RCA? And why?

I had the xlr that I bought from a friend. I ended up getting adapters to use rca. The way the formula s deals with xlr cause some hum as it is not a balanced amp.

 

[mammal]

Yeah, I saw your post on dCS community forum

 

[Katzky]

There are plenty of people who have tried devices like the EtherREGEN and reported back very positive and clearly audible results. I am sure others will report back that they cant hear much difference.

Depends on your home setup, including how clean the power is that comes out your wall socket.

At some point you need to pick something and try it out; do your research first, but you still need to make a decision and try. I have optimised in a number of areas and have been looking at the network side things recently; its just where I am at in my journey. Although the Clock is probably one of the best upgrades for the Bartok, its damn expensive and its really not essential.

Read the science as well, plenty of that out there. But science cant explain everything and tests are usually indicative and certainly not foolproof. The results of scientific tests can still fail to explain things...

I own a Bartok and have tried a few things and I own the Rossini Clock; that is a clear upgrade and it stays in my system. I had a result with the Supra cable and the 8Switch, so it stays in the system; both items could have been returned for a refund. I don't own expensive ethernet cables and dCS dont recommend them either, they just say to buy ones that are actually properly made to industry specifications, which is why I have a BlueJeansCable Cat6 and a Supra Cat8. After the import charges, both cables are still cheap and cost about the same.

How did the clock improve the sound? Are you using the included bnc cables?

 

[SuperBurrito]

How did the clock improve the sound? Are you using the included bnc cables?

I have a Rossini, but not the clock (yet!). Pretty much everyone says the clock improves the sound. Only bad news is the clocks just don't seem to exist on the used market.
From everything I've read, aftermarket clock cables do make a meaningful difference, but there is no need to spend a ton.

Many people use this cable: https://geistnote.com/75-apogee-wyde-eye-word-clock-bnc-cable/

Check out the DCS forum for tons of great info: https://dcs.community/

 

[pippen99]

I have a Rossini and Clock on order for seven weeks. How

I have a Rossini, but not the clock (yet!). Pretty much everyone says the clock improves the sound. Only bad news is the clocks just don't seem to exist on the used market.
From everything I've read, aftermarket clock cables do make a meaningful difference, but there is no need to spend a ton.

Many people use this cable: https://geistnote.com/75-apogee-wyde-eye-word-clock-bnc-cable/

Check out the DCS forum for tons of great info: https://dcs.community/

I have had a Rossini and Clock on order for 7 weeks. How long did it take for delivery for your unit?

 

[smodtactical]

Anyone compare bartok or rossini to rockna wavedream signature balanced?

 

[SuperBurrito]

I have a Rossini and Clock on order for seven weeks. How

I have had a Rossini and Clock on order for 7 weeks. How long did it take for delivery for your unit?

I found a used Rossini. But it seems like everything in the world is delayed now. I ordered a pair of Abyss headphones in January and am still waiting. Any item that is not traveling by air is going to be much delayed...even more so due to the recent Suez canal snafu.

 

[Jon773]

I have a Rossini, but not the clock (yet!). Pretty much everyone says the clock improves the sound. Only bad news is the clocks just don't seem to exist on the used market.
From everything I've read, aftermarket clock cables do make a meaningful difference, but there is no need to spend a ton.

Many people use this cable: https://geistnote.com/75-apogee-wyde-eye-word-clock-bnc-cable/

Check out the DCS forum for tons of great info: https://dcs.community/

Yes the Rossini Clock is a noticeable improvement in SQ. I have mine plugged into a Bartok with a pair of Chord Signature clock cables (probably overkill). You can hear the increase in clarity when the clock takes over. Music sounds noticeably crisper.

Essential, probably not. Worthwhile, definitely.

 

[Tanalasta]

Following closely. The Bartok is exactly what I’m looking for except for size and price point.
Open to suggestions to anything equivalent!

 

[ThanatosVI]

Following closely. The Bartok is exactly what I’m looking for except for size and price point.
Open to suggestions to anything equivalent!

Depends in what you mean with "equivalent"

I can't recall any unit that are Server + dac + amp in one box in that quality.
However there are units of similar quality that do only one or two of those things.

 

[BassicScience]

Following closely. The Bartok is exactly what I’m looking for except for size and price point.
Open to suggestions to anything equivalent!

Mola Mola Tambaqui perhaps. It's smaller, somewhat less expensive, and supports Roon over Ethernet.