[turbofeet]

Absolutely. Sometimes it's good to appreciate what we have.

Likewise I could live with the Bartok and Elites and be very happy but once I heard the Bartok with a great tube amp I couldn't resist.

I'm confident I'll stop after that!

I was listening to the Empyreans again earlier and really enjoying them. Good headphones stay good.

Enjoy the music.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Absolutely. Sometimes it's good to appreciate what we have.

Likewise I could live with the Bartok and Elites and be very happy but once I heard the Bartok with a great tube amp I couldn't resist.

I'm confident I'll stop after that!

I was listening to the Empyreans again earlier and really enjoying them. Good headphones stay good.

Enjoy the music.

You'll know when it's right.

I've had lots of high quality stuff like Rockna Wavelight, Cayin Ha-6a etc.
Even tho they were all great, they were not perfect yet(for me anyways) and there was the urge for more or different.

Since I have my T+A MP2000R I never had the urge for new streamers and DACs at all. It's just perfect for me.

My Octave V16, even though undoubtly one of the best amps in existence, didn't quite satisfy my needs yet and I still have the urge for an Feliks Envy.

With headphones it's a little different, since having multiples is easier than with the other gear.
I'm 100% confident nothing could replace my Elite, all the others can only complement it for me.
So yeah, when you're there, you will feel that it's right. At least in my experience it seems like that.

 

[Frankie D]

After much internal debate I have come to the conclusion that the Susvara is too close to perfection (for me) to risk giving it up. The Bartok has raised the experience to levels I did not know a headphone could achieve, and the synergy with the Kinki amp nudges it even further up the scale. So that said, I would rather buy the Elite as a second headphone when budget allows. Sometimes in this hobby, I find myself looking for "that next thing" when in fact what I have right in front of me is just right for the moment and needs nothing more. Time to kick back and just enjoy the music.. the Bartok changed the game for me.

I actually prefer the Sus to the Elite. I think it is a good decision. In time I am sure you will be able to own both if you wish.

 

[Andrewteee]

Absolutely. Sometimes it's good to appreciate what we have.

Likewise I could live with the Bartok and Elites and be very happy but once I heard the Bartok with a great tube amp I couldn't resist.

I'm confident I'll stop after that!

There's something about headphone systems that enables us to think we can have lots of gear, because it's generally pretty compact and thus we think it's not expensive (right?)

 

[SuperBurrito]

Susvara is a beast indeed! Sounds incredible, but best for genres other than rock and electronica. For those genres I prefer the TC. Sus is so power hungry though - it sounds amazing when run straight out of my Gryphon Diablo's speaker taps.

 

[bluecar]

No worries at all! To be honest, I did not perform an in-depth before and after in my setup with the EtherRegen. My goal was to optimize my setup by eliminating would be problems and the EtherRegen certainly fits that bill. There is a really long thread on the EtherRegen on the audiophilestyle forum full of praises and the impact the EtherRegen brings if that helps your decision. Since my goal has always been around optimising the setup, doing a fiber run definitely helps with the electrical isolation even further in my case

I've tried a few networks setups now, and (bizzarely), cable seems to make the biggest difference for me, as opposed to clocking, switching and fibre links. After much messing about with borrowed fibre bridges and etherregen, the simplest (and for me , better sounding). solution was to hang a Shunyata Sigma V2 ethernet cable between my Zenith and the Bartok.

Sounds nuts, and (laws-of-physics-wise) it shoudn't be so, but the Shunyata cable trumped every other config, hands-down. £ for £ it's also slightly cheaper than a stack of FBU's, clockers and PSUs...(although at £1500, 'cheaper' is entirely relative!) Now, in my defense, bear in mind that I'm connecting a Zentih MkIII, which has a very good PSU and a separate network bridge for output, so perhaps that's where the magic happens, and I'm actually adding noise by messing around with the last hop.....maybe...

anyway - try a high end ethernet, and ignore the naysayers - it may just be the very thing you've been looking for....For me, it was a hands-down winner in the listening experience.

 

[bluecar]

Not sure, there is a difference on Dave, due to it having higher distortion on the XLR path. Internally the Oor uses the balanced path for both RCA and XLR.
I meant balanced headphone connection vs single ended though.

Oh, I see - thanks. I always use Balanced into the 'phones these days...

 

[dstubked]

I've tried a few networks setups now, and (bizzarely), cable seems to make the biggest difference for me, as opposed to clocking, switching and fibre links. After much messing about with borrowed fibre bridges and etherregen, the simplest (and for me , better sounding). solution was to hang a Shunyata Sigma V2 ethernet cable between my Zenith and the Bartok.

Sounds nuts, and (laws-of-physics-wise) it shoudn't be so, but the Shunyata cable trumped every other config, hands-down. £ for £ it's also slightly cheaper than a stack of FBU's, clockers and PSUs...(although at £1500, 'cheaper' is entirely relative!) Now, in my defense, bear in mind that I'm connecting a Zentih MkIII, which has a very good PSU and a separate network bridge for output, so perhaps that's where the magic happens, and I'm actually adding noise by messing around with the last hop.....maybe...

anyway - try a high end ethernet, and ignore the naysayers - it may just be the very thing you've been looking for....For me, it was a hands-down winner in the listening experience.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Head-fi is a crazy crazy world!

 

[dstubked]

I did not have the chance to try a Rossini clock but I did have a Mutec Ref10 and a Mutec MC3+ USB left over after I sold the MDave setup and had the Bartok reference the MC3+ wordclock. I can totally hear the difference with and without the external clock. I get a much focused sound (i.e well defined bass), it helped make instrument separation much more obvious and the clarity out from the Focal Utopia definitely increased. I now have 2 MC3+, one for 44.1khz and another for 48khz input signals for the Bartok and couldn't be happier. Sadly I don't have a Rossini clock to compare so I can't comment how much better / different it will sound. Just sharing experiences here.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I did not have the chance to try a Rossini clock but I did have a Mutec Ref10 and a Mutec MC3+ USB left over after I sold the MDave setup and had the Bartok reference the MC3+ wordclock. I can totally hear the difference with and without the external clock. I get a much focused sound and it helped make instrument separation much more obvious and the clarity out from the Focal Utopia definitely increased. I now have 2 MC3+, one for 44.1khz and another for 48khz input signals for the Bartok and couldn't be happier. Sadly I don't have a Rossini clock to compare so I can't comment how much better / different it will sound. Just sharing experiences here.

I wonder would one choose the Rossini or Lina clock for his Bartok?

 

[dstubked]

I wonder would one choose the Rossini or Lina clock for his Bartok?

Difficult decision unless you hear it. I already had the mutec combo and it was a small cost to add on (another mutec mc3+) in order to experience the benefits of external clocking man I was pleased. I'm just wondering how much better the sound can get vs Lina or the Rosinni clock.

 

[adrianm]

Difficult decision unless you hear it. I already had the mutec combo and it was a small cost to add on (another mutec mc3+) in order to experience the benefits of external clocking man I was pleased. I'm just wondering how much better the sound can get vs Lina or the Rosinni clock.

I've been wondering if I should get the MC3+ ReF 10 or the Lina clock, but I'm not sure how much sense it makes from a cost perspective. Plus the Lina + clock stacked look nicer
I assume you keep one MC3 on 44.1 and one on 48.0, correct?

 

[dstubked]

I've been wondering if I should get the MC3+ ReF 10 or the Lina clock, but I'm not sure how much sense it makes from a cost perspective. Plus the Lina + clock stacked look nicer
I assume you keep one MC3 on 44.1 and one on 48.0, correct?

Thats right!

 

[SuperBurrito]

I've tried a few networks setups now, and (bizzarely), cable seems to make the biggest difference for me, as opposed to clocking, switching and fibre links. After much messing about with borrowed fibre bridges and etherregen, the simplest (and for me , better sounding). solution was to hang a Shunyata Sigma V2 ethernet cable between my Zenith and the Bartok.

Sounds nuts, and (laws-of-physics-wise) it shoudn't be so, but the Shunyata cable trumped every other config, hands-down. £ for £ it's also slightly cheaper than a stack of FBU's, clockers and PSUs...(although at £1500, 'cheaper' is entirely relative!) Now, in my defense, bear in mind that I'm connecting a Zentih MkIII, which has a very good PSU and a separate network bridge for output, so perhaps that's where the magic happens, and I'm actually adding noise by messing around with the last hop.....maybe...

anyway - try a high end ethernet, and ignore the naysayers - it may just be the very thing you've been looking for....For me, it was a hands-down winner in the listening experience.

Thanks for that suggestion - I definitely need to audition some cables.

 

[bluecar]

Thanks for that suggestion - I definitely need to audition some cables.

plus, its a good excuse to audition some other things at the same time