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dCS Bartok DAC review on YouTube - GoldenSound

I'm not in the market for an expensive dac so it's all rather nebulous anyway, vinyl is my serious primary source.
 
flutteringwow said:
I just put some of my old reaching for the lasers tracks on - I can't really compare directly to the Aqua as its all unplugged at the moment, and I dont really listen to dance music anymore, however the Bartok is creating this huge soundstage and really expresses all those curves , lulls and highs, of the music, the build up crescendo's are immensely impressive. To be honest, I have no idea what he is talking about, it sounds breathtakingly good.

I hazard guess the 'smoothing' he is going on about is what digital sounds like when all the 'noise' is removed - I've found this going up the chain to my current kit and adding in good switches and LPS's - so maybe the DCS is actually too good in that respect. He wants/expects that 'noise' or 'hash' or whatever that it is that he hears in cheaper DACs do, or he is biased based on measurements, or maybe it is all system dependant.

It always good to get multiple pov's but the proof is always in the audible pudding. Listen for yourself if you're in the market for one, we can't judge on graphs, only what he hear and feel.

Using tracks

K90 - Breathe
Lab 4- See No Evil
VNV Nation - Dark Angel

Putting my usual singer/songwriter folky stuff on...and absolute heaven.

I should mention I am using it as a streamer and a DAC through Roon.
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I demmed a Bartok against my Auralic G2 Aries and Vega. Frankly in every aspect of music production the Bartok walked all over the Auralic gear. Not what I wanted but the ears tell the story. I got the dem Bartok from a fellow forum member who had the same Auralic package as me with the addition of the Auralic clock. We are both driving dCS now.

Flutteringwow is bang on with his verdict. The dCS plays everything neutrally, naturally without flavour or emphasis. It may be some people and their systems can’t handle that. btw Electronic, Ambient, Dance, Trance, EDM sound amazing too.

Miller-8 seems to be a Goldensound (shit name by the way) fanboi. That was the first GS video I’ve seen. Never heard of him before. Is he a thing?
 
I agree with DCS assessment. My FIL used to use a full stack with Krell I seem to remember. He also tried a couple of later DCS dacs. I have no doubt that it will be well built and engineered.They seemed hewn from solid steel. My FIL finally settled on a Devialet 1000 Pro in the end and enjoys all of its facilities just as much.
 
andrewd said:
I am curious to hear a Bartok, but crikey it is freaking enormous for a DAC.
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For a reason

Bartok-Inside-Wide-893x593.jpg
 
... is that because they haven't learnt to use switch mode psu's yet .

Actually that's probably a bad idea, it has enough ultrasonic noise already...
 
Same rubbish post being peddled on the Wam by those who have never heard one, just content to go by measurements
It's not just a fantastic DAC, it's a quality streamer and headphone amp if you need one.
Mac
 
sq225917 said:
... is that because they haven't learnt to use switch mode psu's yet .

Actually that's probably a bad idea, it has enough ultrasonic noise already...
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DCS, a successful British company full of excellent engineering that make wonderfully sounding products VS a bloke on the internet with no public credentials who spins the same cyclic rhetoric every single day...lolz





 
It's in a big box because they choose to stick with linear psu, and because they choose to sell gloriously finished full width boxes because that's where the big ticket money lives.

My point was they could easily make it smaller if they chose to.
 
sq225917 said:
It's in a big box because they choose to stick with linear psu, and because they choose to sell gloriously finished full width boxes because that's where the big ticket money lives.

My point was they could easily make it smaller if they chose to.
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Go on, make one, you'll find the money dosent exist in the casing. Have you ever made anything thats on the market? Please post links.

Thank the Gods for linear power supplies, switching power supplies destroy digital.
 
As someone who owned, enjoyed, but sold a Bartok, I can only say the same as others, it sounded wonderful and was a cohesive one box DAC/streamer solution that (IMHO and to my ears) buttered everything I had previously owned or borrowed.
If I ever have the means or need/want to have a £10k DAC in my life again, I’d buy a Bartok. Out of all the mega hifi kit I parted with in 2021, the Bartok was the one I’d buy again first ….
 
As the reviewer’s opinion seems to be so different from all the other reviewers and customers of this DAC, I’d be inclined to rule him out as a useful source. I wouldn’t say it makes him more honest, or more deaf than the others, but his opinion should be viewed more as an anomaly rather than a discovery.
 
Honestly Fulttershy, look at any big dick hifi product, look at the casework, does it add to the performance, does it make it function better. What do slab slided cnc billet alloy cases add to any piece of hifi? Prestige, feel good factor, a whole lot of cost?

Dcs choose to use linear supplies because that's their wheelhouse, not because they're technically better. There's loads of cheaper dacs with better numbers that use smps and on board switching regs. It's just a design choice.
 
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