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dCS Bartok DAC review on YouTube - GoldenSound

sq225917 said:
I love marmite, I don't like the XO stuff, it's just too salty. I'd suggest that might be inciteful enough for anyone who also likes marmite, but doesn't want it any saltier to make a purchasing decision.

Much like GS's thoughts on the Bartok
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So you've physically tasted Marmite?
 
darrenyeats said:
I agree Mike!

It's also true that not all CD is superior to Spotify quality stuff. This is because mastering trumps format every time.

If you disagree that hi-res has the capacity to sound audibly better, then I think it would be better to write just that. And I'll respect that - that's covered by my several "IMO"s.

The principle we surely must agree on (use the best digital formats when deciding "what good sounds like" if you're a reviewer). OTOH I can easily see how people will disagree whether CD should be included as such a best digital format.

I should make clear all my music is digital and 95% at CD quality - my aim is making it sound good via sympathetic up-sampling (a manufacturer may use a certain topology or whatever to try to help, I suppose). My aim isn't trashing people's choice of format.

Edit: @Yank see above.
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No, I agree it has the “capacity” to sound better. It just often doesn’t.

I’d also accept that mastering can trump format.
 
As a 'new owner' of a few days, I promise to write up a totally subjective review in a few weeks' time once back from holidays etc.

I have four DACs to compare it to: my reference Oppo Sonica, my own brand ESS9038pro, NOS BB1794 and AD1862 DACs all the latter three with tube output stages and no slouches on dynamics.

Much as I love it's functionality and looks, I would of course move it on if it doesn't deliver sonically. In our short acquaintance with limited critical listening I noticed no lack of dynamics or bite. Piano sounded more real than I've ever heard, with the hammer on strings seeming more real and dynamic than I've heard before, John McLaughlin's guitar and band Live at Ronnie Scott's certainly had bite, and a recording of Haydn's Cello Concerto showed real bite and fruity attack on the strings. So, I'll let you know if it's more Vegemite or Marmite IMO!
 
flutteringwow said:
PFM Budget Hero logic

"Do you like Marmite?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I haven't tried it but a man on the internet in America said it's no good"

"Has he tried it?"

"No."
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Interestingly, some might argue that it's an invalid analogy because Marmite isn't engineered to carry out a well-defined task, against which its performance could be quantitatively assessed. It's just made to taste good when you eat it and you either like how it tastes or you don't. To which the other camp would reply "precisely."
 
gustav_errata said:
Interestingly, some might argue that it's an invalid analogy because Marmite isn't engineered to carry out a well-defined task, against which its performance could be quantitatively assessed. It's just made to taste good when you eat it and your either like how it tastes or you don't. To which the other camp would reply "precisely."
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Of course it's engineered, it dosen't grow on a tree or come out of the ground ready to eat in this form, its engineered to serve a purpose and therefore fulfill a task.

I am sure a human response can be measured in neurotransmitter and hormone release after eating, and a SPECT scan of the brain showing the areas that light up after consumption.

I hope that the budget heroes will engage in such testing methods and can supply us with graphs if that argument is made.
 
flutteringwow said:
Of course it's engineered, it dosen't grow on a tree or come out of the ground ready to eat in this form, its engineered to serve a purpose and therefore fulfill a task.

I am sure a human response can be measured in neurotransmitter and hormone release after eating, and a SPECT scan of the brain showing the areas that light up after consumption.

I hope that the budget heroes will engage in such testing methods and can supply us with graphs if that argument is made.
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I think you missed the punchline!
 
Juancho said:
As a 'new owner' of a few days, I promise to write up a totally subjective review in a few weeks' time once back from holidays etc.

I have four DACs to compare it to: my reference Oppo Sonica, my own brand ESS9038pro, NOS BB1794 and AD1862 DACs all the latter three with tube output stages and no slouches on dynamics.

Much as I love it's functionality and looks, I would of course move it on if it doesn't deliver sonically. In our short acquaintance with limited critical listening I noticed no lack of dynamics or bite. Piano sounded more real than I've ever heard, with the hammer on strings seeming more real and dynamic than I've heard before, John McLaughlin's guitar and band Live at Ronnie Scott's certainly had bite, and a recording of Haydn's Cello Concerto showed real bite and fruity attack on the strings. So, I'll let you know if it's more Vegemite or Marmite IMO!
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None of the DACs you'll be comparing it to come close to being in the same league as the ones GoldenSound compared the Bartok to. I'm a bit puzzled as to why you're jumping straight up to the Bartok from these without comparing it to the Holo Audio May etc.
 
Miller-8 said:
None of the DACs you'll be comparing it to come close to being in the same league as the ones GoldenSound compared the Bartok to. I'm a bit puzzled as to why you're jumping straight up to the Bartok from these without comparing it to the Holo Audio May etc.
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My guess is that he loves its functionality and looks, and read glowing reviews.
 
Juancho said:
You don't know anything about the DACs I'm comparing, so once again what is your opinion based on? You have no idea of the standard of my DACs and as far as we understand you have never owned or heard a Bartok.
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I googled the DACs you listed so I know how much they cost. Your reference Oppo Sonica cost £800 new and was reviewed by What Hifi in 2017 and was awarded 3 stars. Negatives they noted were:
  • Lacks dynamic subtlety and overall excitement
  • Clearer, more precise, more rhythmically adept rivals
  • Price
 
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