Article: dCS Bartok Review

[austinpop]

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[The Computer Audiophile]

I absolutely love this review!

 

As I told Rajiv / @austinpop, the saying, "I'm not worthy" from Wayne's World comes to mind when I read through this review. Such a great effort, I feel honored to publish such a fine piece of work. 

[Matias]

Excellent review, very well written, full of details and comparisons. Thank you!

[PYP]

Very useful review for folks seeking a new DAC.  Very thorough and informative.  Thank you.  

[DuckToller]

Excellent review, Rajiv!!!

Best, Tom

[keeper]

I really enjoyed the review especially the lack of buzz words to describe the music, must admit I got a shock when I looked at the price of the headphones........

[k-man]

Great, accomplished review. Q&A really helped display the team’s design goals.

 

Whoever wants to compare this to a half-baked review of the Bartók, have a read at the PT-Audiophile website (I can’t even be bothered to link or mention the disgraced reviewer ). Why they even bother with part 2? 

[ted_b]

Rajiv,

Great review!  I love both the writing style and the review outline/structure.  Great stuff.  I am only saddened to know that you got to hear the Rossini.    Oh well, bucket list stuff. 

[wdw]

29 minutes ago, ted_b said:

Rajiv,

Great review!  I love both the writing style and the review outline/structure.  Great stuff.  I am only saddened to know that you got to hear the Rossini.    Oh well, bucket list stuff. 

 

Great review, Rajiv.  I have the Bartok and agree with every point you raised but must admit to be saddened when you brought in the Rossini...had always assumed, as you did, that the improvements would be apparent but modest...oh, well!   As mentioned above, bucket list stuff!

[WAM]

Great review, honest, transparant, well written. I hope my better half bought a winning lottery ticket this morning...

 

and you are right...

 

It makes a compelling case to stop tinkering, and just enjoy the music. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?!

[k-man]

@ted_b, @wdw More folk like me put the Bartók on the bucket list, which is more saddening (kidding). One of dCS’s traits is to continuously develop their current equipment via firmware updates, and the Bartók has only just been released. It’s entirely feasible for Bartók’s performance to get closer (to very close) to the Rossini at some point, but there’s no certainty to it.

[Nay]

Great review, comparison to MTT2 given the price difference it held it's ground. MDAVE i'm sure would have been a different outcome.

[tmarshl]

Dear Rajiv,

 

Thank you for a detailed and objective review.  This review is refreshing, considering so many "fanboy" reviews that are published.  I have owned the Bartok since it first became available, and I consider it to be a perfect piece of gear for me.  I feed it with a Roon Nucleus via Ethernet.  I discover and listen to a lot of music via Tidal Masters and Qobuz.  I have been re-listening to my entire music collection on the Bartok, and have been amazed at what I have been missing (I upgraded from the Chord Dave).  The organic realism of the sound from the Bartok into my Focal Utopia headphones (also with Transparent Ultra balanced cable) and Raal Requisite SR1a "earfield speakers",  without warning will jolt me out of my listening reverie with sound so authentic that I could swear I am in the same room with the musicians. 

[rossb]

Excellent review, Rajiv. Thanks in particular for the comparison to the Ayre QX5. As a QX5 owner I was wondering whether the Bartok would be a worthwhile upgrade, and my wallet is saddened to hear that this is the case.

[taipan254]

Great review, Rajiv. Actually reading this at the Odd Duck on S. Lamar. I dig your city! 

 

I will admit that the thought of a DAC that can't be improved with upstream tweaks scares me a bit... I guess I'd have to learn how to build speakers! 

[austinpop]

2 minutes ago, taipan254 said:

Great review, Rajiv. Actually reading this at the Odd Duck on S. Lamar. I dig your city! 

 

Cool! That's a great spot.

 

2 minutes ago, taipan254 said:

I will admit that the thought of a DAC that can't be improved with upstream tweaks scares me a bit... I guess I'd have to learn how to build speakers! 

 

Well... not quite "can't," just not as much. Remember - I said I was tempted to stop tinkering... not that I would actually stop!

[austinpop]

8 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I absolutely love this review!

 

As I told Rajiv / @austinpop, the saying, "I'm not worthy" from Wayne's World comes to mind when I read through this review. Such a great effort, I feel honored to publish such a fine piece of work. 

 

Waynes World, Waynes World
It's Party Time, It's Excellent

 

[austinpop]

5 hours ago, keeper said:

I got a shock when I looked at the price of the headphones........

 

It's a brave new world. These are not your father's Grado's!

[austinpop]

4 hours ago, ted_b said:

I am only saddened to know that you got to hear the Rossini.    Oh well, bucket list stuff. 

 

4 hours ago, wdw said:

must admit to be saddened when you brought in the Rossini...had always assumed, as you did, that the improvements would be apparent but modest...oh, well!   As mentioned above, bucket list stuff!

 

So true. I'm like a moth drawn to flame. But I couldn't resist!

[austinpop]

3 hours ago, tmarshl said:

Dear Rajiv,

 

Thank you for a detailed and objective review.  This review is refreshing, considering so many "fanboy" reviews that are published.  I have owned the Bartok since it first became available, and I consider it to be a perfect piece of gear for me.  I feed it with a Roon Nucleus via Ethernet.  I discover and listen to a lot of music via Tidal Masters and Qobuz.  I have been re-listening to my entire music collection on the Bartok, and have been amazed at what I have been missing (I upgraded from the Chord Dave).  The organic realism of the sound from the Bartok into my Focal Utopia headphones (also with Transparent Ultra balanced cable) and Raal Requisite SR1a "earfield speakers",  without warning will jolt me out of my listening reverie with sound so authentic that I could swear I am in the same room with the musicians. 

 

Thanks. I really need to get my hands on the RAAL. Time to go to a CanJam!

[austinpop]

3 hours ago, rossb said:

Excellent review, Rajiv. Thanks in particular for the comparison to the Ayre QX5. As a QX5 owner I was wondering whether the Bartok would be a worthwhile upgrade, and my wallet is saddened to hear that this is the case.

 

These things are relative. The QX-5 Twenty is, and will continue to be, a fantastic-sounding component. Like I said in the review, it's only when you put components side-by-side, that "high-end comparisons are cruel."

[AudioDoctor]

Fantastic review!

[Le Concombre Masqué]

Rajiv,

 

I wish I could share the general enthusiasm for your reviews. I can certainly praise your dedication but I find them pretty moot for they don't include the leveraging of computer based processing.

 

I can see references to usb usb cables ethernet stuff etc that certainly pertains to computer world but I don't see* leveraging of computer based processing.

 

I'b be interested in comparisons between DACs fed by, say, HQP delivering to the max of the DAC capabilities.

 

You're using a computer anyway, right ? so since you do mention diminishing-returns region and  price-performance curve, what $300 of software can save us in $K of hardware is of interest, IMO.

 

*Roon does not seemed to be used for any heavy processing and you even specify "library management and output to the DAC all in one"

[Account Closed]

This is one of the best reviews that I have ever read in my 50+ years in this hobby.

[matthias]

Thank you,

this is a review how all reviews should be.

 

Matt