I'm afraid I would have to disagree about the PS Audio being "mushy and reserved", I find it anything but. This makes me beg the question are you keeping the DAC software up to date as we are now on "Windom". If you have been updating then I apologise and would offer another suggestion of , have you thought of silver cables in and out of the DAC. A couple of years ago I started off with a new USB cable which was the Tellurium silver cable and it made a startling difference to my sound but not at the beginning. When I tried it at first it was very forward with a definite treble imbalance. It took a long time to break it in ( about three weeks with a big hard drive playing all day and only switched off at bedtime ) but it sounds superb now. After that I Then replaced the balanced cables from my DAC to my headphone amp and that was another big improvement. I am of the opinion that your headphone amp would maybe best the headphone out from the Bartok as these headphone amps are truly made for the purpose of amplifying a signal for the sole purpose of headphones.
Consolidate/sell my headphone system for a DCS Bartok?
Right now I’ve got a PS Audio Directstream DAC, a couple of great headphone amps: Audeze The King and LTA MZ3, plus Shunyata Denali v2 and an Innuos Zenith MK3 on the way. I’ve decided that the PS Audio is just a bit too mushy and reserved in sound quality, and I would like to simplify my setup, and probably get into network/streaming audio. With the Directstream I have a Matrix X-SPDIF2+Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 HDMI for I2S.
I trust that the Bartok is the better DAC here, but considering how good my headphone amps are I’m wondering if it’s possible that the PS Audio +The King or MZ3 could beat the Bartok headphone out?
Another option is to get a Luminary’s X1 and keep one of the headphone amps, but the simpler the setup, the better. To have just the DAC, Innuos, and Denali, and ethernet to the wall would be ideal.
Unfortunately in pandemic times I can’t audition anything in person. Thoughts?
I trust that the Bartok is the better DAC here, but considering how good my headphone amps are I’m wondering if it’s possible that the PS Audio +The King or MZ3 could beat the Bartok headphone out?
Another option is to get a Luminary’s X1 and keep one of the headphone amps, but the simpler the setup, the better. To have just the DAC, Innuos, and Denali, and ethernet to the wall would be ideal.
Unfortunately in pandemic times I can’t audition anything in person. Thoughts?