Consolidate/sell my headphone system for a DCS Bartok?

Thanks. The Empyreans are what I use. Great headphones, although I hope to snag a pair of LCD-5s whenever those come out.

The Bartok DAC is a lot better than the Mytek, but the Manhattan II headphone amp is really good. Even my expensive amps are only marginally better, most just a difference in harmonics and power. I sometimes use the Mytek HP amp with other DACs because it is so neutral. I think the SQ of the Bartok headphone amp *could* be better than the Mytek, but in single ended mode it doesn’t have as much power.

You should really ask these headphone question at a place like https://www.head-fi.org/

They steered this first time headphone buyer to an amazing headphone, Meze Empyrean, and 2 great headphone amps, Benchmark HPA4 and Bryston BHA-1. I also use the Benchmark DAC3B and the WyWire Platinum XLR ($400 for 5 feet) for the Meze.

A big audio magazine review of the Bartok compared it with a Mytek and the Bartok did not come across as a world beater. I think the review was in Stereophile.

I got a chance to listen to a Bartok today, and while I was impressed, I wasn't that impressed. Unfortunately since it wasn't in my own system with my own power cables, source it wasn't an apples to apples comparison.

I found the Bartok to be extremely transparent, with almost perfect separation, control and balance, extreme detail and space, and a very wide soundstage. It was extremely good at conveying the music performance. On the other hand, it had an unpleasant glare that I really didn't like (seems to be from the ethernet), was a bit too clean, and the headphone amp was quite underpowered in single ended mode for my Meze Empyreans. I had to use the highest output setting and I was still having to set the volume around 80% or higher.

We swapped in a balanced Transparent headphone cable which greatly improved the sound. With the addition of a Transparent power cable things also got a lot better, and with Transparent ethernet it got a little better as well. This was getting closer to my own setup, but Transparent vs Shunyata NR cables, not having my Denali, and ethernet vs high end USB all confounded things a lot. 

I came away feeling that actually the network cable and source really do matter in this instance, and that it won't be an opportunity to save money. This is a bummer, because not needing an expensive server and cables was a key point for me. Like any DAC, getting a decent sound seems totally dependent on power, cables, vibration control, etc. 

When I came home I found that my own setup with PS Audio and MZ3 was richer with tonal color, better texture, more full in the low end, and didn't have that weird glare. The only other DAC I've heard that glare from is the Chord Hugo 2.

It seems like the best combination here is probably the Bartok with my own power cables, vibration feet, an upgraded fuse, and keeping the LTA MZ3 amplifier. Bartok was wider, but couldn't hold a candle to the MZ3 or The King in single ended mode with the 1/4" headphone cable I own. Even my Mytek Manhattan II performed better for unbalanced than the Bartok. Only with an $1800 balanced cable did it compete, and I feel like it still needed a little more power.  

in_shore: So your vote on my original question is a definite "yes". What would be your recommendation for dealing with stored files with highest audio quality? (I am quite wary of garbage coming in from digital inputs.) It seems like the Zenith is on back order so I may have time to change my mind.

I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to the Bartok, and unfortunately I dont foresee the near term possibility without purchasing it first.

Ianb52 The dac and headphone section of the Bartok alone are stellar performers and the rest is DCS ‘s revelatory design with this entry level product.
I have no opinion on Audeze own amplifier I’ve never listened to it however the PS Audio senior dac isn’t close to the same legume as DCS entry level dac that’s in the Bartok . Though it sounds from your response you haven’t listened to a Bartok 
 
Im just suggesting if your goals are to long term ownership of said component this the one to look into .

If you add up the cost of a brand new Directstream DAC, Audeze The King, and 4tb Zenith MK3 and nice cables like I have, the Bartok is actually cheaper. 

If it actually does sound significantly better than my total setup and does NOT require a server like the Innuos, then it is a really good deal.

I’m not so much wishing that my current setup beats the Bartok, as I am hoping I wouldn’t be wasting money, mostly on account of the headphone amp quality. If you say the DAC and HP are both of better quality, then great.

I’m way more into playing my own high res files than I am streaming. It seems like in this case the Innuos still sounds better than using a cheap commercial NAS for my music, but honestly when I did my research I couldn’t find much useful information about it because I think most people just use streaming all the time. I’d love to not need another component, but I’ve got to store my music on something so it’s either the Innuos or whatever they’ve got at Newegg.

Bartok with headphone amp is actually $16,250 so selling my other stuff can fund quite a bit of the cost. I am considering the Phoenix, but in a universe where I got with Bartok and a network setup I would probably be looking at the upcoming Innuos ethernet regenerator instead.

Ianb52 Have you listened to the Bartok in a system or any of the DCS components  ? ...I think your wishing your PS Audio , King or MZ3 or even some other combination would equal or beat the DCS , the Bartok is in totally different level of performance over the PS Audio dac including many other middle of the road components like this. It has little to do with the price differences over other one box much more affordable components and or combinations of like your thoughts.
As you must be well aware $20,000.00 for the Bartok is a pretty big step from your current components , the Bartok being a single box solution you should have not purchased the Innuos streamer /server 
Something else to consider with a purchase of a component like the Bartok are other components plugged into it should be of equal sonic merit and most importantly a choice library of much as you can well recorded uncompressed music .

Finally you may also consider a Innuos Phoenix to pair with your sone to arrive Innuos Zenith, that single component add on will definitely give a boost in performance with your current components. 

What does that do? 

I've inverted the phase and back before, but I just left it at "In" which seemed ok.

Ian, Forgive me about Grans and Sucking eggs but have you inverted the phase on the DS a few times to see if that made a difference.

erik: Actually I have not heard the Ayre. I had an AX-5 Twenty for a while which I really loved but had a really bad damping factor mismatch with my Focal speakers. I might give them another look as I like the sound of their analog gear and their digital filters.

jim: I’ve actually pushed the Directstream pretty far: I’m on Windom, I’ve got a Synergistic Orange Quantum fuse in their, IsoAcoustic Orea feet, Wireworld Eclipse 8 RCA. For input I’m currently going from Mac (Audirvana) with a Shunyata Sigma USB to Matrix X-SPDIF2 with Uptone LPS 1.2 power supply and silver DC cable, and then Wireworld HDMI into the I2S input, so actually there is a fair amount of silver in this setup. The only improvement at this point would be the Innuos server. I’d love to use balanced cables, but none of these HP amps are balanced.

In all fairness, the DS was out in the cold for a while and it’s been on less than 24 hours. I had a problem with video board and had to send it in for repair and was listening to my Mytek Manhattan II in the meantime, which I got used to. I have some issues with the Mytek (it’s a bit thin), but when the PS Audio finally came back I noticed the width was narrower, everything was a bit too soft and smooth, and the DAC was less lively/punchy and expansive than the Mytek with the Apodizing or Hybrid (min phase apodizing) selected.

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. 

Have you heard the Ayre? 

The diamond output stage on headphones was absolutely magical to me.