dCS Bartok DAC - Interesting Video Review

Thanks, I was thinking of getting one of those.

B

It’s interesting that GoldenSound is willing to risk his hard-earned reputation finding fault with this $18,500 DAC.

The DAC has received stellar reviews from virtually all reviewers without a reservation. However the initial Stereophile review was kind of lukewarm. It was followed by a complaint from dCS, and then another far more favorable review.

Given what’s available in the marketplace can a DAC, even with a built in streamer, be worth that kind of money?

Two observations: throughout the review the Bartok was fed on SP/DIF, hardly the best interface available. Further, the softness in attack in my experience is typically a result of clocking issues between server and dac; this is why I2S and USB are better interfaces through their better clocking control. But a pretty bad outcome for DCS, this.

melm,

"Given what’s available in the marketplace can a DAC, even with a built in streamer, be worth that kind of money?" To some Yes, because "value" is determined by the individual.

I've followed DCS ever since they launched the Elgar DAC which was big bucks at the time and always found them underwhelming to the amazement of various dealers.

Their FPGA "Cool Aid' doesn't seem to have been updated in any great tech to my knowledge.

Sorry but a small slot in streamer card just doesn't cut the mustard.

melm,

"Given what’s available in the marketplace can a DAC, even with a built in streamer, be worth that kind of money?" To some Yes, because "value" is determined by the individual

@ricred1

Agreed!

I admire and appreciate open honesty of Goldensound just reporting his conclusions rather then cowering in fear of offending someone. Surely others can disagree with him and have opposing results. Just report truthfully what you hear.

I don’t agree that USB is inherently superior to SPDIF. This will depend on the specific components and cables in use.

Charles

Sounds like a matter of taste and maybe synergy.  It also looks like he's using a desktop setup(?) which is not exactly the best way to let the product shine.  He touched upon it but one of the things I love about dCS DACs is the ability to unravel and present complex, large scale music in a very natural way with great depth and nuance.  

It might be of interest to some that a thread very much like this one was pulled by Steve Hoffman over at his forum.  When I say like this one, the OP posted the negative video review and it was followed by about 16 posts.  Some of the posts favored the review; some were partial to the quality of the DAC.

Given what happened to the reviews at Stereophile, IMO it does raise again the issue of manufacturers' influence over editorial content and user commentary.

@melm good point: that’s why these fora are useful and honest contributions much appreciated

It was nice seeing a review that was obviously totally honest. I'm sure it's a great DAC and I would love to have one, but I like to hear differing opinions, too...

I like GoldenSound's comprehensive reviews. Indeed, his review of the Holo Audio May finally convinced me to purchase this DAC and I am very happy that I did. However, I have spent many hours listening to the Bartok in 2 different systems and it has never sounded 'too smooth' or 'dull' to my ears. I preferred the Bartok to the Mytek Manhattan by a significant margin, as you would expect considering the price difference. When comparing the Bartok to the TotalDAC, this was too difficult to call.