At nearly 2x dCS Bartok list price, Naim ND555 plus 555PS should be better
dCS Debussy 10 year old technology, more than a lifetime in DAC/streaming, sounds nothing like a Bartok
Indeed Andy. The Rossini with external clock is comparable in price to an ND555 with a 555PS, lacks an external power supply, yet still manages to sound really rather lovely to these cloth ears.
Best regards, BF
same here Steve, at my request he set up a Naim v Auralic v PS Audio demo, he suggested a Bartok and I made my own decision
The Benchmark DAC’s are excellent aren’t they mike , I came across them by chance when I started looking at ATC Active’s , I picked up mine ex dem to get me going and still have it 2 years later .
I am thinking of going to another level though, maybe adding a separate Pre so the DAC3 can be used in pure DAC mode to get the best signal to noise ratio . These were Benchmarks words and do make sense as even though it’s enjoyable at low volumes , there’s definitely a sweet spot as the volume is turned up and at that point it’s excellent.
More likely though is getting a one box Streamer DAC like being discussed on this thread . I’ve actually had an Auralic Vega G2 here since Thursday and it’s very good indeed . The biggest difference over the Benchmark is the Pre section , it’s much better at lower Volumes and consistent across the range . There’s also more in the usual areas of depth , clarity etc etc but it’s very musical too. Unfortunately a heavy cold stopped the listening enjoyment yesterday and it needs to be returned later but it’s very tempting to purchase.
The only issue I had was with Metadata when streaming from my Uniti Core . Artists , Albums and tracks were all over the place in some instances . I’m sure this would be easily fixed and It didn’t really detract from the listening.
I really liked the look of the Auralic products but I think it’s only apple app so that closed the door on that choice for me.
That is annoying for Android users , I think there’s an Auralic promotion of a free IPad with a Vega G1 . They probably think if you can afford a G2 you can buy your own IPad …
The lightning app is fine but it did crash a fair few times . There was an Apple update last week so maybe Auralic haven’t caught up just yet . Whatever way I go I’ll be tempted to go the Roon route though .
I really liked the Vega G2 sound quality as well; unfortunately I did have connectivity and usability issues but these may have been problems with the loaner model
DAC in ND555 is prehistoric, but it still performs well.
As long as the one chosen sounds great to the listener then everyone’s a winner.
The only real concern about the Vega is usability but I did prefer it this time around as I linked an old remote control to it for the most used functions. I would make sure my Network was completely up to scratch as well which may explain Metadata issues .
How is the functionality of the Bartok ?
No issues so far. A couple of design quirks which are on the list for future tweaking. Issues with Asset but Asset say these are on the fix list. I’m using minimserver which, tbh, I don’t like but it’s doing the job. The only problem I have, which is not a biggy, is the ‘current playing track’ is shown in a window on the rhs of the screen. It’s a bit squashed up and the track navigation buttons are a bit small. Saying that the dcs app DOES respond to changes in the system font size unlike the naim offering. The official remote control is close to four hundred quid but it uses the generic Philips codes so, for example, the remote for my ATC amps works fine for things like standby, track selection, mute, etc…
The ‘services’ list is extensive with all of the standard streaming platforms (spotify, tidal, qobuz, deezer, etc…) as well as iradio and podcasts. I think the podcasts is something I might end up using quite a lot The ‘services’ page lists them all whether you need them or not. dcs say a future option will allow you to tune which services are shown; a bit like the naim app does. Ditto selection of the default upnp server.
I’ve not had a single crash or hiccup yet with the app. So far it’s all worked without a problem. Okay there are some layout and design aspects I’d like to be different but info back from dcs is these are on the product development list to be done. Once the Asset problem is fixed it’ll be pretty much hunky-dory
Debussy is previous generation, Bartok is newer design, construction and firmware - like saying I don’t rate an ND555 (unheard) because I bought an NDX and didn’t like that
Damn my first crash/issue… the charging lead has dropped out so the tablets gone flat!! So what do you do now? This is the problem with everything being done through the app; be it dcs or naim With my old ndx it wasn’t a problem.
£400 for a remote? Ouch !! Stick with the ATC !
It seems that there will always be network / streaming quirks no matter what manufacturer we choose . Just how it seems to be .
The Mosaic app is nice and clean, no connectivity issues
If I press a lot of buttons impatiently it can struggle to keep up; not sure whether that’s the app at fault or me
When using Audirvana (UPNP or TiDAL), track selection and volume control works well from the Audirvana app
Regarding other Bartok functionality it’s mostly set and forget; I fiddle with DSD/DXD filters via the app just for something to do
agreed and no way I’m paying that for a dCS remote
I do miss handset volume control/mute/track changing using the Naim remote
One advantage of my Chord Blu2 DAVE is I can pop on a CD.
Maybe you can train a remote ? I did with the Vega using an old Sky remote and it was relatively simple .
dCS provide the hex codes but it looks really complicated and way above my capabilities/attention span
unfortunately the Bartok doesn’t train remotes like the Vega G2
however now you mention it, one of the Vega usability issues was that I couldn’t get it to train the Naim remote …
You need the ATC amp remote then