Cheers for the comprehensive write up Simon. It does sound like it punches well above its weight. Now do i really need one…
Chuckle… do we need much of what is discussed on this forum? But it’s mighty good… ideal for my iPad and OS X machines… go on… treat yourself…
Good grief, 'er in doors would have a style attack!
I’m going to talk to quadraspire later today. They do a shelf the right size (so much for hoping to save on the cost of a new shelf!) but the column holes are wrong. I’m going to see if they can send me one with the holes correct or undrilled and I’ll drill them myself.
This is the overall case dimensions but I should be able to sort a correct shelf… just puts a little delay on things; nothing that throwing money at the problem can’t fix!
i had the same problem with the melco. Too big for the Fraimlite. So it stands now on another rack, on a nice hifi butcher shelf to increase the isolation. But i can understand it’s not your taste.
Update… the dealer is saying probably 12-14 weeks lead time for the Bartok!
Bums
Oh well it gives me time to save the money up
I would encourage you to listen to some other alternatives.
You sum up how I feel with my Nova, it’s better than my previous Aurender N100h and Lumin D1 (yes I know more entry level streamers respectively) that I had, the Nova has a lovely organic musicality, but at the same time I am sure there is a hazy veil that you want to go through and can see through, I am now looking at getting a DCS Bartok as the ring DAC does seem to be by all intents and purposes quite some way in front of anything that Naim have and surely they (Naim) must realise this, also on the radar is the recent Lumin X1 (with a Fiber switch) and also the Brinkman Nyquist 2 (with Etheregen) though that’s probably out of my reach, used Rossini maybe as well…
I have ATC20ASL’s and a pair of JL Audio Fathom 112v2’s into the JL Audio CR1 crossover, I am starting to salivate over the Bartok, however not having heard it at all, but reading between the lines I think it will be a big improvement over my Nova which I love…
I have one arriving early next week
It’s sat at the dealers waiting for the new, larger, EVO shelf to be delivered so I can fit it into the rack!
Will advise.
Bartok arrived Monday so set it up when I got home from work late afternoon. I’ve not had the chance for a proper sit down listen yet so all I can give are my initial impressions re. setup and operation. First impressions are it looks gorgeous… first comment from SWMBO…“it looks much better than the NAIM”. The display is super crystal clear. Much better clarity than the NDX. tbh I can’t comment compared to a more modern NAIM streamer like the NDX2.
Setup was a few mins with the app auto finding the Bartok. Set the volume (0db to suite going into my pre-amp) and that’s pretty much it. You need to play a few test tracks of different sample rates to set the filter preferences. I’ve initially set them as per the user guide and I’ll take it from there after some serious sit-down listening. Why you can’t preset these through the setup I don’t know. It also has fota (firmware over the air). My NDX never had that… I don’t know if more modern NAIM streamers have this but it makes life a lot easier; no playing around with usb cables connected to the laptop. The app pops up and says f/w available so you just press go and that’s it.
On the bad side there’s an issue with Asset that dbpoweramp say will get sorted so, meanwhile I’m using minimserver. I’ve spent hours now trying to get my head around minim. I’ve spent more time with minim than actually listening
Minim issues withstanding the dcs app is quite good and I’ve not found a bug yet… well I have, it’s got the same issue as the NAIM app wrt to font size i.e. you can’t alter it no matter what you’ve told the OS to do with text. It’s a relief to select play on an album and not have to back after a couple of tracks because it’s stopping/starting the next track - gosh that annoys me on the naim app.
I’ve also just discovered the Bartok has wake-on-lan!! Brilliant. Why haven’t NAIM cottoned onto that? It makes it one button easier (gosh these first world problems). With tablet set to stay awake I just select music source, server (it really should remember this), albumartist, album, play and the streamer wakes up and you’re off. tbh minim is a bit clunky IMHO and I think it will be a bit slicker once I can start using Asset.
I hope to get the time to do some serious listening at the weekend. I need to convince SWMBO to go out and do some shopping for couple of hours.
It is a lovely looking box. I love the dCS Network Bridge and so have a very healthy respect for the company. look forward to your thoughts after a decent listening session. Is this a demo/loan or brand new?
It’s a purchased unit! I was swayed by the reviews and the dealer.
I managed to get an hour in of listening before being dragged out for christmas shopping and, so far, all the reviewers comment re. transparency and superb stereo imagery ring true. Agnes Obel was stunning… I swear she was in the room!
Impressions? Well I’d add total neutrality. I can’t say, for example, ‘oh it’s midrange is excellent’ because ALL the frequency ranges are excellent be it bass, mid, or treble. I think if you were after a DAC that flatters or exaggerates certain ranges or aspects of the music then perhaps this isn’t the DAC for you. The bartok treats it ALL naturally and neutrally. It’s one of those products where what goes in at the front is the same as what comes out of the back with no colouration added on the way through.
Anyway hopefully more listening tomorrow.
Sounds like you’re very pleased. It’s a lovely bit of kit. Did you get the version with the headphone amp or the standard version ?
Suprised nobody mentions the totaldac d1-Core DAC, I trust is a bit below the target budget and from all I hear this is a unique DAC manufacturer out there…
Totaldac have no strong prat and involvement. But they sound very nice and open and detailed.
Cable it appropriately and it’s sensational!
Without the headphone amp… it saved quite a lot of money and I don’t listen using phones very often… certainly not enough to justify the extra two and a half grand plus some 'phones to suite.
I did the same Steve
plus I felt that removing headphone circuitry/amp completely could improve SQ
… no doubt someone from dCS would state there’s no difference
this am listened to Tubular Bells (Ultimate version)… gosh the detail is a significant step up from the NDX. The hi-hat was glorious… you could hear the brush on the cymbals. Acoustic guitar is amazing. If anything, compared with the NDX, I’d say a less ‘warm’ sound but every instruments is crystal clear. I can see how someone might say a bit too clinical but I like the astounding detail.
now more christmas shopping