But isn’t this a percentage based on its price vs performance value. Anyway it will be interesting to hear what you have to say.
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Well I have tried roon and didn’t find it anything special, specially as you have to pay for it.
The dcs mosaic app works fine for me, it always works and easy to navigate, plus I can control all the settings from it on the rossini.
As for the dcs network bridge, then that was designed for older dcs owners to get the modern facilities of the streaming platform rather than a stand alone streamer, but it does do that very well, but it’s not maxed out in most cases.
As for the bartock as a headphone only amp, then yes its very good, but I wouldn’t buy one just for that as its a very expensive way to do just that and as always matching headphones and amp are massively important
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… Surely not?
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Ah, classical music.
…but the style is fun!
C’mon man I’m hanging out for some comments on the comparison. Or at least a teaser.
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We’ve been getting plenty of teasers! 
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I tested ND555 vs Bartok, sold ND555 after that test…later on, I bought a Rossini + Clock.
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Atom HE First Impressions
As a civilized man there’s nothing more important than doing my part to keep society from collapsing into chaos. My primary contributions to this end are obeying traffic laws, abiding by a few social norms, and always following hifi equipment setup instructions. After an hour or so, I determined the Atom HE lacks a traditional user manual. Fortunately a series of videos provided everything I needed to know. which wasn’t much.
One of the steps involved “the supplied power cord”. Naim has always maintained their stock power cords are very good. DCS, on the other hand, in their instructions said “yeah we’ve included a crappy power cord because we have to but you should use an appropriate power cord.” Since following instructions is an important aspect of my worldview, I used the stock cord with the Atom HE and a Powerline on the Bartok.
After the easy setup and some time for the Atom HE to warm up, I plugged in my trusty HD800 headphones for my first taste of this new Naim goodness that has been hyped to near Hugo 2013 levels. Pressed “Play Now” on Billie Eilish’s “When we all fall asleep where do we go” album. Adjusted the volume on the intro track, closed my eyes, and readied myself for the magnificence of “Bad Guy”. After a few seconds I realized it sounded terrible. There was a significantly elevated mid bass that made my HD800’s sound extremely aggressive an unpleasant. It actually hurt to listen to it even at low volume.
It wasn’t a great start and I was pretty disappointed. However, the Naim norm is to burn in for several hundred hours for best performance. Since Naim norms are among the social norms by which I dutifully abide, I set Roon to play continuously through the Atom HE for 314 hours. The Bartok around 100-200 hours to fully break in. 300 felt like more than should be required.
During this burn in period, I frequently listened in for a few minutes (at first) to maybe an hour at the end. This process clearly demonstrated the Atom HE needs a long time to really sound good. At first it was completely unlistenable probably the worst headphone experience I’ve ever had. After 200+ hours it sounded decent. It didn’t sound great just reasonable. At that time I was thinking it was a definite downgrade from my old V1. It was really disappointing on many levels. Could not believe the Atom HE was receiving so much love with basically mediocre performance. Thought maybe the HD800’s just needed too much for this amp. It was strange since the V1 drove them effectively could it really be Naim made a less capable product after eight years? Not wanting to give up, I rebelled against “the man” and replaced the stock power cord with a super duper ultra fancy pants power cord made with pure silver wires. Would’ve used a powerline but don’t have a spare. Even though I understood breaking this Naim norm might very well lead to complete breakdown of social order, I had to do it. Amazingly this power cord completely transformed the Atom HE.
With the stock cord, I honestly feel I’d prefer using my Shure 535 iems via an iPad. With this audiophile power cord I started to really enjoy the Atom HE. At the end of the 314 hours of burn in it sounded better than my Hugo, the ND5 + V1 combo, and the V1 via USB. If this had been available in March, I would’ve purchased one an been very happy. Unfortunately it wasn’t and I bought a Bartok @ $17k. The Bartok sounds amazing but is it actually better than the Atom or just different? Going into the “Showdown at High Noon” I realized this was going to be a lot closer than I imagined when I started this thread
During the burn in phase, the Atom HE worked flawlessly only dropping the Roon connection a couple of times in over two weeks. I also had to completely shut it off and reboot once. Overall it has been very stable and stylish.
Takeaway from initial impressions are:
It’s very good quality
It has excellent sq with HD800
IMO the $3,300 price is an extraordinary value
I’m going to miss it when I finally give it to my daughter
It definitely benefits from better power cord
Next up the “Showdown at High Noon” where I’ll attempt to directly compare the two headphone systems.
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Best thread ever. But bang that Powerline on the Atom HE….
I have the HD800s too, so are interested in your findings. I use a Heed Canalot powered by the large Heed Obselik PS connected to my NDX2/555PS. I’ve wondered how the Atom HE would compare - you’d think on paper it wouldn’t hold a candle to the NDX2 based setup, but you have me wondering now….
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Katz, can I hire your consultancy services to convince my wife?
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This funny post made my day
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What was that super duper cable then?
It is a PS Audio Premier SC from circa 2009. Not an easy cord to use because it is about as flexible as a lead pipe with a similar density.
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I thought DCS had a completely different take on how it should sound compared to Naim. I haven’t heard any DCS products though so it’s pure hearsay
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This is my objection to my super-duper Ansuz power cords. They actually sound great but are rather inflexible. But they sound to me far better than PowerLine so oh well.
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That was the dCS of old. I know quite a number of former Naim users who now run dCS front ends. There are quite a few of us on the dCS forum.
We are all quite happy - so the sound our boxes are making must be very Naim like 
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Hi Bart ,
I am asking because I want to upgrade the power cable I have on my 250 dr, and also Ear 912.
I use Kharma matrix, a bit less expensive vs powerline, but I prefer them, as they sound fuller and more organic.
I have the Chord Sarum t on my 555 dr, but I would like to find something less expensive.
Your Anzus C2 cost around 3,5 k euros, so not on my budget.
The A2 is on the price of the Sarum t already.
Have you tried the P2, the Anzus entry level power cord?
frenchrooster,
I swapped all my powercables for Anzus entry and their entry power distribution unit:
HUGE upgrade!!!
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(all means dCS Rossini, DR250, Nagra, Power distribution) …next will be one for my dCS Clock