Insanely expensive, insanely great, the dCS Bartok DAC/headphone amp

The Audiophiliac spends quality time with the dCS Bartok DAC/headphone amp, and many of the world's very best headphones!


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[GeneralKenobi]

Typical audiophile placebo. The SMSL SH-8S costs $230 and has a better signal to noise ratio by 20dB. Enjoy your $12k shiny metal box

[LordWaterBottle]

It would appear that Steve knew what sort of shenanigans dCs was willing to get up to. You can't have said anything "wrong" if you dont say anything specific or measurable. "This deserves an audition" could be interpreted as "There is something about the sound you may not like that you need to know about before you buy"

[Jagcycle]

Did dCS threaten you to make a positive review?
dCS reviews cannot be trusted due to their willingness to sue over a bad review, and brings up the question as to the integrity of the reviewer.

[Sams]

would have been much better if you focused less on the headphones part of it... it's a DAC WITH a headphone jack... not a Headphone pre-amp WITH a

[yc-tai]

Perfecting it, does it mean not quite there?
Any mature person with non perfect hearing like 16 years old is welcome to this MOST expensive equipment...

[rickym.]

I listen to the dcs bartok a few months ago. Its great and I appreciate the company's background, in house components, quality control and craftsmanship. But at $15k.... Have to take a personal loan.

[temp]

Steve, when I heard "Long Distance" from "Explorations In Space And Time" on my HD700's & Schiit Bifrost/Vali combo I pulled mu headphones down thinking that someone is banging on a shed outside from my window on the right! What a dCS Bartok DAC/headphone piece is the best DAC/Headphone amp I ever heard (two separate shows in London). Your review is spot-on. Thanks.

[klewja]

Steve I agree on the price to performance ratio with headphones. I have the Abyss AB-1266 Phi Tc. At list price they are 1/4 the price of my magico s1mk2. The Abyss out resolve the speakers and pretty much anything less than the magico m series.

I am using the abyss with the Chord Hugo tt2 which powers them very well. Dose the Bartok have enough power to drive the abyss and susvara well?

[oysteinsoreide]

unless a track is specifically mastered for headphones, then speakers is better as that is what they are mixed for. Or you need some sort of cross-feed to mimic speakers. You will not get the stereo image correctly in a headphones with a track mixed for speakers unless you have a speaker simulation somewhere. At least the sound stage and stereo image will suffer.

[gernerchristensen]

I think Steve, you deserve a serious response to your review.

Own an extremely well-sounding playback system. One of the best sounding systems out there.

Received the Bartok w.o. the headphone pre. And here it goes:

I have to go many years back, or just look left or right in 2021, to find an as nonmusical, flat sounding, greyish, and dead DAC in my life.

How is it possible that 'you', yes you, can praise such a mediocre sound as much as you do?

I am just thinking and made my conclusions. Hold that thought.

[christophernoto]

Well done, Steve! What I’d like to see is a rundown of headphones, themselves, starting at the high or low end, your pick, but going all the way down to =Under $100=, and climbing the ladder in increments that make sense for mere mortals, like $100, up to $1, 000. Ok. I think I’ve done my job, here. 😉❤️👍👍

[HiFiInsider]

I like to try this at home. Heard it at shows and it left a good impression.

[damianzaninovich]

Fascinating review. You seem to be smitten by class A amplification. I have never heard high end or even Schiit end class A but it makes me curious. I like that you cover all spectrums of hifi. That Brooklyn store blew me away along with the baby Denon.

[millmoormichael]

If you’re ever been to a ”perfect” room, say a world class mastering room, personally, it’s the room that bothers me more than the lack of with cans.
I don’t understand folks getting really expensive systems in untreated spaces.

[thinaharran]

Steve do you feel the Bartok somehow sounds like it is corners cut design?

[tjp]

The Stripped album by Macy Gray is one of my favs. It sounds really good on room speakers and is FANTASTIC on headphones (being a binaural recording)

[zrx]

Wow $6, 000 for headphones....
Can’t imagine ever spending that!

[endre]

Anyone ever noticed, that he almost never shows the gear that he is "reviewing" ?

[peterserrano]

...why not...If I had the disposable $$$, I would be listening to it right now...IS THERE A PERFECT DAC OR WILL THERE EVER BE ONE?

[pauld]

Very cool. Sounds like the DCS folks have PCM / DSD decoding down to a fine art. Feeding that signal to headphones with a 1+ watt balanced class A amp is the icing on the cake. With audio everything is a compromise so having digital filter options is IMHO magical. You get to choose the compromise that makes "you" happy. Love this line from the specs, "PCM mode: up to 6 filters give different trade-offs between the Nyquist image rejection and the phase response. DSD mode: 4 filters progressively reduce out-of-audio band noise level."