Bartók 2.0 : A Substantial Performance Upgrade

It seems dCS will have a new purpose built headphone something very soon! Curious! I wonder how it will fit in with the Bartok, which to some degree also feels purpose built for headphones. I was enjoying mine last night with the Meze Elites.

The box in the teaser video looks smaller, so it might be a:

  1. Transportable DAC+HPA like the Chord Hugo 2 (which I’m about to buy as a transportable solution - maybe I should wait?) – this is implied in the video by the comment about “allow music listening in a range of environments”
  2. Mini Bartok-like DAC with HPA at a lower price point (the Bartok has gotten very expensive for the head-fi community – it could help to have a lower priced product to onramp more listeners)
  3. Headphone amp only – but this is hard to imagine, since dCS’s history is in DACs
  4. Something else entirely but related to headphone listening

I’m going with #1 – because that’s what I would love to have! (must be Roon Ready)

dCS has been on a roll lately. Looking forward to my Bartok 2.0 later this month.

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The difference between Bartok and Rossini is substantial, it is not only different in the software. The hardware itself is also much more complex on the Rossini. For example, it has 2 separate power supplies on the Rossini, that handles the digital section and analog output section. This gives significantly better power and quiet noise floor. Whereas the Bartok has a more simple configuration with 1 power supply to handle the headphone amp, network streamer, and analog output. Even with software update, it might close the gap between Bartok and Rossini, but in the hardware point of view, the Rossini is still a level up of the Bartok.

It is my understanding as follows of power supplies:

  • The Rossini has two power supplies, one for the digital portion and one for the analog portion.
  • The Bartok DAC only has a single power supply.
  • The Bartok with headphone amp has two power supplies, one for the DAC portion and one for the headphone amp.

I am really looking forward to the Bartok 2.0 software.

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Furthermore, one of the promises that we get from purchasing a dCS product is consistent software updates and improvements. This is true for the entire lineup from Vivaldi to Rossini and eventually to Bartok. dCS have already peaked the hardware perspective long ago with their custom FPGA and Ring DAC. Consistent software improvements are what make dCS strive for the best of the best and adapt to the current streaming environment in the Hifi world.

Yes, there’s something to be said about the timing of the Bartók 2.0 upgrade.

Nobody believes that it really took dCS engineers 1378 days — the time between the original Bartók announcement and version 2.0 announcement — to develop the upgrade, even more so that the Rossini 2.0 and Vivaldi 2.0 software have been around for more than 1000 days.

And it’s not either that the engineers have been touched by divine inspiration in April 2022.

So, as a resolutely positive person, I view it this way : if you happen to be the happy owner of both a Bartók and a Rossini, you’ll be able to enjoy an upgraded Bartók — “almost 2015 Rossini” — while your Rossini gets the Apex upgrade. tongue in cheek

That said, timing and marketing decisions put aside, I think we can all agree that

  • Every upgrade of the sound and musical quality is welcome.
  • There’s nothing to complain about when the upgrade is free, i.e. included in the original price.
  • It’s a very good thing that the more expensive gears (Vivaldi and Rossini) can be (significantly) upgraded without having to purchase next generation components, which would undoubtedly cost much, much more.

For me, as a Rossini Player owner, 8’000 or so are within my reach, but 35’000 or so are definitely NOT. So the Apex upgrade is a no-brainer for me and I’m very grateful towards dCS for developing it and making it available at a cost quite reasonable in my opinion.

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Only a day to go…

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Tempted to check if its available at 12:01am :grin:

Not available in the US yet.

Bartók 2.0 will be available for installation on Tuesday, 31 May 2022, at 10:00 AM BST.

This is now live, so feel free to get downloading - just remember to give your unit a power cycle beforehand as that always helps the update go smoothly :slight_smile:

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Upgrade successfully 2.0 and it sounds great. Mapper 1 and DSDx2 upsampling, I can’t go back.

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I found a network update for my Rossini DAC to Network Board Version: 1.2.2 (508). Also the Mosaic app is updated to 1.2.2.

What is in this update for Rossini and Vivaldi owners, please?

I found this: Bartók 2.0 RELEASE NOTES

https://dcs.community/uploads/short-url/mnAaEOMYJabbYqxncGekEXDG2QB.pdf

Mosaic 1.22 will be available for all dCS customers.

upgrade successfully to 2.0,

trying out all the new stuff now,

but can’t find the upsampling DXD x 2 setting ?

or is it i misread the release notes?

on ipad app

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That is a typo in the release notes, my apologies, I did not spot that. It should read DSDx2. The three Upsampling options are:

  • DXD
  • DSD
  • DSDx2
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okok

thanks very much,

very exciting to try out the new stuff now

james,

can you explain a bit more about each of the new mapper options?

thanks

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Remember you have to let the software burn-in for a few days. New bits can be a tad sticky at first and need to loosen-up… :face_with_spiral_eyes:

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