Jon, you do not want a re-clocker. You want a wordclock with 2 discrete outputs that send respectively a 44.1 kHz pulse plus integers and 48.0 kHz pulse plus integers to the two wordclock inputs of Bartok. A re-clocker is basically for cleaning up USB ( or other) streams having unacceptable levels of jitter. Bartok has its own inbuilt network player so the stream is not accessible for such conditioning. Further the Mutec device cited has no ethernet connectivity so would need connection by its USB, S/Pdif or its single AES output all of which are inferior to network connection and which may not offer the full range of data rate processing otherwise available with Bartok.
The Mutec MC3 does indeed offer wordclock as well as re-clock but although there are 6 wordclock output BNCs these are only for distribution of the same clock signal so it seems that you would need to reset the frequency manually as it varies from file to file. A pain with streaming media such as Tidal or Qobuz where the frequency may not be known until received and displayed.
If you want to combine the word clock with an external 10mHz reference clock you need one with a 10mHz input and the Mutec does have this.
My personal view? Itās a near miss. However the money spent on the Teac clock and the Mutech word clock/reclocker would be better used towards purchase of Rossini DAC. You can enhance a Bartok as much as possible but it will still be a Bartok. Sadly the money would now only more or less cover the recent price increase for Rossini
If however you do pursue this route please let us know how you find the result. It is worth bearing in mind that although dCS do make better wordclocks the one in Bartok is not necessarily inferior to the Mutec device.
I bought a new Bartok with HA about 18 months ago, then added a new Rossini Clock about 5 months later (I had previously owned a Puccini player and Puccini U-Clock, so I was familiar with the benefits of a dCS master clock).
When I decided to opt for the Bartok with HA versus Rossini, I knew the Rossini was quite superior due to twice the power supply of the Bartok plus mapping 2.0 (double mapping compared to Bartok). The HA plus budget were significant factors, however, prior to purchasing the Bartok, I had it absolutely confirmed by dCS management that the Bartok is fully capable of supporting mapping 2.0 as offered in Rossini and Vivaldi. The dCS official was clear that he was not confirming mapping 2.0 for Bartok. Given dCS history of lengthening product lifecycles through firmware upgrades with SQ benefits, I decided the odds were favorable that mapping 2.0 for Bartok would arrive at some point.
It has also been confirmed somewhere in this dCS forum (canāt recall where) by a different dCS employee that mapping 2.0 produced a slightly greater improvement for Rossini than adding a Rossini clock.
Hope this helps, although clearly a degree of speculation on Bartok mapping 2.0.
Thank you for a much-needed note of sanity. A Mutec plus TEAC is around 2k. Unfortunately, my friendly retailer - Oxford Audio - is asking 7k for an upgrade to Rossini and the situation is likely even worse now after yet another price hike! Bummer. Guess which option is actually feasible for meā¦?
If this goes on, given increasingly fierce competition from China, dCS might be pricing itself out of many markets, now and in future. I want to upgrade, I have the dCS bug, but simply canāt afford to. Thatās simply not a good situation to put customers in.
On another related tangent, is anyone familiar with the Antipodes clocks and reclockers?
dCS has to be classed as a luxury audio product. It has always been beyond the means of many enthusiasts so dCS are not suddenly putting customers an unexpected situation, it is what it has always been. Even their earliest consumer product the Elgar DAC was around $12K ( I think over 9K gbp in the UK inclusive of VAT) in 1997. Around 15K gbp + at todayās value ( the + relates to the fact that VAT @ 20% is higher now). And it is reasonable that when buying a current generation product one should expect to pay for all of the technical development since. So it is no different in this respect to, say, Wilson Audio speakers or Dan DāAgostini amplifiers. Or for that matter Maserati cars or Rolex watches.
Luxury goods are expensive and tend to be demand inelastic so I would not expect the price rises to impact sales overmuch though yes, some customers at the margins may be discouraged.
Although it may seem counter intuitive I would say that the danger area for dCS is with producing lower priced products as the brand ethos can be harmed. So donāt expect a 2 grand DAC any time soon.
NB: As a Vivaldi owner and pensioner I expect to be unable to afford its successor .
Thanks. Yes and noā¦ populating the luxury end of markets can be fickle and risky. Although, as you point out, demand inelasticity rules. If you look at one of my other loves, high-end photography, we could for instance invoke two contrasting cases -
Leica, who cultivated a genuine mystique and went all-out for bespoke āspecial editionsā targeting squarely the stupidly rich and collectors (but not photographers, per se); they thrive, although their products are IMHO massively overpriced and photographically irrelevant. I hardly ever see pros using them - unless they are showing off for customersā¦
Hasselblad, who did something very similar, but badly misjudged the market and in consequence went down the tubes and have since been sold twice. Despite producing great kit.
In actuality, the whole camera market is in meltdown because phones have destroyed the low and middle markets. Despite appalling levels of performance and real image quality Only the high end and niche pro markets will be left soon, with far fewer companies left standing. And continuing price rises are eroding even these markets.
Letās hope this doesnāt happen with audio! Market transitions and paradigm shifts are notoriously tricky to navigate. And particularly if the game plan is raise prices and thereby losing a significant proportion of first time and follow-up customers.
That approach is begging to be undercut by stuff half the price and 90% as āgoodā.
OK, there is no solution, weāre all doomed. I give up.
It certainly is of interest. However the information on their webpage is unclear as whether the two clock groups work independently or are just derived from a single OCXO clock crystal. Unfortunately no online user manual is available which might resolve this essential point for Bartok owners.
Unfortunately there is also no technical specification for the clockās performance beyond an assertion that it is ālow jitterā. As for the āadjustabilityā of the frequencies that is also a bit mysterious.
So a bit of a pig in a poke* but if you can happily risk a couple of grand $, ā¬, Ā£ ( by the time shipping and local taxes are added) maybe worth a shot?
Looks like an interesting device - it appears on the face of it to tick many of the spec boxes and I assume the price is right. Despite living and working in China or Hong Kong for many years, I have never bought any Chinese hi-end gear; until recently, because none ever wafted past my attention. If itās anything like Chinese camera lenses - itās either heaven or hell; get lucky, and you have a superb VFM device thatās incredibly solidly built and designed to last a lifetime. Unlucky, though, and you have a piece of junk that goes straight back to the manufacturer. I wonder what this one is? And is anyone willing to take a flyer on it?
Important PS - Doh, I forgot Auralic is Beijing-based, and their stuff rocks - I still have an Aries and Vega driving my headphone system So if itās anything like that, it may be well worth exploring. Iāll have a sniff around.
Some additional info. Interestingly, there is a recent review of the Denafrips Terminator DAC in the Absolute Sound. Now you shouldnāt necessarily believe everything you read in TAS, but it certainly a favourable and positive review.
Thanks for this. I shall definitely explore this further after my Bartok has returned from dCSā¦ that reminds me to chase!
I seem to have had my Rossini loaner for as long now as my Bartok. And thatās where the trouble all started! Without access to the Rossini, I am sure I would have been more than happy with the Bartok (excepting its glitching).
But I will definitely progress this one and advise.
Anyone else sussed out Denafrips? Like, for instance, why the daft-sounding name?
Iām not using any Denafrips, yetā¦ but Iāve got two Topping D70S DAC and D90 Preamp and both chinese devices are absolutely good in all senses for a ridiculous price, and with a Benchmark AHB2 completing the set the sound quality is awesome ! My Bartok + Benchmark HPA4+ DAgostino stereo amp sounds even better, but not 8 times better ( price difference) .
I recently demoed a Vivaldi clock with my BartĆ³k. My setup is fairly simple. Roon ā BartĆ³k (via dCS provided Ethernet cable) ā Luxman c700/m700 (Iconoclast XLR)-> Magico A3 (Iconoclast TPC). I did note a difference. The depth and sound stage were a bit deeper and wider, respectively. The BartĆ³k + clock performed better than the BartĆ³k alone. Maybe, however, I expected more difference based on the many strong endorsements for a clock in this community. But for me, with my setup, it was not better enough to buy the clock, nor was it better enough to me for me to consider trying the Rossini clock for a smaller upgrade. It did demonstrate to me that I was more than happy with just the BartĆ³k. I was curious so I went back to the dealer with the clock and placed it in their system with a BartĆ³k and switched around components. In some setups it made a bigger difference than in others, but in each case not enough for me to buy it. So for anyone out there asking the question ādoes my BartĆ³k need a clock?ā you really have to try it for yourself to see. Some people will be sold instantly, others will not.
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