Very sad to see that you believe in social media “consensus”.
I would disagree the Bartók was underwhelming. At its original price point, I feel it was pretty astonishing and gave a good taster of dCS’s offerings.
For my headphone system, I came from a Chord Hugo 2 with an M Scaler, and tried the Chord Dave before deciding on the Bartók (and, later, upgrading to the Rossini Apex).
The Bartók won (and that’s ignoring the additional cost of the M Scaler). That doesn’t make the Chord Hugo 2 bad, it’s not. It’s actually very, very good.
Hi Guys,
Without wanting to seem like I’m being the buzz-kill here and I’m not referencing anyone specifically but can I just remind everyone to keep things friendly - this thread was flagged to me a couple of days ago by someone so this is just a reminder, nothing more.
Cheers guys…
Phil
Like I said, plenty of friends with high end gear, including reviewers, that I trust more than “Media” or random people, not to mention having tested stuff myself (though not the Bartok). We can try and nitpick all day but I don’t see any value in it.
To each his own, that’s the last from me on this topic.
Same exact thing here. Bartok was my gateway drug and was purchased for a headphone only system. So impressive that it led to a Rossini- which kicked my Linn out of the 2 channel system
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First, thank you all for all your comments. I really do learn from all your experiences. It helps in ways most dealers I found over the years for whatever reason can’t be 100% objective about what they do and don’t carry.
My experience with DCS was with Bartok. I found it built like a tank, quality functionality software and great sound. Some of the best in Headfi only I’ve heard. It performed great with AB1266,Audez,Focal,Senn, headphones. Zero complaints.
It did not perform with Susvara well at all. Does one headphone make the choice??? Each individual call.
I moved to The full lIna Stack after several months and the Susvara’s were terrific, never get past 1"o’clock on the volume dial on the Lina amp. All in all I really like DCS and the Lina stack. So anyone buying in this price range will not make a mistake or be sorry IMO.
That said, I hoping in the future to be able to sell the Lina stack for enough to get a good chunk towards a great electrostatic system my HE-1 or shangri-la. (50k) is a lot of juice to scratch for. Why. With all my years of HiEnd audio 2 channel wit B&W, Meridian, Wilson etc. I have always loved my top of the line electrostatic speakers. I found them Sharp and clean and clear and dynamic with the right sub woofers.
Not sure if that carries over to the Headphone space but I am dying to try it on and see…
Back to DCS Lina. At the price point I think the stack overall is a home run… again thanks for all the opinions
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If it helps, the closest I found to the Meridian sonic signature was with electrostatic headphones (in my case the SR-X9000 and I suspect you’re likely to be happy with the outcome.
That said, it’s definitely worth auditioning a few different headphones before deciding.
The same rules apply, though, you need a good amp to get the most out of them (I’m using a Mjölnir Carbon CC, but now tempted to try a custom T2).
I would not trade a Bartok for a Lina without a demo. The Bartok is a fantastic DAC, but not an ideal headphone amp. It’s good of course, but there are so many other headphone amps out there, and sometimes it comes down to headphone pairing.
Unless you are looking for a single box solution, I’d keep the Bartok and look at alternate amps. And I would invest in the Bartok APEX upgrade before adding a clock. With the Rossini, several folks have commented APEX was a bigger change than adding a clock.
I don’t know if you can change the internal voltage from Bartok DAC section to the headphone amp, but I’ve found that some headphones benefit from 6V out of the Bartok line outs (into an external amp).
Interested in opinions: LINA DAC with HiFiman Shangra-la system?