I have an issue I’m experiencing with my Bartók DAC when used in combination with an external clock.
Recently, I started noticing quite loud clicks through my speakers whenever a new track starts playing. These clicks are accompanied by audible relay switching sounds inside the unit. This behavior occurs regardless of the selected input – I’ve observed it on both USB and S/PDIF sources.
I have attached a short video demonstrating this issue, as it’s quite difficult to describe otherwise.
I’ve tried all available internal settings within the Bartók, including changes to buffer size, clocking options, and other relevant configurations, but none of these seem to affect the behavior.
The clicks are intrusive and diminish the overall listening experience.
Could you please advise on how to resolve this issue?
Is your SPDIF1 Source platform also clocked to the same external Clock that the Bartok is using? Otherwise the Bartok is going to experience a clocking clash.
If your Source is not capable of being clocked to the same external Clock, then for this SPDIF1 source you need to set the Bartok’s Sync Mode to “Audio”.
The clicks should not be heard through your loudspeakers as they occur when you hear the relay for “mute” being applied as the file resolution of succeeding tracks changes. This is a mechanical type of click from the unit itself and not the loudspeakers.You can see this change of file resolution in the display panel at the top tight ( though it is somewhat out of focus in your image). Muting is necessary to prevent a loud sound being heard through your speakers as the unit reconfigures itself for the change. Are you sure that you are not confusing where the sound is coming from?
Of course if you have lots of succeeding tracks of different file resolutions only lasting seconds each as in your example I would say that this scenario is unusual although the muting relay sound is normal and is not normally an issue with more common listening modes as it will not occur all that frequently.
Check if you are actually hearing this sound through your loudspeakers. If so there may be a fault.
NB: Also pay attention to the advice of @Anup above.
Are you able to tell us what equipment you are using the Bartok DAC with?
What is connected as a source component into the S/PDIF input and what is the Bartok connected to in the way of an amplifier or preamplifier / integrated amplifier?
Have you always had this issue?
How is your Bartok connected to the rest of your system? (RCA or XLR?)
Does the same issue occur using the other connection type (RCA if you are using XLR or XLR if you are using RCA) if it is possible to use the alternative connection type to your amp / preamp as a test?
it looks that relay switching is due to various bit depth (16bit, 24bit,…) and sampling frequency you have played. The same behaviour you can see with Accuphase DC-300 for example - every time I play a song with different bit depth / sampling frequency, the unit switches relays inside itself. It is pretty normal with DC-300, although I do not know this particular DCS product.
We tried changing the cables, including XLR. We tried turning the clock off and on. We tried using different cables for the clock. We tried different amplifiers. We tried different sources (Antipodes K50). Nothing helps.
No, this problem didn’t exist before — it appeared recently.
And it feels like the problem is getting worse last days. Now the clicks have started occurring in the middle of songs, once or twice, even when there’s no change in the sample rate.
If you are using the Antipodes as a Roon Endpoint connected to the Bartok DAC via a USB to S/PDIF interface then the Antipodes isn’t clocked to the Bartok DAC / Clock so you shouldn’t be using “W” (Wordclock) as the sync type for that input - as @Anupc has already said, in this case the sync type should be set to “A” (Audio) sync.
Do you get the same issue if you use the Bartok itself as the Roon endpoint? (Rather than using the Antipodes connected to the Bartok via USB / S/PDIF?)
