Thx so much! Really good choice! Thx again
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Just for fun and so people have it somewhere, here are the rest:
"Saved by Love” - Amy Grant
Source: CD Lead Me On (Myrrh 7016871614) (1988)
“All I Have” - Beth Nielsen Chapman
Source: CD Beth Nielsen Chapman (Reprise 9 26172-2) (1990)
“Years” - Beth Nielsen Chapman
Source: CD Beth Nielsen Chapman (Reprise 9 26172-2) (1990)
“Say It to Me Now” - Beth Nielsen Chapman
Source: CD You Hold the Key (Reprise 9 45233-2) (1993)
“The Moment You Were Mine” - Beth Nielsen Chapman
Source: CD You Hold the Key (Reprise 9 45233-2) (1993)
“Sand and Water” - Beth Nielsen Chapman
Source: CD Sand and Water (Reprise 9 46521-2) (1997)
“Mr. Bojangles” - Sammy Davis, Jr.
Source: CD Yes I Can! The Sammy Davis, Jr. Story (Disc 3) (Rhino R2 75972) (1999)
“It Was a Very Good Year” - Frank Sinatra
Source: CD September of My Years (Concord Records CRE-32415) (2010)
“Please Be Kind” - Frank Sinatra
Source: CD The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings (Disc 5) (Reprise 47045-2) (1998)
“(Love Is) The Tender Trap” - Frank Sinatra & Count Basie
Source: CD The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings (Concord Records CRE-33152) (2011)
“Paper Airplane” - Alison Krauss and Union Station
Source: CD Paper Airplane (Rounder 11661-0665-2) (2011)
“God Only Knows” (Stereo Version) - The Beach Boys
Source: CD Pet Sounds (Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs UDSACD 2065, 509996-42731-2-9) (CD Layer) (2012)
“Ellyn’s Wedding” - W.G. “Snuffy” Walden
Source: CD Soundtrack from thirtysomething (Geffen GEFD-24413) (1991)
Hi, I’m a violinist and reviewer- I reviewed the Bartok variously. Make sure you have the volume on maximum, as when you control the volume digitally the soundstage collapses. It’s a great dac, but not digital pre.
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If you are who I think you are Raf, then I read your review and enjoyed it very much! Your review certainly contributed to my purchasing decision. I tried the Bartok as a digital pre, and like you and many many others, prefer it running at 0dB into a pre amp.
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Wrapping up my initial thoughts of my Bartok with musings on headphones. I absolutely love listening to headphones through the Bartok! I listen balanced at -10 or -20 depending on programme material with a ton of gain to spare. I caution any new Bartok owner is to be careful with the volume - the Senn headphones I tried sound so clear, clean and natural through the Bartok that I naturally wanted to turn the volume up to get even more of a live experience.
I’m no headphone expert and I listen to mostly classical, jazz and acoustic music, take my thoughts with a grain of salt…
HD800S My main cans are the Sennheiser HD800S and I can’t image them sounding better than they do through the Bartok - AND I don’t use any EQ. The combo out resolves my old STAX Lamdas (and sound far more balanced and natural). I’ve read so many negative posts about the HD800S (poor bass, huge treble peak, thin sounding, needs tons of EQ etc) I almost didn’t audition them. I was surprised to find they sound just about perfect without EQ for the music I listen to. In fact, any of the EQ curves I tried (even those from well respected reviewers) made the HD800s sound worse to my ears. Even the oft cited elevated treble, isn’t really a bother for most well recored acoustic music. Those who live on a diet of closely mic’d sibilant recordings, might want to look elsewhere. Overall the HD800S + Bartok gives me the closest experience to a concert hall experience with headphones.
What I simply don’t understand is that some of the younger headphone reviewers on the web seem to prefer headphones with treble responses even brighter than the HD800 (e.g. Hifiman Arya). Even with normal age-related presbycusis and minor hearing loss in one ear, these sound excessively bright to me and must sound even more so to anyone with young healthy ears.
DCA (nee Mr Speakers) original Aeon Closed HD800S bright? Not compared to these. These sound both dull and bright at the same time. I wouldn’t recommend these with the Bartok.
HD600 - I find it hard to image vocal music sounding any better than through the Bartok + HD600!
Thanks for the post @Urbanluthier – glad you’re enjoying it all, Bartok and headphones.
I had those Senns some time ago, and while I enjoyed their clarity they lacked a certain weight. But I do have a vivid memory of what they did well. They were pre-Bartok.
I’m listening to the Meze Elites through the Bartok and it sounds utterly fantastic (-20 db). I prefer the Elites in certain genres (space, ambiant, metal). I also use DAC Stealth headphones through an amp (Enleum AMP-23R) from the Bartok. The Stealths need the power of the amp – Bartok + Enleum + Stealth is an amazing combo. I prefer this for acoustic, piano, and guitar. The Stealths have encouraged me to listen more than any other headphone.
BTW the Stealths were fine direct from the Bartok, but they woke up by using the higher power amp.
Headphones attract a younger crowd and I’m with you that as we age we may have different preferences, or perhaps preferences change over time, culturally. I don’t know.
I would love to hear these headphones! I love the industrial design. The DCA Stealths sound interesting too.
I agree HD800s do indeed gradually roll off in the bass below 80hz - in some respects they sound like good studio monitors in terms of how they reproduce bass. I can see how that may be an issue with some types of music however.
Enelum 23r gets some very good reviews. Stronger amp seems must have for the harder to drive headphones like Susvara.
Maybe Bartok v2 can upgrade the HPA in the future.
Just listening to Gregory Porter through Bartok + Stellia and he sounds fantastic.
But still not quite as good as Bartok + HE-1000 SE with a silver cable… That is my go to set up
Installed a Rossini clock. It is hard to describe the change. It is kind of a nothing and everything change. Fundamentals remain the same. But I notice ambient sounds like instruments decays esp. in live acoustic venues seem much clearer. Instruments and voices appear to be larger in scale. All a little closer to what I’d expect to hear in real life. Overall tone seems a little smoother and cleaner.
This isn’t something I had to actively listen for - even with casual listening the change is quite apparent.
What’s the deal with the Baud rate specified in the manual? mine was incorrectly set so i changed ito the recommended 115200. Does this affect sound quality or is it just a serial communication protocol?
Just the latter, if you were sending RS232 commands to the unit. No changes to sound quality there.
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If you are using stock cables for your clock, I had a surprising improvement with the blackcatcable, with about 1000$ fir both cables.
I still have to figure how, but they make a difference.
A.
What he said
I ordered a pair of bluejeans Belden 1694A - 3 foot runs. at $40, i think I’ll start here!