New DAC/Headphone Amp from dCS
he new Bartók ($13,500) replaces the Debussy as dCS's most affordable DAC, while also allowing for the addition of an optional headphone amplifier at the time of purchase ($1500). It shares many features of the more expensive Rossini DAC, including the same Ring DAC, custom UPnP music-streaming technology and digital processing platform, all inside a simplified chassis that uses only one power supply. The Bartók supports all major codecs, including high-resolution PCM and DSD, and has user-selectable upsampling. The network-streaming section runs at up to 24 bits/384kS/s and DSD128, supporting all major lossless codecs, plus DSD inDoP format and native DSD. Multiple DSP filters to tailor the sound to suit individual taste are included, and dCS has taken great care to minimize jitter at all stages with its auto-clocking architecture. Digital inputs include USB, S/PDIF and dual AES, along with a word-clock input for use with one of dCS's external master clocks. The Bartók can stream over Ethernet from a NAS drive or
online music services such as Tidal or Spotify, and from Apple devices via Airplay. It
also integrates fully with Roon. The network interface performs full MQA decoding and
rendering. The DAC section is equipped with independent balanced and unbalanced outputs,
so the Bartók can drive power amplifiers directly. The optional headphone section
features a custom-designed amplifier that works with both high- and low-impedance
headphones in balanced or unbalanced configuration. |
