It’s been around 6 years since I’ve had itchy feet re my DAC’s performance against newer models. The last time I tried MBS, TotalDac, antelope and Bricasti among a few others. Back then I found that Dac quality at similar price points was more alike than different, tending to offer a slightly different flavour of the same level of SQ. I did find quite large increases in SQ between £2-£4k, £4k-£10k and around £10k-£20k plus price points though. The rest of the system is the same both then and now (I removed any tweaks I’ve added since the last test - so all the results are as comparable as possible).
So I contacted both the dealer I bought my Boulder from and Paul at HiFi Lounge for the Bartok. Both were extremely helpful, Paul doesn’t ask me for any money (I’ve used hol a lot in the past few years, and if I don’t buy the item I always send a ‘thank you’ in the box back….for a bite of dinner for him and the Mrs). The dealer I bought the Boulder from (BD from here on) asked me for £1k in my card. I pay and sort couriers both ways…
I rang BD, told him I fancied a change, budget was flexible and what were his thoughts. He strongly suggested the Bel Canto (around £6k IIRC), saying it was as good as anything, particularly with all the room correction software etc. I was surprised (thought he’d recommend something much more spendy, but happy days).
On arrival I plugged both in for 24 hours so let the warm up. Had a quick listen to 3 test tracks and slotted in the BC, turned off all the gizmos and gave it an hour or so.
The result…meh. It was ok, everything was kind of there in a near well organised soundstage, but it lacked the class of the Boulder in a big way. Fiddling with the room corrections and settings over the next day or so made the sound a bit more even, but there wasn’t improvement in SQ.
I disconnected the BC and fired up the Boulder (which needs 24 hours to get into its stride) and bang! Soundstage exploded, detail increased, you could feel the breath from the singers coming towards you again, the bass power and depth was much much better, and it was just much more real, transparent and natural.
Years ago I had the Benchmark Dac(3?) and the AHB2 in another system, and I tried them in the main system out of interest. The Bel Canto sounded as close as to make no difference to the Benchmark…everything there but not in the same league as the Boulder and just very meh. (The AHB2 was pretty awful compared to my Boulder Amps).
On to the Bartok. Standard filter and 3-4 hour warm up. Bugger…wish I hadn’t tried it as this caused my some sleepless nights. The Bartok was a touch meatier than the Boulder (which was preferable on some tracks, but not others), the soundstage was a touch more organised, bass depth and tunefulness didn’t quite the Boulder, but it did have a touch more punch. Naturalness, transparency, detail and ‘breathyness’ was better on the Boulder.
One thing I really didn’t like about the Bartok was that bloody app thing. If you wanted to adjust the volume between tracks, you had to open the app and use a slider thing. It only took a few seconds but a nuisance all the same.
In the end I stuck with the Boulder for a few reasons. First it’s SQ was comparable with the Bartok, just a different flavour. My speakers have trim on the treble and mids, so you can adjust these down which gives you more bass, which closed the gap between the two even more.
Secondly, money. If I’d tried both at home and they were the same price (and the Bartok had a remote) I may have been in flip a coin territory, but at possibly £10k to change…err nope.
Thirdly, the Boulder has a properly tasty phono stage (although I don’t have a TT anymore, but you never know the day), and an excellent analogue preamp built in. Also it has two outputs so it’s handier for my subs.
There you have it. I hope that’s of any interest to someone….
So I contacted both the dealer I bought my Boulder from and Paul at HiFi Lounge for the Bartok. Both were extremely helpful, Paul doesn’t ask me for any money (I’ve used hol a lot in the past few years, and if I don’t buy the item I always send a ‘thank you’ in the box back….for a bite of dinner for him and the Mrs). The dealer I bought the Boulder from (BD from here on) asked me for £1k in my card. I pay and sort couriers both ways…
I rang BD, told him I fancied a change, budget was flexible and what were his thoughts. He strongly suggested the Bel Canto (around £6k IIRC), saying it was as good as anything, particularly with all the room correction software etc. I was surprised (thought he’d recommend something much more spendy, but happy days).
On arrival I plugged both in for 24 hours so let the warm up. Had a quick listen to 3 test tracks and slotted in the BC, turned off all the gizmos and gave it an hour or so.
The result…meh. It was ok, everything was kind of there in a near well organised soundstage, but it lacked the class of the Boulder in a big way. Fiddling with the room corrections and settings over the next day or so made the sound a bit more even, but there wasn’t improvement in SQ.
I disconnected the BC and fired up the Boulder (which needs 24 hours to get into its stride) and bang! Soundstage exploded, detail increased, you could feel the breath from the singers coming towards you again, the bass power and depth was much much better, and it was just much more real, transparent and natural.
Years ago I had the Benchmark Dac(3?) and the AHB2 in another system, and I tried them in the main system out of interest. The Bel Canto sounded as close as to make no difference to the Benchmark…everything there but not in the same league as the Boulder and just very meh. (The AHB2 was pretty awful compared to my Boulder Amps).
On to the Bartok. Standard filter and 3-4 hour warm up. Bugger…wish I hadn’t tried it as this caused my some sleepless nights. The Bartok was a touch meatier than the Boulder (which was preferable on some tracks, but not others), the soundstage was a touch more organised, bass depth and tunefulness didn’t quite the Boulder, but it did have a touch more punch. Naturalness, transparency, detail and ‘breathyness’ was better on the Boulder.
One thing I really didn’t like about the Bartok was that bloody app thing. If you wanted to adjust the volume between tracks, you had to open the app and use a slider thing. It only took a few seconds but a nuisance all the same.
In the end I stuck with the Boulder for a few reasons. First it’s SQ was comparable with the Bartok, just a different flavour. My speakers have trim on the treble and mids, so you can adjust these down which gives you more bass, which closed the gap between the two even more.
Secondly, money. If I’d tried both at home and they were the same price (and the Bartok had a remote) I may have been in flip a coin territory, but at possibly £10k to change…err nope.
Thirdly, the Boulder has a properly tasty phono stage (although I don’t have a TT anymore, but you never know the day), and an excellent analogue preamp built in. Also it has two outputs so it’s handier for my subs.
There you have it. I hope that’s of any interest to someone….
