dcs bartok vs DENAFRIPS TERMINATOR-PLUS

@whipsaw  Thanks for your advise and i know that Denafrips are producing great stuff !  

You'll find that DCS Bartok is more on the lean and forward side while Denafrips is about more along the effortless detail route.

@haimr

You are welcome!

Of course we all hear things a bit differently.
Having said that to my ears the Bartok is anything but thin sounding. IMO the Bartok presents music with substantial tonal body and a relaxed easy to listen to presentation along with good but not class leading detail. Most reviews position the Bartok vs Dave sound as almost yin and yang. More relaxed Bartok vs very detailed airy presentation of the Dave.

Also, most if not all professional reviewers who’ve compared the Bartok to either the Denafips or Dave, rate it clearly above the Denafrips and next level above the Dave as well, though the Dave is still quite good.

I spent quite a bit of time auditioning the Bartok before going in a different direction in my new headphone rig. I found it to be quite good as a DAC with an unremarkable headphone amp.

Good luck! 🙂

+1 to what @whipsaw said. I've had a Denafrips Pontus II for about 6 weeks. I just listened to a Chord Hugo TT / MScaler combination at a dealer this past weekend as a friend was auditioning amplifiers. The  Chord Hugo TT / MScaler sounded surprisingly flat so we put in the Pontus in its place. No comparison at all. It was immediately evident that the Pontus was fuller in sound, more engaging and was just able to 'play the tune' much better than the Chord Hugo TT / MScaler. I personally was ABSOLUTELY shocked at how much better the $1700 Denafrips Pontus sounded than the $10,000 Chord combo given all of the great reviews that I've heard about the Chord Hugo TT and the MScaler.

So I wouldn't sell the Denafrips short even if it's pedigree isn't as impressive as the dcs.