dCS Bartok DAC - Interesting Video Review

Sounds like a matter of taste and maybe synergy.  It also looks like he's using a desktop setup(?) which is not exactly the best way to let the product shine.  He touched upon it but one of the things I love about dCS DACs is the ability to unravel and present complex, large scale music in a very natural way with great depth and nuance.  

It might be of interest to some that a thread very much like this one was pulled by Steve Hoffman over at his forum.  When I say like this one, the OP posted the negative video review and it was followed by about 16 posts.  Some of the posts favored the review; some were partial to the quality of the DAC.

Given what happened to the reviews at Stereophile, IMO it does raise again the issue of manufacturers' influence over editorial content and user commentary.

@melm good point: that’s why these fora are useful and honest contributions much appreciated

It was nice seeing a review that was obviously totally honest. I'm sure it's a great DAC and I would love to have one, but I like to hear differing opinions, too...

I like GoldenSound's comprehensive reviews. Indeed, his review of the Holo Audio May finally convinced me to purchase this DAC and I am very happy that I did. However, I have spent many hours listening to the Bartok in 2 different systems and it has never sounded 'too smooth' or 'dull' to my ears. I preferred the Bartok to the Mytek Manhattan by a significant margin, as you would expect considering the price difference. When comparing the Bartok to the TotalDAC, this was too difficult to call.