DAC - DCS Bartok or the new Berkeley Alpha DAC 3

While I can’t add constructively to the discussion between the two DACs you’re considering, I do want to share an observation which I hope will be helpful.  Given the level of the two DACs you’re evaluating, I believe you will be leaving a significant amount of their performance on the table if sourcing them with a Bluesound Node or Moon MiND2.  I have directly compared streamers both of those streamers (I have a Node 2i in a kitchen system - it’s great for what it is) to better units.  In A/B comparisons, my Aurender, and now Auralic Aries G2 series streamer handily outperformed the Bluesound in terms of spatial depth, and low level detail. The Node2i sounded “flat” spatially in comparison. There are a number of us here who believe the source is as important as the DAC.  In my own case, it was more impactful - which surprised me.
And, I had the opportunity to directly compare my Auralic unit against the Mind2 unit built into Sim Audio’s 680 DAC (as I was able to separate DAC and streamer functions).  I did this at the dealer that caries Sim.  We both agreed - no contest in favor of the Auralic. Sim’s DAC is pretty sweet though and definitely worth a listen, too, but I would upgrade to a different streamer than what’s built in so as to enjoy the significant benefits of their DAC.  I’m aware that some of the others in this thread will prefer Aurender - another line of streamers that’s very, very good and well worth auditioning, too.
Regards,
mgrif 

@mgrif104

+1. Very definitely over fifteen years I fiddled with streamers of all types: PCs, $100, $500, $1000, Auralic Aries G2, the Aurender 100n… and quickly Aurender N10, and finally Aurenders flagship WE20SE… the last initially seemed ridiculously expensive at $22K until a few seconds in my system when my impression immediately changed to what a great bargain it is.

I have a Node2i, Pi2AES (roon endpoint), NUC (Roon rock), and Innuos Zen Mkiii. No contest, there are definitely improvements as you go up the chain. Look into a Innuos Zen MKIII as I think for the money, it's hard to beat. 

Thanks for all the great thoughts,  I am certainly willing to spend more on the streamer side but I need multi-room capability but I do not want to use roon.

I think simaudio/moon, naim and auralic all have multiroom.

Are there any other brands I should consider?

Just to be clear the Berkeley I am looking at is the new Alpha 3 (11K) not the reference (25k).

OP @efoo 

Both of your choices are great. 

IMHO, I think you should check out the Holo May Dac. It isn't a chip DAC. It is a NOS R2R DAC. I'm leaning towards one myself. 

Either Level 2 or penultimate KTE. 
http://https//www.kitsunehifi.com/product/holo-audio-may-dac/

Best of luck.