[wenbinbin2010]

Recently purchased the Leo Bodnar GPS Clock based on recommendations here, but to my dismay, I can't seem to get a GPS signal. I sent an email to the company to see if they have any additional troubleshooting steps (not much on their website). Anyone else with the Leo Bodnar Clock have similar issues? FWIW, I live in the USA, and I understand the company is UK based.

 

[DeckHiFi]

I think I finally realize why people love NOS R2R dacs or NOS in general. Wow. Maybe I'm just in the mood for it tonight, but been going with NOS PCM and creating -3dB headroom on global gain software on my computer to eliminate or limit clipping (as I read this can happen with NOS depending on dac/headroom). Anyways, this sounds absolutely incredible with classical so far. It's so dynamic and real. Not sure how to describe it, but oversampling/filters with this Dac now sound flat and non interesting compared to this. No wonder people love NOS.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

Are there any streamers around the 400-800 dollar range that beat the Gustard's for sound quality?

Pi2AES plus a couple of linear power supplies and a good AES cable fall in your budget. I'm using the BNC coax out of the Pi2AES with a good BNC cable and BNC to RCA adapter, decent power supply on the Pi2AES board and nothing special powering the Pi4 underneath, but to me the LAN sounds more smoothed over with less textural detail. I'm awaiting the DIY supplies for an AES cable myself.

You can also use the Pi4 to run HQPlayer and upsample to 176.4/192kHz and run the R26 in NOS mode. One of my future projects.

 

[Stellabagpuss]

Recently purchased the Leo Bodnar GPS Clock based on recommendations here, but to my dismay, I can't seem to get a GPS signal. I sent an email to the company to see if they have any additional troubleshooting steps (not much on their website). Anyone else with the Leo Bodnar Clock have similar issues? FWIW, I live in the USA, and I understand the company is UK based.

Where is your antenna located? Try placing it near, or in a window.
Just like a car sat nav.

 

[rodthebod]

Recently purchased the Leo Bodnar GPS Clock based on recommendations here, but to my dismay, I can't seem to get a GPS signal. I sent an email to the company to see if they have any additional troubleshooting steps (not much on their website). Anyone else with the Leo Bodnar Clock have similar issues? FWIW, I live in the USA, and I understand the company is UK based.

I had the same issue not being able to get a GPS signal due to being located in a basement room when first setting up the Leo Bodnar clock. The R26 was located at the far end away from the only window to the street. I had to locate the supplied antenna as close to the window as possible (it was still a good three metres away), I left the laptop connected to the USB cable and sure enough I got a signal after five minutes with my location showing up on the LB software (Mac based) as the satellites passed by.
This is enough for the clock to sync and then save the settings. Then disconnect the USB so no electrical noise is sent to the clock via the laptop.

 

[rodthebod]

I'm using an iFi Zen Stream which is far better than the R26 streamer, also it works flawlessly and is inexpensive.

Odd, the Zen Stream was the go to streamer at the beginning of this post many moons ago but was soon eclipsed by the performance of the R26 internal Lan streamer when compared.
People seemed to prefer the R26 Lan. Has the Zen Stream been improved?

 

[rodthebod]

Pi2AES plus a couple of linear power supplies and a good AES cable fall in your budget. I'm using the BNC coax out of the Pi2AES with a good BNC cable and BNC to RCA adapter, decent power supply on the Pi2AES board and nothing special powering the Pi4 underneath, but to me the LAN sounds more smoothed over with less textural detail. I'm awaiting the DIY supplies for an AES cable myself.

You can also use the Pi4 to run HQPlayer and upsample to 176.4/192kHz and run the R26 in NOS mode. One of my future projects.

If your Pi2AES has no isolator board/interface built in (such as the Allo Isolator) I would strongly suggest using a decent LPS/LiPo battery for powering the Pi4 as well as the Pi2AES itself, even if it did have an Isolator board I'd use a LPS/LiPo. Power supplies are critical to get the most out of these things, the Pi SBC's are mini PC's after all and generate a good deal of electrical noise themselves. I have many Pi3's with mainly Allo HAT boards, uprating the PSU's makes a world of difference. Going from switched mode 'plug in the wall type' to a linear power supply just works better sonically.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

If your Pi2AES has no isolator board/interface built in (such as the Allo Isolator) I would strongly suggest using a decent LPS/LiPo battery for powering the Pi4 as well as the Pi2AES itself, even if it did have an Isolator board I'd use a LPS/LiPo. Power supplies are critical to get the most out of these things, the Pi SBC's are mini PC's after all and generate a good deal of electrical noise themselves. I have many Pi3's with mainly Allo HAT boards, uprating the PSU's makes a world of difference. Going from switched mode 'plug in the wall type' to a linear power supply just works better sonically.

No doubt, a LPS for the Pi4 and Pi2AES is on the to-do list, but first I want to upgrade my amp to a Mjolnir 3 which should make a bigger difference than anything related to streaming. One step at a time

 

[sajunky]

I think I finally realize why people love NOS R2R dacs or NOS in general. Wow. Maybe I'm just in the mood for it tonight, but been going with NOS PCM and creating -3dB headroom on global gain software on my computer to eliminate or limit clipping (as I read this can happen with NOS depending on dac/headroom). Anyways, this sounds absolutely incredible with classical so far. It's so dynamic and real. Not sure how to describe it, but oversampling/filters with this Dac now sound flat and non interesting compared to this. No wonder people love NOS.

It can be your mood or just polution from mains gone away. Usually is lower during night hours. And there is a trigger level of noise when our brain switch to a direct digital processing instead of bothering with distorted analogue waveform. This is what NOS stands for, as ours receptors are digital, this is a fact.

Once you experience such switch you will tune your system to happen it again and again, I promise.

No, NOS DAC do not need a headroom. I can't say about R26, but if it does, there is something with a DAC amplification or a downstream equipment.

 

[wenbinbin2010]

Where is your antenna located? Try placing it near, or in a window.
Just like a car sat nav.

I had the same issue not being able to get a GPS signal due to being located in a basement room when first setting up the Leo Bodnar clock. The R26 was located at the far end away from the only window to the street. I had to locate the supplied antenna as close to the window as possible (it was still a good three metres away), I left the laptop connected to the USB cable and sure enough I got a signal after five minutes with my location showing up on the LB software (Mac based) as the satellites passed by.
This is enough for the clock to sync and then save the settings. Then disconnect the USB so no electrical noise is sent to the clock via the laptop.

Seems like after leaving it on over night with the GPS near my window, I do have a signal now? Both the red lights are solid now instead of blinking. I'm not entirely confident, as I can't tell the difference between internal vs external clock on either my R26 or U18. I have the GPS Clock Config app screenshot (Windows) below. Let me know if anything looks different from your setups.

When A/Bing the internal and external clock, are you able to tell an obvious difference when switching between them?

If important, my power supply is an IFI iPowerX and my BNC cables are these Eightwood RG400 cables - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZXV3PZ4

I would think I have a pretty high end setup with a Susvara paired with an iFi Pro iCan to detect even subtle changes.

 

[wenbinbin2010]

I do not have this same experience with 48khz material and its multiples, however. With a 48khz song playing (Tidal MQA or FLAC via mconnect on iOS) there is no click nor delay when switching the external clock on and off and I’m not able to detect any change when doing so.

Interesting as when I'm flipping between INT and EXT for the R26, I don't get the click or delay. This is with PCM 44.1 as well as 48kHz. My Gustard U18 has a quick delay when it goes from INT to EXT clock, but when changing from EXT back to INT, there is no delay.

Not sure if this is all normal, if maybe I'm still not connecting something right.

 

[jaaptina]

Hi,

Recently I replaced my Denafrips Ares 2 dac for a Gustard R26 dac. The Gustard has a thighter bass and much more detail retreval in the highs.

I have a not so standard streamer setup with a SOTM SMS-200 Neo as streamer in front of a MiniDSP SHD Studio for room EQ . Both SMS-200 and SHD Studio are powered by one SBooster. This sounds clearly better compared to the SHD Studio streamer on its own. In this etup I use the SHD Studio not only for room EQ 2 but also to get a third digital channel to a SVS sub with crossovers at all three channels (L+R+sub).

The Gustard has also a inboard streamer. So it's time for some testing and comparisons. Its not possible to use the Gustard as streamer into the SHD and back into the Gustard as dac. So I disconnected the SMS-200 and SHD Studio and went straight from ethernet to Gustard to the amp. In this scenario it's not possible to connect the subwoofer so the SVS is also disconnected. Also with only the main speakers active I need some room EQ on a base node at 53Hz so I set up Bubbleupnp Server as OpenHome server with EQ on 53Hz. This setup works fine. The EQ setting with OpenHome helps to keep the bass in check. However sound quality with SHD Studio and subwoofer in the mix sounds clearly better. With SHD Studio the sound has more depth (that might be the subwoofer) and also the bass is also better controlled by Dirac. So I'll keep using the Gustard as dac only.

 

[Buckminster]

Hi @wenbinbin2010 are you connected via Coax or Opt with NOS:On? With those settings, I get no click with any track. With NOS:Off with Coax/Opt, or with LAN and any NOS setting, I get the click with 44.1 material only, not with 48. The difference when the clock is engaged with 44.1 material is very clear: soundstage widens and becomes more holographic, apparent detail increases, hazy or shimmery cues in music seem to step forward a few steps and become more prominent, bass has more snap and impact, pacing and rhythm throughout become more energetic. The difference with the clock on compared to off is greater than the R26 itself compared to the sub-$1k ESS implementations I have to compare it to.

@Jake2 has observed that there are differences even when you don't hear the delay, and I'm testing this out to see if I can spot any consistent contrasts. My C18 is at about 150 hours of settling in so likely has a way to go until it's performing at peak.

If Gustard replies to my question about this I'll update the thread, but I'm not holding my breath as communication has been a little difficult.

 

[camrector]

I think I finally realize why people love NOS R2R dacs or NOS in general. Wow. Maybe I'm just in the mood for it tonight, but been going with NOS PCM and creating -3dB headroom on global gain software on my computer to eliminate or limit clipping (as I read this can happen with NOS depending on dac/headroom). Anyways, this sounds absolutely incredible with classical so far. It's so dynamic and real. Not sure how to describe it, but oversampling/filters with this Dac now sound flat and non interesting compared to this. No wonder people love NOS.

Hi,

Recently I replaced my Denafrips Ares 2 dac for a Gustard R26 dac. The Gustard has a thighter bass and much more detail retreval in the highs.

I have a not so standard streamer setup with a SOTM SMS-200 Neo as streamer in front of a MiniDSP SHD Studio for room EQ . Both SMS-200 and SHD Studio are powered by one SBooster. This sounds clearly better compared to the SHD Studio streamer on its own. In this etup I use the SHD Studio not only for room EQ 2 but also to get a third digital channel to a SVS sub with crossovers at all three channels (L+R+sub).

The Gustard has also an inboard streamer. So it's time for some testing and comparisons. Its not possible to use the Gustard as streamer into the SHD and back into the Gustard as dac. So I disconnected the SMS-200 and SHD Studio and went straight from ethernet to Gustard to the amp. In this scenario it's not possible to connect the subwoofer so the SVS is also disconnected. Also with only the main speakers active I need some room EQ on a base node at 53Hz so I set up Bubbleupnp Server as OpenHome server with EQ on 53Hz. This setup works fine. The EQ setting with OpenHome helps to keep the bass in check. However sound quality with SHD Studio and subwoofer in the mix sounds clearly better. With SHD Studio the sound has more depth (that might be the subwoofer) and also the bass is also better controlled by Dirac. So I'll keep using the Gustard as dac only.

Run the sub from the RCA outs on the R26.

 

[Nuge]

I'm using an iFi Zen Stream which is far better than the R26 streamer, also it works flawlessly and is inexpensive.

I read that too but the only thing is I've been reading a lot of comments about how the software is very glitchy (those seem to constitute a lot of comments on amazon). Have you noticed anything about that? This is a concern of mine since I use an iphone. Here is one of the comments on Amazon:

The interface has proven quite buggy. Connection to iOS devices (Apple) has been more problematic than with Android devices.