[rdbogdan]

Gustard R26 - Day 7 impressions. All music over LAN from Roon Nucleus (the streamer+dac combo alone makes this a tremendous value prop)
~7days 24/7 burn-in. Bass tightened, upper end and mids opened up a bit.
So, whats special? Bass, detail/articulation, soundstage, coherence, no chip dac glare/heat.
very punchy and tight bass. my other dacs not even close. went very low with my Krell/Wilson combo, less so with Dynaudio powered desktops (no surprise).
sometimes the bass 'punchiness' too forward and gets in way of rest of music.
extraordinarily detailed and articulate - you just hear everything high and low. everything. quite amazing coming from an R2R - no compromise here and, in fact, more than my chip dacs. go figure.
despite extraordinary detail retrieval, nothing etched or hot. and nothing sounds rolled off on upper end. you hear amazing upper end detail, but without glare, etch, and heat.
one surprising property is the R26's ability to spotlight an instrument or lead vocal, without burying or leaving anything else behind.
soundstage width is leaps beyond my Bryston, SMSL, Oppo, Esoteric dacs. esp. in desktop, near-field rig (Dynaudio Excite X14A - just extraordinary near-field speakers).
exactly what I was hoping for in an R2R vs chip dac.
lovely 'flow' to music - everything just melds and pours out from speakers beautifully though, again, punchy bass can be a bit pronounced.
wanted to say somewhat slow pacing/PRAT, but listening to more music it's definitely not slow. trying hard to avoid that 'organic' word.
one quality I was hoping for was more 'air and decay' around notes but not hearing it (yet?) w Gustard R26. amazing separation and articulation but not so much floaty air. YRMV
Hands down my best dac experience to date
gotta say, for me and my systems, this is one of those 'shake your head in amazement' experiences. been collecting and upgrading hifi gear for 25+ years and this is one of the very few gear changes that makes as much difference as I hoped for. tamed one of my hotter main rigs - Krell 302E w PSA BHK Sig preamp. Next rotation will be in Ayre MX-R monos w ARC pre and Wilsons.
again, first R2R dac so no A/B w Pontus, other R2Rs. . . but doesn't matter. so satisfied with what I'm hearing, not caring about what I'm missing.
easy decision - selling off my other dacs and buying another Gustard R26. done.
as always, YRMV

p.s. anyone saying or thinking R2Rs give up detail for coherent flow and soundstage hasn't heard the R26

Pretty much the same impressions here after almost a month, this dac is a gem. I would like to see a comparison between this one and a Holo May KTE. I am not using ROON, but through I2S from a Singxer SU-6, feeding a Ferrum stack and Susvara phones

 

[markkpa]

I’ve had mine for almost a month - I’m very pleased with the purchase. I do not use the LAN for streaming - the sound quality from USB/Laptop via Gustard’s U18/I2S sounds better compared to Airplay 2 played directly to the R26 DAC. There is more meat on the bones with the U18 - though the difference is subtle. Airplay 2 sounds very good playing redbook, the U18 is just a bit better. I have not tried Roon.

 

[Jake2]

Hands down my best dac experience to date
gotta say, for me and my systems, this is one of those 'shake your head in amazement' experiences. been collecting and upgrading hifi gear for 25+ years and this is one of the very few gear changes that makes as much difference as I hoped for. tamed one of my hotter main rigs - Krell 302E w PSA BHK Sig preamp. Next rotation will be in Ayre MX-R monos w ARC pre and Wilsons.
again, first R2R dac so no A/B w Pontus, other R2Rs. . . but doesn't matter. so satisfied with what I'm hearing, not caring about what I'm missing.
easy decision - selling off my other dacs and buying another Gustard R26. done.
as always, YRMV

p.s. anyone saying or thinking R2Rs give up detail for coherent flow and soundstage hasn't heard the R26

Really appreciate the detailed notes on your impressions to date. Impressive that you feel it is playing well in what sounds like quality company in terms of dacs you've contrasted with and amplification you've partnered it with. Particularly happy to hear it tamed a hotter rig... I'm hoping it'll do the same here. Looking forward to mine arriving.

 

[cglin222]

What is the default fuse that r26 came with? Asking this cause u18/c18/x18 all came with 500ma, but the Gustard upgraded fuse don't even have 500ma, only 630ma.
And should I install 500ma or 630ma? And suggestion 3.15A for R26 hence asking the default that it came with.
Planning to get some SR purple, for U18 and R26 (planning to get) , but is unsure which

 

[EMINENT]

What is the default fuse that r26 came with? Asking this cause u18/c18/x18 all came with 500ma, but the Gustard upgraded fuse don't even have 500ma, only 630ma.
And should I install 500ma or 630ma? And suggestion 3.15A for R26 hence asking the default that it came with.
Planning to get some SR purple, for U18 and R26 (planning to get) , but is unsure which

I went with 500 for both as mentioned in the X26 thread.

 

[mgsu]

Pretty much the same impressions here after almost a month, this dac is a gem. I would like to see a comparison between this one and a Holo May KTE. I am not using ROON, but through I2S from a Singxer SU-6, feeding a Ferrum stack and Susvara phones

How do you have set the switches on SU-6? The same like in the handbook for SU-6? Have you tried to set switch 5 and 6 to on?

 

[rdbogdan]

How do you have set the switches on SU-6? The same like in the handbook for SU-6? Have you tried to set switch 5 and 6 to on?

3 and 7 for Gustard ON afaik, the rest OFF When I tried other combinations, I was getting terrible noise

 

[mgsu]

3 and 7 for Gustard ON afaik, the rest OFF When I tried other combinations, I was getting terrible noise

SW 5 on the SU-6 is CLK output mode: OFF is MCLK, ON is WCLK.

By setting the SW 5 on SU-6 to off, does it mean that the clock on SU-6 ist shut down and the Gustard clock is used?

 

[rdbogdan]

SW 5 on the SU-6 is CLK output mode: OFF is MCLK, ON is WCLK.

By setting the SW 5 on SU-6 to off, does it mean that the clock on SU-6 ist shut down and the Gustard clock is used?

The way i see it, SW5 off means MCLK of 22,5.... is used, with both SW 5 and 6 on, an external clock may be used. I am very satisfied with the default values, not planning to use external clocks etc

 

[mgsu]

thanks, have you than tried to set SW 6 to 45/49?

 

[rdbogdan]

Cannot remember, I tried some combos some time ago, when I got the SU-6, settled for 3 and 7 no more need to mess around with those switches (they do look a bit fragile )

 

[mgsu]

Yeah, i know! 45/49 would make more sense than 22/24 since there is no conversion needed when using 45/49

 

[rdbogdan]

You made me curious, I will try to tinker a bit next days, thanks

 

[mgsu]

You made me curious, I will try to tinker a bit next days, thanks

Yea, the Su-6 and Gustard combo is a little controverse, because the Gustard has a 10MHz clock and the SU-6 has 45&49 KHz clocks. thats why i am asking if the Gustard can even work with the 45/49 clock from the SU-6 over II2S or ignore it.

 

[rdbogdan]

I guess I will see tomorrow and let you know (not at location until tomorrow)