fullbass
500+ Head-Fier
what? there are excellent high frequencies - perfect resolution, even the farthest frequencies are heard, it is clean and detailed
GUSTARD DAC-R26 Balanced Decoder R2R+1Bit Dual Native Decoding Music Bridge
- Thread starter m-i-c-k-e-y
- Start date
fullbass
500+ Head-Fier
Here he said he forgot to mention the Pontus 2 was the quietest of all.
Weird review.
I would say - the most weird review
I don't know, maybe he was just unlucky to get two defective devices. There is no noise there. I have both of these DACs
migo
500+ Head-Fier
Interesting enough, I've tried USB yesterday and I've stuttering during playback of MQA tracks! I've tried UAPP and default Tidal app. This doesn't happens with LAN input and Bubble UPnP playback, but there are not all tracks properly decoded as MQA, but PCM only.
AudioProm
Head-Fier
This works. Thanks! I appreciate it.
BShaw
500+ Head-Fier
I experience the stutter too, with hi res Qobuz tracks, always in the first 10 seconds. I'll install the Nov. update today and report back.
pankar0
100+ Head-Fier
Can someone help me with the properly firmware instal and update... the full process please.
P.m me.
P.m me.
fullbass
500+ Head-Fier
does anyone know how to update r26 on mac os? without a virtual machine and so on - without Win OS
BShaw
500+ Head-Fier
I won't say it's impossible, but I tried at least 5 conversion apps and it was folly. Finally borrowed a Windows laptop and it was done in minutes. Their whole update system is bull, hard to find, hard to implement, and my pet peeve is there's no info on what's included in the updates. I just figure well, engineers are kind of like artists, good at what they do but probably need a representative to interact with the public
About the "rolled off" comments -- we end up getting used to brightness and hardness in the sound from equipment, very often from noise passing through the system. When you eliminate that, the system sounds "warmer", even though it isn't as such. One of the significant things I noticed was switching between the USB input (from a computer) to the network input, is that some of this hardness went away.
The process of learning whether you're hearing actual detail, or something else, and where it's coming from, is something everyone goes through who takes such a long journey through equipment.
The process of learning whether you're hearing actual detail, or something else, and where it's coming from, is something everyone goes through who takes such a long journey through equipment.
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SupCompracer
New Head-Fier
Which firmware? There are two. Posted for all.
Thanks to comzee in post 2,249 "The base system firmware, and the renderer firmware, are completely separate files, and procedures to upgrade, using different software."
The renderer firmware has instructions in the download. I attached screen print of directions. The directions say select 'Release_1.2.img.gz" even though it is the latest 1v3 version download. Follow directions exactly. Power off means rear switch on R26 off, not in standby. If power is on, the device (29.4 storage device) will not be displayed in the USBImager application. Windows machine only. When connected, Windows will alert you to unrecognized device, ask you to format. Do not format.
Base firmware is covered in post 2,240. You'd only need that one if have the problem that Super Sonico describes in post 2,240.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/gus...ng-music-bridge.963630/page-150#post-17276213
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cobrabucket
Headphoneus Supremus
I found this first impressions take on another forum and thought it was interesting. Also, they were referencing us in this thread. 
"I have the X26 Pro and took advantage of the Black Friday Sale to buy the R26 which came Thursday. I hooked it up to my LAN and Roon recognized it without any problems. I burned it in for about 36 hours before I listened to it this evening. The X26 is connected to Roon through a Denafrips Iris DDC and a Raspberry Pi connected to an Etherregen. The R26 is just plugged into an ordinary ethernet cable connected to the same router as the X26.
So first impressions are basically WOW. It is a significantly different sound from the X26. I will need to spend more time listening critically to make sure that first impression holds but the R26 has a lot more presence, much bigger dynamics, and quite a bit more top end definition which surprised me. In many ways it sounds more like vinyl. Only downside so far is that midrange vocals might be marginally less weighty.
I was prepared for the differences to be much smaller, especially since I bought the X26 Pro at the same time as I got a Pontus II and I tore my hair out for 6 weeks trying to hear any differences and decide which one to keep. The difference between the X26 and R26 is immediately apparent. I'll report back after my first blush of enthusiasm wears off and let you know if I still prefer sound of the R26."
"I have the X26 Pro and took advantage of the Black Friday Sale to buy the R26 which came Thursday. I hooked it up to my LAN and Roon recognized it without any problems. I burned it in for about 36 hours before I listened to it this evening. The X26 is connected to Roon through a Denafrips Iris DDC and a Raspberry Pi connected to an Etherregen. The R26 is just plugged into an ordinary ethernet cable connected to the same router as the X26.
So first impressions are basically WOW. It is a significantly different sound from the X26. I will need to spend more time listening critically to make sure that first impression holds but the R26 has a lot more presence, much bigger dynamics, and quite a bit more top end definition which surprised me. In many ways it sounds more like vinyl. Only downside so far is that midrange vocals might be marginally less weighty.
I was prepared for the differences to be much smaller, especially since I bought the X26 Pro at the same time as I got a Pontus II and I tore my hair out for 6 weeks trying to hear any differences and decide which one to keep. The difference between the X26 and R26 is immediately apparent. I'll report back after my first blush of enthusiasm wears off and let you know if I still prefer sound of the R26."
rodthebod
100+ Head-Fier
I believe this is not possible, UTM works well on my MacBook M1 silicon with a small 650mb WinXP install, or using bootcamp on an older Intel Mac.
rodthebod
100+ Head-Fier
Yes, if you are referring to the renderer firmware 1v3, I posted earlier how I did this using Belena etcher on a Mac to reflash the internal sdcard of the R26 by removing it from the R26. The USB interface wasn't showing up when connected to my MacBook so this was a last resort. But the R26 mainboard firmware (latest to date is 15th November 2022) can only be updated using the R26 USB C port on the rear. The only firmware interface to do this at present is using an exe, which is an executable file for Windows only, no Mac version.
