[kumar402]

There is no best way....just different ways of doing samething. For some DDC will work and for some internal streamer and for some external streamer.
Whatever works for you is the best solution for you. Just post your finding and let ppl interpret.

 

[rockcity007]

Man, this is all so confusing! All I want to do is listen to some music and I'm not sure I know how after reading the last 200 pages or so...

 

[camrector]

@camrector thank you for the ongoing help. Another quick question. I am just going to go with the U18 as the uncertainty if some random DVI to HDMI cable is going to work makes the U18 route more of an easier pathway for me. That being said since I am technically not connecting my R26 to a computer but to my Hifi Rose 150b streamer which uses Android and the 150b and the R26 are indeed connected via USB, would I still benefit from the u18 or does the u18 only benefit those that are connected their computes to the r26.

I think to see a real benefit of a DDC a Audio-GD DI-20HE DDC or the Singxr Su-6 would be better. They both measure better than the U18 at least.

I feel to that you will benefit more at first from using FMCs. It’s a $200 tweak.

 

[Odezra]

Man, this is all so confusing! All I want to do is listen to some music and I'm not sure I know how after reading the last 200 pages or so...

Honestly - plug it in, pick the the source cable available to you and off you go. It’s a super dac and works well with all inputs.

There’s a community here trying to see how far they can push this dac. It’s a new device only out about 7 months and people are learning how good can it be in different systems / environments.

For me the last 200 pages really say two things:

- it’s a great dac for the price point
- for many, cleaning up noise making its way to the dac (eg from computers, routers, other equipment) can help improve the performance of this dac. Certain accessories can also potentially improve performance. There are different ways to do this depending on what system you have, including ddC / LAN, clocks and switches.

As for the usb / lan debate. Both can be v good after tweaks. I think there is a consensus here that lan works for a great many. However, there are many variables at play in everyone’s system which means the right choice on source will be down to personal factors (eg budget, existing equipment, Etc).

I think the last 200 pages are a great description of the journey people have had in trying maximise performance - playing with ddc’s lan, clocks, switches, cabling etc to see how good the Gustard can be.

It would be amazing if we could update the first posts of this thread to describe the most common tweaks so that newcomers to the thread can skip the 200 pages and just get the tldr?

 

[duffer5]

I think to see a real benefit of a DDC a Audio-GD DI-20HE DDC or the Singxr Su-6 would be better. They both measure better than the U18 at least.

I feel to that you will benefit more at first from using FMCs. It’s a $200 tweak.

The only problem with those two other DDC is can they output correctly to the R26 since the HDMI mapping is unique to Gustard?

 

[camrector]

The only problem with those two other DDC is can they output correctly to the R26 since the HDMI mapping is unique to Gustard?

Yes they will! I wouldn’t mention them if they didn’t.

 

[duffer5]

Yes they will! I wouldn’t mention them if they didn’t.

Interesting. How does that work? Do the other DDS have a configurable i2s outputs that can accommodate a multitude of DACS unlike my Hifi Rose that can only do PS-Audio or JVAS?

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Singxer's SU-6 (what I have) has it. Only draw back, no external clocks.

 

[BShaw]

Man, this is all so confusing! All I want to do is listen to some music and I'm not sure I know how after reading the last 200 pages or so...

I hear you. When I get really confused I just get in my car and turn on the crappy radio and stream low bitrate music via bluetooth that compresses things even further, then drive down Vermont roads with my snow tires howling beneath me. Keeps things in perspective

 

[kumar402]

I personally like streamer as no USB and my laptop is free. Streamer once installed just disappear

 

[duffer5]

Singxer's SU-6 (what I have) has it. Only draw back, no external clocks.

Nice, now I get it. Wish my Hifi Rose did that. Does about everything else but what can you do. I just hope the U18 won't degrade the sound because it is pretty darn good now but I do want to have that i2s connection and can't get it any other way then through a DDS apparently. Thanks @m-i-c-k-e-y for all the newbie help.

 

[kumar402]

Nice, now I get it. Wish my Hifi Rose did that. Does about everything else but what can you do. I just hope the U18 won't degrade the sound because it is pretty darn good now but I do want to have that i2s connection and can't get it any other way then through a DDS apparently. Thanks @m-i-c-k-e-y for all the newbie help.

There is no way U18 will degrade the sound. I have it and I like it a lot and gives nice warm touch to music

 

[duffer5]

There is no way U18 will degrade the sound. I have it and I like it a lot and gives nice warm touch to music

Thank you for the reassurance @kumar402 . I was skeptical to even go down the road of an external DAC considering the Hifi Rose 150b has the ESS 9038pro chip and the sound is highly praised in the way the Hifi Rose team implemented the DAC. With that being said the R26 blew me away. The sound improvement, to my ears, was significant. So anything is possible and thanks to your reassurance and the help from this thread I am looking forward to hearing what the U18 can do.

 

[cobrabucket]

Thank you for the reassurance @kumar402 . I was skeptical to even go down the road of an external DAC considering the Hifi Rose 150b has the ESS 9038pro chip and the sound is highly praised in the way the Hifi Rose team implemented the DAC. With that being said the R26 blew me away. The sound improvement, to my ears, was significant. So anything is possible and thanks to your reassurance and the help from this thread I am looking forward to hearing what the U18 can do.

I prefer LAN w/ FMC for most uses, but the U18 is quite good too - especially after upgrading the fuse and adding the OCK-1. I use the U18 for all non-music applications on Win10, ie: YouTube, watching movies, gaming, etc. As others have said, experimenting to find what you prefer is half the fun. Cheers!

 

[Nada]

I prefer LAN for most uses, but the U18 is quite good too

Did you end up dialling in the R26 options, so you could compare the dedicated U18 clocks over I2S vs the R26 internal synthesised clocking?