[Aeonyx]

Gustard's (not because we are on Gustard's R26 thread, but its really good for the price)

Sweet, that's the one I went with after not finding many other options that weren't ridiculously overpriced lol

 

[camrector]

Good to know. I've seen the JCAT. There's also the Matrix Element H which looks pretty interesting. U18 DDC + Element H would come in just a bit cheaper than the JCAT.

And would get you to the SQ level of the stock LAN input.
The biggest improvements seen so far from the R26 have been from
1. Fiber Media Convertors
2. Clocks

 

[Aeonyx]

And would get you to the SQ level of the stock LAN input.
The biggest improvements seen so far from the R26 have been from
1. Fiber Media Convertors
2. Clocks

Yeah I know. I'm going to try LAN, but my headphone and 2.1 setup is in my home office, and I use my PC mostly, and not just for Roon. So USB is much more convenient for me here. I have a U18 and LHY OCK-2 coming as well, so hopefully that helps a bit. Trying to find some JCAT vs Matrix H comparisons to see if the price difference is worthwhile there.

 

[flyboibirdy]

Yeah I know. I'm going to try LAN, but my headphone and 2.1 setup is in my home office, and I use my PC mostly, and not just for Roon. So USB is much more convenient for me here. I have a U18 and LHY OCK-2 coming as well, so hopefully that helps a bit. Trying to find some JCAT vs Matrix H comparisons to see if the price difference is worthwhile there.

I second this. This is why I haven't gonna LAN myself. I use my PC for games, movies, YouTube, and Music. Having USB works better for me because of that. Right on, you look like you have a few exciting days ahead of you. Remember as you let these stuff burn in it will sound better and better if it haven't already when you plug it in. I have the Aune XC1 Clock on order myself, and I am excited for it.

 

[flyboibirdy]

Gustard's. Not because we are on Gustard's R26 thread, but its really good for the price (same with their HDMI cable).

Sad thing with Gustard HDMI cable is they're out of productions. We missed it.

 

[Jake2]

@Aeonyx FYI as to when the R26 uses an external clock signal for each of its inputs, see Gustard's earlier emailed response to a question from another member.

TL;DR - for the USB and LAN inputs, when an external clock is connected and EXT Clock is selected in the R26 menu, the ext clock signal is always used by the R26 regardless of R26 PCM or DSD mode selected.

This is an answer from Gustard regarding the use of a 10Mhz external clock with the R26 and when its clock signal is used to reference the internal K2 synthesizer and when is not used.

When playing PCM

1. PCM NOS: OFF
The improvement provided by the external clock applies to all R26 inputs.

2. PCM NOS: On
The improvement provided by external clock applies to USB and LAN inputs, IIS AES coaxial optical Bluetooth does not apply.

When playing DSD

1.DSD DIRECT: OFF
The improvement provided by the external clock applies to all R26 inputs.

2.DSD DIRECT: ON
The improvements provided by the external clock apply to USB and LAN inputs, IIS AES coaxial optical Bluetooth does not apply.

 

[BShaw]

Cool! I ordered an OCK-2 just now. Can you recommend a good BNC cable?

Thanks!

Absolutely. Harmonic Technology DC III, incredible cable. From Labkable in Hong Kong. It was recommended to me here by Jake, $150 shipped. OCC copper and beautifully made. If you want to save money, the LMR-400 is supposed to be very good.

 

[DeckHiFi]

@Aeonyx FYI as to when the R26 uses an external clock signal for each of its inputs, see Gustard's earlier emailed response to a question from another member.

TL;DR - for the USB and LAN inputs, when an external clock is connected and EXT Clock is selected in the R26 menu, the ext clock signal is always used by the R26 regardless of R26 PCM or DSD mode selected.

Cool, thanks for sharing. I feel like certain posts like this should be on the first page post. It's vital information that people might not even have a correct setup if they don't have the right info. I think there was another post that went over what DSD DIRECT ON or OFF means with this DAC. That is another post that should be on first page imo. But good to know since I'm going with a limited devices plugged in setup, if I do go with external clock someday for me the Lan setup should still work great that I currently have. Now I just can't wait to hear about new people's thoughts on external clocks

 

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

That is why there is the Manual posted.

If they care to read it....

 

[Aeonyx]

Absolutely. Harmonic Technology DC III, incredible cable. From Labkable in Hong Kong. It was recommended to me here by Jake, $150 shipped. OCC copper and beautifully made. If you want to save money, the LMR-400 is supposed to be very good.

Thanks! I ordered the Gustard C2 to start. Looking forward to it

 

[Aeonyx]

Has anyone played the around with solid silver HDMI, USB, or Ethernet cables? Lots of really good deals on AliExpress if you dig around. Would a better cable have an impact on things like jitter? I can get a pure silver cable for ~$200, so figured maybe worthwhile to get some better cables?

Touchy subject, I know. Keeping an open mind though

 

[milkdudd]

Absolutely. Harmonic Technology DC III, incredible cable. From Labkable in Hong Kong. It was recommended to me here by Jake, $150 shipped. OCC copper and beautifully made. If you want to save money, the LMR-400 is supposed to be very good.

As my A22 dac does not have a clock input, I only use one cable (between my C18 and U18) and it's the gustard C2 cable there. Does anyone know if there is an advantage of using two identical BNC cables? It seems to make sense to me. If so, when the time comes I buy another C2 cable. If there is no advantage in having identical cables, I wonder what the best place to put the superior cable? Between clock and DDC, or between clock and dac?

 

[BShaw]

Has anyone played the around with solid silver HDMI, USB, or Ethernet cables? Lots of really good deals on AliExpress if you dig around. Would a better cable have an impact on things like jitter? I can get a pure silver cable for ~$200, so figured maybe worthwhile to get some better cables?

Touchy subject, I know. Keeping an open mind though

I've had both the Audioquest Carbon (heavy silver plating) and the Curious USB cables and both were really good. I preferred the Curious when I had my Zenstream. The only thing I would say about silver is that not all silver is the same, there can be a big difference even between two cables with the same purity levels. Annealing is the first thing, and very few (Duelund, Neotech, Mundorf come to mind for starters) actually anneal the silver dead soft, which I've been told by experts in the actual cable industry makes the biggest difference, and without it you get the complaints of thinness, brittleness, harshness, less musical, etc. I have a fair amount of silver in my system now, and it's fantastic, but the good stuff never comes cheap. The second issue is the way the wire is drawn, of course OCC is the best if it's actually true, but there can be a lot of surface imperfections and grain boundaries that silver especially doesn't like, and drawing can also surface harden the material, not a good thing.
So, I stay away from Chinese silver altogether, I'd much rather have good copper than mediocre silver of unknown pedigree.
And to me, good silver like what I've described is beautiful sonically and not reflective of the bad rap some ascribe to silver. In fact, just last night I finished a set of XLRs for my HP amp. I used Mundorf silver/gold alloy wire, solid 24 ga x 3, sheathed in cotton tubing then ABS wrap (from HIFI Collective), terminated with AECO XLR plugs. WOW!!!

 

[Aeonyx]

I've had both the Audioquest Carbon (heavy silver plating) and the Curious USB cables and both were really good. I preferred the Curious when I had my Zenstream. The only thing I would say about silver is that not all silver is the same, there can be a big difference even between two cables with the same purity levels. Annealing is the first thing, and very few (Duelund, Neotech, Mundorf come to mind for starters) actually anneal the silver dead soft, which I've been told by experts in the actual cable industry makes the biggest difference, and without it you get the complaints of thinness, brittleness, harshness, less musical, etc. I have a fair amount of silver in my system now, and it's fantastic, but the good stuff never comes cheap. The second issue is the way the wire is drawn, of course OCC is the best if it's actually true, but there can be a lot of surface imperfections and grain boundaries that silver especially doesn't like, and drawing can also surface harden the material, not a good thing.
So, I stay away from Chinese silver altogether, I'd much rather have good copper than mediocre silver of unknown pedigree.
And to me, good silver like what I've described is beautiful sonically and not reflective of the bad rap some ascribe to silver. In fact, just last night I finished a set of XLRs for my HP amp. I used Mundorf silver/gold alloy wire, solid 24 ga x 3, sheathed in cotton tubing then ABS wrap (from HIFI Collective), terminated with AECO XLR plugs. WOW!!!

Where did you purchase the gold/silver alloy wire?

 

[milkdudd]

I've had both the Audioquest Carbon (heavy silver plating) and the Curious USB cables and both were really good. I preferred the Curious when I had my Zenstream. The only thing I would say about silver is that not all silver is the same, there can be a big difference even between two cables with the same purity levels. Annealing is the first thing, and very few (Duelund, Neotech, Mundorf come to mind for starters) actually anneal the silver dead soft, which I've been told by experts in the actual cable industry makes the biggest difference, and without it you get the complaints of thinness, brittleness, harshness, less musical, etc. I have a fair amount of silver in my system now, and it's fantastic, but the good stuff never comes cheap. The second issue is the way the wire is drawn, of course OCC is the best if it's actually true, but there can be a lot of surface imperfections and grain boundaries that silver especially doesn't like, and drawing can also surface harden the material, not a good thing.
So, I stay away from Chinese silver altogether, I'd much rather have good copper than mediocre silver of unknown pedigree.
And to me, good silver like what I've described is beautiful sonically and not reflective of the bad rap some ascribe to silver. In fact, just last night I finished a set of XLRs for my HP amp. I used Mundorf silver/gold alloy wire, solid 24 ga x 3, sheathed in cotton tubing then ABS wrap (from HIFI Collective), terminated with AECO XLR plugs. WOW!!!

I use silver everywhere I can so no argument from me