GUSTARD DAC-R26 Balanced Decoder R2R+1Bit Dual Native Decoding Music Bridge

[Deleeh]

A question for those of you who are experienced with fuses.

I use the R26 with an Acme fuse.
Is it worth buying for it a SR Purple? Would it make a big difference?

Many have said yes where they have tried.

I spoke to the Refine salesman who sells them in Germany.

He told me that with the Refine fuse you can stack them without sound bending.
That is one advantage of the fuse.
This means that if you put 1-3 fuses in your system you can get something that can have a positive or negative effect.

I had that with the hi-fi tuning for example.
It became boring and not impressive like it usually is.
That can happen, for example.

I have installed the Refine fuse in my Su 2, in the R26 and in my tube amplifier and the good man was right.
It had no effect when it was stacked.

Apart from that, he said that the SR tends to belong to the category of sound benders, and that people are crazy about it and pay for it.

It is a personal decision where you should make what you want, what you are looking for and aiming for.

If you like the sound of the R26 as it is, I can only recommend that you take a closer look at the Refine.
I found the timing thing very attractive and have to agree.
Perhaps to better describe this you can feel the pauses from a song very well when it was intended.
Other things were also the crackle of the record needle, or things that were intended in the mix coming out better. Also rhythm stories I found to be better represented.
It made the R26 better, and the homogeneity and energy a little better.
You can imagine that when the curtain opens on the stage, there is more emotion.
Or things like when you suddenly feel into the piano with more energy and more emotional involvement.

Having had the Acme in for a while now, what is your impression of it compared to the Standart?
Somewhat improved?

 

[camrector]

Btw. I am not here to troll lhy in any way. All sincere questions. If the sw 10 or Oct 2 is fully legit, I would consider buying one.

Thank you for the response. I look forward to your further insights as well.

This is my chain:

MiniDSP SHD Studio (Running Roon + Dirac)-> SPDIF -> Hermes DDC -> i2S -> R26 ->Balanced - > Benchmark HPA4 -> Balanced -> 2x Monoblock Burson Timekeeper 3x GT (30W of Class A sold me) -> Dynaudio Heritage Special.

To answer your question. Yes. I use a Blue Jeans SPDIF cable to Hermes. Thought about trying AES (?), but the SPDIF seems to work well.

Mini DSP maxes out at 96khz, not sure if i am missing out on more resolution - that i would notice - but have this in a smaller office in which the Dirac is a lifesaver for my room modes. I can't see me pulling it out of the chain unless something more hi res comes out. I have lots of room treatment but still need need help on low end. I truley believe DSP is most underrated tweak (tied with room treatment) part of this hobby. A ton of time energy goes into how x amp sounds, etc....DSP users can have a level of control over these aspects without needing to turn as much gear to find thier nirvana. Anyway...i got on a tangent!

Let me know further thoughts on Master Clock. I am shopping for that extra 5% like the rest of us damaged souls. I agree with the previous poster that a 10K master clock is the way to go vs. getting to locked into Denafrips Word clock frequencies. There is part of me that just wants to buy Teminator II 12th and slave the hemres with clock cables and be done with it, but the R26 could be already in that league and possibly can I squeeze more with + decent 10K clock, and a few other tweaks - don't know.

Last- It kind of feels odd to pay more a master clock than my DAC though. I was looking at Afterdark G options.... prob thinking LHY/C18. It goes to show how much of a bargain the R26 is.

I think I can help you out pretty good here.
I use Focus Fidelity for room correction and have offered a few times to guys here that if they get a UMIK and send me the measurements I’ll design a few convolution fir filters for FREE. All you do is load those filters in Roon and you can ditch that SHD. Focus Fidelity is state of the art and you’ll have frequency and time domain correction.
Your chain then could actually drop 2 boxes.
Roon with built in Room correction>R26>Benchmark etc etc
Add sw10 and optimodule to your network and you have the crème de la crème.
PM me if that works and you want to try it

 

[BShaw]

I sold my pontus 2 for the R26 as well, and I’m on a similar upgrade path for my fiber network. The LHY clocks are great and have many here have great things to say about them. Those published figures that were removed were from the LHY ock1 having a few confirmed conflicting measurements. Some units matched factory spec, some didn’t, some exceeded. The sw10 should not have any of those issues.
LHY only seems to kinda piss people off because they keep releasing products that under cut themselves and thus us the consumer lol.
You buy their flagship clock ock2 and sw8 switch then a month later they release the sw10 with and even better clock and fiber port for less money!!
Personally I’m waiting till the summer to upgrade my fiber. The sw10 has everything I want except waaaay to many Ethernet ports. Im a gear person and rack my brain around why or what hifi guy needs 8 Ethernet ports!!!
There is a new EtherRegen coming that might check our same boxes.

Also there is the Sonore Optical module deluxe that could pair nicely as an upgraded 2 “clean” side FMC.

Im huge on the LAN input over DDCs.
Welcome to our rabbit hole.

My money is on the EtherRegen when it becomes available. Even at this point with no more than a good quality fiber set up I can’t match the sound quality with my CD transport and a very very good coax cable. Zhang from Gustard acknowledged the coax and usb were not given the same consideration as the LAN port in development. Not saying they’re not good, but they could probably be more well done, at a higher cost.

 

[Dandoudou]

Many have said yes where they have tried.

I spoke to the Refine salesman who sells them in Germany.

He told me that with the Refine fuse you can stack them without sound bending.
That is one advantage of the fuse.
This means that if you put 1-3 fuses in your system you can get something that can have a positive or negative effect.

I had that with the hi-fi tuning for example.
It became boring and not impressive like it usually is.
That can happen, for example.

I have installed the Refine fuse in my Su 2, in the R26 and in my tube amplifier and the good man was right.
It had no effect when it was stacked.

Apart from that, he said that the SR tends to belong to the category of sound benders, and that people are crazy about it and pay for it.

It is a personal decision where you should make what you want, what you are looking for and aiming for.

If you like the sound of the R26 as it is, I can only recommend that you take a closer look at the Refine.
I found the timing thing very attractive and have to agree.
Perhaps to better describe this you can feel the pauses from a song very well when it was intended.
Other things were also the crackle of the record needle, or things that were intended in the mix coming out better. Also rhythm stories I found to be better represented.
It made the R26 better, and the homogeneity and energy a little better.
You can imagine that when the curtain opens on the stage, there is more emotion.
Or things like when you suddenly feel into the piano with more energy and more emotional involvement.

Having had the Acme in for a while now, what is your impression of it compared to the Standart?
Somewhat improved?

Thank you, @Deleeh , for the information.
The Acme fuse improves somehow the sound indeed.
Fuses aren't something that I tried in the past. I was using the standard fuses, and this Acme fuse is the first special one that I try.

I was also wondering if replacing the standard fuses of my Nuprime STA-9 dual monoblocs will improve their performance.
Do you have a link of a seller of the Refine fuses?

 

[Deleeh]

Thank you, @Deleeh , for the information.
The Acme fuse improves somehow the sound indeed.
Fuses aren't something that I tried in the past. I was using the standard fuses, and this Acme fuse is the first special one that I try.

I was also wondering if replacing the standard fuses of my Nuprime STA-9 dual monoblocs will improve their performance.
Do you have a link of a seller of the Refine fuses?

You're welcome,

Here is the link:
https://www.subbase-audio.de/portfolio_page/refine-fuses/?lang=en


With the R26, if you buy one from the gentleman, go straight to the 3.15A.
It directly improves the performance compared to the 2.5 that I also used.
And you have to phase it out, which the gentleman explains to you quite well with a manual if you make contact.

YES it makes sense to change the fuse in the Nuprime STA-9 dual monoblocs, especially if it is the standard one.

Nice to hear that the Acme has brought something after all.

 

[Dandoudou]

With the R26, if you buy one from the gentleman, go straight to the 3.15A.

That's what I did when I ordered the Acme fuse.

And you have to phase it out, which the gentleman explains to you quite well with a manual if you make contact.

YES it makes sense to change the fuse in the Nuprime STA-9 dual monoblocs, especially if it is the standard one.

Nice to hear that the Acme has brought something after all.

I already sent a message to the gentleman on the site.

 

[staffz93]

I think I can help you out pretty good here.
I use Focus Fidelity for room correction and have offered a few times to guys here that if they get a UMIK and send me the measurements I’ll design a few convolution fir filters for FREE. All you do is load those filters in Roon and you can ditch that SHD. Focus Fidelity is state of the art and you’ll have frequency and time domain correction.
Your chain then could actually drop 2 boxes.
Roon with built in Room correction>R26>Benchmark etc etc
Add sw10 and optimodule to your network and you have the crème de la crème.
PM me if that works and you want to try it

Any good reads to learn how to do your own convolution filters in Roon? My room is on the second floor and I can get the floor to resonate at certain frequencies... I would like to try and EQ those room nodes down a bunch.

 

[camrector]

Any good reads to learn how to do your own convolution filters in Roon? My room is on the second floor and I can get the floor to resonate at certain frequencies... I would like to try and EQ those room nodes down a bunch.

For sure. You can’t create them in Roon you need specialized software to create them with a measurement microphone. Mitch Barret is the gurus Guru. Here is what the process looks like
Same process applies to speakers in room.
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/revi...rs-using-focus-fidelity-filter-designer-r990/

He has even built headphone DSP software.

Roon does have a traditional PEQ that might help in the interim.

 

[staffz93]

For sure. You can’t create them in Roon you need specialized software to create them with a measurement microphone. Mitch Barret is the gurus Guru. Here is what the process looks like
Same process applies to speakers in room.
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/revi...rs-using-focus-fidelity-filter-designer-r990/

He has even built headphone DSP software.

Roon does have a traditional PEQ that might help in the interim.

Thanks!

 

[DivinesGaming]

New to R2R dacs here... Is a DDC even useful if I'm plugging in through LAN instead of USB?

 

[Deleeh]

New to R2R dacs here... Is a DDC even useful if I'm plugging in through LAN instead of USB?

Hello,

If you only want to use Lan, you don't need a DDC unless you want it .
If you only intend to use Lan, then do the Fmc mod, which is close to the DDC, with less cost associated.

With my Su 2 I have a bit more sparkle in the upper range,the midrange maybe a tad sweeter.
But it's all a matter of taste and also a bit of restsetup depending on what you use amplifier plus headphones.

 

[Jake2]

New to R2R dacs here... Is a DDC even useful if I'm plugging in through LAN instead of USB?

As you can imagine this question has been asked and answered many times.

My advice - no you don't 'need' a DDC to get superb performance out of the R26 so definitely don't buy a DDC at the outset, start by optimizing the chain to the R26's very good internal renderer. DDC-based setups can better the R26 Lan input but they are the exception and often pretty expensive to assemble (see for eg @Dandoudou s setup). I have an SU6 & U18 sitting unused despite multiple enhancements over time to the U18 chain to give it the best chance of matching the R26 LAN.

Here's a longer form take on it I did a while back:

That's a pretty thorough and nuanced explanation by @Alcophone I doubt I would have understood when I first started refamiliarising myself with modern DAC technology, the role of DDCs like the U18 and clocking. Reading some older posts again now I realise there's gems of insights I was blind to back then.

So here's another - slightly simplified - take, which I think my then-self may have found a little easier to absorb. Hopefully of some use to you. It's based on my firsthand experience with the R26, two other dacs, four DDCs and an external clock and the shared experience and helpful recommendations of others in this and other threads.

I'd start by saying the R26 is an excellent DAC out of the box and gets better with use. Its internal streaming capability is pretty rare in a mid-tier DAC (the new Ifi Neo Stream a notable exception), and depending on your streaming source/protocol may sound better than external streamer + DDC combinations. I'd recommend just starting with the R26 alone, trying the internal streamer.

1. R26 Internal streamer - try this thoroughly before you invest in anything else. Ensure you have the latest streaming 'gustarender' firmware (version 1.3 or 1.4, 1.3 is what I have). Anecdotally not all streaming protocols sound equally good. I jumped straight to Roon/HQ Player, which to me sounded clearly better than the Ifi Zen Stream/U18 DCC. From recollection most others using Roon or HQP prefer the sound of the internal streamer to other R26 sources thev've tried. But there's a good number of folk using other R26 streaming protocols (Bubble UPnP) and/or other DDCs and/or more advanced streamers who prefer the sound of their external digital source over the R26 internal streamer. It is really challenging to identify underlying causes for the varying preferences.
2. DDC - for the above reasons I wouldn't recommend getting one immediately. They are superb at cleaning up and reclocking USB audio to make a DAC's job easier. But then USB is not inherently a better source than ethernet, indeed the opposite is theoretically true. Generally I2S cable from DDC to DAC is favoured as giving the best sound, but not always. (My advice here is very much do-as-I-say, not do as I do as I got the U18, SU6, Douk U2 Pro and Ifi iPurifier s/pdif all around the same time... as an expensive but educational experience). If you get a DDC get it from somewhere with a good right of return policy in case you find #1 beats #2 and/or #3 as I have. And if you get one I'd strongly recommend getting one with a 10mhz external clock input (e.g. U18 ) to give you that upgrade option (see below).
3. Dedicated streamer/audio server - recommendation as for DDCs, don't get one immediately. Sky's the limit here. My experience only goes as far as the Ifi Zen, at the more modest end of things.
4. Network/power improvements- a number of things you can try here regardless of whether you end up going the R26 internal streamer or external streamer/DDC route:
   • a) ethernet cable to optical fibre network convertor boxes - at <USD100 it's a really cheap and effective form of galvanic isolation to eliminate any noise 'riding' a a normal ethernet cable I've not yet tried but has brought a number of users great results (see posts of @camrector & @BShaw on this)
   • b) improving power supply quality, conditioning, grounding etc for various devices (e.g. using cheap linear power supplies for fibre convertor boxes per 4(a) and or/power conditioners (see @camrector posts)
   • c) audiophile switch router - with high quality power supply, filtration, internal clock etc. I only mention this as I had the LHY SW-8 delivered last week and it exceeded my rather sceptical expectations by bringing a similar character of improvement to that others have described for 4(a). But at 4x as expensive it's certainly not the first thing to try. I'm just crossing my fingers that if (when) I try the optical network convertors the benefits will be additive/cumulative to those of SW-8.
5. External Master Clock - experience and opinion varies here. Some folk are underwhelmed, notice hardly any difference, others are passionate advocates. Recommendation as for DDCs and external streamers - far from 'required' with R26. (My personal view, from a really positive experience with the LHY OCK-1, is that much like network improvements, a really good external clock with a good cable can benefit a digital-audio based system whichever way you end up going - R26 internal streamer or ext streamer/DDC). Catch is few if any are sold by vendors like Amazon that offer returns.

My recommendation would be start with #1 - I'd suggest getting a Roon trial and use with Tidal/Qobuz even if you don't want or like the idea of an ongoing Roon subscription. Use as a baseline, and compare to the R26's other supported streaming protocols. Then try 4(a) and the cheaper end of 4(b) for reputedly great bang for buck upgrades. Only then if you're so inclined fill yer boots with any or all of 2 - 5.

EDIT - add a #6 - Cables to the list. Just changed my USB cable and it made a big improvement to the Zen/U18 chain. Doesn't change the above advice but can make or break a particular setup.

 

[DivinesGaming]

Thank you both for giving me a really good starting point and imparting your knowledge.

 

[Jake2]

Thank you both for giving me a really good starting point and imparting your knowledge.

All good - welcome to the club - it's a great DAC that responds really well to upstream improvements, which much of this thread is devoted to. See @m-i-c-k-e-y 's first post for a sticky on some matters like FMCs etc

 

[Gary M]

As you can imagine this question has been asked and answered many times.

My advice - no you don't 'need' a DDC to get superb performance out of the R26 so definitely don't buy a DDC at the outset, start by optimizing the chain to the R26's very good internal renderer. DDC-based setups can better the R26 Lan input but they are the exception and often pretty expensive to assemble (see for eg @Dandoudou s setup). I have an SU6 & U18 sitting unused despite multiple enhancements over time to the U18 chain to give it the best chance of matching the R26 LAN.

Here's a longer form take on it I did a while back:

I currently use fiber before my R26 and am considering an OpticalRendu but know that the R26 is optimized for LAN. Is there a somewhat cost effective USB to LAN converter (preferably passive) that you guys recommend or am I over thinking it? I'm also keeping an eye out for a used Muon-pro.