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

[BShaw]

Where do you get this rubbish from? I have no such issue from toslink and never have And can play 192khz files with no problem or jitter. The only people having issues with stuttering (which is what I said about LAN) are those using LAN, read back in the thread, dozens of users have had stuttering issues using LAN.


When someone says something verifiable factually untrue {toslink…caps resolution at 96khz on audio signals}, and then deliberately tries to misrepresent what I said, then it is a reason for dispute and shows said person doesn’t know what they are talking about.


@camrector How come you aren’t using an external clock? There are dozens on this thread that seem to think it’s a huge improvement, surely that proves it must be?

Dacwizard - I'm happy for you that you will save your money by not buying a clock, but if you haven't A/B'd one yourself in your system, I assume it can only be conjecture or tribal-speak ala ASR that qualifies you to categorically cast using an external clock as "bonkers" as you said earlier. Yes there are a lot of people here who've inserted an external clock into their chains, and most of us seem to be happy with the result. That's not a scientific survey, but it's one of the easiest tweaks to A/B with the R26, and I've done it, barely seconds between one and the other, and it was obvious the clock made a difference in my system that was very pleasing.
We don't need religious arguments in this thread, or throwing shade with passive aggressive comments like "That’s up to them, it’s their time and money but Id rather spend the time listening to music." Poor form to say it's all good and I'm happy for you and then in the same breath call other peoples' decisions basically stupid from your high plateau.
I think one of the problems in the beginning of this whole distraction was that you claimed toslink to be the best without comparing it to at least a somewhat optimized LAN implementation, and the suggestion of trying the FMCs or Sajunky's repeaters were attempts to point this out. If you think an undisclosed, I'm assuming garden variety, 26meter long LAN cable running from a router into the Gustard is going to show you the LAN input at its best, well, ok, but I'm saying you might achieve higher performance if you were willing to try something different rather than cast the idea(s) and by extension those who've tried them, as idiotic.

 

[Dandoudou]

That’s interesting, because the Holo Red manual doesn’t suggest that pin 15 is controlled on any of it’s preset pin outs.?

I don't know what the manual says, but the Red has four switches at its bottom with I2S presets. The preset of the third switch is compatible with the R26.

 

[camrector]

Where do you get this rubbish from? I have no such issue from toslink and never have And can play 192khz files with no problem or jitter. The only people having issues with stuttering (which is what I said about LAN) are those using LAN, read back in the thread, dozens of users have had stuttering issues using LAN.


When someone says something verifiable factually untrue {toslink…caps resolution at 96khz on audio signals}, and then deliberately tries to misrepresent what I said, then it is a reason for dispute and shows said person doesn’t know what they are talking about.


@camrector How come you aren’t using an external clock? There are dozens on this thread that seem to think it’s a huge improvement, surely that proves it must be?

My mistake on the toslink optical resolution. Honestly I didn’t think anyone actually used that input after 1995 lol. Why anyone into hifi would use such a subpar input is beyond me. No DSD, Limited to 192kHz.
Sadly you’ll never hear the capabilities of the R26 using this limited input.
You bought a Porsche that you’ll never take out of second gear.
Honestly why even spend the money? Your little Wiim would’ve been enough for you.

As far as external clocks go, I see no reason to add one to my system. I don’t have any other sources or components that need to sync.

 

[Jake2]

Again with a properly set up system for LAN streaming, you would clearly see/hear the difference and understand why the LAN input is preferred for SQ without spending thousands on a DDC.

I've spent too much on DDCs and prefer the LAN via a cleaned up ethernet chain, though the iFi s/pdif iPurifier (DDC) does a great job providing a much better sounding low jitter source via Toslink for - in my case - AV audio souces. I highly recommend the Ifi for anyone using a less than stellar Toslink or Coax digital source (I understand the R26 doesn't do any rebuffering or reclocking of its s/pdif inputs which may explain the significant improvement I get from the ifi).

 

[rodthebod]

JPlay Femto is a player for Windows that exists for many years. I used it for a while a few years ago.
JPlay for iOS is a new product that was released last year.

Yep, both players are from the same guy Marcin Ostapowicz who has been offering the Windows based solution for a very long time, he knows what he's doing hence the performance increase and great features.

 

[dacwizard]

assume it can only be conjecture or tribal-speak ala ASR that qualifies you to categorically cast using an external clock as "bonkers" as you said earlier. Yes there are a lot of people here who've inserted an external clock into their chains, and most of us seem to be happy with the result.

Yes complete conjecture just based on critical thinking and every measured test I’ve ever seen on the subject. If you check the design and layout of just about any DAC you will see crystal located as close as possible to where it’s used, in the case of R26 adjacent to the k2 synthesiser. This gives a huge advantage. The only way an external clock can be an improvement is if the internal clock either is faulty or poorly designed or the external clock is so much more highly speced. Having said that the extra jitter introduced by the external clock is likely not audible, so I suspect in most cases the reduction in performance is likely not audible.

Poor form to say it's all good and I'm happy for you and then in the same breath call other peoples' decisions basically stupid from your high plateau.

Yes I agree. I apologise, on reading back my comments appear more aggressive than they were in my head when typing, that was not my intention. I do know people here are just tweaking their systems trying to improve them, I do think some people are a bit too far into the rabbit hole but I know this hobby fosters this sort of thing….
Back in the old days of the Naim forum there was a guy that was convinced (and tried to convince everyone else) that the orientation of the screw heads on the wall plug sockets had a significant sonic impact!! . I think applying some critical thinking before spending time and/or money is paramount.

claimed toslink to be the best without comparing it to at least a somewhat optimized LAN implementation

I compared a none optimised toslink source to a none optimised LAN source and found them identical (I didnt claim toslink was better other than when responding to cam’s comments trying to represent LAN superior quality as fact, a bit of leg pulling on my part).

No DSD, Limited to 192kHz.

So in fact plays all hires streaming services files perfectly!! Perhaps you need to contact all the YouTube reviews who have given this excellent reviews, none using LAN input that I can recall, and tell them.

Honestly why even spend the money? Your little Wiim would’ve been enough for you.

Because…as I’ve explained a number of times…it sounds fantastic via toslink. And yes I can detect system changes, i started with a cheap ( well reviewed) DAC, It lasted a week as I could not live with it, I have a pretty revealing system. The difference between X26pro and R26 is easily apparent. I know the R26 is working well because it is giving my CD player (>$10,000) and vinyl source ( similar value) a good run for their money. Everything important to music replay is present and correct.

I’ve not dismissed the idea completely that optimised LAN input might present an improvement, but if that was the case I would have expected the LAN vs toslink test to show some differences. So as I said, it’s possible that both are showing the R26 at its max potential. Maybe the extra jitter introduced by a 25m LAN cable does similar to an external clock and the result is preferable, doesn’t sound like it’s something you have tested

 

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

FYI, FMC is a 200 quid experiment/upgrade. Not much I believe for this hobby.

 

[sajunky]

That’s interesting, because the Holo Red manual doesn’t suggest that pin 15 is controlled on any of it’s preset pin outs.?

There are no presets for this pin. Pin 15 is driven from low to high during DSD playback. As Gustard do not support auto detection, it relies on a logical level of this pin.

 

[dacwizard]

There are no presets for this pin. Pin 15 is driven from low to high during DSD playback. As Gustard do not support auto detection, it relies on a logical level of this pin.

That’s interesting. Are you saying it’s driven by the red in this way? I would have thought if that was the case it would be mentioned in the manual. The manual actually says Not Connected for this pin. I’ve got to say this does match with Dandoudou‘s experience. But I’m sure I’ve read elsewhere of people having specific cables made up, but maybe this wasn’t red users?!

 

[dacwizard]

FYI, FMC is a 200 quid experiment/upgrade. Not much I believe for this hobby.

Indeed, it was my expectation that using LAN would show some differences (if not huge improvements at this stage). I love cheap significant upgrades. However in my case I would also need a sparky to re wire my home network so add say £300 to that plus £43/year for Jplay . Even so £540 for a significant improvement is money well spent. However £540 for no improvement is not. So far I have no indication that this would offer any improvement.

 

[rodthebod]

Indeed, it was my expectation that using LAN would show some differences (if not huge improvements at this stage). I love cheap significant upgrades. However in my case I would also need a sparky to re wire my home network so add say £300 to that plus £43/year for Jplay . Even so £540 for a significant improvement is money well spent. However £540 for no improvement is not. So far I have no indication that this would offer any improvement.

If you look at the past posts the other significant upgrade along with the FMC's is to use a basic wi-fi extender (100-300Mbps) to further 'isolate' the router from a switch that should have a LPS and then connects to the R26 via FMC. This upgrade makes a noticeable difference as posted by many here and maybe negate the need for a 'sparky' to rewire.......

 

[dacwizard]

Yes I agree. I apologise, on reading back my comments appear more aggressive than they were in my head when typing, that was not my intention.

@camrector in case you missed the above I would like to apologise to you specifically w.r.t the apparent tone of a couple of earlier responses, it was not my intention to be aggressive or come of as a bit of a knob. I think we disagree somewhat in a couple of areas (though not external clocks it would seem) but the end of the day we are both just trying to maximise our investments in our systems. Hopefully I’ll try to keep my responses respectful and constructive in future…..though beware when my responses are after the U.K. witching hour they may be subject to some alcohol induced hyperbole

 

[dacwizard]

If you look at the past posts the other significant upgrade along with the FMC's is to use a basic wi-fi extender (100-300Mbps) to further 'isolate' the router from a switch that should have a LPS and then connects to the R26 via FMC. This upgrade makes a noticeable difference as posted by many here and maybe negate the need for a 'sparky' to rewire.......

Yes I do recall this being mentioned a few times. Are these the type of extenders that use the house power circuit to transmit the signal to a remote location?

 

[Dandoudou]

But I’m sure I’ve read elsewhere of people having specific cables made up, but maybe this wasn’t red users?!

Specific wiring of cables do not work.
I have the only specific cable that does. It's a DIY modded HDMI cable that you can connect to a LPS to power pin15 with 5V when you play DSD.

 

[camrector]

@camrector in case you missed the above I would like to apologise to you specifically w.r.t the apparent tone of a couple of earlier responses, it was not my intention to be aggressive or come of as a bit of a knob. I think we disagree somewhat in a couple of areas (though not external clocks it would seem) but the end of the day we are both just trying to maximise our investments in our systems. Hopefully I’ll try to keep my responses respectful and constructive in future…..though beware when my responses are after the U.K. witching hour they may be subject to some alcohol induced hyperbole

No worries man just trying to help. Your set up was simply an unfair comparison.
A Wifi extender with a Lan port that others have mentioned will greatly help along with FMCs.