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

[Deleeh]

Is it normal that I'm getting only 384khz for PCM at max through USB connection on windows? I can get 768khz through LAN.

You have to change this in the Windows settings.
Click on the loudspeaker symbol and then select the Gustard, Settings, Advanced settings, then all selectable bits and resolution rates are broken down in a grid.
I'm on 32 bit and 96 khz sounds the best for me personally, but it's up to you.
If you use Roon, it must also be set there, once in Muse and in the device settings.

 

[wweerr123]

I have R26 and H26 side by side, with R26 on the left. And I also happen to have a emf sensor. So I decide to measure the magnetic field of each device. It turns out H26 has a magnetic field strength of 15-20ut on the left side due to the power supply plugged into the left side. Not sure how much impact does it have, but I do think R26 sounds cleaner after I put some steel plates between the two devices which blocks the emf from H26. Just something I find interesting.

 

[Stellabagpuss]

I have R26 and H26 side by side, with R26 on the left. And I also happen to have a emf sensor. So I decide to measure the magnetic field of each device. It turns out H26 has a magnetic field strength of 15-20ut on the left side due to the power supply plugged into the left side. Not sure how much impact does it have, but I do think R26 sounds cleaner after I put some steel plates between the two devices which blocks the emf from H26. Just something I find interesting.

There is a simple solution, that myself and others have implemented with excellent results.
Mu Metal or Ultraperm 80 is designed for the exact task for magnetic wave reduction,Ultraperm 80 is easily available on ebay. l covered both of my R26 transformers, with a box, this should bring nice gains.

 

[Alenotta]

USB, I2S and LAN per spec should support upto PCM768 and DSD512. Be sure output of your windows player should be ASIO or WASAPI (a least) for goood result. If you have Kernel Streaming, better. Chances you're using Direct Sound. WMP, Media Player, VLC (or the likes) support what is maximum on your Sound Properties (w/c is 32/384). Windows players that supports ASIO/WASAPI are JRiver, Foobar, JPlay, Audivarna, Roon, HQP (there's lots) as examples.

Wait, does Tidal Connect support above CD Quality now? I keep trying to check in here about that. I'm still stuck at 44.1k over LAN, but it still sounds better than my usb running above that to my ears. I'd love to be able to get back my lossless over LAN.

 

[Alenotta]

I just tested on Roon too to make sure I'm still stuck at 44.1k and I am:

This is still a Gustard thing right? Nothing I can do?

 

[Deleeh]

I just tested on Roon too to make sure I'm still stuck at 44.1k and I am:



This is still a Gustard thing right? Nothing I can do?

You can adjust the bit and sample rate in the Muse settings in Roon.
If the list is empty, add a new one and search for it.
I can still adjust it via Fmc Boxes when I go in via Lan, Tidal is also my streaming service.

 

[jsiets4]

I just tested on Roon too to make sure I'm still stuck at 44.1k and I am:



This is still a Gustard thing right? Nothing I can do?

Go to settings-audio in roon and check the advanced settings for the gustard and see what the max sample rates are set to. I also use roon and tidal and have no problems with hi res audio.

 

[wikaudio]

Wait, does Tidal Connect support above CD Quality now? I keep trying to check in here about that. I'm still stuck at 44.1k over LAN, but it still sounds better than my usb running above that to my ears. I'd love to be able to get back my lossless over LAN.

In late July 2024, Tidal removed all MQA content and changed streaming options. Now, all Tidal HiRes content is now only available via MPEG-DASH. R26 Tidal Connect does not support this type of streaming technique. Support for HiRes playback is currently only available for Tidal Connect enabled products (certification needed). Solution implemented in R26 was not and never will be officially supported by Tidal. It could have stopped working at any time, and it did with Max quality.
There are alternative solutions, but they require the media server to be enabled. As we know, the RAM resources in the R26 make it impossible to use such a solution, we need something with the performance of a Pi 3b+ or, even better, a Pi 4b.
Now we are now stuck to standard Master resolution 16/44. If you want to play high resolution content up to 24/192 you will need to use Roon, Logitech Media Server, Mopidy-Tidal, Audirvana or an Android app like BubbleUPnP, mConnect Lite or USB Audio Player PRO.
What you wrote later does not apply to Tidal Connect. Roon does not use Tidal Connect, it just works as a proxy server.

 

[Alenotta]

In late July 2024, Tidal removed all MQA content and changed streaming options. Now, all Tidal HiRes content is now only available via MPEG-DASH. R26 Tidal Connect does not support this type of streaming technique. Support for HiRes playback is currently only available for Tidal Connect enabled products (certification needed). Solution implemented in R26 was not and never will be officially supported by Tidal. It could have stopped working at any time, and it did with Max quality.
There are alternative solutions, but they require the media server to be enabled. As we know, the RAM resources in the R26 make it impossible to use such a solution, we need something with the performance of a Pi 3b+ or, even better, a Pi 4b.
Now we are now stuck to standard Master resolution 16/44. If you want to play high resolution content up to 24/192 you will need to use Roon, Logitech Media Server, Mopidy-Tidal, Audirvana or an Android app like BubbleUPnP, mConnect Lite or USB Audio Player PRO.
What you wrote later does not apply to Tidal Connect. Roon does not use Tidal Connect, it just works as a proxy server.

That stinks that we lost everything above 44.1 when they got rid of MQA. I did try to locate an option in MUSE to up the rate, but I'm not seeing it. It says that it connects to it via Airplay which seems weird. When I play it I am getting it through the LAN input on the Gustard though. Sorry to bother you all if this has been beaten to death in the past pages.

I'm on a Mac M1 laptop. This is what I'm seeing:

 

[Alenotta]

Then also my follow up question is would it be worth it to get something like a holo red / bluesound nano / ever solo? I have the LHY Ock2 clock which I find makes a nice difference vs the Gustard internal now, but all these streamers seem to not accept clock input for syncing. Have you all found any benefit other than sample rates to taking the streaming section outside of the Gustard? Anyone love a particular streamer?

 

[jsiets4]

Then also my follow up question is would it be worth it to get something like a holo red / bluesound nano / ever solo? I have the LHY Ock2 clock which I find makes a nice difference vs the Gustard internal now, but all these streamers seem to not accept clock input for syncing. Have you all found any benefit other than sample rates to taking the streaming section outside of the Gustard? Anyone love a particular streamer?

I use ALSA instead of airplay in roon don't know if that's available to you. ALSA gives me sample rate settings in the advanced settings for the r26. I have a bluesound node connected to the r26 via USB-DDS-I2S that I can use tidal connect with but I just use roon.

 

[wikaudio]

That stinks that we lost everything above 44.1 when they got rid of MQA. I did try to locate an option in MUSE to up the rate, but I'm not seeing it. It says that it connects to it via Airplay which seems weird. When I play it I am getting it through the LAN input on the Gustard though. Sorry to bother you all if this has been beaten to death in the past pages.

I'm on a Mac M1 laptop. This is what I'm seeing:

In audio settings you have selected the wrong device. Disable Gustarender-1v43 (ShairportSync) and enable Gustard USB Audio 2.0

 

[Alenotta]

In audio settings you have selected the wrong device. Disable Gustarender-1v43 (ShairportSync) and enable Gustard USB Audio 2.0

Bless you all. I didn't have it on that because it said USB, but this is totally what was going on. Ahhh sweet, sweet detail up top again. This DAC is really just so amazing.

 

[wweerr123]

There is a simple solution, that myself and others have implemented with excellent results.
Mu Metal or Ultraperm 80 is designed for the exact task for magnetic wave reduction,Ultraperm 80 is easily available on ebay. l covered both of my R26 transformers, with a box, this should bring nice gains.

Do you have a picture showing how it's done? Not sure if that would impact transformer performance or not, but it will certainly block of interference.

 

[wweerr123]

There is a simple solution, that myself and others have implemented with excellent results.
Mu Metal or Ultraperm 80 is designed for the exact task for magnetic wave reduction,Ultraperm 80 is easily available on ebay. l covered both of my R26 transformers, with a box, this should bring nice gains.

I have also seen ppl on youtube grounding the rca interconnect pins for removing hums, but of course you would only be able to use the dac with xlr interconnect in this case. Very intersting.