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

[BShaw]

Thanks, I am leaning towards R26, especially for the huge soundstage (everyone says that), but there's a big hype over the Cyan2.

None of them is cheap, so I have to make a well thought decision.

Not too much information about Cyan2 soundstage anyways... (compared to R26 of course).

The 2 are very similar and you won’t go wrong with either. The main upside to the R26 is the LAN input. I owned the R26 for 18 months before I got my CYAN2, and on my system there was no appreciable difference in soundstage, BUT that’s with a high directivity horn system and relatively close listening distance. With headphones I notice no difference in stage or placement. Personally the difference for me is the Cyan is a bit more refined with detail and maybe a bit more enveloping. One big factor for me was I always found updating the R26 to be a complete pain in the ass, a real afterthought on Gustard’s part. For that reason alone I’d choose the Holo, especially with the choices of streamers superior to the internal renderer in the R26.

 

[sendler2112]

I have Cyan2, A26 (sold), R26, and X26III. The only way I can recommend Cyan2 is together with HQ Player to upsample. And the best it can sound is when upsampled to DSD with the HQ Player DAC correction pipeline enabled. which is slightly out of reach for me with my gaming laptop since this setting is too processor intensive.

With no HQ Player, I would prefer the R26 Hands down. The Cyan is NOS only. If you listen mainly to small combo audiophile recordings, the Cyan can sound very pleasantly liquid and fleshed out. I listen to rock with deep and wide studio effects and the one word that constantly popped up when switching back from the R26 to the Cyan2 was "boring". And the R26 has the deepest, widest layering of any of my DACs with the optimal setup of HQ Player to 768/ 23 via LAN NAA and a cheap external clock.


Now that I have the newest Gustard X26III, I find it to be the best at incisive see through detail, and slam. The R26 still holds a slight advantage in sound stage depth but now sounds slightly "hazy" compared to the X26III's crystal clean presentation.

If you can get a used R26 for $1000, it is a solid deal. Otherwise, if you want more speed and dynamics than the Cyan2 and don't have a cutting edge gaming tower to feed it HQ Player, I am recommending the X26III.

 

[BShaw]

I have Cyan2, A26 (sold), R26, and X26III. The only way I can recommend Cyan2 is together with HQ Player to upsample. And the best it can sound is when upsampled to DSD with the HQ Player DAC correction pipeline enabled. which is slightly out of reach for me with my gaming laptop since this setting is too processor intensive.

With no HQ Player, I would prefer the R26 Hands down. The Cyan is NOS only. If you listen mainly to small combo audiophile recordings, the Cyan can sound very pleasantly liquid and fleshed out. I listen to rock with deep and wide studio effects and the one word that constantly popped up when switching back from the R26 to the Cyan2 was "boring". And the R26 has the deepest, widest layering of any of my DACs with the optimal setup of HQ Player to 768/ 23 via LAN NAA and a cheap external clock.


Now that I have the newest Gustard X26III, I find it to be the best at incisive see through detail, and slam. The R26 still holds a slight advantage in sound stage depth but now sounds slightly "hazy" compared to the X26III's crystal clean presentation.

If you can get a used R26 for $1000, it is a solid deal. Otherwise, if you want more speed and dynamics than the Cyan2 and don't have a cutting edge gaming tower to feed it HQ Player, I am recommending the X26III.

These are good distinctions and let me correct my previous post - the advantages I find with the Cyan 2 are definitely due to HQ Player functionality. As Mr sendler mentions, I’m using DAC correction and listening to mostly jazz and smaller ensemble stuff, more sparsely populated soundstage, and mostly in DSD 256. So if you are not considering HQP it’s more of a tossup for sure. I came to using HQP reluctantly but what it adds to the performance of some DACs is remarkable and worth the cost and the difficulty of setting it up IMO. Big oversight on my part not to mention it earlier.

 

[nobela]

If you haven't seen this already, here's a comparison of the two, including soundstage. According to this, both the Cyan 2 and R26 have a "huge" and deep soundstage, making it a draw, but the Cyan 2 outperforms the R26 in resolution and detail retrieval.

Note that I own the Cyan 2 but haven't heard the R26, so I can't comment directly.

I don't believe a word this guy says...

He always praises the new gear, which is usually absolutely superb (compared to the old one, of course).

Later (when the new becomes the "old") he also says the bad things about it. But not when it is new.

 

[SpursForEver]

No "wide soundstage"? Easy to accomplish that by signal manipulation, so a small issue.

 

[sendler2112]

I don't believe a word this guy says...

He always praises the new gear, which is usually absolutely superb (compared to the old one, of course).

Later (when the new becomes the "old") he also says the bad things about it. But not when it is new.

You should believe iiWi. He is very thorough and honest. The X26III is my current choice over my Cyan2, A26 (sold), and R26 (amazing soundstage but sounds a bit hazy after hearing the incisive and crystal clear X26III

 

[LarsHP]

You should believe iiWi. He is very thorough and honest. The X26III is my current choice over my Cyan2, A26 (sold), and R26 (amazing soundstage but sounds a bit hazy after hearing the incisive and crystal clear X26III

I think this an excerpt from one of your posts in this thread. I understood that as the R26 being better than the Cyan 2 when fed the same signal (no HQplayer upsampling).

 

[giteshb]

I apologize for the beginner questions, but I have historically just played music from my CDs, and trying to dive into hi res streaming and Qobuz for the first time with the R26. And I'm not tech-savvy, so much of this thread has been way over my head.

1. If a recording on Qobuz says "24/96," do I need to go into my sound settings on the computer to change the audio output? I thought the DAC would read that by itself, but that doesn't seem to be the case (i.e. the bit rate on the Gustard screen stays the same, no matter what I play on the computer, unless I manually change it). Am I supposed to do that for every recording?

2. How do I know if my firmware is current?

3. I don't have music stored on a network or anything of the sort, and my modem/router are nowhere near my listening location. I'm just trying to optimize sound quality when playing things on Qobuz or Apple Music. What is the best way to do that using my Windows based PC (or Android phone, if that's part of the equation). Right now, it's just a USB cable coming out of the Surface Pro into the R26.

I really appreciate any help or advice.

Hello and Wish you a Happy New year. I want to know whether the streamer in gustard r 26 has airplay ? Will it be possible to stream wirelessly Amazon music from my apple iPad to my stereo system of amplifier and speakers using streamer available in the gustard r 26 ? Thanks for your help in advance

 

[Deleeh]

Hello and Wish you a Happy New year. I want to know whether the streamer in gustard r 26 has airplay ? Will it be possible to stream wirelessly Amazon music from my apple iPad to my stereo system of amplifier and speakers using streamer available in the gustard r 26 ? Thanks for your help in advance

As long as you can find an app that supports Amazon Music then yes.
Unfortunately Roon or Audirvana does not support Amazon Music.
Alternatively, it would be possible via Bluetooth connection, but here a Dap would be quite good instead of the Ipad to achieve good results if necessary.
The Dap takes over the main task here, which is good for the connection.

 

[SpursForEver]

Amazon sits on its API, good riddance btw, why support a union-busting muppet like Bezos?

 

[urban ladder]

Just got this r26, connected via usb the Eversolo A6 master edition as streamer for listening Apple Music. Hope this is the right way.

Two confusion for which I request expert opinion:

1) I don’t have a preamp, so the dac is connected directly to my power map. Hence controlling volume through Eversolo with dac having fixed volume. Is this good to go or a preamp is a must?

2) I have both lintons and Dali Opticon 6. For now unable to decide which speaker is good to go for long run. Moving speaker for A-B testing is a difficult task. Any one using Dali have prior experience with r26?

Thanks for the patience.

 

[Deleeh]

Just got this r26, connected via usb the Eversolo A6 master edition as streamer for listening Apple Music. Hope this is the right way.

Two confusion for which I request expert opinion:

1) I don’t have a preamp, so the dac is connected directly to my power map. Hence controlling volume through Eversolo with dac having fixed volume. Is this good to go or a preamp is a must?

2) I have both lintons and Dali Opticon 6. For now unable to decide which speaker is good to go for long run. Moving speaker for A-B testing is a difficult task. Any one using Dali have prior experience with r26?

Thanks for the patience.

Congratulations on the R26,
I would only set up the Eversolo as a streamer so that you go to the R26 via I2S or coax.
Whether you use the preamp from the R26 or not, you have to decide for yourself which is better for your speakers.
In my opinion, the direct route is the better one:
Streamer > R26 > amp.
Otherwise you might have a double Dac which is not very good.
Also bear in mind that if the R26 is still new, it needs a burn-in before you make a judgement.
NOS and DSD mode have different effects on the sound because they either go through the 1 bit dac or through the ladder section depending on what is active.
Also that the phase is set correctly depending on the polarity of your XLR cables if you are using any.

 

[urban ladder]

Thanks a lot for your response. Do you suggest that I should consider I2S or coax instead of USB connection between Eversolo & R26 so that the audio quality would be better? I am little new to DAC world, I would need to figure out how to do I2S connection between these, but I will do some online study.

Yes I have connected balanced XLR cables from my power amp to R26 and have kept the phase off.

Since I haven't got any response for speakers, let me try with Dali speakers for few days before switching to lintons

 

[SpursForEver]

Thanks a lot for your response. Do you suggest that I should consider I2S or coax instead of USB connection between Eversolo & R26 so that the audio quality would be better? I am little new to DAC world, I would need to figure out how to do I2S connection between these, but I will do some online study.

Yes I have connected balanced XLR cables from my power amp to R26 and have kept the phase off.

Since I haven't got any response for speakers, let me try with Dali speakers for few days before switching to lintons

Use optical if possible. I2S will just return you here with connection problems. If there are differences at all, they are miniscule. And what's wrong with the Eversolo's DAC?

 

[sendler2112]

Use optical if possible. I2S will just return you here with connection problems. If there are differences at all, they are miniscule. And what's wrong with the Eversolo's DAC?

I have never heard optical sound better than coax. And USB usually sounds better than coax. I don't have any IIS source but it is always highly rated by many different DAC users. NAA from HQ Player over a cheap RJ45 LAN cable sounds the best from my laptop but is fussy to get the permissions for connection from the PC.