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

Boun giorno Mickey,

Buongiorno my friend ! Nice to see you in this thread.

 

[JackJohnson316]

I just got my R26 a few days ago and I love it!

 

[AudioProm]

I just got my R26 a few days ago and I notice when you put it in standby mode it has a high pitch hiss/hum noise coming out the front. I saw one other person note this as well. Can anybody else confirm this on their unit? I need to know if I should return my unit? Thanks for the input.

I noticed this as well. My unit actually made the same buzzing noise when it was on the first time I fired it up. The noise is gone now though. It's 6 days old and been running 24/7. The buzzing noise is still there when it's on standby but it does not really bother me since I always have this on and not planning to ever putting it on standby or turning it off.

 

[Palyodgree]

Welcome to the thread Palyodgree

The only problem I see bypassing the preamp section is you'll loose the easy option of using your FM tuner section. I was using my Burson Conductor 3x GT preamp DAC this morning but decided to switch things around and components to play my Sansui TU-555 tuner with an excellent antenna and I can't tell you how much I like exploring my local FM stations in my area, way quicker to switch between stations than with online stations. While not the absolute best sound, the music I was hearing was good, with surprising imaging and soundstage and very listenable when getting a good signal but it's old school.

I suggest to A/B'ing the preamp section when your get the R26. I was surprised how nice an older good preamp section can sound compared to using a digital preamp. Of course mileage will vary and preferred flavors in sound will effect preference. Let us know what you think of your R26 after playing with it?

I don’t have a proper FM aerial to better pull in one of two stations i like on the entire dial a fairly decent Jazz station needing a proper antenna and the only other station that comes in strong that’s half decent to listen to they changed their afternoon programming I do not care for nor can get use to. You know how good standard FM broadcast sound quality performance can be though until recently experiencing internet radio through my primary system wasn’t as enjoyable not until a purchased a switch and replaced the run of Amazon cable from the modem to the switch then to my server had a dramatic effect on lowering the noise floor, there is much more going on then just packets of information being transferred I think you would agree.

Anyway I think the Gustard R26 will be an exceptional compliment towards the Marantz receiver and TeKton Lore speakers I use in my office .

 

[Nada]

Theoretically, nothing matters for CAS because it is just '0' and '1' data, as long as it is passed over it should be the same.

Thats not true.

For best data transmission and low noise quality Cat cable are needed. Thats why reputable industrial Cat cables are so well designed and constructed.

The funny thing is audiophiles will buy an expensive hand made Cat cable that has no testing and may not even be in spec. These cables should on balance of probability sound worse then a professionally designed cable.

Time is short. Money is limited. Rational choices get great sound. Spend the cable dollars on a headphone cable that actually makes a reliable difference.

 

[Nada]

I just got my R26 a few days ago and I notice when you put it in standby mode it has a high pitch hiss/hum noise coming out the front. I saw one other person note this as well. Can anybody else confirm this on their unit? I need to know if I should return my unit? Thanks for the input.

Thats no good.

If you put your ear to the case is it louder?
Do you have DC on your AC line?
Have you got a power conditioner you plug the R26 into?

 

[barato]

These cables should on balance of probability sound worse then a professionally designed cable.

They should perform objectively worse, but as you probably well know sometimes people like the sound of distortion.

 

[JackJohnson316]

Thats no good.

If you put your ear to the case is it louder?
Do you have DC on your AC line?
Have you got a power conditioner you plug the R26 into?

I use a balanced power conditioner.

 

[mmwwmm]

I use a balanced power conditioner. I also connect a ground cable to the back. I’ll connect it to a separate plug away from any other electronics and see if the hum goes away. It doesn’t affect the music, only hums in standby mode. Others have also noted the hum. Does your unit hum? Thanks

Do you feel the hum is coming from the left side of the R26? (where the toroids are located). If so the hum probably would be a DC related issue. Try to plug the R26 in the power line of another home and see if the hum is gone or try a a DC blocker like these ones:
https://www.audiolab.co.uk/dc-block/
https://www.atlhifi.com/shop/fully-assembled-devices/dc-blocker-trap-filter-assembled-in-case/

 

[mmwwmm]

I use a balanced power conditioner. I also connect a ground cable to the back. I’ll connect it to a separate plug away from any other electronics and see if the hum goes away. It doesn’t affect the music, only hums in standby mode. Others have also noted the hum. Does your unit hum? Thanks

By the way my friend´s R26 doesn´t hum. It is absolutely silent. Absolutely zero noise (powered on or in standby) with the ear at a couple of cm of the unit.

 

[Zainetto]

Non per iniziare una discussione, ma per favore prova prima di fare affermazioni teoriche. In teoria, nulla importa per CAS perché sono solo i dati "0" e "1", purché vengano ignorati dovrebbero essere gli stessi.

In pratica, tutto nella catena CAS conta per suonare. Naturalmente, se si può sentire la differenza dipende molto dalla potenza analitica del proprio sistema. Se uno è su una combo Sony, sono sicuro che tutto suona allo stesso modo. Il solo acquisto di sistemi costosi, inoltre, non significa che darà una buona potenza analitica, ho sentito un sistema da $ 100.000 con bassa risoluzione e suoni peggio di un sistema da $ 10.000. È tutta una questione di abbinamento dei componenti che rende un buon sistema hi-fi.

I cavi di rete, i cavi USB, i cavi I2S, i cavi dell'orologio suonano tutti in modo diverso. Anche il computer che usi per riprodurre i file suonerà in modo diverso con computer diversi, se riprodotto su telefoni telefoni diversi suoneranno in modo diverso. Questa è una delle cose che ha impedito ad alcune persone di giocare con CAS, perché ci sono troppe variabili nel suono. Tutto quello che posso dire è se la differenza è sottile o apparente dipende dal tuo sistema.

I totally agree with you. I have had your same experience changing ethernet cables or mobile phones. For example between supra cat 8 and oehlbach stream primus there are huge huge differences. Actually I use a blend of these cables. Oehlbach from modem to the switch and from router wifi to the switch and Supra from switch to r26. They are both good cables but simply sound different and you can meke a good equalization changing them. For the mobile phone whith bubbleupnp the best I tried is xiaomi mi9t wich is better than lg g7 or a samsung tablet

 

[mmwwmm]

Yesterday we tried this LAN galvanic isolator between the media bridge (Netgear EAX12) and R26 with VERY nice results.
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Network-Insulator-Protection-Lightning-62619-gray/dp/B00WZ3QHVQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1O86O8A07YYKH&keywords=delock+62619&qid=1665128211&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjYzIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wOCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ==&sprefix=delock+62619,aps,81&sr=8-1
The tip is to use a very short (25cm or less) cable between the isolator and R26.

This cheap LAN isolator uses the same tech as "dedicated audio LAN isolators" like the sOtm and others https://www.sotm-audio.com/sotmwp/english/portfolio-item/iso-cat6/

 

[mmwwmm]

An interesting take about which cable to use from LAN isolator to streamer (coincidentally, yesterday we used a simple and very short UTP CAT6 cable from the isolator to R26)

https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/threads/pink-faun-lan-isolator.104804/

 

[Alcophone]

Some interesting discussions out there about a potential minimum cable length for Ethernet. Some suggest there's none, some say 0.1m, some say 0.5m, some say 1m.
There's concern about reflections and crosstalk, some say that used to be more of an issue with barely compliant equipment and is less of an issue nowadays. But shorter might not necessarily be better at some point.

https://networkengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/7483/minimum-ethernet-cable-length
https://www.sonicwall.com/support/k...t-i-should-use-with-my-sonic/170505905452401/

On Amazon, the shortest I could find was 0.5 ft (~0.15m).

Some on Reddit turned this into a sport and made their own.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cableporn/comments/20qdyn/worlds_shortest_ethernet_cable_oc/

 

[Forgisound]

Can anyone describe the difference in sound with and without the isolator, as well as with a longer and shorter ethernet cable?