[Forgisound]

For me, the LHY OCK-1 works perfectly, just like the LHY SW-5. I don't know what their measurements are, but the sound is much more transparent and clear. And both units with tax and shipping cost less than $1,000. I'm very satisfied.

 

[Forgisound]

Any new software from Gustard?

 

[Fanis45]

what is the sound character of r26 compared to the same price r2r denafrips pontus ii. Has anyone heard the two dacs in the same syste?

 

[Davidv100]

what is the sound character of r26 compared to the same price r2r denafrips pontus ii. Has anyone heard the two dacs in the same syste?

I would recommend the comparison made by “A British Audiophile”, who is (in my personal opinion) a very serious reviewer.

In short : According to ABA, both are pretty decent machines.
Pointus is a bit more analog, rounder, smoother/slower
R26 is a bit faster, sharper, and has a built-in streamer

Link to ABA review on YT:



Disclaimer : I have none of them myself yet… I am shopping too… I am also waiting for more reviews of A26 (I am a bit surprised by the lack of reviews for the latter).

 

[camrector]

what is the sound character of r26 compared to the same price r2r denafrips pontus ii. Has anyone heard the two dacs in the same syste?

I sold my Pontus2 and didn’t buy the Venus2 I was auditioning. The R26 beat them both.
My Pontus2 was great, but did not have the level of detail, bass weight and clarity, air and transparency. Maybe the Pontus had a bit wider soundstage but it wasn’t as accurate of a sound stage.
The Venus2 was very very close but I felt that R26 had a bit more bass weight.
The Venus 2 was $1500 more expensive and didn’t have a streamer.
The R26 became a value proposition for me at that point. It was too close to justify the expense of the Venus2 and also allowed for a nice streamer to exit my system.

My A/B test sources had the Pontus and Venus connected by i2s (Ricable Supreme) directly to a Silent Angel M1T streamer.
The R26 was connected via its LAN input and internal streamer.
( same network using fiber media convertors and linear power supplies on switch, FMCs, and Silent Angel streamer).
That last part is important. The R26 LAN input is amazing.
All the reviews I’ve seen are not basing their SQ impressions off this input, which imho and many people here is the best input for the R26.(maybe some high end DDCs challenge that)
Amp is a Yamaha AS2200 all DACs were connected by balanced XLR.
Speakers used were Css audio 1TDX and Elac Unifi reference.

I personally like how the Denafrips DACs process DSD as compared to the R26. Even with a pretty large DSD collection that is not enough to change my opinion in anyway. I’m happy to convert to PCM.
If DSD was super important to me or I upsampled everything to DSD I would look elsewhere and not get a R2R dac period.

I will say that my DAC search is over for a long time. For me the DAC upgrade path from the R26 starts at $6000. I feel that all other components in my system would need to be upgraded first to see the benefit of a more expensive DAC.
Hope I helped and sorry for the rant.

 

[No Deal]

Lol
Lol, that's a great bit of perspective.

I see you already have an OCK-1. In which case you'd run an additional risk getting an AD Queen at -103db/1hz, the risk that your OCk-1 is one of the good/better ones. Not sure I'd do that.

I've idly pondered the same thing and I reckon vaulting past the claimed specs of both OCKs to the likes of the -117db AD Emperor Double Crown and beyond is the only way to be certain you're getting a good audible upgrade over both models. I'm half serious too. But for 1/5th the price the OCK-2 remains in my upgrade frame based on all the happy punter feeback several of whom have much pricier clocks than even the AD ×2 as their point of reference

Advice taken.

 

[Fanis45]

I sold my Pontus2 and didn’t buy the Venus2 I was auditioning. The R26 beat them both.
My Pontus2 was great, but did not have the level of detail, bass weight and clarity, air and transparency. Maybe the Pontus had a bit wider soundstage but it wasn’t as accurate of a sound stage.
The Venus2 was very very close but I felt that R26 had a bit more bass weight.
The Venus 2 was $1500 more expensive and didn’t have a streamer.
The R26 became a value proposition for me at that point. It was too close to justify the expense of the Venus2 and also allowed for a nice streamer to exit my system.

My A/B test sources had the Pontus and Venus connected by i2s (Ricable Supreme) directly to a Silent Angel M1T streamer.
The R26 was connected via its LAN input and internal streamer.
( same network using fiber media convertors and linear power supplies on switch, FMCs, and Silent Angel streamer).
That last part is important. The R26 LAN input is amazing.
All the reviews I’ve seen are not basing their SQ impressions off this input, which imho and many people here is the best input for the R26.(maybe some high end DDCs challenge that)
Amp is a Yamaha AS2200 all DACs were connected by balanced XLR.
Speakers used were Css audio 1TDX and Elac Unifi reference.

I personally like how the Denafrips DACs process DSD as compared to the R26. Even with a pretty large DSD collection that is not enough to change my opinion in anyway. I’m happy to convert to PCM.
If DSD was super important to me or I upsampled everything to DSD I would look elsewhere and not get a R2R dac period.

I will say that my DAC search is over for a long time. For me the DAC upgrade path from the R26 starts at $6000. I feel that all other components in my system would need to be upgraded first to see the benefit of a more expensive DAC.
Hope I helped and sorry for the rant.

I was helped by your placement because it is very detailed almost all the music I listen to is in Pcm also appreciate that there is a steamer and Bluetooth connection.also appreciate the great build and the dual power supply, if we include the excellent price of €1600 in Europe it's probably the best for the money its costs

 

[sapkan]

Do you guys feel that the Ethernet cable makes any appreciable difference to sq with regards to the R26. If yes any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[Odezra]

Do you guys feel that the Ethernet cable makes any appreciable difference to sq with regards to the R26. If yes any recommendations would be appreciated.

It shouldn’t if you use fiber and a short lan cable from fiber box to r26. However, i swapped in an audioquest cinnamon lan cable i had here, just to see, and in my system and I did notice a small difference from the cheap Amazon cable I had in there.

(Don’t want to start a cable war, I know the 1 and 0s don’t change with digital cables, but grounding and emi / rfi management is still important in certain instances).

 

[Jake2]

Just had a nice win from a new Puritan PSM156 power conditioner that arrived today - my R26 transformer buzz which at times was pretty loud and even audible - just - from my seated position 3m away has now 95% gone (you have to put your ear to the R26 case to hear it at all now, super faint).

Oh and it sounds sounds pretty good too. See linked post for early impressions.

Some super preliminary but positive observations FWIW after only having had everything plugged in and playing for 3 hours:

• My system has never sounded this good, it has brought a new level of refinement to the midrange and treble in particular. Words like calm, sweet and velvety came to mind as I was first listening.
• I can listen louder more comfortably, longer
• Some problematic tracks previously where there was some umconfortable stridency in the upper midrange with my Focals (Florence in King when she hits her stride) are much more listenable
• A fairly loud toroidal tranformer buzz in my R26 DAC (alas not uncommon amongst R26 owners, somethings gotta give with a $1.5k overachiever) I've had since I got it has reduced by 95% - you have to almost put your ear to the case now to hear it - win!
• A long standing if innocuous hum via the speakers from my 20 year old but still classy LFD Integrated Zero LE amp has gone completely
• Tracks seem to start from more of a black background
• Dynamics and transients seem very good even though it's very early days, some nice bass slam already, increased attack on strings, but I feel with time they and soundstaging are going to free up/open up even further.

I have virtually everything in my speaker system hooked up to it: Mac Mini, both switches, R26, OCK-1 clock & LFD amp. I'm not going to bother unplugging or ABing anything to isolate what's improved most etc until it's run in for at least a week.

so far.

 

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

Congratulations @Jake2 ! Officially welcome you to the Puritan Club! Therefore, more smiles on your music.

 

[Deleeh]

Do you guys feel that the Ethernet cable makes any appreciable difference to sq with regards to the R26. If yes any recommendations would be appreciated.

Hello,
Phew good question, I don't think you can rate it like a usb cable.
I would go for the standard focus of what the cable should bring.
- Efi/Rfi protected
- Copper/Silver you have to try out, I would say the sound preference decides.
- Price/performance should be right
- The cable should have high quality connectors
- The length of the cable depends on whether you have FMC speakers or not. I would pay more attention to the shielding of the cable.

Whether you use Cat 5, 6, 7 or 8 is also a question.
Most people go for the maximum, which is not necessarily wrong.

With I2S cables, for example, the length is an important factor because of the attenuation.
In the DDC thread it was also mentioned that a slightly longer cable has achieved more sound gain than a shorter one for some users.
Although the rule of thumb is the shorter the better.

With FMC boxes this could be a factor, with simple Lan cable I unfortunately don't know.

On the other hand, there are plenty of cable manufacturers out there who talk a lot of rubbish and want to sell it.
That's why I would rather put the focus on the above-mentioned.
Before you get involved in spending a lot of money on something like this.
With USB, RCA, loudspeaker/headphone cables I put up with it to a certain extent, but there are limits.

Apart from that, the network technology is a very sensitive topic anyway, where the rest should also be right: power, router switch if necessary, etc. ....
It is not that easy to achieve optimal results with a "high-end LAN cable".
There are other things that have to be taken into account where the standard is not even reached in many houses.

That's why it's better to start small, invest in a small, decent cable system supply, and the results will be much better than investing in a large Lan cable.
And it is best to approach such things with little expectation, then the disappointment is not too great.
Cables tend to have a subtle influence where you can still get a bit out of it.
But that's all, it can't be compared to changing a dac or amplifier.
Everything is kept much more on a subtle level.

Also, stick to one type, if you start with silver, stick to silver, same with copper.
Otherwise you get something you don't like and can sound unbalanced.

 

[BShaw]

Do you guys feel that the Ethernet cable makes any appreciable difference to sq with regards to the R26. If yes any recommendations would be appreciated.

+1 on @Deleeh above, good points.
I'd direct you to the sticky on the first post of this thread, with information on FMC boxes (fiber optic cable run between a pair of converters), which Camrector dragged many of us into
I'll speak for myself and give you at least part of an answer - yes, I believe the right LAN cable can be worth having. I had been using a Supra Cat8 cable, 10m long, in my previous streamer set up and then with the R26, and thought it was a step up from the cheaper cable I'd had before. If your run isn't too long, they're a relative bargain for a quality OFC cable, well engineered and constructed. Add Telegartner connectors if you want to go all out. The raw cable can be bought by length on Ebay for $9-10/m, or you can buy them from Madisound all done. Can't honestly say if the Telegartners made much difference, I put them on before I even used the cable, but it satisfied my AN.

Beyond that, many of us here have switched to using some version of the FMC mod I mentioned above, which can be done for approx $150 US and takes minutes to perform. I have an ethernet-fiber box dangling from my router by a 200mm LAN cable, then a Finisair fiber cable running 10 meters to the second box, which is then connected to the R26 via a second very short piece of ethernet cable. Not everyone has reported the same results, but by far the response here and elsewhere in the audio universe, it's pretty much a slam dunk in terms of bang-for-buck sonic improvement. I would spend the money on the FMC conversion without hesitation before investing in any fancy LAN cables, which is to say anything that costs more than something like the Supra. Just my 2 cents, hoping this can give you some choices to ponder.

 

[Deleeh]

+1 on @Deleeh above, good points.
I'd direct you to the sticky on the first post of this thread, with information on FMC boxes (fiber optic cable run between a pair of converters), which Camrector dragged many of us into
I'll speak for myself and give you at least part of an answer - yes, I believe the right LAN cable can be worth having. I had been using a Supra Cat8 cable, 10m long, in my previous streamer set up and then with the R26, and thought it was a step up from the cheaper cable I'd had before. If your run isn't too long, they're a relative bargain for a quality OFC cable, well engineered and constructed. Add Telegartner connectors if you want to go all out. The raw cable can be bought by length on Ebay for $9-10/m, or you can buy them from Madisound all done. Can't honestly say if the Telegartners made much difference, I put them on before I even used the cable, but it satisfied my AN.

Beyond that, many of us here have switched to using some version of the FMC mod I mentioned above, which can be done for approx $150 US and takes minutes to perform. I have an ethernet-fiber box dangling from my router by a 200mm LAN cable, then a Finisair fiber cable running 10 meters to the second box, which is then connected to the R26 via a second very short piece of ethernet cable. Not everyone has reported the same results, but by far the response here and elsewhere in the audio universe, it's pretty much a slam dunk in terms of bang-for-buck sonic improvement. I would spend the money on the FMC conversion without hesitation before investing in any fancy LAN cables, which is to say anything that costs more than something like the Supra. Just my 2 cents, hoping this can give you some choices to ponder.

Can I just echo from their side too @BShaw , .

What I forgot to mention was the data rate of the Lan cable, which is also important.

With the Fmc boxes I agree with you that there is definitely more in it and could be taken out.
I think it's good, but there is something that bothers me that I haven't got to the bottom of yet.

I bought Duffer05 Finisar cable, I think it is quite dark from the tuning in my system.
And I would have to try other tubes that are maybe a bit brighter/neutral.
The ones currently in are warm and rich and I think this is too much.
It sometimes hides the details and the top end is not as nice as over the I2S connection.
But it's more a personal preference of mine.
In terms of being tidy it is otherwise brilliant and black.
The bass is also more defined with a great midrange.
What I don't like so much is the top end.
I'll see if I can get around to testing it this week.

The other question I have asked myself is whether this
this might not be better for the clean side?
https://www.sonore.us/opticalModule-Deluxe.html

For the dirty side, I would use the normal Fmc box.
With the internal clock, it seems like it could possibly go one step up for audio applications.
But I'm not sure.
It would be just under 700€ investment with power supply.
It's not really cheap

 

[sapkan]

Hello,
Phew good question, I don't think you can rate it like a usb cable.
I would go for the standard focus of what the cable should bring.
- Efi/Rfi protected
- Copper/Silver you have to try out, I would say the sound preference decides.
- Price/performance should be right
- The cable should have high quality connectors
- The length of the cable depends on whether you have FMC speakers or not. I would pay more attention to the shielding of the cable.

Whether you use Cat 5, 6, 7 or 8 is also a question.
Most people go for the maximum, which is not necessarily wrong.

With I2S cables, for example, the length is an important factor because of the attenuation.
In the DDC thread it was also mentioned that a slightly longer cable has achieved more sound gain than a shorter one for some users.
Although the rule of thumb is the shorter the better.

With FMC boxes this could be a factor, with simple Lan cable I unfortunately don't know.

On the other hand, there are plenty of cable manufacturers out there who talk a lot of rubbish and want to sell it.
That's why I would rather put the focus on the above-mentioned.
Before you get involved in spending a lot of money on something like this.
With USB, RCA, loudspeaker/headphone cables I put up with it to a certain extent, but there are limits.

Apart from that, the network technology is a very sensitive topic anyway, where the rest should also be right: power, router switch if necessary, etc. ....
It is not that easy to achieve optimal results with a "high-end LAN cable".
There are other things that have to be taken into account where the standard is not even reached in many houses.

That's why it's better to start small, invest in a small, decent cable system supply, and the results will be much better than investing in a large Lan cable.
And it is best to approach such things with little expectation, then the disappointment is not too great.
Cables tend to have a subtle influence where you can still get a bit out of it.
But that's all, it can't be compared to changing a dac or amplifier.
Everything is kept much more on a subtle level.

Also, stick to one type, if you start with silver, stick to silver, same with copper.
Otherwise you get something you don't like and can sound unbalanced.

I did the FMC+Finisar mod a month back. Me and my wife then did some A/B testing with and without the FMCs and both felt the FMCs improved the sound a bit. I subsequently got a Soncoz LP1 liniear power supply. I am using all three outputs of it. One 5v is feeding the clean side FMC, the other 5v is feeding a Luster MoCA 2.5 adapter (I have old coaxial wiring in the walls and use that for internet throughout the house) and the 12v feeds my Netgear GS108E switch. Haven't found the time to test if the lps brings any benefits to sq, simply went with what many people were advising. All my ethernet cables are cheap and cheerful cat5 and cat6 affairs. I have only one cat8 which is also a 10 euro piece and I have put that on the clean side going to the R26.

I see that many of the aftermarket ethernet cables have silver either on the connectors or on the conductor itself. Since silver is generally associated with emphasising the higher frequencies I am bit reluctant to go that route. I feel that the R26 with my setup is airy enough and body is generally leaner than what I have experienced with some other dacs so I do not want to push further in that direction. Maybe someone can recommend a mid tier ethernet cable that is all copper.