GUSTARD DAC-R26 Balanced Decoder R2R+1Bit Dual Native Decoding Music Bridge
May 26, 2023 at 5:22 AM Post #6,211 of 8,611
That's an RG-58 Pro Snake cable from Thomann, not surprised it works well, Thomann are very big in the music industry must sell thousands of meters of the stuff to the professional music industry. Interesting it's RG-58 though...... and 0.5m BNC terminated cable is £2.21!!
I did not try it before, because it is too short to connect the OCK-1 to the R26 the way the devices are disposed on my setup, because I connect the OCK-1 to EtherREGEN and the DI-20HE as well.
I was using for EtherREGEN a Pro Snake 75 Ohms, that Thomann also sells for a few bucks, and it was very close to the Oyaide DB-501 that I'm using now, and that costs 20-30 times its price.
 
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May 26, 2023 at 5:27 AM Post #6,212 of 8,611
I did not try it before, because it is too short to connect the OCK-1 to the R26 the way the devices are disposed on my setup, because I connect the OCK-1 to EtherREGEN and the DI-20HE as well.
I was using for EtherREGEN a Pro Snake 75 Ohms, that Thomann also sells for a few bucks, and it was very close to the Oyaide that I'm using now, and that costs 20 times its price.
Looking at the Aliexpress thread here placing shielding tape around the terminals can improve things too.....
 
May 26, 2023 at 5:31 AM Post #6,213 of 8,611
Looking at the Aliexpress thread here placing shielding tape around the terminals can improve things too.....
I might've even started that trend... seemed a logical thing to try given everything I'd read about shielding being key for sine, and a transmission line only being as strong as it's weakest link. Was gratifying to find a practically free tweak improved even the Harmonic Tech cable. A lot.
 
May 26, 2023 at 5:33 AM Post #6,214 of 8,611
Diana Krall 'Temptation' and 'Sway' are two I use a great deal too, double bass and strings.
Ah… I'm using 'Temptation', and 'No Moon At All' (next track on the album after 'Sway').
The first tracks of Stabat Matter of Pergolesi by Sandrine Piau.
The second track of Beethoven's Cello Sonatas by Raphaël Pidoux and Tanguy de Willencourt.
 
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May 26, 2023 at 5:36 AM Post #6,215 of 8,611
Looking at the Aliexpress thread here placing shielding tape around the terminals can improve things too.....
I did it on the LMR400, with a layer of copper and a layer of Farady tape. And the tweak improved it.
On the C-2, it had no audible effect.
I will try it on the Pro Snake.
 
May 26, 2023 at 5:37 AM Post #6,216 of 8,611
Ah… I'm using 'Temptation', and 'No Moon At All'.
The first tracks of Stabat Matter of Pergolesi by Sandrine Piau.
The second track of Beethoven's Cello Sonatas by Raphaël Pidoux and Tanguy de Willencourt.
Yes No Moon At All is actually better than Sway has more precision of image.
Just thought of another one, Alan Parsons Project 'Pipeline' from Ammonia Avenue album, brilliant mix and when the sax kicks in......
 
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May 26, 2023 at 5:45 AM Post #6,217 of 8,611
Bach's The Art of Fugue by Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque is also good for tests.
This performance is close to being strident, and if something is wrong on the system, the sound becomes unpleasant.
 
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May 26, 2023 at 6:51 AM Post #6,219 of 8,611
Bass Drops & Gavrilo's Prinzip by Nenad Vasilic on Bass Room, his masterful double bass quickly sorts the wheat from the chaff in terms of transient attack and realism of timbre and acoustic decay.
 
May 26, 2023 at 7:23 AM Post #6,220 of 8,611
It's nice to have an expert with familiarity using and measuring a wide range of clocks elaborate on why low offset phase noise isn't, in their view, the be all and end all, of clock performance.

As an aside, I've pressed pause on my shielding tweaks, will proceed, but with caution and once I have some electrical tape to ensure insulation at high risk junctures. Instead, while I wait to get the LB up and running (none of my many 5-12 VC DC adaptor's plugs fit it dammit) I've done I tweak I've been meaning to do for a while - small dots of fo.Q TA-102 anti-vibration tape on the caps. Damn.

Anyone else tried this with the R26?
This would be Tony from Coherent Systems who has some very sophisticated equipment and some crazy high end gear. He has heard and measured some crazy high end gear.
 
May 26, 2023 at 7:32 AM Post #6,221 of 8,611
This would be Tony from Coherent Systems who has some very sophisticated equipment and some crazy high end gear. He has heard and measured some crazy high end gear.
Ah, the penny drops! The one and the same eh - the avatar should've given it away
 
May 26, 2023 at 7:47 AM Post #6,222 of 8,611
Ah, the penny drops! The one and the same eh - the avatar should've given it away
Yes Tony (Coherent Systems) gave me some good tips when I decanted the LB inside the R26 from the TAS forum about the LB clock. I believe he was the one who originally recommended the LB for audio with all his experience of using one for many years, but John can clarify that one.
 
May 26, 2023 at 7:52 AM Post #6,223 of 8,611
If I get this DAC, will it be a big step up sonically from the Topping D90?
 
May 26, 2023 at 8:41 AM Post #6,224 of 8,611
Since this is now a tweaking and modding thread, my favorite sandbox, I want to make some comments on Rod's (@rodthebod ) carbon/brass isolation footers he spoke about several weeks ago. I ordered several sets and Rod kindly sent them right out, and one night earlier this week I put a set of three beneath my 45 SET amp, turned it on, and walked away to tend to some other things. This is an amp I've recently installed, along with a temporary set of little Klipsch RP600m speakers to get me by until I build a proper pair. I'd been enjoying the new amp but not so crazy about the limitations of the speakers.
Two hours later I sat down, having completely forgotten I'd installed the isolaters, put in Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker, and did one of those pull your head back in surprise moves because I couldn't believe how transparent, present, and dimensional the music sounded. It's a great recording but still, I didn't expect such a rapid burn in of new tubes and caps I'd installed! I played through some Martin Wasilewski, Manu Katche, Melanie Gardot, Kit Downes, Julian Lage.....just kept listening because it was sounding so good! To my surprise and bedazzlement, my sweet little amp and these mediocre speakers had somehow woken up in 24 hours, wow! Imaging was fantastic, soundstage wide and deep, the music was crisp and clean.
I got up off the couch and went over to turn the amp off which requires a crouch and a reach to the back of the amp (until I mod this too), and it was then that I remembered I'd installed the isolators. Holy crap. Most honest kind of testing in my book, when you're sitting there for two hours asking yourself what the hell happened to your system.

I'm sending on a couple sets to Camrector today, and I understand Jake also has some heading his way. I don't know what those guys will think, but I'm honestly still pretty shocked that thes unassuming little feet are having such a remarkable impact on my system.

Rod isn't paying me any royalties, and I hope I'm not overwhelming him by posting this if he gets a bunch of PMs, but I just have to say this is a no brainer in our world of BS overhyped tweaks. This had an effect on par with the FMC mod, probably greater. Thanks Rod!
 
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May 26, 2023 at 8:50 AM Post #6,225 of 8,611
Rod should restart the production of the footers.
 

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