GUSTARD DAC-R26 Balanced Decoder R2R+1Bit Dual Native Decoding Music Bridge
Jul 21, 2023 at 11:09 AM Post #6,871 of 9,447
More realistic timing, makes the sound more analogue........ and it's very good value. Once experienced it's impossible to not use it IMHO.
There may be better clocks around at much greater prices....... as always.

I've just searched and there's plenty comments there..... maybe look again. Jake2 has all three and mentioned the LB sounds better than the OCK-01 (circa $400) but not quite as good as the OCK-02 ($600+)
Thanks for the feedback. I looked through a bunch of the comments but I didn't see much details aside from "the sound sounds so much better". I can look again though.
 
Jul 21, 2023 at 1:36 PM Post #6,873 of 9,447
The LB is not that cheap. In addition to its price, I paid €60 for its shipping to France. It was in April, and I forgot about it.
But this week I received from Fedex an additional bill of €61.20 of custom fees for the clock.
 
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Jul 21, 2023 at 1:48 PM Post #6,874 of 9,447
Thanks for the feedback. I looked through a bunch of the comments but I didn't see much details aside from "the sound sounds so much better". I can look again though.
I have the OCK-2 and now the LB. Had the LB in place since Monday and to be honest I prefer the LB. I'll hook the OCK-2 up again at some point soon to see whether I'm dosing myself up with conformation bias, but I don't think I am. I'm also wondering if I managed to buy one of the duff OCK- 2's as I've never been that impressed with it. The LB is well worth a punt imho.
 
Jul 21, 2023 at 1:50 PM Post #6,875 of 9,447
I have the OCK-2 and now the LB. Had the LB in place since Monday and to be honest I prefer the LB. I'll hook the OCK-2 up again at some point soon to see whether I'm dosing myself up with conformation bias, but I don't think I am. I'm also wondering if I managed to buy one of the duff OCK- 2's as I've never been that impressed with it. The LB is well worth a punt im

What improvements does the LB provide to the sound?
 
Jul 21, 2023 at 2:00 PM Post #6,876 of 9,447
What improvements does the LB provide to the sound?
Definitely a broader and deeper soundstage here. Instruments have better separation ( I listen to 50's jazz and contemporary classical with a lot of African Kora music.... and loads of other stuff too ), bass and mids are very relaxed and highs are tame. Music has a more forward presentation ( I stream mostly from Qobuz now ). I've always been poor at describing what I hear in the system! But the LB is staying for sure.
 
Jul 21, 2023 at 2:02 PM Post #6,877 of 9,447
Definitely a broader and deeper soundstage here. Instruments have better separation ( I listen to 50's jazz and contemporary classical with a lot of African Kora music.... and loads of other stuff too ), bass and mids are very relaxed and highs are tame. Music has a more forward presentation ( I stream mostly from Qobuz now ). I've always been poor at describing what I hear in the system! But the LB is staying for sure

Sounds like the LB is well worth it!
 
Jul 21, 2023 at 4:46 PM Post #6,883 of 9,447
Definitely a broader and deeper soundstage here. Instruments have better separation ( I listen to 50's jazz and contemporary classical with a lot of African Kora music.... and loads of other stuff too ), bass and mids are very relaxed and highs are tame. Music has a more forward presentation ( I stream mostly from Qobuz now ). I've always been poor at describing what I hear in the system! But the LB is staying for sure.
I’ve been very tardy sharing my impressions of the LB, you’ve shown me up @iSpartan . This is what I shared with Rod:

In short it the [LB] sounds superb with the R26, really musical and engaging, especially with a number of tweaks. I'd rate it above the OCK-1, and not far behind the OCK-2 in terms of resolution, dynamics but the LB has a really nice tonality and flow that's all of its own. Incredible value really... Some great synergy with the R26 I agree.
This is particularly so with these tweaks which lift its resolution and refinement up a lot over say a baseline of just using the P50 with standard cable:
- good power - Topping P50 w Flux-50 style AC filter & v good AliX power cord
- my pure silver Serperfi Outsider USB with externally isolated ground cable providing power
- Quartz Acoustics premium grounding box connected to unused second BNC output
- LB sitting on a sheet of fo.Q SH-21K three layer piezo-electic damping material.
The effect of the last one is particularly impressive. I hope to have sourced some more of this, which is out of production so in v limited supply.

Equivalent tweaks were applied to the OCK-2 to hear it at its best, like the LB it was very sensitive to these, in the case of the LHY in addition to greater dynamics and sense of acoustic space some residual edginess fell away with a more palpable midrange making it a more relaxing listen. The LB by contrast had a smoother, more full bodied midrange from the start, if not quite the OCK-2’s micro and macro-dynamics, soundstage precision and acoustic decay, though once optimised above it is closer in those respects to the OCK-2 than the OCK-1.

You can’t go wrong with the LB, it is excellent, though to @Dandoudou ’s point re cost one can end up spending its cost again and then some to hear its potential.

Edit - please read all the OCK-2/1 refs as my OCK-2/1, to allow for unit to unit variation.
 
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Jul 21, 2023 at 5:07 PM Post #6,884 of 9,447
The LB is not that cheap. In addition to its price, I paid €60 for its shipping to France. It was in April, and I forgot about it.
But this week I received from Fedex an additional bill of €61.20 of custom fees for the clock.
Your customs sound ruthless. Same shipping cost to NZ but at least no GST/VAT or customs fees for parcels with landed cost <NZD1,000 (EUR600).
 
Jul 21, 2023 at 5:28 PM Post #6,885 of 9,447
I’ve been very tardy sharing my impressions of the LB, you’ve shown me up @iSpartan . This is what I shared with Rod:

In short it the [LB] sounds superb with the R26, really musical and engaging, especially with a number of tweaks. I'd rate it above the OCK-1, and not far behind the OCK-2 in terms of resolution, dynamics but the LB has a really nice tonality and flow that's all of its own. Incredible value really... Some great synergy with the R26 I agree.
This is particularly so with these tweaks which lift its resolution and refinement up a lot over say a baseline of just using the P50 with standard cable:
- good power - Topping P50 w Flux-50 style AC filter & v good AliX power cord
- my pure silver Serperfi Outsider USB with externally isolated ground cable providing power
- Quartz Acoustics premium grounding box connected to unused second BNC output
- LB sitting on a sheet of fo.Q SH-21K three layer piezo-electic damping material.
The effect of the last one is particularly impressive. I hope to have sourced some more of this, which is out of production so in v limited supply.

Equivalent tweaks were applied to the OCK-2 to hear it at its best, like the LB it was very sensitive to these, in the case of the LHY in addition to greater dynamics and sense of acoustic space some residual edginess fell away with a more palpable midrange making it a more relaxing listen. The LB by contrast had a smoother, more full bodied midrange from the start, if not quite the OCK-2’s micro and macro-dynamics, soundstage precision and acoustic decay, though once optimised above it is closer in those respects to the OCK-2 than the OCK-1.

You can’t go wrong with the LB, it is excellent, though to @Dandoudou ’s point re cost one can end up spending its cost again and then some to hear its potential.

Edit - please read all the OCK-2/1 refs as my OCK-2/1, to allow for unit to unit variation.
Well Jake, your ability to describe the aural pleasure offered by the LB far surpasses mine sir. I recall mentioning to you in PM that I wasn't sure about the OCK-2 a while back. I'm sticking with that uncertainty. But as mentioned earlier, maybe I was unlucky in my purchase of the OCK-2.
 

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