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

[mgsu]

Complete noob with i2s connections. The r26 will be my 1st r2r dac, but further on down the line. Is the general consensus that i2s connection is best? If so, what's the best way for connecting my pc to i2s on the dac?

Options I have on pc are: ethernet, usb 2.0+3.0+3.1, optical out and also an old asus rog gtx 1080 with hdmi and display port outs, though I'm not sure of the wiring for direct hdmi to i2s from pc to dac. If my gpu is OK to use directly, would I need a hdmi with ethernet capability or does this not matter?

Any help would be most appreciated

HDMI from your graphics card does not work. It does not support I2S.

Best option for you, since you dont have a compatible I2S connection, is to connect R26 over ethernet to your router or switch and stream from your PC over ethernet to R26.

Ethernet streaming is superior to other connections on the R26 unless you have a $4-5k Streamer.

Edit: you can improve the ethernet connection by visiting page 1 and acquire two media converter boxes or 1 wifi repeater that you than connect the R26 over ethernet to the wifi repeater.

 

[dacwizard]

Complete noob with i2s connections. The r26 will be my 1st r2r dac, but further on down the line. Is the general consensus that i2s connection is best? If so, what's the best way for connecting my pc to i2s on the dac?

Options I have on pc are: ethernet, usb 2.0+3.0+3.1, optical out and also an old asus rog gtx 1080 with hdmi and display port outs, though I'm not sure of the wiring for direct hdmi to i2s from pc to dac. If my gpu is OK to use directly, would I need a hdmi with ethernet capability or does this not matter?

Any help would be most appreciated

You have a number of options, you can use USB direct from your PC, optical direct from your PC, Ethernet Or if you want to use I2S you would need somthing capable of providing that like a Gustard U18 which could convert your PCs USB to I2S. I would be trying the first three first if I were you. I have found optical/toslink to be indistinguishable from Ethernet LAN, YMMV.

 

[reg66]

HDMI from your graphics card does not work. It does not support I2S.

Best option for you, since you dont have a compatible I2S connection, is to connect R26 over ethernet to your router or switch and stream from your PC over ethernet to R26.

Ethernet streaming is superior to other connections on the R26 unless you have a $4-5k Streamer.

Edit: you can improve the ethernet connection by visiting page 1 and acquire two media converter boxes or 1 wifi repeater that you than connect the R26 over ethernet to the wifi repeater.

Okey dokey, will have a read, thanks. My R26 will be way away from the router. Are the simple, over-the-mains ethernet extensions a viable option? Also, my mobo has HDMI out too (Asus Z370-G Gaming Wifi AC). Is this likely to support i2s? I doubt it as it's quite old now, but perhaps you would know for sure...

One more thing, are the HDMI to i2s converters such as this a viable option, or not recommended?

Cheers

 

[reg66]

You have a number of options, you can use USB direct from your PC, optical direct from your PC, Ethernet Or if you want to use I2S you would need somthing capable of providing that like a Gustard U18 which could convert your PCs USB to I2S. I would be trying the first three first if I were you. I have found optical/toslink to be indistinguishable from Ethernet LAN, YMMV.

Many thanks. The U18 isn't really an option. As and when I've got the cash for the dac, that'll be it bar a possible HDMI converter as mentioned in previous post or ethernet extension over the mains.

So, you're saying you've tried both i2s and optical and can't tell any obvious difference, yes? If so, I'll probably just stick with optical.

Cheers

 

[mgsu]

Okey dokey, will have a read, thanks. My R26 will be way away from the router. Are the simple, over-the-mains ethernet extensions a viable option? Also, my mobo has HDMI out too (Asus Z370-G Gaming Wifi AC). Is this likely to support i2s? I doubt it as it's quite old now, but perhaps you would know for sure...

One more thing, are the HDMI to i2s converters such as this a viable option, or not recommended?

Cheers

Forget all connections from your pc because they are noisy as hell, until you have a audiophile soundcard in your pc (pink faun)

Best option is to go with ethernet and since ethernet can also be noise picky, you isolate the ethernet connection with 2 media converter boxex (fiber optic) or one WiFi repeater.

You can run the fiber optic cable up to 500m or even several kilometers, depends if you chose multi mode oder single mode.

Single mode is better.

Edit:
Toslink or I2S from your PC into the R26 is the worst you can do because Toslink is a synchronous connection. It means that your PC controlls the clock of your DAC.
Since PC clocks are inferior to your R26 internal clock, sound quality would suffer immensely.

You can circumvent this problem with an audiophile soundcard (pink faun) wich has theyr own power supply and clock.

Ethernet on the other hand is asynchronous and buffered. It means that when the R26 receives data over ethernet, it will clock it with the R26 internal clock.
The only thing you should provide with ethernet is a noise free data transmission, therefore 2 Media Converter Boxes or 1 WiFi repeater.
If you want to take it on another level, you buy an audiophile ethernet switch. Then you dont need the above mentioned solutions.

 

[reg66]

Forget all connections from your pc because they are noisy as hell, until you have a audiophile soundcard in your pc (pink faun)

Best option is to go with ethernet and since ethernet can also be noise picky, you isolate the ethernet connection with 2 media converter boxex (fiber optic) or one WiFi repeater.

You can run the fiber optic cable up to 500m or even several kilometers, depends if you chose multi mode oder single mode.

Single mode is better.

Edit:
Toslink from your PC into the R26 is the worst you can do because Toslink is a synchronous connection. It means that your PC controlls the clock of your DAC.
Since PC clocks are inferior to your R26 internal clock, sound quality would suffer immensely.

Ethernet on the other hand is asynchronous and buffered. It means that when the R26 receives data over ethernet, it will clock it with the internal clock.
The only thing you should provide with ethernet is a noise free data transmission, therefore 2 Media Converter Boxes or 1 WiFi repeater.
If you want to take it on another level, you buy an audiophile ethernet switch. Then you dont need the above mentioned solutions.

Thanks! Very informative, I'll get to researching the options you've mentioned.

Thanks again

 

[reg66]

Forget all connections from your pc because they are noisy as hell, until you have a audiophile soundcard in your pc (pink faun)

Best option is to go with ethernet and since ethernet can also be noise picky, you isolate the ethernet connection with 2 media converter boxex (fiber optic) or one WiFi repeater.

You can run the fiber optic cable up to 500m or even several kilometers, depends if you chose multi mode oder single mode.

Single mode is better.

Edit:
Toslink from your PC into the R26 is the worst you can do because Toslink is a synchronous connection. It means that your PC controlls the clock of your DAC.
Since PC clocks are inferior to your R26 internal clock, sound quality would suffer immensely.

Ethernet on the other hand is asynchronous and buffered. It means that when the R26 receives data over ethernet, it will clock it with the internal clock.
The only thing you should provide with ethernet is a noise free data transmission, therefore 2 Media Converter Boxes or 1 WiFi repeater.
If you want to take it on another level, you buy an audiophile ethernet switch. Then you dont need the above mentioned solutions.

Sorry bud, one more thing if I may pick your brains... My 2 current dacs are connected via usb to pc, which you say is crap. Should I consider ifi audio ipurifier or other to clean up the signal? 1 dac has the option of coaxial or usb and the other has usb, coaxial spdif and optical... If that helps

 

[mgsu]

Sorry bud, one more thing. My 2 current dacs are connected via usb to pc, which you say is crap. Should I consider ifi audio ipurifier or other to clean up the signal? 1 dac has the option of coaxial or usb and the other has usb, coaxial spdif and optical... If that helps

Coax, I2s, Toslink are synchronous and are crap from a PC because the PC is responsible for clocking.

USB is asynchronous and is ok, because your DAC is in control of the clocking (always depends on the noise transmitted over USB to your DAC). iPurifier can help to isolate that noise but since i dont own any iPurifier i can not guarantee that it would bring an improvement to your system. You can try it out, you have a 30 days trial period from Amazon, if it does not satisfy you, you can send it back

 

[reg66]

Coax, I2s, Toslink are synchronous and are crap from a PC because the PC is responsible for clocking.

USB is asynchronous and is ok, because your DAC is in control of the clocking (always depends on the noise transmitted over USB to your DAC). iPurifier can help to isolate that noise but since i dont own any iPurifier i can not guarantee that it would bring an improvement to your system. You can try it out, you have a 30 days trial period from Amazon, if it does not satisfy you, you can send it back

Danke, cheers very muchly!!

 

[Jake2]

Coax, I2s, Toslink are synchronous and are crap from a PC because the PC is responsible for clocking.

Agree with this statement, when:
- direct from PC
- PC is not audio optimised so has typically crap and very noisy and jittery outputs, whether USB or HDMI

Agree also the quality of a synchronous connection - whether I2S or s/pdif - depends very much on the quality of the clock signal encoded into the stream, which in turn depends on the quality of the sending device's oscillator/clock and the level of noise in its operating environment.

@reg66 All digital to digital convertors (DDCs), including the HDMI converter you linked will be an improvement over a normal PC. A cheap but very effective DDC worth checking out is the Douk U2 Pro. However even there there is no free lunch, an external power supply will improve it further, as does going for a version with upgraded oscillators (I have stock and upgraded Crystek CCHD957 versions, as well as the U18, so can vouch for this). All those DDCs can be further improved by putting an upstream USB>USB regenerator like the Topping or Holo Titanis, that's how noisy PCs are.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dou...or-an-affordable-clean-digital-signal.958462/.

Ethernet LAN can also sound excellent/ better for not much cost with cheap FMCs and linear power supplies. I prefer R26 LAN input as in my sig.

Lots of options to experiment with.

 

[dacwizard]

Agree with this statement, when:
- direct from PC
- PC is not audio optimised so has typically crap and very noisy and jittery outputs, whether USB or HDMI

One the other hand, toslink can send no noise and dacs have been pretty immune from jitter for a number of years. In addition the r26 has independent digital and analogue power supplies so any noise present on say USB should have no possibility of affecting the analogue stage and we know that even a £30 gizmo can decipher digital data including all that noise and jitter even at speeds 1000 times a typical audio signal. So if you believe the R26 was designed by competent engineers and not kindergarten kids then you might want to try these inputs before spending more money….but it’s your money.

 

[mgsu]

Agree with this statement, when:
- direct from PC
- PC is not audio optimised so has typically crap and very noisy and jittery outputs, whether USB or HDMI

Agree also the quality of a synchronous connection - whether I2S or s/pdif - depends very much on the quality of the clock signal encoded into the stream, which in turn depends on the quality of the sending device's oscillator/clock and the level of noise in its operating environment.

@reg66 All digital to digital convertors (DDCs), including the HDMI converter you linked will be an improvement over a normal PC. A cheap but very effective DDC worth checking out is the Douk U2 Pro. However even there there is no free lunch, an external power supply will improve it further, as does going for a version with upgraded oscillators (I have stock and upgraded Crystek CCHD957 versions, as well as the U18, so can vouch for this). All those DDCs can be further improved by putting an upstream USB>USB regenerator like the Topping or Holo Titanis, that's how noisy PCs are.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dou...or-an-affordable-clean-digital-signal.958462/.

Ethernet LAN can also sound excellent/ better for not much cost with cheap FMCs and linear power supplies. I prefer R26 LAN input as in my sig.

Lots of options to experiment with.

Since @reg66 is looking for a cheap solution, USB from a PC is a very good solution only if the iPurifier has USB galvanic isolation built in.

If not, there is room to search for a USB galvanic isolator.

From a technical perspective, a galvanic isolator should be as good as a DDC, unless we are talking about a DDC with modified clocks that surpasses the R26 clock.

 

[Jake2]

One the other hand, toslink can send no noise and dacs have been pretty immune from jitter for a number of years. In addition the r26 has independent digital and analogue power supplies so any noise present on say USB should have no possibility of affecting the analogue stage and we know that even a £30 gizmo can decipher digital data including all that noise and jitter even at speeds 1000 times a typical audio signal. So if you believe the R26 was designed by competent engineers and not kindergarten kids then you might want to try these inputs before spending more money….but it’s your money.

As previously advised the R26 sounds thin and edgy with a jittery toslink feed (direct from my TV), chalk and cheese improvement when reclocked by the iFi s/pdif iPurifier, which improves further still with a better power supply. From my experience R26 is far from being indifferent to the quality of the s/pdif (Toslink or coax) source, but can sound excellent when fed by a high quality one.

What is your Toslink source you use to feed the R26 with good results?

 

[mgsu]

One the other hand, toslink can send no noise and dacs have been pretty immune from jitter for a number of years. In addition the r26 has independent digital and analogue power supplies so any noise present on say USB should have no possibility of affecting the analogue stage and we know that even a £30 gizmo can decipher digital data including all that noise and jitter even at speeds 1000 times a typical audio signal. So if you believe the R26 was designed by competent engineers and not kindergarten kids then you might want to try these inputs before spending more money….but it’s your money.

When you send data over Toslink, I2S, Coax from a PC to a DAC, then the PC is in control of clocking of the data, which is inferior to a DAC clock.
You are right, Toslink is noise isolated. But Toslink is also in charge of the clock signal. Since the clock of a PC is inferior to the DAC clock, Toslink from PC to DAC should be avoided

 

[Dandoudou]

Should I consider ifi audio ipurifier or other to clean up the signal?

I have iPurifier, and iGalvanic.
iPurifier improves a little. iGalvanic is much more efficient for that.
Use fiber USB for best results.