[dacwizard]

I've had a Gustard R26 for a couple of months and it's on standby, today on complete silence I've noticed an irregular hum in the past! The hum increases and then decreases and disappears. Next it happened again. It does this even when I turn it on. The hum can be heard 5 meters away, which is like hearing a refrigerator when it's on. Has anyone here encountered this problem? Is this a mistake and should I complain? It bothers me enough.

Are you talking about a hum from the actual R26 unit, or through the speakers.

A physical hum from the unit itself will likely be transformer hum, this can be caused by variable mains quality (noisy mains or too high voltage). There are a few suggestions back in this thread on how to reduce this that may be worth trying. In addition it might be worth just checking that the transformer fixing bolts have not come loose, there is info on how to remove the lid to the unit back in this thread. Others may have further suggestions. This is not usually an issue other than the actual noise itself which obviously if audible at listening position is not ideal.

 

[sajunky]

A physical hum from the unit itself will likely be transformer hum, this can be caused by variable mains quality (noisy mains or too high voltage).

Other than a lose assembly, frequent cause is a quality of mains as you said, but I would check first whether there is a DC present. It is a nasty things, as it drives core of a transformer to a saturation point. There are devices on the market called "DC Blocker" to deal with this issue.

 

[Jake2]

Other than a lose assembly, frequent cause is a quality of mains as you said, but I would check first whether there is a DC present. It is a nasty things, as it drives core of a transformer to a saturation point. There are devices on the market called "DC Blocker" to deal with this issue.

Yes indeed... when I got my Puritan power conditioner which has DC blockers the similar hum I had with the R26 reduced by 80-90% to a quiet residual you could only sometimes hear up close.

 

[rockcity007]

HUM:

https://www.hifireport.com/the-science-of-hum-in-audio-understanding-the-causes-and-effects/

 

[sajunky]

HUM:

https://www.hifireport.com/the-science-of-hum-in-audio-understanding-the-causes-and-effects/

They talk about hum in the output signal. They didn't even touch acoustic noise emanated by mains transformers, which is this case.

 

[rockcity007]

OK, maybe my technical abilities are lacking a bit (hey, I even struggled with the SD card thing in the R26) so how about injecting a little entertainment.

A little competition for the May DAC - @camrector, you out there!

 

[camrector]

OK, maybe my technical abilities are lacking a bit (hey, I even struggled with the SD card thing in the R26) so how about injecting a little entertainment.

A little competition for the May DAC - @camrector, you out there!

Just watched that lol

 

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

Cam wants a killer DAC + Streamer <= 5K. The DAC brand who had always streamer integration for sometime now is Matrix Audio. Don't know if it's killer.
Don't know what's in me that I gave them always doubts of their price/performance....

 

[camrector]

Cam wants a killer DAC + Streamer <= 5K. The DAC brand who had always streamer integration for sometime now is Matrix Audio. Don't know if it's killer.
Don't know what's in me that I gave them always doubts of their price/performance....

Honestly really gives more credit to the R26/A26 cause there isn’t any upgrades until you hit $10k.
DCS, T&A, Mola Mola, etc etc
There is the Ifi pro Dsd signature. @Currawong chime in here!!

 

[rockcity007]

Honestly really gives more credit to the R26/A26 cause there isn’t any upgrades until you hit $10k.
DCS, T&A, Mola Mola, etc etc
There is the Ifi pro Dsd signature. @Currawong chime in here!!

Yes, I have heard good things about Ifi Pro as well.

 

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

Think its streamer is Airplay and UPnP/DLNA only.
There's also the Hifiman Serenade.

 

[sajunky]

Better get a separate DAC and streamer. The later is immature technology. In the case of Gustard you need a new model to deal with RAM shortage. Streamer is easier to replace than a DAC sound you love.

 

[THXKO]

Are you talking about a hum from the actual R26 unit, or through the speakers.

A physical hum from the unit itself will likely be transformer hum, this can be caused by variable mains quality (noisy mains or too high voltage). There are a few suggestions back in this thread on how to reduce this that may be worth trying. In addition it might be worth just checking that the transformer fixing bolts have not come loose, there is info on how to remove the lid to the unit back in this thread. Others may have further suggestions. This is not usually an issue other than the actual noise itself which obviously if audible at listening position is not ideal.

Yes, I am talking about transformer hum. I have a DC blocker in the filtration and the problem did not exist until now. I tightened the screws that I previously loosened (someone wrote here that a cheap upgrade would loosen the screws), I didn't notice any improvement from loosening the screws! But I left the screws loose. Tomorrow I will see if it was the permission.

 

[manishex]

was trying the xmos thesycon evaluation driver which is at 5.58 and thought it sounded different, so then found this Cayin driver which uses the same files and think the sound is more refined, worth the 5 mins it takes to upgrade.

Don't think we'll see a Gustard 5.58 driver as it costs them money to buy the next release.

can update usb driver to 5.58, think there's a small improvement in SQ
install driver 5.58 from https://en.cayin.cn/drive/9/18/568.html
then go to C:\Program Files\Gustard\USB Audio Device Driver\x64

rename the *.sys files to *.sys.bak
rename the *.dll files to *.dll.bak

go to C:\Program Files\Cayin\USB Audio Driver\x64
and copy the 2 sys files and 4 dll files

go to C:\Program Files\Gustard\USB Audio Device Driver\x64
and paste the copied files

rename the CayinAudio.sys file
to GustardUsbAudio.sys

do this for the 5 other .sys or .dll files

that's it

can uninstall the cayin driver and can reinstall the gustard driver or just rename the *,bak files etc if you want to go back to start

I tried this twice but got the same "an error has occurred. The internal error description is: initialize: update devices -> 0xEE000060" error and a black driver panel, as soon as I copy back the old files it works instantly. Is there something else I'm missing?

 

[rockcity007]

Honestly really gives more credit to the R26/A26 cause there isn’t any upgrades until you hit $10k.
DCS, T&A, Mola Mola, etc etc
There is the Ifi pro Dsd signature. @Currawong chime in here!!

I would also like to kick it up a notch with my R26 but don't have the $10k to do so, and probably never will.

Here's another (new) combo for ya @camrector