”Better than R26”
But then again different price point.
I went back to my Chord Hugo2 and 2go. Much more musical in my system. In comparison the R26 felt digital. Digital not in a harsh way, but digital as in it felt the music is the end result of a computation. ASFAIK the Qutest is a Hugo2 sans battery. Again, this is just me, my ears and my opinion. YMMV.I’m really tempted in ordering the R26, but not sure if it will represent a meaningful evolution vs the Chord Qutest and I can’t seem to find comparisons between them, any help will be appreciated!
Also evaluated, Denafrip Ares II 12th and Holo Cyan 2, but from the reviews the R26 seems the best option… apparently the next big thing is Laiv Harmony, but 2700$ becomes 3300$ to ship to EU, out of my budget
Always interesting hearing what directions folk go. Tell ya what has made my mileage vary with the R26 quite a lot of late - feeding it with a ludicrously OTT USB source - the PhoenixUSB. Quite a bit more body, warmth and natural flow. Ditto re the LHY UIP to a lesser extent. But then yesterday after being away for the weekend it sounded a bit lean once more.. discovered one of my longstanding grounding cables on the R26 had fallen off.I went back to my Chord Hugo2 and 2go. Much more musical in my system. In comparison the R26 felt digital. Digital not in a harsh way, but digital as in it felt the music is the end result of a computation. ASFAIK the Qutest is a Hugo2 sans battery. Again, this is just me, my ears and my opinion. YMMV.
$1.7k dac/streamer vs. $4k dac/streamer. I'm very happy with my R26! Especially with the help from this thread and the improvements that have been made since first purchase.I went back to my Chord Hugo2 and 2go. Much more musical in my system. In comparison the R26 felt digital. Digital not in a harsh way, but digital as in it felt the music is the end result of a computation. ASFAIK the Qutest is a Hugo2 sans battery. Again, this is just me, my ears and my opinion. YMMV.
The R26 is a great dac, don't get me wrong. My reply to npatrix is written keeping in mind that he already has a Qutest, just as I already have a Hugo2 which was bought when it first came out. I plan to upgrade the caps in my r26 to audionote kaesei in an attempt to see if it improves.$1.7k dac/streamer vs. $4k dac/streamer. I'm very happy with my R26! Especially with the help from this thread and the improvements that have been made since first purchase.
Edit:
YMMV
The cap upgrades are on the the horizon but right now all funds are being channeled into my Klipsch LaScala build. Those original S3 compression drivers and horns set me back a pretty penny!Please let us know the results of your cap upgrade. Natural & musical sound were the biggest gains for me. I tried a Ever Solo A6 (upgrade from the fanless Win-10, NUC running Audirvana) but when I switched the NUC to a Roon Rock, it was a OMG moment. The natural SQ jumped, it just sounded rite! Mediately sold the A6 and started looking for a power supply for the Rock. Ended up going with a HdPlex 300W, another improvement in most aspects. Next is FMC's.
Thanks for these wonderful ideas @Jake2 - I did a similar tweak to my R26 yesterday and was greeted with fantastic improvements to micro-details, layering of the sound stage, and a big leap in low end punch. The sound now is completely disconnected from my speakers. I put a copper (2mm) plate encapsulating the entire middle section and MuMetal plates (same one you pointed to in a different thread from Australia) on both the power supply section and the R2R/discrete option section (instead of the cardboard boxes you show in your pictures) - all metal covers fully covered with Kapton tape. Then borrowing the sand trick from the Singxer SU-6 thread, I put in fine sand (wrapped in cling wrap) into the middle and R2R sections and top covered them with the thin 0.15mm sheet of MuMetal. Tedious and cut my fingers in the process, but the results are absolutely worth it for very little cost. R26 does not disappoint - scales really well with tweaks as long as it tonally synergistic in a system.They say a picture is worth a thousand words... how about three! (And a few words).
This is just a mockup, will take out and triple check no conductive contacts to circuitry, add more cardboard insulators where necessary
Awesome, great work! Sounds like in several respects (thickness of copper, extent of MuMetal use - I’ve just done my transformers so far) you’ve gone a step beyond me. The low end punch thing in particular ifs pretty satisfying and unexpected eh.Thanks for these wonderful ideas @Jake2 - I did a similar tweak to my R26 yesterday and was greeted with fantastic improvements to micro-details, layering of the sound stage, and a big leap in low end punch. The sound now is completely disconnected from my speakers. I put a copper (2mm) plate encapsulating the entire middle section and MuMetal plates (same one you pointed to in a different thread from Australia) on both the power supply section and the R2R/discrete option section (instead of the cardboard boxes you show in your pictures) - all metal covers fully covered with Kapton tape. Then borrowing the sand trick from the Singxer SU-6 thread, I put in fine sand (wrapped in cling wrap) into the middle and R2R sections and top covered them with the thin 0.15mm sheet of MuMetal. Tedious and cut my fingers in the process, but the results are absolutely worth it for very little cost. R26 does not disappoint - scales really well with tweaks as long as it tonally synergistic in a system.
Sand does seemed to make a difference. Esp. in the low end punch. Whether it is doing this by minimizing the vibration in capacitors, reducing the EMI/RFI penetration by offering a denser environment, or some other voodoo magic (including placebo), I can't tell. But in my SU-6, my recent GAIA and now my R26, all of which received the sand mod, the result is the same - low end is significantly improved by sand.I could try the sand thing as I have a protective layer of film over most sections.
Great! Posted that sand mod last year: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/gus...ve-decoding-music-bridge.963630/post-17531570Then borrowing the sand trick from the Singxer SU-6 thread,
This week I’m gonna buy the Gustard R26 but I need to know two things.Awesome, great work! Sounds like in several respects (thickness of copper, extent of MuMetal use - I’ve just done my transformers so far) you’ve gone a step beyond me. The low end punch thing in particular ifs pretty satisfying and unexpected eh.
For the record the cardboard boxes were a mock-up long since retired and replaced with layers of copper sheet (but only <1mm thick), graphite foil and felt.
I could try the sand thing as I have a protective layer of film over most sections.
Hi there, I’d say in general terms the R26 should be a good step up on your D70s as it was for me over both the SMSL VMV D2 (the OG version with AKM4499 DAC highly rated by Sound News) and the Topping E50.This week I’m gonna buy the Gustard R26 but I need to know two things.
R26 is big upgrade after Topping D70s?
What do you think R26 is good for og Empyrean headphone? ( it’s a little warmer, lush, organic sounding headphone but I love it)
My amp is neutral and musical, I hope it will be a good synergy.
Your or any experienced audiophile advice would be a great help for me.