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

[jacupmakeup]

I guess I need to try LAN. I set my system up around Apple Music out of convenience for me and the fam. I’m using the Eversolo A6 with LPS to Gustard U18 to R26 via I2S. It sounds good but I’d like more warmth.
I’m just not sure what streaming would look like with LAN. Thinking Qobuz and Roon, using Roon Nucleus.
Wondering how that setup would compare to my own…..

 

[sendler2112]

I stream Qobuz through the HQ Player Client app which applies the upsampling to the stream. But if I like something I buy it in full wave to play from my harddrive which sounds better.

 

[ASSAF1984]

Ok. I'm listening to two different LAN cables. It is crazy how different they sound. Something the Objectivists would say is impossible?

I have a cheap generic 2 meter Cat6 cable from the laptop to the mesh router and another from the router to the R26. And I'm swapping a Cable Matters 1 meter Cat8 cable from the router to the DAC.

The sound is very different. The Cat8 cable is definitely warmer, fuller and more musical. "More meat on the bone". Greater ease.
The Cat6 cable is leaner. Which allows slightly more empty space and is just a bit deeper in the stage with more space between layers that is the R26's strong attribute. The Cat8 is slightly closer and denser. The Cat6 is blacker but slightly edgier.

I am using a laser sharp system with Silver cables into HiFiMan HE1000 SE from a maxed Burson Soloist GT and 768/23 HQ Player into the R26. So, will stay with the meatier musical ease of the Cat8 cable and will buy another to complete the set.

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Ethernet-10Gbps-25Gbps/dp/B07NVS8BF5?th=1

Are you serious that Ethernet cables makes SQ difference? I mean , I don't care to try cat8 for 10 dollars it's nothing but I don't see how it affects the SQ .

 

[amrutmhatre90]

I use WiiM and R26 via optical, it is indistinguishable from the LAN input (Using JPlay Qobuz)

I found jplay, bubbleUPnP noisy, using Roon with or without HQplayer was much much better.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Are you serious that Ethernet cables makes SQ difference? I mean , I don't care to try cat8 for 10 dollars it's nothing but I don't see how it affects the SQ .

I agree with @sendler2112

It does make a difference, I too have noticed similar change.

 

[sendler2112]

Are you serious that Ethernet cables makes SQ difference? I mean , I don't care to try cat8 for 10 dollars it's nothing but I don't see how it affects the SQ .

Apparently everything matters. I have been holding off from trying a $200 fuse in a DAC that draws 20 Watts.

 

[SpursForEver]

Are you serious that Ethernet cables makes SQ difference? I mean , I don't care to try cat8 for 10 dollars it's nothing but I don't see how it affects the SQ .

I get a similar effect with tone controls.

 

[dacwizard]

I found jplay, bubbleUPnP noisy, using Roon with or without HQplayer was much much better.

Not sure what you mean by noisy? If they were noisy then there is something very wrong with you system setup!

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Not sure what you mean by noisy? If they were noisy then there is something very wrong with you system setup!

Noisy didn't mean exactly noisy, but it was not clear and crisp sounding like Roon or HQP.
I don't think setup is a problem, Bubble UPnP is a culprit, definitely not the cleanest.

 

[dacwizard]

Noisy didn't mean exactly noisy, but it was not clear and crisp sounding like Roon or HQP.
I don't think setup is a problem, Bubble UPnP is a culprit, definitely not the cleanest.

Well bubbleUpnp (and JPlay) are bit perfect (and demonstrably so) whereas HQP and Roon are typically not (depending on settings) so yes you may prefer the effects given by these programmes whether that be upsampling, Equalisation or whatever, but certainly Noisy shouldn’t apply IMO.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Well bubbleUpnp (and JPlay) are bit perfect (and demonstrably so) whereas HQP and Roon are typically not (depending on settings) so yes you may prefer the effects given by these programmes whether that be upsampling, Equalisation or whatever, but certainly Noisy shouldn’t apply IMO.

Even without any filters there is a difference, I know it should be bit perfect but it's not in my case, and few whom I know.

 

[SpursForEver]

Even without any filters there is a difference, I know it should be bit perfect but it's not in my case, and few whom I know.

Do you have a hifi for chilling out and listening to music you like or to find miniscule or non-existent differences in digital material?
Unless you use headphones, I'd recommend you to use DSP to correct your listening room (if you haven't already done that). Then we can talk about REAL improvements with only a cheap Umik microphone (that you ca sell on later at a good price) and free REW software. Otherwise a slight turn on a treble knob or tilting the frequency curve a little can remove most of perceived harshnesses.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Do you have a hifi for chilling out and listening to music you like or to find miniscule or non-existent differences in digital material?
Unless you use headphones, I'd recommend you to use DSP to correct your listening room (if you haven't already done that). Then we can talk about REAL improvements with only a cheap Umik microphone (that you ca sell on later at a good price) and free REW software. Otherwise a slight turn on a treble knob or tilting the frequency curve a little can remove most of perceived harshnesses.

I have measured my room with umik and placed speakers accordingly for a near flat response.
My integrated doesn't come with any tone controls, and I like it that way.

I don't use bubbleUPnP so it doesn't matter to me to correct things, happy the way my system is setup currently.

Will rest the case here, my mileage maybe different than others here.

 

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

Cool down guyz! Let's instead start looking forward to this weekend.

 

[sendler2112]

With the new update to HQ Player there is a big improvement in the efficiency of the processing so I can now use much higher quality settings up to ASDM7EC-super at 48x256 and can use any filter with DAC correction enabled, all the way to even include sinc-long (with a few skips). So, now I feel I can hear the Holo Cyan2 close to the best that it can be. And am comparing it to the Gustard R26 at 23/768 with sinc-long.
Both DACs are very revealing of fine detail and reverberant decay and can trace the sound of a triangle or studio reverb fading all the way out to a dead silent and black background.
The Cyan2 on the (seemingly according to consensus) preferable DSD source is fuller and thicker in body. slightly more syrupy and easy but still detailed. which, I think might be more a tendency of the DSD modulation of the original PCM file than the DAC but this is the favored setting and the Cyan is stated to offer the best SINAD measurements when decoding DSD.
The Gustard R26 doesn't have the hype right now but with a fairly good LAN implementation and cheap external clock, I can say that I like it better. It is more explosive and exciting by comparison. Wider, deeper and more layered with more black space between the instruments. HQ Player experts (who don't have an R26) tell me that it should measure highly distorted at these settings and be vastly inferior to the Cyan but I hear no trace of audible distortion in sibilant vocal sounds or guitars etc. And do all in all, prefer it to the Cyan2 for the dynamic rock that I listen to.
So after several more hours agonizing over AB listening tests, I have decided to sell the Cyan and stick with the R26 for now. Until something better like an R30 or used Holo May comes along.