[Dandoudou]

Roon 2.0 was released on September 20, 2022.

I'll make a new A/B comparison.

I made an A/B comparison between HQPlayer playing a few files of its library, and playing the same files in integrated mode with Roon.
I did not hear a drop in sound quality.

This long-dated issue that existed in earlier versions of Roon was apparently fixed with Roon 2.0.

 

[mikeypas]

Ordered a U18 to connect with R26. I was told a standard HDMI cable could be used for I2S connection, since both units are Gustard.
I purchased a Audioquest Forest 48 HDMI cable, but I noticed it says its single direction.
Would that still work going from U18 -> R26 ?
I'm on iMac , and my understanding is that the computer / software (audirvana) would still recognize the R26 and its capabilities.
Would the single direction affect that, if its going from U18 to R26 ?

 

[Dandoudou]

Ordered a U18 to connect with R26. I was told a standard HDMI cable could be used for I2S connection, since both units are Gustard.
I purchased a Audioquest Forest 48 HDMI cable, but I noticed it says its single direction.
Would that still work going from U18 -> R26 ?
I'm on iMac , and my understanding is that the computer / software (audirvana) would still recognize the R26 and its capabilities.
Would the single direction affect that, if its going from U18 to R26 ?

In this context, Audirvana sees only the specs of the DDC to which the Mac is connected by a USB cable, and not those of the DAC.
And it should be like that, because in this context only the specs of DDC matter, since the sound must pass through the DDC in order to reach the DAC.

EDIT
I said that Audirvana sees the specs of the DDC, but actually it's macOS that sees them, and Audirvana gets this information from macOS.

 

[mikeypas]

In this context, Audirvana sees only the specs of the DDC to which the Mac is connected by a USB cable, and not those of the DAC.
And it should be like that, because in this context only the specs of DDC matter, since the sound must pass through the DDC in order to reach the DAC.

EDIT
I said that Audirvana sees the specs of the DDC, but actually it's macOS that sees them, and Audirvana gets this information from macOS.

OK, that makes sense. Therefore in Audirvana, I would input the specifications of the R26 (just like as if it was connected by LAN) - because they won't be detected automatically?
When I select which device to play in Audirvana, would it then say U18 USB or something similar? I'm guessing it wouldn't say R26 USB because macos can't detect the dac

 

[Dandoudou]

OK, that makes sense. Therefore in Audirvana, I would input the specifications of the R26 (just like as if it was connected by LAN) - because they won't be detected automatically?
When I select which device to play in Audirvana, would it then say U18 USB or something similar? I'm guessing it wouldn't say R26 USB because macos can't detect the dac

No… You did not understand.
macOS will detect automatically the specs of the DDC. The specs of the DAC are completely irrelevant in this case.

Take this example.
Imagine that the specs of the DAC are 32-768, and those of the DDC are 24-192.
For the Mac, only the specs of the DDC matter, because the streaming path is : Mac > DDC > DAC.
The specs of the DAC are irrelevant, since the DDC does not support 32-768, and the specs of the DDC are the bottleneck.
Audirvana, and all the other players on the Mac will be automatically limited to an output of 24-192.

 

[mikeypas]

No… You did not understand.
macOS will detect automatically the specs of the DDC. The specs of the DAC are completely irrelevant in this case.

Take this example.
Imagine that the specs of the DAC are 32-768, and those of the DDC are 24-192.
For the Mac, only the specs of the DDC matter, because the streaming path is : Mac > DDC > DAC.
The specs of the DAC are irrelevant, since the DDC does not support 32-768, is limited to 24-192, and the sound must pass through the DDC.
Audirvana, and all the other players on the Mac will be automatically limited to an output of 24-192.

Thanks for that, I got it now Appreciate your responses!

 

[jgwtriode]

Yes, P3 for the digital electronics, P10 for the power amp.

The hypothesis is a bit flawed as I built up the power side while I designed the digital side since clean power is a part of getting the digital playback chain as noise-free as possible. I wouldn't be without either as I have the system performing really well.

If forced, and I could keep the power cables (which cost as much as the regenerators), I would lose the regenerators and leave the digital chain as-is.

I have been amazed what power cords can do. Stunning that Wywires Platinum Digital Power Cord made almost as much or more diffrence than switching from Platinum to Diamond USB on my older Oppo DAC from my reasonably good to Zenwave Audio Neotech Copper. I switched my other Wywires Power Cord from my Amp to my U18 DDC from the stock cord. Comparable difference to changing stock fuse to Synegistic Orange. Power Cords can make surprisingly big differences.

jgwtriode

 

[duffer5]

I am sure this has been addressed before but I continue to be a bit confused. My U18 will display 88.2 and the R26 will display 44.1 MQA / OFS. In this example the two numbers don't align. But there are times when they do align for example 96 sample rate for MQA / OFS or non MQA / OFS sample rate of 44.1 or 48. What causes this? Is this due to the unfolding of the MQA signal? What is the correct sample rate, I assume what I hear is what the DAC is processing? Regardless it sounds great, just curious. BTW the signal from the U18 is being fed into the R26 via i2s if that info helps for an explanation. Thank you in advance.

 

[Highfive99]

I am sure this has been addressed before but I continue to be a bit confused. My U18 will display 88.2 and the R26 will display 44.1 MQA / OFS. In this example the two numbers don't align. But there are times when they do align for example 96 sample rate for MQA / OFS or non MQA / OFS sample rate of 44.1 or 48. What causes this? Is this due to the unfolding of the MQA signal? What is the correct sample rate, I assume what I hear is what the DAC is processing? Regardless it sounds great, just curious. BTW the signal from the U18 is being fed into the R26 via i2s if that info helps for an explanation. Thanks.

If this was covered it was probably in the long R26 thread that's growing faster than a forest fire in Cali as I'm sure you know being an R26 owner.
I would also suggest to contact Gustard and get their take on why this happens.

 

[mikeypas]

I am sure this has been addressed before but I continue to be a bit confused. My U18 will display 88.2 and the R26 will display 44.1 MQA / OFS. In this example the two numbers don't align. But there are times when they do align for example 96 sample rate for MQA / OFS or non MQA / OFS sample rate of 44.1 or 48. What causes this? Is this due to the unfolding of the MQA signal? What is the correct sample rate, I assume what I hear is what the DAC is processing? Regardless it sounds great, just curious. BTW the signal from the U18 is being fed into the R26 via i2s if that info helps for an explanation. Thank you in advance.

I didn't have any MQA so I downloaded an album which was 24/192khz
Tested it out with A3.5
U18 displaying PCM 96Khz and R26 displays IIS OFS 192k

Pretty weird. Sounds beautiful still..

on another note: what is the issues people are reporting with DSD playback ? I've got U18 -> IIS -> R26, and DSD64,128,256 all play fine, while DSD512 is converted to PCM.

 

[matts19]

I am considering buying u18 for my DAC which takes BNC data input. Does U18 have BNC output ? I noticed that it has something called WCK (word clock). Do you think WCK is one that I am looking for ? Thanks.

 

[kumar402]

I have been amazed what power cords can do. Stunning that Wywires Platinum Digital Power Cord made almost as much or more diffrence than switching from Platinum to Diamond USB on my older Oppo DAC from my reasonably good to Zenwave Audio Neotech Copper. I switched my other Wywires Power Cord from my Amp to my U18 DDC from the stock cord. Comparable difference to changing stock fuse to Synegistic Orange. Power Cords can make surprisingly big differences.

jgwtriode

They do make a difference and I guess 2m and above has max impact

 

[kumar402]

I am considering buying u18 for my DAC which takes BNC data input. Does U18 have BNC output ? I noticed that it has something called WCK (word clock). Do you think WCK is one that I am looking for ? Thanks.

BNC out is there in U18. WCk Is for world clock but to connect to DAC there is a different BNC out.

 

[matts19]

BNC out is there in U18. WCk Is for world clock but to connect to DAC there is a different BNC out.

Sorry for my ignorance, but I do not see BNC out in this picture...

 

[duffer5]

Sorry for my ignorance, but I do not see BNC out in this picture...