For Gustard R26...which bang for the buck: DDC or LHY OCK clock?


I've been enjoying this dac for several months now. I have tried USB and COAX and now I2S.

There is a noticeable improvement in each of these inputs. I have read many of the discussions here regarding both DDC and external clocks. I am wondering which of these would give more bang for the buck. The Gustard goes very well with my tube amps.

I am considering the LHY OCK 1 or 2 for clocks and undecided for the DDC.

peareye

I have a Gustard A26 I’m using in a home office system consisting of TeKton Lore speakers , a 1970s refurbished Pioneer 5590 receiver and DIY server ,adding the LHY OCK 2 as described by Kereru caught my interest.

Regarding i2s cables my experience with them has been limited though I did use a silver I2s cable the North American distributor of Rockna Audio uses himself , a DIY cable his partner we’re experimenting with a 30 inches in length at the time I had the Rockna WaveDream Net server and Holo May dac .

I also used USB with both connected was able easily switch between the two cables . It is recommended i2s to be used with Rockna components and yes the i2s did sound marginally better then USB.

Anyway I don’t mean to contradict those beliefs shorter i2s cables should be used exclusively the importer of Rockna knows his product line very well he did not mention this .

 

I would like to add Rockna Audio do have their own i2s cable it’s responsibly priced availability found with European Rockna dealers, considering the back ground development of Rockna Audio I would think it’s worth checking out .

I have been using an Inakustik hdmi cable via i2s from ddc to R26

and it works well...silver plated copper. I also tried a brand new

fiber hdmi cable yesterday but couldn't get a signal???

I am still waiting to try a dh labs hdmi.

 

any suggestions why the fiber optic hdmi didn't produce a signal?

@peareye @kereru Old thread.  I have a Gustard R26 dac and Gustard U18 ddc.  I read this post and it enticed me to try a LHY ock-2 clock. It won't get to me for several days.

I was wondering what you feel is the best way to connect everything.  Should I connect the LHY to the dac, or to the ddc, or to both?

Did you find a particular brand/type of cable that works well?

I'm streaming with an innuos zen mk3 and going into the U18 via USB. ​​​

@sls883 Both! Both is best for me, after quite a bit of experimentation. Holds true for both PCM NOS and OS modes and DSD equivalents, though effect of externally clocking the R26 is more pronounced when using PCM NOS OFF and DSD Direct OFF i.e. internal oversampling ON.

The Harmonic Technology Digital Copper III is an excellent cable, quite a step up from the Gustard C2 and the cheaper but excellent performing LMR400. Ramble Audio HK has the best pricing and shipping cost globally.