Gustard R26 vs hi end streamer

My chain of signal is as follows: MXN10 (optical)-> R26 (xlr, gatham star-quad cable) -> Cambridge Azur 851A (Belden 5T00UP 10awg speaker cable) -> Linton.

Linton has an elevated treble and is less forgiving of relatively poorer recordings. The R26 is neutral; any shortcomings should be attributed to the speaker, not the R26. I just hope that an R2R DAC like the R26 could help tone down the brightness.

I tried a better recording (by Nemanja Radulovic), and the sound through my system was much improved. It's still a bit bright for my taste, but much more liquid and refined.

Alright, I’ve had the R26 for about three weeks now, with at least 200-250 hours of playback time. It sounds pretty good—neutral and rich—but not as natural-sounding as I’d prefer.

That said, the other two DACs I own—the Cambridge MXN10’s internal DAC and the SMSL D6s—perform just as well as the R26 in areas like detail, tonal balance, soundstage, instrument separation, and bass. To my ears, all of these traits range from very good to excellent.  All these three DACs are able to preserve these sound traits in the recording pretty well.

However, when you consider the price, there’s an almost ninefold disparity between them. So, is the SMSL D6s exceptionally good for its price, or is the R26 just comparable to a highly capable entry-level Delta-Sigma DAC? Is the R26 simply overhyped?

My signal chain is mxn10 -> DAC -> Cambridge Azur 851A or Parasound A23 -> Wharfedale Linton or Buchardt S400 mkII.

I have a question about the new LHY - OCK-2"S" master clock.

Does anybody tried it with Gustard R26 or another DAC or streamer?

I tried to buy the old OCK-2 model on Aliexpress and eBay. But each time I ordered it sellers told me the old model is sold out and out of production.

The truth is the extra $400 is too much for me. I have Gustard r26 DAC and a $1100 master clock looks like an too expensive gadget for $1600 DAC.