Gustard R26

@whart Check out soundnews.net as he writes good reviews and I think reviewed them both. 

Wow, that’s one helluva review and looks like one helluva DAC, especially for the price.  

he is a great reviewer, and has a similar taste in sound as me. I have bought a lot of gear based on his reviews and he has been spot on. He is actually the only reviewer that I have any confidence in matching my sonic preferences.

@yyzsantabarbara Ditto, and a big +1 from me. I think he’s one of the best reviewers out there today. And as a reviewer myself I’ve never heard of someone being paid by a manufacturer for writing a review. Reviewers are offered an accommodation pricing discount (basically dealer cost), which is standard, but that’s it (maybe @aquint ​​​and @amorsound could add their thoughts on this too as well-respected and very experienced fellow reviewers) Also, Sandu just doesn’t write like he’s in the bag for anyone — he comes across as very upfront and honest to me. Just my take FWIW.

If you can get a schematic of a DDC’s pin out configuration(s) you can forward it to Gustard and they should be able to tell you with certainty if it will or will not work with the R26.  I’ve done this with Musician for my Pegasus and they were very responsive and helpful.  Hope this helps. 

@baylinor That’s what I thought to initially, but OP might be talking about plugging an HDMI out from a non-i2S source like a DVD player and not just using a standard  HDMI cable from an i2S source. Still not clear on that. Anyway, on impulse I tried plugging my Oppo HDMI out into my Musician Pegasus’ i2S input and nothing happened and in checking further the Oppo’s HDMI out is not compatible with i2S and now I’m concerned I may have damaged my DAC’s i2S input although it still works fine through other inputs. In any event, lesson learned but I sure hope they agree on a standard i2S pin configuration in the near future to help avoid further confusion and frustration. It’s the Wild Wild West in some ways.

@pinwa I have to ask why you wouldn’t also feed the R26 with the Iris?  When I fed my R2R DAC with the Iris and an i2S connection the difference was quite remarkable.  Seems like the R26 is fighting with one arm behind its back at this point. 

@pinwa I find it hard to believe the Iris works with the X26 but not with the R26. That makes no sense to me, nor does it make any sense that the i2S connection makes little difference over USB. What HDMI cable are you using for i2S and how long is it. i2S doesn’t work well over distance and my i2S cable is 6”. Also, what’s the rest of the equipment in your system?  Make an apples to apples comparison or this is pretty useless IMHO. 

The Iris connects to the X26 through AES or Coax. I2S doesn’t work.

@pinwa Then why not connect the Iris to the R26 via AES/EBU or SPDIF?

The Raspberry Pi endpoint might be the weak point in my streaming setup so directly connecting the LAN to the R26 was attractive.

Then why not hook up the X26 this way as well? Either way at least you’ll be doing an apples-to-apples comparison. Not sure why you wouldn’t want that type of comparison.

There is a guy on the Denefrips Facebook page that tested dozens of I2S cables and his conclusion was that longer is better.

No offense to “a guy on Facebook,” but using a longer HDMI cable for i2S, assuming he was using HDMI cables, makes no sense given that an i2S signal degrades rapidly over distance given the way it was designed. If he was using USB cables that might make some sense I guess but not sure about how i2S travels through USB so maybe someone here might chime in on that.

I have no interest in spending my time doing an apples to apples comparison of the X26 vs the R26.

@pinwa Gotcha.  Makes total sense.  Can’t even believe I had the nerve to even suggest such a silly thing. 

I have no  idea why you feel you can "task" me with answering your questions

Hey, let’s be clear here — I don’t give one great God Damn what you do or don’t do, but understand your perception of both DACs is heavily flawed given the different setups and therefore is of little/no use to anyone here.  I was just trying to give a helpful suggestion that maybe you hadn’t considered and that would be more useful and interesting to those of us here who actually think apples-to-apples comparisons are a worthwhile thing.  How was I to know I was talking to an ostrich who’d rather just bury his head in the sand instead of just simply changing a couple connections and perhaps learning something useful?  My bad.  Sheesh. 

I want to replace with the same streamer with a 50 MHz clock input and get a new DAC with 50 MHz input as well. Or simply forgo SoTM altogether and replace with the Gustard R26 streamer / DAC in one unit.

@zeusodin If going with the R26 I’d suggest getting a DDC (Denafrips Iris, Musician Pisces, Singxer SU-6, etc.) as in addition to re-clocking they also allow you to provide an i2S connection to the DAC, so you’re getting two significant benefits in one.  I added the Iris and using the i2S made a huge difference from running SPDIF without the Iris.  Just my $0.02 FWIW.  

@zeusodin Yes, very. 
 

Wireworld Starlight 7 Ethernet cable > iFi Zen Stream (w/ iPowerX PS) > LavriCables Ultimate Silver Dual USB cable > Denafrips Iris DDC > 6” Monoprice HDMI cable > Musician Pegasus R2R DAC

It’s important to keep the HDMI cable as short as possible as i2S wasn’t designed for distance and will degrade quickly, which is why I got the 6” Monoprice cable as it was the shortest I could find — and also a very cost-effective way to dip my toe in the water.  I’m surprised by the level of performance so don’t feel a rush to upgrade the HDMI cable although I probably will at some point.  I’ve heard from others that the HDMI cable doesn’t seem to make a dramatic impact on the sound, so there’s that. You could still add a separate clock later as most DDCs have clock inputs, but you might not feel the need after hearing what a DDC can do.  Anyway, hope this helps at least somewhat. 

@zeusodin Im sorry, I’m not familiar with your DAC so I can’t say.  I’d certainly reach out to Esoteric and ask them what input is best and go from there.  If they say their DAC works best with an i2S input I wouldn’t hesitate to get a good DDC, but at that level I’d be looking at the Denafrips Hermes or Musician Leo given their better clocks.  If i2S is the best connection according to Esoteric, then hell yeah I view a DDC as mandatory. 

The guy at stereonews.net compares the R26 favorably with the MUCH more expensive Denafrips Terminator 2, so by association it’s superior to the Pontus ll. 

@arafiq Yup, I hear ya man — looks like straight-up ChiFi, but I trust the guy who wrote the review, and in the end it’s what’s on the inside that counts unless you’re an insecure audiophile who needs the bling to show it off to friends.  I’m not one of those. 

@arafiq Point taken and totally get and respect that.  I’m not a fan of the Gustard’s look either, especially in silver.  Yuck.  But I do think getting something that performs at the level of the R26 that also looks good will cost multiples of its price — think along the lines of the Denafrips Terminator, etc.  Ouchee!

A wireless input is going into the extender, so where is the logic of the lan being superior using a wifi extender? It simply is not so.

@balooo2 There are many here who use an extender to provide a wired connection to the streamer and find it superior to using Wi-Fi — and yes, I was skeptical at first too for the same reasons as you, but here we are.  Maybe @ghdprentice can chime in here as he uses an extender with his very expensive streaming setup.  Some people say using a mesh system is better than an extender, but it’s also a bit more expensive.  Sometimes things in audio don’t seem to make sense on the surface yet still provide meaningful improvements.  The good news is just trying running an Ethernet cable from an extender is pretty cheap to try out, so why not?

@jjss49 Scratching my head as to how we went from Wi-Fi to having a mesh setup. If you have a mesh system why not just run a cable?  Something’s amiss here. 10 minutes I’ll never get back.

You don’t know what you’re doing nor what you’re talking about.  Peace out. 

@balooo2 Do you run an Ethernet cable from your mesh node to your streamer? You keep leaving pertinent pieces of information out of your posts, which is why we’re confused here. Or were we just supposed to magically know that you’re running a mesh system? When you say you’re using Wi-Fi no one will then assume you’re using a mesh system, which is a big difference. You don’t even seem to understand that if you run a mesh system you don’t need to run a line from another room, which is the whole point. Duh. Whatever. This is a mess. @jjss49 I agree this is troll city — too many inconsistencies give it away. I don’t believe you’re even running a mesh system or you would’ve mentioned it earlier and understood it obviates the need for a long run of cable, and I’m out.

This reviewer, who I hold in high regard due to his knowledge and breadth of equipment reviews, compares the Gustard R26 favorably to the Denafrips Terminator.  That speaks volumes to me, FWIW. 

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/a-new-point-of-reference-gustard-r26-discrete-r-2r-ladder-dac-review/
 

I’d also highly recommend a DDC that will allow you to take advantage of the Gustard’s i2S input.  I did this with my Musician Pegasus DAC and it was a game changer.  Hope this helps, and best of luck. 

@calieng Well, if it just takes some time to let it burn in more, and it’s free, why rush to judgement? Several people here have posted they preferred the R26 to the A26 and I’ve never seen the reverse. Or maybe you’re just, different.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  You be you. 

@calieng It’s really not fair, nor rigorous, to assess the R26 basically right out of the box.  Give it at least 100 - 200 hours before making any conclusions. 

I am an engineer. I have run testing labs and worked for the federal government, military, nuclear energy....I am trained in testing and evaluation.  I have heard what I need to hear.

That’s great.  Good for you.  That has nothing to do with audio equipment evaluation.  I’ve professionally reviewed high-end audio equipment for 17 years, and if I ever submitted a review after a week of listening I would’ve been fired.  Add that to the fact that no one here prefers the A26 to the R26 and I think it’s fair to say your conclusions are suspect.  Reviewing any new piece of audio equipment and making any firm conclusions in the first week is ludicrous.  Period.