I purchased a new R26 DAC a few months back from the distributor, to replace my Benchmark DAC3. When it arrived, I ran a digital signal through it for about 150 hours to allow it to break-in, for it sounded quite boring, soft, and lacking in detail when it first arrived. After the 150 hour break-in period, it continued to sound the same, and never improved. I was quite shocked at just how terrible my R-26 sounded. I tried it as a streamer, as well as just a DAC using a good transport and excellent digital coax cable. The results were the same. I also tried it in a friend's system, with the same poor results. I ended up sending it back to the seller for a full refund. I then purchased a new $800 SMSL DAC (D400EX), which sounds fantastic, and quite a bit more enjoyable than the Benchmark DAC3 that it replaced. I really feel that the new R26 DAC that I received must have been a "lemon" from the factory, for all the reviews on it are very positive. The one I received sounded worse than any of the cheapest $100 CD players from the 1990's that I have ever heard. You may have received one of the "lemons' from Gustard as well.
Digital Dilemma
I purchased an inexpensive Onkyo C-7030 CD Player more as just a transport, but also to use as a benchmark to compare to streaming music on-line. With intentions to get the streamed content to sound as good, if not better, than the CD player could muster.
After sitting my wife down for a listen (she has better ears than me) and playing Tidal, Quboz and then the same tracks on a CD, the CD was the clear winner every time. It also seems the CD playing without using the Gustard R26 DAC didn’t even sound all that much better than when played through the CD Player only, bypassing the R26. That doesn’t say too much for the R26 DAC or alternatively, it says a lot for the DAC in the CD Player!
I am using the R26 as the renderer via a LAN connection that is optically isolated. There are a few filters and adjustments on the DAC, but tweaking those still didn’t get the sound quality up to that of the CD Player.
A lot of you say you have achieved streaming that sounds as good as your analogue systems. What do you think, do I need a betted DAC?
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@bigshutterbug - interesting, but I think the R26 sounds good, I just need to refine my overall streaming set up. |
@navyachts I use a Singxer SU-6 DDC and avoid the LAN input, I use a Lumin U1 (the U1 mini's big brother) out to the R26 via the DDC into either the I2S or AES inputs. The R26 internally reclocks the I2S input signal using an external LHY OCK-2 masterclock. Also i have a fiber optic pathway between the ethernet switch and the Lumin. As mentioned, in MY system, every link in the chain including cabling makes a difference. The R26 as set up in the above mentioned way produces a fantastic soundstage, sonically very resolving but not fatiguing. Hopefully you did not get a defective unit, QC seems to be a problem for a lot of manufacturers these days - and not just Chinese manufacturers. |
+1 @kairosman Adding a DDC (Denafrips Iris) and switching to the i2S connection on my Musician DAC brought the sound to a much higher level entirely — not even close, and this was using a $6.50 6” HDMI cable from Monoprice. I haven’t upgraded to a better external clock yet but it’s definitely in my future. The nice thing is you can do these upgrades in steps over time rather than having to dump big $$$ on a better DAC upfront. |
I also have the Onkyo and use it as a transport through a Gustard X16. Until recently, I was also running Amazon Prime HD from my laptop into the Gustard. Cd’s were always somewhat better. Recently I installed a WIIM Pro also running through the Gustard with Optical cable because that’s the only available input. Result, (I also use my wife’s superior ears) Amazon HD App on my Samsung tablet thru WIIM for both of us is a substantial increase in SQ over the Onkyo thru the X16 and also Amazon HD thru the computer. (As of now the Amazon WIIM app is pretty bad for accessing my 4000+ saved files.) The rest of system is Aragon 4004 amp, Van Alstine FET valve Hybrid SL preamp, and Buchhardt 400s speakers. |
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