Gustard R26 new R2R DAC

[giordy60]

On 9/24/2022 at 5:38 PM, botrytis said:

Last USB drivers for all the Gustard DACs.

 

 

 

 

gustard_usbaudio_v5-50-0_setup.exe 3.06 MB · 4 downloads

coincidence ?
same driver of Denafrips released a few days ago ......🙄

V5.50.0

[botrytis]

That just means they don't recompile them and using the same USB chip is all.

[EMINENT]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:08 AM, davide256 said:

The R26 grows more enticing. Must resist... at least until after I've gone to CAF this year 🙂

 

Being able to bypass USB or external DDC via UPNP or HQPe to NAA  streaming could be very nice as long as the CPU for the endpoint board

isn't under equipped for the job. What I fear is that the network section will be like other endpoint devices I've used {Oppo 103, microRendu, Atom PC} where

the sound is very clean but treble and transients lose resolution compared to USB out from the server.

NAA is now working with HQP after 1.3

[botrytis]

TY for the information.

 

There is supposed to be an android app too, for control or something like that. I haven't seen anything yet.

[clark8888]

On 9/24/2022 at 3:21 PM, stefano_mbp said:

 

 

one R26 buyer told me internal naa is not as good as deluxe independent NAA.  I guess similar with Pi4 sound quality

[clark8888]

[stefano_mbp]

1 hour ago, clark8888 said:

What is that?

[clark8888]

On 10/2/2022 at 1:19 PM, stefano_mbp said:

What is that?

It's a DIY naa from a Chinese HQ fan not for sale.

[stefano_mbp]

34 minutes ago, clark8888 said:

It's a DIY naa from a Chinese HQ fan not for sale.

How is it done (cpu, ram, …)? … just curious 

[botrytis]

So, the 1.3 update and the 5.5 USB drivers are working well.

[clark8888]

On 10/4/2022 at 10:34 PM, stefano_mbp said:

How is it done (cpu, ram, …)? … just curious 

[bibo01]

@MiskaHi, have you managed to lay your hands on this DAC or will you be able to test measure it in the future for its NAA component and DSD output?

[Miska]

31 minutes ago, bibo01 said:

@MiskaHi, have you managed to lay your hands on this DAC or will you be able to test measure it in the future for its NAA component and DSD output?

 

No, I don't have it. I have not encountered it available within EU. Price is similar to Spring 3?

 

[bibo01]

8 minutes ago, Miska said:

No, I don't have it. I have not encountered it available within EU. Price is similar to Spring 3?

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-with-volume/gustard-dac-r26-discrete-r2r-dac-i2s-bluetooth-lan-airplay-roon-dlna-32bit-768khz-dsd512-black-p-16596.html

[FIndingit]

13 hours ago, bibo01 said:

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-with-volume/gustard-dac-r26-discrete-r2r-dac-i2s-bluetooth-lan-airplay-roon-dlna-32bit-768khz-dsd512-black-p-16596.html

 

https://www.hifistudio79.nl/product/the-flagship-gustard-r26-r2r1bit-dsd-dac-roon/

[Currawong]

 

Just arrived from Shenzen Audio. Quite nice out of the box through an Audio-gd Master 9 and DCA Expanse headphones.

[davide256]

12 hours ago, Currawong said:

 

Just arrived from Shenzen Audio. Quite nice out of the box through an Audio-gd Master 9 and DCA Expanse headphones.

Do let us know how it compares to your Hugo 2. 🙂

[Currawong]

On 11/7/2022 at 3:28 AM, davide256 said:

Do let us know how it compares to your Hugo 2. 🙂

I've been mainly comparing it to the Audio-gd R-27HE. It's a very "clean" sounding DAC. The network input seems to be the go for best sound if not using i2s.  I wish it had the NAA daemon installed -- maybe I can hack it in? It's definitely a good candidate for HQPlayer PCM up-sampling.

[Dandou]

On 11/12/2022 at 12:39 AM, Currawong said:

I've been mainly comparing it to the Audio-gd R-27HE.

And how these DACs compare? 

[davide256]

On 11/11/2022 at 6:39 PM, Currawong said:

I've been mainly comparing it to the Audio-gd R-27HE. It's a very "clean" sounding DAC. The network input seems to be the go for best sound if not using i2s.  I wish it had the NAA daemon installed -- maybe I can hack it in? It's definitely a good candidate for HQPlayer PCM up-sampling.

how engaging is it with HQP for mid range timbre and intonation? Used to think HQP was something that improved technical detail at the expense of mid range bleaching, which is what happened with Chord Mojo and Metrum Octave. But using HQP with a Cayin RU6 has been a different experience, timbre and intonation are preserved or improved. 

[57gold]

Does this DAC have a quality variable output?

[gstew]

Just ordered one via Amazon to take advantage of the $250 off Black Friday price.

 

Anyone else?

 

Greg in Mississippi 

[Jakenz]

On 11/12/2022 at 12:39 PM, Currawong said:

I've been mainly comparing it to the Audio-gd R-27HE. It's a very "clean" sounding DAC. The network input seems to be the go for best sound if not using i2s.  I wish it had the NAA daemon installed -- maybe I can hack it in? It's definitely a good candidate for HQPlayer PCM up-sampling.

 

I have the R26, shipped late Sep with firmware that included the NAA. So expect a firmware update should give you NAA Functionality - just make sure you update both firmwares including the renderer. I find streaming Roon/HQP direct to the internal NAA is audibly superior to Ifi Zen Stream/U18 via I2S. LHY OCK-1 external clock slaving U18 & R26. And this at same upsampling level - the Ifi maxes out at PCM384khz & DSD256. HQP PCM768 via the R26 NAA sounds fabulous. 
 

On 11/19/2022 at 3:48 AM, davide256 said:

how engaging is it with HQP for mid range timbre and intonation? Used to think HQP was something that improved technical detail at the expense of mid range bleaching, which is what happened with Chord Mojo and Metrum Octave. But using HQP with a Cayin RU6 has been a different experience, timbre and intonation are preserved or improved. 

Very good with PCM768 and heavier HQP filters like poly-sinc-ext2. 

I am pretty new to HQP so still experimenting, but slightly prefer PCM768’s more full bodied and palpable midrange/vocals to DSD512’s slightly more resolving but lighter presentation. It’s close though. OCK-1 enhances all aspects of the R26’s sound, including weight and definition of bass, midrange texture, soundstaging breadth, depth and precision. A terrific pairing IME. 

 

On 11/19/2022 at 4:01 AM, 57gold said:

Does this DAC have a quality variable output?

It does, but purely digital I believe. And it doesn’t appear to have a sophisticated near-lossless volume control with bits to spare like HQP as I’m pretty sure I detect a dynamic range drop-off much past -3db down so try to use its fixed/line level output as much as possible.  More to the point selecting PCM NOS On and/or DSD direct forces fixed level output.

[Qstik]

On 11/25/2022 at 10:16 PM, gstew said:

Just ordered one via Amazon to take advantage of the $250 off Black Friday price.

 

Anyone else?

Yes, I ordered directly from ShenzhenAudio at the Black Friday price + free shipping on Nov. 28.  I received it 4 days later via DHL in the Detroit area !!!  Not a single mark on the package.

 

It's burning in right now, but so far, it already sounds fabulous over I2S compared to my Metrum Onyx with updated DAC3 modules.  Settings are:  PCM Filter "Mid" , PCM NOS "ON" , DSD Direct "ON"

[D10]

I am wondering how it compares to Denafrips Pontus ?