What did a good 10 MHz clock do for your Gustard R26?

I'm aware but my ears tell me different. I always go with my ears.

@audphile1 You're talking about my R26 right? Mine doesn't seem to match the descriptions of others' R26s. Like the imaging. I suspect mine is broken.

I got a Gustard 10 MHz clock, the $750 or so model, from Amazon, could return. After an hour of warmup of the clock (the R26 DAC was already warmed up), I hear an improvement in extension and tonal balance, more midrange where there seems to be an upper midrange recession in the stock R26. But it's a small difference. Call it one step of difference. I would want about 5 steps of difference to be worth $1000 (The Gustard clock plus Gustard clock cable plus tax). I don't think I'm keeping either the clock or the R26. Not sure what I'll do. Maybe just go back to previous DAC (a modified iFi iDSD Nano, surprisingly good after mods). And wait. Maybe try the Denafrips.

Yep I’m talking about R26. If you have a second unit that doesn’t sound right then you should be done. 
 

there’s a lot of hype going on around the LAiV Harmony DAC. May be try that? Seems to be receiving lots of praise from the reviewers. 

@magon yeah maybe cut bait and run if you're not happy, return the clock and sell the R26, the aftermarket price for them is pretty decent.

I've owned a Denafrips Terminator II (sold it to fund a Lampizator Baltic V4) and would recommend the brand, good sonically, good rep, excellent after sales service and warranty support, seems the new Pontus is a sweet spot in the lineup but you will also definitely need one of their DDCs to fully exploit its capabilities.

Another good DAC I own is the Weiss 204, you won't need a DDC or clock with it, lots of reviews and forum posts about it.

@magon so by now you’ve tried 3 dacs. Gustard R26, your modified Gustard and the PS Audio DSD MkI. Just to summarize…R26 is dark and dull, the PS Audio is too bright, snd the modified Gustard is just right?

This begs the question - have you tuned your headphone and speaker system (s) to the sound of modified Gustard so much that the other two DACs don’t sound right? Both R26 units sounded broken. And I’m most surprised about your assessment of PS Audio DSD. That DAC is anything but bright. So my suggestion based on this DAC shootout you have conducted, is to take a close look at your system, room and the associated equipment as I suspect you have created a synergy for that particular modified DAC and now nothing else can integrate. Is it possible?