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

Awesome! Wait till you try a good power cable on this dac. 

@audphile1 I did put Igor's best PC on it. The members of the N.J. Audiophile Society tell me it can compete with $5K power cords. Of course this might be introducing Igor's signature again, but I don't think so, because the weirdness all went away with the USB cable switch. 

I listened for a while through two different headphones -- LCD-2 (pre-fazor) and 2021 LCD-X. The LCD-2 is dark, and not a good match for the PS Audio.. it just sounds rolled-off with this combination. But the LCD-2 has a very beautiful midrange, and that came through clearly. I also listened to the PS Audio on speakers and noticed the extraordinarily beautiful midrange and deep musical expression - and like you say, it does require attentiveness on the listener's part, because the PS Audio isn't exactly "grab ya by the collar."

I then listened through the LCD-X, which has a much better overall tonal balance, something generally true of Audeze's fazor headphones. The sound was more interesting and attention-grabbing with the highs no longer rolled-off. But unfortunately there wasn't as much musical expression. The fazor LCD-X has a less beautiful midrange than my LCD-2. I couldn't go with the LCD-X for my long-term listening.

I then switched to my Gustard R26 with the C26 clock. The sound was much more lively and a better match for the LCD-2. In testing the PS Audio and the Gustard, I listened to Maria Schneider's "Walking by Flashlight" for big band, which builds to a climax on a beautiful, very rich/complex chord near the end. The PS Audio emphasized the beauty of this chord. The Gustard emphasized more the climatic nature of it, giving a better sense of shape and finality to the piece.

Because the Gustard is a better match for the LCD-2 (and at this time I don't want to start a whole new search for the perfect headphone), and because I find it more important to make climaxes exciting, I think I'm going to go with the Gustard, which by the way is much improved with the Cardas USB and the C16 clock. I started this thread complaining about the Gustard R26, but it seems pretty resolved. It still needs more oomph, especially in quiet music. My goal is to make quiet music, and sudden pianissimo, as captivating as loud music. (Something true of live instruments.) Maybe a better clock or clock cable.

Cool. You have to go with whatever suits your preference and perception of best sound. It took me a while to begin appreciating the PS Audio DAC after the somewhat more forward and resolving but cooler sounding Bricasti M3 and now I just love the DSD DAC sound. It’s all about synergy and personal taste.

I love the PS Audio DS Dac's beauty and musical expressiveness. If I could find the right headphone with it, something more balanced than my LCD-2 yet with an equally beautiful midrange, I would go with the DSD no question. I've just run out of time in all this searching.

I don't understand why people buy external clocks. The dac itself should already come with an excellent clock. Not sure I like the idea about adding an additional box to address a deficient clock within a dac.  Plenty of higher end dacs have excellent clocks.  Maybe you're stuck with a deficient dac that should be replaced.

I don't like separate dacs and I have a couple but I purchased a lumin x1 which is a streamer/dac and that's working out really well.  I don't have to fiddle with extra connections and tormenting myself with a feeling I need to consider a new dac. Also the internal wiring if done well to connect a really good dac capability is far superior than dealing with additional interconnects, etc 

I'm not a fan of integrateds, but in these couple of areas above it would seem to me justifiable