Gustard R26

The X26 PRO has been my dac since January and I am completely satisfied with its delta-sigma based chip. I never went up the chain with R2R but the Aries II did not do it for me. With the Gustard, set the filter to gentle and it will bring the sound close to R2R but with so much more details. Set on vivid and even more details but can be overly bright with some recordings. Either way the Gustard X26 PRO offers filter adjustments that give you the best sound no matter the darkness or brightness of a recording. So it makes me think that moving to the R26 would be an insignificant improvement, or lack thereof, from the X26 PRO. I read on another site this guy got both and said if you don't have the PRO, buy the R26, if you do, don't. Good advice.

@baylinor 

I dabbled with an Aries II but sold it because it wasn't true NOS, its linear interpolation rolled off treble at CD rate. But it did have the hallmark of a NOS DAC in the mid range which is correct instrument timbre. The usual compromise with less expensive R2R DAC's is softer dynamics and treble resolution vs an OS DAC. For me the correct timbre of NOS wins out vs the OS strengths so I hope the R26 will come close to a Holo Spring 3 which is what I had been considering for next DAC purchase

@sgreg1 

Pretty happy with an SRC-DX as DDC and plan to use coax. Since I2S isn't standardized for pinout, interoperability is a PITA

Going from Aries II to Gustards X26s is definitely a big step up. I know nothing about the holo but Sandu does and says it measures well.  Says Gustards are as good as the up to $3,500 range if I recall correctly.

@davide256

I have started my research on a DDC box. I can’t remember off the top of my head right now but I did come across one that allowed for the I2S pins to be customized to match the dac pins. It was done through an external program that allowed for laptop to connect to DDC through USB port. It looked like it could be changed to match any dac I2S set up. I know the R26 already has a good clocking system so not sure how important this will be in selecting the DDC. I have found some that are in excess of 10k and that is not a consideration for me. I think I will start with just usb to R26 then add a low cost I2S DDC and review the change. Then maybe move up the food change to add a better reclock unit. I am not trying to go down the rabbit hole of obsessive this could be better or that could be better. I the R26 meets my ears I will sit tight as is. Enjoy the music!

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.