Gustard R26

Understood. I have Legacy Aeris speakers and a distributed bass array ala AudioKinesis. I decided to go with 2 REL 212/SX in front and 2 Rythmik E22 for the rear. So it's possible that my hardware might improve from additional tweaking. Another audio friend came over this past weekend and said Don't spend another dime on anything before treating your room. I live in a large loft with concrete / brick walls and hardwood floors. So it echoes. That's my #1 priority now. When that is done, I will look into the DAC / streamer / clock issue. I think I will replace the SOtM with a  version that has the clock input and then look at a used Esoteric Grandioso D1.

Did you consider spending the purchase price of the R26 only on a DAC since you are not using its streamer? Just curious. But if you have a Lampizator as well, you have DACs in rotation which is a beautiful thing! Lol. A friend sells the Lumin line of products. They are truly amazing.

Thanks so much. I might reach out again after finishing treating my room.

I want to replace with the same streamer with a 50 MHz clock input and get a new DAC with 50 MHz input as well. Or simply forgo SoTM altogether and replace with the Gustard R26 streamer / DAC in one unit.

@zeusodin If going with the R26 I’d suggest getting a DDC (Denafrips Iris, Musician Pisces, Singxer SU-6, etc.) as in addition to re-clocking they also allow you to provide an i2S connection to the DAC, so you’re getting two significant benefits in one.  I added the Iris and using the i2S made a huge difference from running SPDIF without the Iris.  Just my $0.02 FWIW.  

@soix Thanks for the suggestion. I will take this seriously. Are your connections similar to kairosman’s post above? Thank you.

@zeusodin Yes, very. 
 

Wireworld Starlight 7 Ethernet cable > iFi Zen Stream (w/ iPowerX PS) > LavriCables Ultimate Silver Dual USB cable > Denafrips Iris DDC > 6” Monoprice HDMI cable > Musician Pegasus R2R DAC

It’s important to keep the HDMI cable as short as possible as i2S wasn’t designed for distance and will degrade quickly, which is why I got the 6” Monoprice cable as it was the shortest I could find — and also a very cost-effective way to dip my toe in the water.  I’m surprised by the level of performance so don’t feel a rush to upgrade the HDMI cable although I probably will at some point.  I’ve heard from others that the HDMI cable doesn’t seem to make a dramatic impact on the sound, so there’s that. You could still add a separate clock later as most DDCs have clock inputs, but you might not feel the need after hearing what a DDC can do.  Anyway, hope this helps at least somewhat. 

Some guys actually have MULTIPLE switches because they believe reclocking the signal multiple times BEFORE a DDC/clock/DAC stack yields benefits - in this crazy hobby, I wouldn't be the least surprised if that is true lol!