Gustard R26

@kairosman With respect I didn’t say the R26 uses an external clock to reclock its DAC section only with the LAN input selected but that when the LAN input is used it also reclocks its streamer/renderer section. So it’s just there’s a there’s a dual benefit in my use case.

I’ve verified through careful AB’ing (ext clock on/off toggling) that the R26 does audibly benefit from an R26-connected external clock when fed I2S or S/pdif from the SU6 or U18, irrespective of whether DSD Direct or PCM NOS is on or off. From recollection others on Headfi found the same with the R26 and the other Gustard *26 DACs that share the K2 clock synthesiser.

@kereru sorry my mistake for misconstruing what you said. BTW I've heard from more than one person that LAN and USB are clocked in the DAC while SPDIF AES I2S are clocked by the streamer/server. I have yet to come across a clear, precise and comprehensive description of a DAC's operation, have you?

usb connection allows the receiving dac unit to provide the clock timing

spdif transmission is just the reverse, clock signal is sent by the sending unit as ’master’ and the receiving unit can only be the ’slave’

lan standards can vary, but timing info is usually part of the packet data sent -- of course the receiving can reclock the data once received

I'm seriously considering the R26 for my second system. I previously had the Denafrips Ares II that I liked but had to sell it when I sold off my second system to take care of other unexpected expenses. But now I'm back at putting together the second system in my home office once again. Since it's a second system, I don't want to spend more than $1500 on the DAC. I have two questions ...

1. Does the R26 provide meaningful, noticeable improvement over Ares II? I know it's all subjective but still want to hear from someone who has compared the two.

2. I think the R26 can double as a streamer as well. How would you compare it to Bluesound Node (the streamer aspect only) or other streams in the sub $1000 range? Is it Roon-enabled? For some reason, Gustard doesn't highlight the streaming function as much. Is it because it's more of an afterthought or do you guys think it can compete favorably with similar priced streamers?

... also, has anyone compared it with Denafrips Pontus II? Since I already have a BS Node 2i, I can probably use it as a streamer with the Pontus.