Gustard R26

@arafiq I use the R26 streamer with Roon and HQplayer, faultless operation and sounds great. I use HQP upscaled PCM768 & DSD512.

I prefer the sound of the R26 internal streamer to my Ifi Zen Mini (+ IFI Power X) > Gothic Audio pure silver Outsider USB cable > Gustard U18 DDC > BJC FE I2S > R26. I actually found using a USB direct connection from my server to the U18 (albeit with the Holo Titanis USB regenerator plugged into the server) to be better than the Zen > U18, and closer to but still some way behind the R26 internal streamer. With an external clock in play the gap widens.

That said I know of a few folk with better streamers (like the Ifi Neo Stream) or servers (such as with $2k JCAT USB & ethernet upgrades) who prefer I2S and/or USB connection to the internal streamer. 

@kereru thanks for the info! Out of curiosity what other DACs have you got to compare the R26 to?

@kairosman Nothing more exotic right now alas. My only point of comparison was a head-to-head with a similarly priced and since returned SMSL AK4499 VMV D2 DAC last year, which the R26 beat handily. Oh and a Topping E50 they both destroyed. R26 & D2 were using the Zen/U18, Roon/HQP and an Ock-1.

All I know is that my R26’s sound has improved out of sight since then with network chain improvements, better external clocking and signal grounding (I can’t recomment Quartz Acoustics Premium grounding boxes highly enough). If the ’stock’ I2S input R26 YT reviewers compared favourably with R2Rs up to maybe the level of the Pontus/Venus and the Spring 3, then I reckon (he says, perhaps a little optimistically) in my more optimized setup it’d now surely soar well past them, if perhaps not quite as far as your Baltic 4...

@soix

and in the end it’s what’s on the inside that counts unless you’re an insecure audiophile who needs the bling to show it off to friends. I’m not one of those.

I don’t think it’s fair to assume that audiophiles who care about how the equipment looks are necessarily driven by the need to ’show it off to friends.’ Many audiophiles, myself included, care about the way our equipment looks. If I’m listening to my music I also tend to look at the speakers, amps, racks, etc. At least for me it adds to my enjoyment if the view is equally pleasing to my eyes. I’ve put in a lot of effort to make my listening room aesthetically pleasing (to my eyes). It is important to me that the equipment fits in with the overall vibe of the room. But I can assure you, it has nothing to do with showing off to anyone else.

@kereru Thanks for the wonderful feedback. Since I already have the Bluesound Node 2i in my second systems, I'm debating if I should go with only a DAC (e.g. Denafrips Pontus 2), or get the R26 and sell the BS Node. I like the fact that you can use a DDC with both DACs, i.e., R26 and Pontus.