Gustard R26

there are many streamers and streaming dacs that use wireless and even bluetooth input... amazon and alibaba are littered with them, many dirt cheap, there are also some more pricey ones, with rather higher sonic aspirations

but this is a thread about the r26 from gustard, and it needs a hardwired network input for its streamer feed... 

@sgreg1 No offense taken,no worries. What I find odd about your best sound perspective via lan is you stated  "What is hard about plugging in a wifi extender. Run a piece of cat 6 to the R26" Ok... what is the source feeding the wifi extender? A wireless input is going into the extender, so where is the logic of the lan being superior using a wifi extender? It simply is not so.Additionally the lan you have signal is highly dependent on the quality of the internet service and last mile/ feet installation to your modem. I know a little about this and I've seen some off the charts internet noise in congested areas (and non congested areas with poor install) a quality wireless router cleans a lot of that up fact, but thats for a different topic. My point in this case is lan does not guarantee a better signal for music streaming especailly if your lan was poorly installed and or the componets in the wall and box are old and degraded...food for thought. I have a fiber optic high speed servce which gives a consistant 100+ Mbp safe to say I'd put my wireless setup against any lan that was installed 4 years or more ago; one last thing to consider do you KNOW what cat wiring is in your walls? I'll bet its not cat 6.

@jjss49 And I am discussing the Gustard r26,most reviews I’ve read state they did not test r26’s streaming capabilies because they don’t stream via lan.In fact I have not encounted much commentary regarding the streaming experince (none on this thread either) only SQ. I almost pulled the trigger on r26 last week when it was on sale knowing i would not use the "streaming" function but decided to trust my gut and wait for a revised version and not pay for something I will not use. I bet most folks who purchased one use it solely as a dac,I did’nt know this was supposed to be a rah rah session for those who purchased an r26. I’m simply offering my perspective about the r26 just like everyone else that commented.

I sent a friend of mine a Matrix Audio I-3 mini Pro almost 3 years ago. It was only yesterday that I setup this DAC with a headphone amp and headphones at his place in Florida. He did not want to figure out how to put it all together.

He really does not have wired in either his home or office, just WiFi. The Matrix is maybe the most flexible DAC for streaming. It has Wifi support along with BlueTooth (via an iPhone for him). We were able to get music playing in minutes and have his musical experience improved from his prior iPhone speaker to a pretty nice headphone setup. I told him the way he was using the new setup was like putting 87 octane gas into a Ferrari, but it was still better than what he was doing before.

I owned the Matrix mini i-3 Pro at one time and I tested it out the Wifi. I was amazed at how good it sounded when it WORKED. When it did not work I had to restart the DAC. I think this was related to the WiFi’s inherent quality at my home. It will be interesting to see you it works for my friend.

Wifi has some advantages (no wire into the DAC carrying noise) that I would expect it to sound good. I have 3 different Fibre Optic streamers so I know what a decent setup sounds like.

I did’nt know this was supposed to be a rah rah session for those who purchased an r26.

i don’t follow, this is a discussion thread on a ’flavor of the month’ dac, getting lots of internet push, seemingly a decent performer, if one accepts the reviews

competing as they are in this crowded field, they try to offer good performance and a compelling feature set, so bundling in streaming capability is no doubt viewed by the maker as something a buyer/user would likely positively value or they wouldn't have done it ...

but as i read what is here, this ain’t no rah rah here about the r26 (and i ain’t got no horse in this pony race)

but if it doesn’t work for you, then move on, lotsa fish in the ocean...