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Digital Dilemma

I purchased an inexpensive Onkyo C-7030 CD Player more as just a transport, but also to use as a benchmark to compare to streaming music on-line. With intentions to get the streamed content to sound as good, if not better, than the CD player could muster.

After sitting my wife down for a listen (she has better ears than me) and playing Tidal, Quboz and then the same tracks on a CD, the CD was the clear winner every time. It also seems the CD playing without using the Gustard R26 DAC didn’t even sound all that much better than when played through the CD Player only, bypassing the R26. That doesn’t say too much for the R26 DAC or alternatively, it says a lot for the DAC in the CD Player!

I am using the R26 as the renderer via a LAN connection that is optically isolated. There are a few filters and adjustments on the DAC, but tweaking those still didn’t get the sound quality up to that of the CD Player.

A lot of you say you have achieved streaming that sounds as good as your analogue systems. What do you think, do I need a betted DAC?

128x128navyachts
riie
219 posts
 

Yes

antialiased's avatar
antialiased
43 posts
 

Do not get a better DAC. R26 is quite good with it's external clock input.

You need 10mhz Master Clock LHY OCK-2 with a good 50ohm Master clock cable (Messi & Paoloni, Times Microwave etc.) for that R26.

Use the R26 internal streamer as the master clock will clock the the streamed source as well.

That will align the planets. Trust me.

In terms of upsampling filters the R26 is better fed a pure NOS signal. If you had the A26, then I'd recommend using the upsampling filters as the delta sigma DACs take to those better in lowering the noise floor and creating overall smoothness.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide. New DACs are always fun.

 

mahler123
3,346 posts
 

I find the streamer vs CDP (or transport-DAC) argument to be non productive.  Rarely are people comparing apples to apples.  Usually it is a mid level component on end vs a pricier piece on the other.  And if everything is comparable price wise there can still be differences in design philosophies.  So it becomes which streamer vs which transport.  The differences between digital technologies is not as significant as the difference between digital and analog.

  What can be off putting is when beliefs are stated as dogma-usually in this case as “streaming always sounds better than CD”.  This dogma has become so prevalent that people think there is something wrong with them or their systems if they conclude other

elliottbnewcombjr
5,448 posts
 

This proves, streaming systems (modem, cables, pc card, dac, more cables, software whatever ...) add up to varying degrees of success.

CD/SACD players, using their own internal DACs can be: Great, good, bad, ugly. OP is telling us: his model sounds great!

Any CD player/changer: It’s a salad: physical steadiness, laser accuracy, clocking, over-sampling, propriety filters .....

Some here may know my quest, and finally finding my Sony xa5400ES SACD player. It’s awesome, there’s a reason it costs as much used today as it did when new in late 2008.

I’ve re-discovered my many CDs and few SACDs and been buying used CDs since choosing it. I just bought a spare remote, $15. just in case ...

bigkidz
3,383 posts
 

Get an old Marantz CD-94 which is more of a reference player that the one you own.

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