*DAC

IMHO (from personal experience) the cable or power cord/vibration devices can be the issue. The good news is they are a lot cheaper to address. After spending $170 for a 1.5M Pangea coax (same specs as DH Labs @ $240) I tripped across a thread here about Ali-Express Chinese cables. I have no issues saving money especially on cables. Dipped my toe in the water and ordered Nordost Odin 2 (name knock-off), both a 1.0 and 1.5m for half the price of the Pangea! Figured it would sell quick but noooo. Anyway, the Odin 2 brought my entire system to new levels of enjoyment. After sufficient break in with the 1.5 I swapped it out for the 1.0m and was further shocked that a mere half meter shorter could reveal so much more. I wound up replacing all the cables in my system, but moved to Odin 2 Gold which gives me more texture, aka fuzz on the peach.

Since I swapped out the Odin 2 for Odin 2 Gold for over a year I have been searching for a Odin 2 Gold coax cable which I finally found and should be here in a couple days: price a mere $46 dollars and free shipping

HTH

The DAC is probably not the last piece of your puzzle. Seems you are streaming music. Your music source files are the last piece of the puzzle: if they are dynamically compressed, no price-point DAC will jump the shark you’ve placed in this path. You are constrained in details by the source file, primarily. In all likelihood, but were I a betting man, I’d wager. Sort that, since no streaming service will be doing it for you. Too many clients willing to pony up each month not knowing which master/remaster of any given song/album they’re getting for you to expect better from a streaming service. Its convenience you pay for in those services more than perfection, and fair is fair, eh!?

@navyachts 
 

Maybe I missed it, but what is your budget and no you do not have to go over $5K to beat the 26!  Do you like the sound from the 26? I have the Denifrips Pontus ll and it is also a Ladder DAC and I believe it is hands down better. The next model up is the Venus ll and I’m hoping to get one or the Terminator ll (probably used) next year.

All the best.

Here’s a Weiss 204

@curiousjim How would you compare/contrast the performance of the R26 vs. the Pontus?