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Post by nicholas on Sept 9, 2022 21:19:49 GMT
I have not tried the streamer still waiting for some cables before I give this a try. I am not sure what to expect from it as a streamer I have no real expectations. I am not able to assess NOS as I do not have a balanced preamp. I might get a Topping A90 discrete when I have funds. My suspicion, John, is that you're in for a pleasant surprise with direct streaming into the network input on the DAC. We'll wait and see... |
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Post by HD Music & Test on Sept 9, 2022 22:50:39 GMT
No question it improves I even fed it with a Taiko lol
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Post by brettj on Sept 10, 2022 1:55:27 GMT
It's alway a small (or large) sigh of relief when you buy new, and end up liking how it sounds.
Pleased to hear it is going well John.
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Post by julesd68 on Sept 21, 2022 7:43:03 GMT
You've had the R26 a couple of weeks now John, am presuming it is living up to expectations, but are you getting any new insights from it in terms of the SQ?
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Post by John on Sept 21, 2022 8:05:12 GMT
I know a few other people have got the DAC, so perhaps better for them to comment.
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Post by stellabagpuss on Sept 21, 2022 9:06:34 GMT
Waiting for mine to land this week,will post findings
Damien
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Post by Clive on Sept 21, 2022 12:21:35 GMT
Mine is due today though it’s looking late….at least it’s in the UK
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Post by John on Sept 21, 2022 18:02:09 GMT
I did a few tweaks, Jules
AES RCA outs spdif and 12S going to the RTZ as a single source ground.
Orange internal fuse
I think the best way of describing all of this is the word balance. Everything is presented as a whole rather than be attended to a particular frequency range. Other terms are effortless, liquid and flow. Dynamics are still in abundance, as well as depth and soundstage.
Jules, you must come over and give your honest appraisal sometime soon.
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Post by julesd68 on Sept 21, 2022 21:34:52 GMT
Indeed I must - I think your amps are the only components still in the system after last time I visited, so keen to hear the new speakers in action too.
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Post by John on Sept 22, 2022 4:06:02 GMT
I think you will like the speakers
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Post by Clive on Sept 22, 2022 17:31:26 GMT
I’ve nothing significant to say about the R26 yet. Mine arrived today. There was a rattle inside! Before powering up I removed the lid to discover stray screw…one of the external chassis screws, an extra one, nice to have a spare :-). Easily done, it may have been trapped somewhere and shaken lose during shipping.
The DAC has been powered up for 4 hours and finally has played a couple of tracks. Certainly the presentation is different to the A22 (as John said). My impressions so far, at this ludicrously early point, are entirely positive.
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Post by John on Sept 22, 2022 17:34:36 GMT
Good to hear Clive
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Post by Clive on Sept 22, 2022 18:46:40 GMT
I don’t know whether my impressions will change over a couple weeks and with burn-in but here are my notes from listening to a few of my test tracks.
Body with strong deeper bass too (I’m partial to a good body)
Vocals are relatively explicit, in a forward system this might be too much but may calm down…it’s fine in my system, rather good really, to back this up I should add that some thin 60s recordings sound very good
Whole greater than sum of the parts and the parts are there in abundance
Flow
Individual strands well separated
Presence, vivid, breathy
Infectious rocking to the music
Oooh…the soundstage :-)
Nothing soft about the sound, dynamics are very good
For context I was using my OB Bastanis Philips Black Tulip power amp with much improved capacitors in the signal path, no preamp, Lindemann Bridge streamer powered via a supercap ps. The whole system runs through a grounding box…not one of the usual ones.
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Post by stellabagpuss on Sept 22, 2022 23:20:38 GMT
Guess it's my turn to briefly report. Only a few hours in, and thankfully off the bat, a sound l know l am going to enjoy.
The unit is still running in, but it's already apparent that mid range seems less muddled, and a mellow, but not dull sound, not a million miles from the SMSL M400, but certainly more refined.
l had to use Coax input, for whatever reason, it won't play nice using l2s on the Audio GD, although l will probably go the AES route.
One minor point, the output on the R26 is no where near as loud as the M400, it goes loud enough for myself, but won't totally drive my Nord Amps to the Max, so perhaps a pre amp in the future,if it really bugs me.Still gutted l didn't a extra screw,like Clive did 😉
Will report back in a few days time.
Damien
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Post by John on Sept 23, 2022 7:49:03 GMT
Regarding burn-in, it took two days for the dac to stabilise.
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Post by petea on Sept 23, 2022 8:13:24 GMT
...Still gutted l didn't a extra screw,like Clive did 😉 Will report back in a few days time. Damien Send it to Tony, I'm sure he can pop one in for you!  |
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Post by HD Music & Test on Sept 23, 2022 8:33:35 GMT
The review sample that was loaned me, I left playing solidly for 96 hours that did the trick
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Post by stellabagpuss on Sept 23, 2022 10:02:23 GMT
Baby steps 🤣
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Post by nicholas on Sept 23, 2022 18:21:30 GMT
Has anyone evaluated SQ through the network input streaming capability of the Gustard R26 yet?
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Post by John on Sept 23, 2022 18:27:20 GMT
I tried but think I did not get the procedure right to instal new files
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