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Post by stellabagpuss on Nov 11, 2024 16:19:33 GMT
Well many thanks Martin 😊 For such an in depth assessment of the new King in your listening room.
Very promising and it hasn't even burnt it yet, and knowing Gustard products they take a few hours on the clock,l know my stock took a number of weeks to open up.
Keep us posted, especially in regards to the unit rendering via steamer,the R26 is that good at it,l completely swap over to it, and has to eat my own words.
Excellent... l look forward to the next update.
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Post by nicholas on Nov 11, 2024 16:49:54 GMT
The management summary so far: the X26 III is subtly better than the already good X26 Pro in virtually every area from fine detail to dynamics, soundstage, low level background, note decay, bass power and texture and lack of harshness. This is a very good performance from brand new. The above Impressions are with just a few hours on the DAC. I’m sure the next few hundred hours will add more goodness and I shall help it along with some Tara Labs burn-in signal overnight. I also have the streamer to try at a future time, but I probably won’t do that until the DAC’s performance has settled. "Subtly better" is exactly what I heard following the unboxing of my X30. Over the course of several days this subtlety transformed into a wholeness that I've not experienced with other Dacs. I believe that you're in for a treat as the days pass. |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 11, 2024 17:00:34 GMT
I believe I'm hearing improvements already. Sophie Zelmani's acoustic guitar solo in the second half of My Soul Remembers is absolutely stupendous, even more so with this DAC. The recording is just stunning and it's hard to believe it's only 16/44 standard format.
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Tobias
Rank: Quartet
Posts: 320
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Post by Tobias on Nov 11, 2024 17:33:58 GMT
Any thoughts on "analogue" traits, like more texture and velvety (non-digital) type of sound signature?
Does these types of ESS DAC´s require a lot of burn-in usually?
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Post by mattspl on Nov 11, 2024 17:36:32 GMT
Great write up and I’m delighted the new Dac is performing.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 11, 2024 17:57:12 GMT
Any thoughts on "analogue" traits, like more texture and velvety (non-digital) type of sound signature? Does these types of ESS DAC´s require a lot of burn-in usually? Oh yes, the midrange on female voice is liquid, brushed cymbals sound incredibly complex with extensive note decay, lots more texture in the bass. Listening further, there is another dimension of low level soundstage detail matching real life where there is rarely dead silence. Live recordings can sound highly vivid and lifelike. All DACs need some burn-in but these new ES9039 chips are a bit of an unknown to me. They definitely run cooler as does the whole X26 III (the case runs the best part of 10°C cooler). How much more is there to come? Indeterminate right now. |
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alp
Rank: Trio
Posts: 167
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Post by alp on Nov 11, 2024 19:20:47 GMT
It seems like it is already fabulous. Once it's settled, I am very much looking forward to reading your assessment of the streamer compared to the Sonore and U18 and also with/without the external clock.
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Post by MikeMusic on Nov 11, 2024 20:20:15 GMT
That good and only recently out of the box
My guess is that will improve a lot more....
Wow
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Post by MartinT on Nov 12, 2024 8:23:01 GMT
Any thoughts on "analogue" traits It's a really good question, Tobias. Thinking about it some more, the X26 III is more lifelike than the X26 Pro in that it brings more of the sounds we are used to in real life, like the sharp crack of a drum or the incredibly loud but sonorous sound made by a saxophone. Deep organ pedal notes are not just a single frequency, they growl and thunder and resonate and beat with other sounds. It does that better, too. The most difficult music to reproduce in digital, in my opinion, is massed choral music like a big requiem. It's because the large number of voices produce such complexity that the format just runs out of resolution and the sound becomes homogenised. The X26 III here pulls away and does a far better job, and that's likely due to how well the digital reconstruction filtering works. To me, 'analogue' doesn't mean soft edges or warm cuddly music. If it's hard edged music it should sound exactly like that. Which is why I don't want my music sounding like records or R2R DACs. |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 12, 2024 10:08:00 GMT
One more thing I forgot to mention. The display is far better and readable from my listening position. A small thing but it makes a difference when it's my volume control.
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Post by nicholas on Nov 12, 2024 13:58:10 GMT
And Shenzhen Audio is running a 10% off sale until the end of the month...
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Post by MartinT on Nov 13, 2024 16:00:06 GMT
There doesn't seem to be any burn-in blues with the X26 III so far. It's just slowly but surely improving. 48 hours in and all is good.
I've ordered a media converter for some future trials of the built-in streamer.
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Tobias
Rank: Quartet
Posts: 320
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Post by Tobias on Nov 13, 2024 19:30:14 GMT
There doesn't seem to be any burn-in blues with the X26 III so far. It's just slowly but surely improving. 48 hours in and all is good. I've ordered a media converter for some future trials of the built-in streamer. This is actually very intriguing! Your streamer evaluation will be very interesting since it will say a lot about the noise floor potential of the streamer/dac combination, since you have such a low noise floor today going into the DAC. I always had a suspicion, without any real factual reason of course..., that the streamer might not scale as well as an two box solution, in terms of ultimate low noise floor. But if you replace your current setup, with the built in streamer, then I also "have to" go for a Gustard.  |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 13, 2024 20:55:43 GMT
Your streamer evaluation will be very interesting since it will say a lot about the noise floor potential of the streamer/dac combination, since you have such a low noise floor today going into the DAC. I always had a suspicion, without any real factual reason of course..., that the streamer might not scale as well as an two box solution, in terms of ultimate low noise floor. But if you replace your current setup, with the built in streamer, then I also "have to" go for a Gustard. I am intrigued, too. The Rendu is a custom design by John Swenson and he knows a thing or three about designing low noise circuits. The Gustard streamer is a CelAudio design and I know nothing about them. We shall see. |
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Post by nicholas on Nov 14, 2024 0:22:22 GMT
I was surprised when I first listened to the CelAudio streamer in my X30 Dac. The SQ was truly impressive... well beyond just acceptable.
I reason that there are benefits to the signal being confined within the Dac without having to engage multiple devices, cables and power supplies associated with external streaming topologies. Connecting the network to the Dac from my EtherRegen provided clean access to Qobuz and local music files.
Upon returning to the Signature Rendu SE > Gustard U18 > X30 Dac the contest was over. The latter clearly had a presentation that is a bit more live and expansive.
It's said that the last few percent of improvement are the most expensive and my test seems to bear this out.
I'd like to try the CelAudio streamer again with HQPlayer but for the time beyond I'm too busy just enjoying the music as rendered by the external streamer.
I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with the CelAudio streamer as it is implemented by Gustard.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 14, 2024 15:49:20 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Nov 15, 2024 12:46:22 GMT
96 hours and there are some very tiny changes still. However, mostly I'm hearing a lot more from music I know well as I work my way through familiar albums. As before, it's a struggle to describe. Lively, exciting, very sharp timing, draws you in. Will that do? Simply put, it's just better.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 16, 2024 20:48:09 GMT
I'll give just one example track where the X26 III beats (almost slays) the X26 Pro in sound quality. Yello's Tied Up. This magnificent creation of sound samples (their modus operandi) from 1988 is a wealth of complexity and intricate detail. The III pulls well ahead of the Pro in the definition and dynamics of the trumpets and bongos, and allows more insight into all the complex detail laid bare and made easier to follow. The vividness and excitement ramps up a notch, too. This applies to the rest of the album (Flag), too.
The kicker? It's only a standard resolution 16/44 album so all credit is due to the more effective and more linear reconstruction filters and analogue stages*.
* Well actually a lot more than that, going back to the clocking circuit, noise reduction, oversampling etc.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 18, 2024 16:25:15 GMT
Today I'm experimenting with the CelAudio streamer section. I bought a 5m uGreen Cat 8 cable to reach the DAC from my etherREGEN. I redirected my AfterDark clock to the DAC, set the DAC to EXT clock, switched off the Rendu and U18 and unplugged the I2S cable. Browsed to the GUI and turned on the UPnP mode. I also found a Sound Mode setting which offers 'Musicality' or 'Directly'. After a quick listen, I selected the latter*.
So to listening. To my amazement, the complete streamer/DAC solution driven directly from ethernet and controlled by Bubble via UPnP sounds incredible and scary close to the Rendu / USB / U18 / I2S setup. So close that I did a double-take and checked everything again. This is very listenable indeed. There are small differences that leave the Rendu with a small advantage but it wouldn't be enough to swing a decision if you had to invest in a Sig Rendu Deluxe and U18 and cables to make the jump.
Functionally, it works perfectly with Bubble so operationally for me it's exactly the same.
On the other hand, the Cat 8 is brand new without burn-in and I left the EtherREGEN running 'backwards' as it's a faff to reverse it and switch around the PSUs. I'm going to listen to this configuration for a while and if I think it's worthwhile I'll turn the EtherREGEN around and give it maximum chance to match the Rendu setup.
* the quick listen suggested that 'Musicality' offers the usual kind of "make it sound like a record / valves / R2R" bollox. You should all know my preferences by now!
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Post by nicholas on Nov 18, 2024 16:37:49 GMT
^^^ Perfectly mirrors my experience with the CelAudio streamer with the Gustard X30. Impressive indeed! ^^^
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