Thank you for sharing your experiences Rob 👍

What exactly did it change and why did you feel the need to change in the first place?

@@doifeellucky speed, clarity, soundstage, instrument separation, transients, bass control, resolution and air were improved on with the r26. It’s a whole different level.

@@robk5745 Thanks. My current setup probably isn’t good enough to really notice those things. I’ll upgrade my speakers and amp first.

When using as Roon end point with MQA FILE, the unit displays OFS 176 4x rather than MQA 1764x. What’s the difference. Remove DSP and MQA will display

I sold my Zen stream since the streamer in the R26 using Roon is so good.

Well said, found the same impressions going from ares to r26. My whole system elevated past expectations with the dac upgrade!

Thank you for sharing your experiences Andrew 👍

Well, no surprise here, and more expensive piece of gear is always supposed to outperform the cheaper one.

Ares ii is just ok.. There are many DAC's better

Hello Michael , I see you comment on every r26 review , do you work for Gustard,😂. I’ve recently purchased a pathos inpol Heritage and feeling it’s showing the weakness in the r26 . Sounds a little underwhelming. I was looking towards the Terminator Dac , can you honestly say it’s not as good as the r26. Thanks

@Nathan hifi if you read what I write carefully, you will figure out I'm doing my best to share what my experience has been with this DAC in my system because I'm trying to save people money - this is a d*** expensive hobby if you haven't noticed 😆. That all said, Tarun has a different take on the R26's sonic signature. Also, apparently, it seems the R26 might not be your cup of tea. Different strokes for different folks. If you have the $, a Terminator is a damn fine DAC, buy one and see for yourself how it compares in your system and then share your experience so maybe you can help someone else make a better purchase decision. The internet definitely needs more people doing that than the trolling that's seemingly become the norm.

Thank you for sharing your experiences Michael 😊

Hey Michael, thanks for sharing this detail. I have a Pontus 2 (fed via a good SoTM source over USB). I am considering adding the Sinxer you mentioned. I hear very good things - and at the price it’s exceptional. Did it make a huge difference with your Terminator/Venus? Did the external master clock make a further difference? Let me know your thoughts. Are you also running the same clock signal to your streamer/network switch? (Both of mine accept MC signals but I havent’ played with that yet)

@Alex Herceg the LHY clock and the Singxer DDC feeds the R26, the two DACs I was comparing were the R26 and the Terminator II, not the Venus (Tarun used his Venus II as a comparison in this video). The Terminator was fed by a Hermes DDC, it didn't need a clock as its internal one is excellent, indeed the Hermes was slaved to the Terminator. Yes, the Singxer makes an appreciable sonic improvement, but unfortunately it is not compatible with the LHY clock and my switch does not have a clock input.

That is true. Well said 😊

I’m sure there are trade offs too, denafrips dacs are pretty soft sounding in general, and that presentation doesnt work well in all set ups. R26 is more middle ground that way, and will work well in more systems imo

Can I ask how is the soundstahe depth? It seems people are polarized on it. Some say it has great depth, whereas some say it's lacking depth

@@radiofreealbemuth i had this dac for over a year, compared to similarly priced it has good depth. Once you go higher end (not necessarily more expensive alot of great dacs that are older) the depth doesn’t seem as nearly as great.

Thank you. I hope you enjoyed the review. I liked the IIS through a DDC the best 👍

@@abritishaudiophile7314 That is the whole point to these newer DACs in my mind. II2 is the purer connection! 👍🏼

Thank you for sharing your experiences AP 😊

@alirez do you use the app to control the volume for you use this with Roon? And does it work well?

Can I ask how is the soundstage depth?

Thank you Atri. Much appreciated 😊👍

Which T+A amp did you purchase?

@@spigdon The A200, 125 wpc. It’s super linear, transparent…. really holographic. And I’ve been a tube amp owner throughout my journey.

Thank you Brian. Great to learn about your experiences 😊

@@bdmcn Cool, yes I'd been eyeing the A200 to pair with my Athena pre and R26. The A200 has some trickle down power supply tech from T+A's HV series. Interesting that you're a tube user and really like it.

@@Wharariki I will say there are things I’m starting to realize are missing: top-end shimmer/sparkle, mid-band textures, some realism … it’s been a good experience simply because the A200 gives me better layering and soundstage.

Thank you for the kind words my friend. Very kind of you to say 😊👍

Thank you. That has been a popular choice and I shall request it for review when my schedule clears 😊

Thank you buddy 👍

Thank you. I shall request it when the schedule clears 😊

Thank you Sean 😊👍

Thank you Paul. It definitely sits on that side of the spectrum 😊

Clinical, I’m not hearing that at all, maybe a bit more matter of fact but not clinical, still has warmth and spatial cues of a classic r2r. Not soft like soup like the ares 2 though lol

Thank you Ryan 😊👍

Haha! The same idea about Soekris came to my mind... greetings!!!

Thank you .Much appreciated 😊👍

Save your money and buy this and apply the difference towards the bliss. Just sayin...

The Spring 3 remains a great DAC for the money. Especially, if you need the optional balanced analogue preamp. The build is better on the Spring 3 and I suspect they are sonically similar. Be happy with what you have ordered 👍

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks Tarun, you're quite right. I'm delighted. Aesthetics and engineering appeal is all part of it, and on those fronts I have nothing to complain about. I very much expect the sound to match its other qualities.

Thank you Derek. Great to learn about your experiences 😊👍

Thank you 😊

Thank you Mr K. The U.K. distributor wasn’t keen to send me anything to review. I have Scott McGowan’s email. It may be time to contact him again when my schedule clears 😊

Thank you Irene. So very kind of you 👍❤️👍

Thank you my friend 😊👍

Thank you buddy 👍

This guy is the reason I bought the r26 😂🎉

Really nice to see another reviewer gives credit to his fellow pro. Guys, I love both your vids, you both implant your personal style and approach. Keep up the great work :)

Thank you for the kind words James. The Ares 12th is currently here running in in a secondary system 👍

Thank you. The Ares II is here running in 👍

I am very VERY happy with A26 and of course curious if I should demo R26. I’m frankly exhausted of demoing units but have FOMO. THE R26 is just $150 more but would hate to ship unit back go thru break in only to find minor differences.

@@jmp622 I hope to find out for myself at some point 😊

Thank you Gary. I am not sure if I can get the Border Control DAC here 🤔👍

@@abritishaudiophile7314 The founder of the company is British-born Gary Dews. He's an exceptionally nice person. It might be worth the try but I take your point. All the best - Gary.

@@garyalexander5686 thank you Gary. I will reach out 🙂

Thank you BC. That is a great compliment 😊👍

Hi Alex, great to learn about your experiences. Mine pretty much match yours. Thank you for the support 😊👍

Thanks for watching 👍

Thank you. I appreciate the suggestions 👍

Thank you Vernon. Very much appreciated 😊👍

Thank you for sharing 😊

I don’t think many will be disappointed with this one. Thanks again 😊👍

Thank you kindly. I appreciate the suggestion 😊👍

That is great Vijay 👍

Sounds like a smart move.

That's the (green) guy.

Thank you Trey 👍

I second this!!! Would love a cross pond opinion on the J2 AKM version

If I can get hold of one here. That would be cool 😎

I vote for the J2 AKM too: < €400 (with shipping and tax), smaller box and a lot less component :) Great review, as always.

@@willemvdg9557 thank you 👍

Thank you. There are some great Chinese brands these days 😊

Did you also use it as a Roon endpoint, (thru Ethernet)? I'm curious if the U18 is worth it, as I find the sound quality exceptional already, when using Roon/LAN..? :)

Thank you. I found my Denafrips Iris DDC make quite a bit of improvement through IIS too 😊

@@5starmaniac I don’t use ROON yet. In what way does using Roon connection to R26 make a difference.

@@jmp622 Roon provides a 100% stable flow of very high quality sound, using ethernet! Far better than USB directly to the R26. (I haven't tried a high quality DDC though.) Apparently, Fibre media converters between the router and the R26 gets rid of most noise coming from the router, cables etc, and enhance the experience even further. I've ordered FMCs so Im really looking forward to test this! 🤗

@@5starmaniac I am trying Roon. Down side is leaving my MacBook constantly connected. I’m not pulling trigger on Roon nucleus at this point. With nucleus do I need to have hard drive for it? I do not download files, so is the hard drive serving any other purpose?

Cool 😎

Thank you 😊

Thank you Bernd. Very much appreciated and great to learn about your experiences 🙂👍

That is great 👍

Thank you Tony. I currently have the Altair G1.1 in for review. That review should help to address some of your questions 😊

I didn’t understand that comment as well. All I listen to is Jazz and acoustic. This Dac beat out the Venus 2 I was auditioning.

Thank you Giovanni. System matching will influence preferences between the R26 and Venus II as much as anything. Acoustic, vocal centric, jazz and classical recording sound thinner on the R26 than the V II with diminished soundstage width and depth. The R26 is more resolving of details though. In the end it come down to personal preference 😊

It is impressively put together 😊

Thank you 😊

Thank you 😊

Thank you for sharing your experiences 👍

Update: I also hear some hiss from speakers when DSD is connected. Nothing at all when R26 is on.

Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eL-En7Fn3NDHpoU.html

Thank you Paulo. The Ares 12th is here running in 😊

@@abritishaudiophile7314 👍😀

Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊

@@abritishaudiophile7314 , I realise this is outside most peoples' scope of ambition, but I've just attached my existing AfterDark King 10MHz (sine) clock to the R26. I'm struggling to conjure the words to describe the jump in SQ as a result. Every facet of the sound has improved by an order of magnitude. It's huge. If going from the Pontus to the R26 was going from a 4 to a 5 - adding the clock brings it to a 7 or 8. And this really is not hyperbole. Granted, this is a £1000 piece of hardware with an additional £700 LPS (Plixir Elite), itself powered from an Isotek mains bar. The BNC cable is a semi-rigid from Cybershaft. Some will say it's absurd to pay more for the clock and LPS than for the DAC, but the proof is in the pudding. I doubt I would get anywhere near this if I'd spent the entire lot on a self-contained DAC (the Venus?)

Hello Which DAC did you end up keeping? Thank you

Hi Rich, the R26 need a ridiculously long burn-in time. Put a signal through it continuously for a week and then judge results 😊

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks for the reply, I will follow your sage advice. I can't help feeling Gustard would save themselves from a lot of returns if they mentioned the burn in process in the manual. I'll check back in a week or so and let you know how I get on.

@@abritishaudiophile7314 After an additional week I was ready to send it back, as I could still best it with the Mojo 2. I gave it another week of 24x7 with a signal, and last Sunday I decided for fun and because I hadn’t tried it to use the LAN input. The burn in had started to have a positive impact on the sound, but the LAN input was quite shocking. I know you didn’t try it during your review, but my days the difference is substantial. The sound was so open and clear, I am listening to songs that I’ve heard a million times and they sounds different (in a good way), instruments were very realistic and the texture on vocals are sublime. I think the biggest gift from the LAN is timing, due to the nature of TCP/IP there’s no jitter, and the Gustard has a very good clock, coupled with the timbre that a R2R dac is able to deliver this combination is fantastic. Once my Sugden is up to full power I can sit there listening all day (and have). I will stand by the tone of the Gustard and maybe all R2R dacs is slightly thicker (I was describing it as lower previously but perhaps that’s not accurate), and you have to be on board with that, but if you are and after I’d say 300 hours of burn in, you’re in for a real treat. I have settled on enabling NOS with a fast filter, I think that suits the Sugden best. Thanks again Tarun for the perseverance advice.

Thank you my friend. I would like to review the Pegasus 😊👍

Thank you Richard 🙂

Thank you. I appreciate the suggestion 👍

Thank you Peter. That is something that I have discussed quite a with my Patreons. I have decided that I would like to rebuild my vinyl collection and get a turntable but it will have to wait until I can get into my dedicated room so that I can leave a turntable permanently setup 👍

Thank you. I appreciate the suggestion 😊

The SU-10 is one of the best DAC in the market but you won't hear any difference with the SU-1... The fidelity of the SU-1 is already well above your listening capability. In engineering, the ADC / DAC is a well mastered technology, it's becoming on the commodity level... This Gustard R26 is good, but not better than the SU-1 (the DAC part).

Thank you Vicente 👍

Thank you Marshall. Great to learn about your experiences 👍

Thank you Connor 😊

Thank you 😊

Enjoy your new DAC James. I don’t think you will be disappointed 🙂

@A British Audiophile I now have this and have it all set up. My days what a sound. Your review was spot on, but after trying the USB and LAN as an endpoint from my Roon NUC core I can honestly say that the LAN sounds better again. Can't wait to get more hours playing to burn it in more. Straight out of the box, it's amazing. Cheers Tarun.

Thank you for the suggestion 😊

Thank you Richard 😊

Thank you José 😊

@@abritishaudiophile7314 oh and also the schiit bifrost 2/64. 😀

Thank you. I missed that typo 😂

Thank you Bob. I shall ask Shenzhen Audio if the will be willing to send me the A26 to review when my schedule clears. You are right the Venus II is going nowhere 👍

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks so much for the feedback, Tarun! 👌🏼

What dac did it replace & was it the only change?

Thank you for sharing. I hope you enjoyed the review 😊

@@TriAmpHiFi It replaced a Aune x8, with the sparkos opamp. My system further consists of first watt f5 and focal 807v speakers. the DAC wsa my most notable update so far. And I went from vista spark to the f5. It gave me more clarity, soundstage deepness and smoothness most notably. I listen to a lot of rock, metal punk and electro. But I do mix in some blues, jazz, acoustic and classical. I plan on adding a doge 8 preamp with upgraded tubes and eventually change my speakers to either voxativ or sonus faber. For now I run the R26 as a preamp too.

@@abritishaudiophile7314 I did, and I agree with your findings. 1100 truely was a bargain for this DAC, Although the remote buttons are mixed up and the streamer stopped working after 5 days (I still need to reinstall the driver but dont have a linux computer at hand, windows couldnt updat e the streamer)

@@reptidan Lol, yeah I can see the upgrade. That should balance out your system. And the Doge8 should be real nice too. I'm always curious about the signal paths we choose to build our systems along. Thanks. ( 'gimme funk or reggae instrumentals with brass) 🔈🔉🔊

Thank you for the suggestion 🙂

Cool 😎 thank you for sharing 👍

Tarun Is not the First Who noticed that this dac Is a bit light in the bass region. May i ask you what you think in this regards? Thanks

@@Moonloop76 Bass definition is better and Tarun agrees. Bass weight is fantastic using the Lan input this Dac (which no reviewer seems to use)

@@cameronrector178 thanks!

@@cameronrector178 hello I have the r26 but I use a Mac mini m1 with Roon streaming tidal /qobuz . Does the LAN input work from Mac to Dac or from the router. As my router is quite far away and don’t have a cable long enough.

@@redleather100 yes you can. I highly recommended you grab 2 Fiber media convertors. They will strip ALL noise off your Ethernet and you can run ridiculously long lines. Best $100 tweak for networked audio.

Thank you. I appreciate the suggestion Scott👍

Thank you. It is hard to get exemplary resolution and warmth 😊

My Pontus 2 got kicked to the curb quickly when the R26 showed up.

@@cameronrector178 As you please. I have tried to avoid joining the DAC of the month club.

@@fletchermunson6225Yes! I’m happy to be off that train now too!

Thanks Jim. Good to know that your Pontus II is safe. The R26 has better resolution but can’t match the tonal richness of the Pontus II 😊

I hope to 😊

Thank you 😊

Thank you Min 😊

sp3000 is less technical but more pleasing and need no tweak/upgrade at all, its real buy plug play enjoy

sony is abt same quality as sp3000 but magically works very well with um ciems

or slightly better i guess

Thank you Jacob. I didn't use the internal streaming module in the R26. I prefer to stream from my Auralic Aries Mini. It has been reported that the internal streamer is comparable to the Bluesound Node in sound quality but not in the UI. I ran the signal through my Denafrips Iris DDC and the IIS into the R26. This was noticeably better than direct via USB, optical or coax 👍

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks for the clarification Tarun. I too found the R26’s I2S input, in my case from a Gustard U18 or Singxer SU6 DDC fed USB via an Ifi Zen Stream, better than direct via USB, optical or coax. However I find the internal streamer to sound better still in my setup (R26 externally clocked, HQ Player via R26 NAA renderer, LHY Audiophile switch etc). It really is surprisingly good - very, very good indeed. I don’t doubt the internal streamer can be bettered via an I2S source by using even higher end USB & I2S cables and/or external network streamer - but my experience and that of folk who have clearly bettered it via I2S tells me that wouldn’t be a cheap exercise.

Thank you. I shall request it when my schedule clears 😊

Thank you Rega Man. I appreciate the suggestion and will reach out to Audio Note when my schedule clears. The R26 is on the clinical side 😊

Thank you for watching 😊

I would lie to do that of Chord would send me one 😊

Thank you. I plan to work my way up to the Tambaqui. I am hoping the Pulse will be coming soon 👍

Schumann sounds more like a r2r dac and R26 sounds like a akm dac. schumann gut much better bass. Real hard impact...midrange is thicker and got sparkle. but upper department goes off...against my smsl vmv d2 the schumann looses clearly in the resolution department....the r26 comes close...maybe 95%. The schumi got 85% of it. Schumann is a little bit harsh...the recording quality is importand. But all good dacs are doing this thing. all testet with gustard u18 ddc because every dac was improved with the ddc in clarity, dynamic and life compared to usb only. The vmv d2 playes more elegant and refined...realy hi end sounding...no stress and fairly smooth for a delta sigma dac. The schumann plays more natural, realistic and with thicker midrange...everything got more body to it. The r26 is exactly in between...but it goes towards the delta sigma...but bass is the worst of all 3...thats a fact. treble/ resolution /detail 1. VMV D2 2. R26 3. Schumann Midrange / thickness and body or weight and also voices 1. Schumann 2. R26 3. VMV D2 Bass punch / deepness and control 1. Schumann 2. VMV D2 3. R26 Musicality / Real sounding Music with most flow 1.Schumann 2.R26 3. VMV D2 layering overall separation from the music performance 1. VMV D2 2. R26 3. Schumann Over all 3 different sounding dacs...in some departments realy close to each other. my system: Accuphase Pre C2120 power cord is nordost Frey 2 Accuphase Amp is P4200 power cord is nordost Tyr 2 Speakers 804D2 Speaker cable nordost Frey 2 and nordost reference jumpers Power comes from a PS Audio P5 power plant with a Tyr 2 power cable. DAC nordost Frey 2 power cord DDC Gustard U18 nordost Brahma power cord Pre, Dac, and ddc are in the nordost distribution block qb 4.2 and this get power by a nordost Brahma power cord. also 2 qk1 are in the block. Nordost Valhalla 1 xlr for dac - pre and a nordost Tyr 1 xlr for pre - amp. Streamer is ifi zen streamer with the upgrade power supply and sticks in an nordost qx4 together with a nordost qv2. streamer gets ethernet by nordost heimdall 2 ethernet cable and sends it via nordost heimdall 2 usb cable. For ddc to schumann and r26 i used a nordost blue heaven hdmi or nordost heimdall 2 aes. For the D2 i only uesd the aes cable because i²s changed the sound signsture of the dac. room treatment is relay good as well as the set up. rice warm sounding and chill room.

@@heinzbecker691 thank you Heinz for this detailed clarification

@@mehmetcamat4458 one more thing to the schumann sound signature...there are lows, mids and treble...in between is not much...the D2 is everything of all, just more balanced over all. hard to discribe, it just more simple sounding than my d2 akm. i would realy like to hear the A26...if its that much improved to my vmv d2 dac with a single akm 4499 chip with real good op amps instead of descrete components.

@@heinzbecker691 yes I am also curious about the A26 actually I am kind of planning to buy one

@@mehmetcamat4458 Me to...but first i wanna sell one of my two dacs...but i am not sure if should keep the d2 or the schumi...schumi is realy rich and warm sounding...but evwrytging else is not the same like the D2...thats tough one. The schumann ia made by Musician Audio...they got the Draco, Pegasus and the Aquarius...but 3500€ is a big step from 1300-1500. But look at the inside...wow. comes close to denafrips. But for that amiubt of monay you can buy a Venus...hmmm.

Thank you Sujay. I am organically working my way up the price points. I hope to get to it in time 👍

Thank you Hamid. I shall check it out 👍

Thank you Carl 👍

Thank you for sharing your experiences 🙂

Agreed 😊

Thank you 😊

Thank you Hamid. Much appreciated 😊👍

Thank you. I would like to review some more accessible DACs as well 😊

Thank you. Tricky to get hold of here but I will try 😊

I appreciate the suggestion 😊

Thank you 😊

Thank you Ajay 😊

Small Room Audio actually preferred the 12th over the R26.

The Ares II remains my favourite DAC for the money to this day. The 12th Ann version is currently running in in my second system. If it has improved on the Ares II then I think you have spent wisely. Enjoy your DAC 👍

@@abritishaudiophile7314 What other components do you use with it? 2510 and…… ?

@@doifeellucky yes, the 2510 and a good pair of speakers 👍

@@abritishaudiophile7314 I do, paired with middle priced Croft Acoustics separates thanks to your video and with Ian. Speakers are Funktion One F81 Speaking of, when are you going to become the fist person on the internet to speak about my speakers? No one touch any Funktion One compact line reviews and tbh the company don't care about marketing much. But out of all the youtubers out there, you are the one that makes the most sense to try and get some.

Thank you, Tony. I appreciate the suggestion 👍

Yes, Chinese brands certainly seem to have cornered the DAC market below £5k 🙂

Still wouldn’t buy a Chinese made Hi-Fi component, no matter how good it sounded.

@@chewy560 🤣😂Stuck in the past.

@@itk2493 nothing to do with the quality of the Hi-Fi which I’m sure is very good. Everything to do with the fact that China politically is becoming increasingly hostile to countries is the pacific region, western values and democracies, and basic freedoms and human rights within China. In China “there's really no distinction between private companies and the state".

@@chewy560 Without getting political i'd trust the Chinese, the Russians, in fact anyone over the USA. They are no freedoms and rights anywhere. I bet you also wore yoru mask and stayed at home because the state you to do so🤣😂