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The reason I asked was because a lot of folks have said great things about using a DDC like the Gustard U18 with their Gustard DACs. These DACs lack isolation at the input so a low noise source is a must. The N100 certainly counts as a low noise source but you might still benefit from a U18. I suspect it might even eliminate that harshness. If black works for you, this is a heck of a good price. Free returns so you would have a month to audition it. A Synergistic Research Purple fuse, once burned in, improved the treble quite a bit with my X26pro. The upper frequencies coming from this DAC are maybe its greatest strength. This is a very well regarded DAC. I’ve not heard one though. As you can probably tell, I think the source is far more important than the DAC. That’s why I suggest giving a DDC a try before giving up on the R26.

Not yet. I may just try that though. @BCRichand I were just chatting about this.

I just recently acquired an Aurender N100, replacing a Windows 10 NUC. It was such an improvement! Night and day. But it changed the tonal balance of the DAC (at that time, my modified Gustard x20pro) and there was some harshness in classical recordings of strings in the upper register. With the PS Audio DirectStream Mk 1, there is no harshness in the treble (also fed by the Aurender). Also, given that the Gustard R26 is so dark, there is no harshness in the treble (but also no life in the treble).

@jelt2359Amazing that it sounds great even without the "special" USB driver's from Taiko. That would be less "spaghetti" as well😅

Have You tried on ATX connector to use cooper wire for ground and silver one for positive pole? R

What is the source feeding your DAC?

For those who don’t know, Chord Dave can do DSD512 and DSD256, with its asio windows driver. The Chord Dave is the only “non-decimating” Chord DSD dac, and going DSD direct at DSD512 and DSD256 allows you to skip WTA 1 and 2. It is actually quite an ideal DSD Dac as long as you feed it upsampled DSD. Actually “decimating” is not necessarily bad. For example, PGGB DSD’s “always 44.1k” option decimates 48k files but in my estimation sounds good enough that I’m choosing it for all my files.

AfterDark PROJECT CLAYX GIESEMANN OCXO 10MHz Emperor Double Crown REFERENCE Master Clock In as new condition with box and all accessories including a basic 75ohm clock cable. Purchased new in Dec 2023. Selling to upgrade my turntable. 75 Ohm Sinewave. Extremly low phase noise. My unit tested at 1hz -117 10hz -144 so slightly better than manufacturer specs. (see pics for test report) Requires a seperate 12v power supply (not included) specs are The external DC specification is 12V 2.5A. The external DC plug standard is 2.1mm / 5.5mm. Highly recommend a Linear PSU as these high precision clocks require high quality powersupplies to perform at there best. Afterdark recommend (and sell) the Farad Super 3 LPSU which is what i purchased and used with this unit. This will be for sale seperately. Features The product uses the selected audio grade OCXO, and through long-term calibration to select and install equipment with excellent stability. OCXO that employs with qualitative measure equipment. OCXO is enclosed and covered with Dynamat Extreme Corporation (Made in USA) which is used to stabilize and minimize heat separation, addition EMI material from KEMET EMI Shielding is placed on top of OCXO, the outer layer is covered with real leather to isolate the heat factors for maximizing OCXO performance . Black Alu material + Carbon Fiber material front and backplate, solid anti-vibration. In addition, due to the thickness used, 3mm / 6mm Carbon Fiber material material with plate can provide solid EMI/ magnetic coverage. Advanced instrument Symmetricom 5125A calibrated with plotted characteristics. The phase noise, and Allen Derivation defines different grades of the OCXO. Audio Note Silver Solder Duelund AC0.4 Silver Premium Audio Cable (Silver in Cotton / Oil impregnated) (Handmade in Denmark) (Internel DC cable only) Hand made in Hong Kong Asking Price: 2300 USD including shipping and paypal fee. Will ship worldwide.

My song of the day, available in 24/192 on Qobuz.

Deleted as questions answered later in the thread

@Nenonhave you tried it yet?

...You got me spinning ! Do you and Nenon concur that stranded sounded better than solid ( in a nutshell ? ) Thank you Bro !

Both are SOLD!!!

Even if you don't lose anything, you are not gaining anything other than some disk space which is irrelevant. Why hang your hat on one article when there are so many contrary ones.

Yeah used would be the way to go. I won't be able to compare the mod to the clock as I will probably only go with one. So we really won't know. The mod involves damping the crystal, stabilizing the power supply, and judicious use of grounded ERS fabric strips to absorb RFI. This guy is a genius with ERS. Anyway thanks for the information. I could also do the mod first, then add the clock in a couple years after saving up for it.

Not sure as I picked up a used one. There is now a more affordable REF10 Nano. There are many other clocks that can do a fine job. Without knowing what the mod entails, it’s tough to know if that would be the right move. But it could also result in a reference clock having a greater impact after the mod. I purchased a used clock cable. Retail is now $2450 so I suspect I spent no more than half that. Absolutely justified at that price. Shunyata has more affordable models and I suspect that their new Theta would deliver a good bang for the buck. Have a look at the Master Clock thread under the Uptone sub forum. Lots of posts discussing more affordable clocks. The folks who post to that thread are extremely knowledgeable about clocks. I suspect maybe it was more of the case that a poor cable was the cause of that Gustard clock degrading the DAC’s performance. I tried their $1600 C18 clock and it was bright when I used a generic clock cable with it.

Thanks Filippo for the help in resolving diretta host crash issue. for anyone who experience diretta host crash (using RAM disk) after playing for a min or so. And you are using UPNP, try adj the buffer to a lower value. for me change to125k buffer value solve my problem. Back to audio Bliss again!

The older sacd_extract is known to set DSF sizes incorrectly, so that the tails contain unnecessary data. Which results in snap-crackle-and-pop. I don't know about the other one. Are you able to also reproduce this with most commercially available DSD content, for example from nativedsd.com? Are you playing in album mode or in playlist mode? Pop suppression algorithm in playlist mode can deal with minor pops, but not large ones.

Miska, I have re-ripped from ISO to DSF a number of files from multiple SACD's, Both with sacd_extract and with ConverteR 48x44. I pretty sure as that these rips are fine. When I play these DSF's fine as DoP with Squeezelite they're find They are send the the same 1 bit DAC in my T+A HA200 as the HQPlayer DSF's are. But when I play them with HQPlayer, as DirectSDM, there is a small, but annoying, squeek in between. I believe that it occurs at the start of the track. Both from the same Holo Audio Red. Can you please guide me in how to solve this? Many thanks! P.S. If you need more information on my system etc. please let me know. For you troubleshooting will be a cinch, for me it's not possible.

The Mutec REF10 costs $3600? Is that correct? A little too rich for my blood. I don't doubt it's amazing. But I have a guy who mods components and he does some stuff to reduce jitter and charges maybe $1000 for an extensive overhaul. I'm thinking about having him mod my Gustard R26. How much are your clock cables? Do you think it's justified given the price of the DAC? I'm also evaluating a PS Audio DirectStream DAC Mk. 1 that I bought (refurbished, on clearance) from The Music Room for $1600. It doesn't have a 10 MHz clock input but it has a stunning midrange and resolution and a lot of design choices to reduce jitter. There are some well-known mods for it I might consider. I know the REF10 is expensive, but I'm also sure that cheap clocks don't provide an improvement. Gustard makes a $600 clock but I found a review (I forget where) that indicates it REDUCES the performance of the x26pro.

My PGGB journey started with PGGB-RT and I came away very impressed with its capabilities. The free trial of the full version is particularly beneficial, allowing users to assess PGGB's potential firsthand. While PGGB may not suit everyone due to system requirements, cost, or personal sonic preferences, dismissing the software without trying it—when only time is at stake—seems unwise. Audiophiles are often tinkerers and explorers at heart, driven by a passion to enhance their musical enjoyment. We value the opinions of trusted reviewers whose insights we've validated through our experiments. This trust, however, can sometimes foster tribalism and resentment, especially when significant financial investments are involved. A major advantage of PGGB is its range of options, from a free version to more expensive upgrades. This flexibility allows users to progress at their own pace, depending on how well the software integrates with their setup. In my case, PGGB-RT has outperformed other PCM and DSD upsamplers I've tried, making it a standout in my audio system. This motivated my initial purchase of PGGB-IT! 64 and now, PGGB-PLUS. Despite not supporting streaming—a limitation of its architecture—PGGB remains an invaluable tool in my sonic arsenal and my preferred upsampler. I highly recommend giving it a try and experiencing its benefits for yourself.

Good question- I spoke with a manufacturer out in Budapest who I am cool with, who suggested using LARGER awg wire for ground vs the positive pole. Im not endorsing that approach but I will certainly try it with my new round of experiments. For ATX, EPS, PSU - I like Mundorf’s 15.5awg or if on a budget, Neotech 16awg.

Bro ! What size do you suggest for each ? : -- ATX -- EPS -- PSU

It's unfortunate that some feel it necessary to make false claims about PGGB. Often the smear merchants rely on use of the straw man fallacy. They will misrepresent what PGGB does to make it easier to attack. If the harsh critic doesn’t provide proof that the current version of PGGB does what they claim, consider taking their claims with a grain of salt.

I have only tried stranded CAW on the dc cable feeding my usb card. I can’t comment on how it will compare to SG with signal cables or AC power cables. It’s affordable enough to do some exploration of your own. I have a diy 5awg solid core Mundorf CAW power cable that sounds wonderful and open, with a ton of dynamic expression capability. I use that at the wall feeding my power conditioner. If only I could afford to build a similar cable with SG 😎. From my notes: 1. Stranded caw sounds very natural and balanced. 2. It is dynamic and flows well. 3. Maintains most of the “sweetness” I like about solid core CAW, while not losing as much resolution as solid core CAW vs SG. I would rank solid core caw on the more “intimate” slightly less detailed side vs stranded caw capturing most of the positive traits of both and losing out on the extremes of both too. The stranded caw does not sound any more veiled vs the SG in my system which I considered to be more resolving than ever (compared to just a few months ago). Consider it an easier to work with happy medium of the two.