[Patu]

AFAIK, I2S is regarded as the best SQ, followed by SPDIF coax and then AES. You may not hear a difference unless your system is highly resolving. I hear the most differences when I listen particularly to sound staging: width, depth and pin-point localization.

What is this claim based on?

USB is capable for highest bitrates (up to DSD1024) and is the most ”hassle free” connection with galvanic isolation. I compared USB and i2s on my Spring 3 and USB sounded better to me. I2s can do up to DSD512 while all the other connections are clearly inferior.

 

[Dandoudou]

Does anyone know if the I2S output of the Red is compatible with the Gustard R26 both for PCM and DSD?

 

[Jake2]

Does anyone know if the I2S output of the Red is compatible with the Gustard R26 both for PCM and DSD?

Hopefully @DivinesGaming has now given this a good test to get DSD working with his R26. But as I noted some pages back it seems the Red has NC = no connection for Pin 15, whereas Gustard requires a DSD on/off identifier as it doesn’t auto detect DSD. If so It’s looking like the same Gustard incompatibility issue as the DI-20HE which as you know sends no signal on Pin 15 either.

 

[BlakeT]

I bought Red solely to use as a DDC. My Red is now thoroughly burned in. Running a basic test in my speaker system (sonic differences are even more apparent in that system), test case:

1. MacBook Pro M1 running off battery > standard USB printer cable (I intentionally chose it over my expensive USB cable for this test) > Red DDC > spdif cable > DAC.

2. MacBook Pro M1 running off battery > standard USB printer cable > DAC.

Setup #1 is unquestionably superior. More details, longer instrumental decays, better sense of the recording venue, more realism, body, much better sound stage and instrument layering, etc., etc.

I appreciate this is USB input compared to spdif input on my DAC, so not quite apples to apples, but the sonic differences between these two inputs on my particular DAC are relatively small.

Next tests at a later date: (1) Red vs Denafrips Gaia (I'm using Gaia in my headphone system) as a DDC, and (2) Red as a streamer against my Lumin U1X.

 

[joseph69]

Interested in purchasing the RED to use as a streamer when it becomes available again through Tim at Kitsune Hi-Fi.
I've come across two dealers (both China based) that currently seem to have the RED in stock and both of their descriptions show the RED being "Roon Ready". Kitsune Hi-Fi doesn't mention anything about the RED being "Roon Ready" on their site. Has anyone read/heard about an updated RED being "Roon Ready"? I'm also thinking this could be the reason for the RED being "out of stock" for now at Kitsune HiFi.

Wildism Audio
Quartz Acoustic
Kitsune HiFi

PS: Was the RED previously offered in a KTE version from Kitsune HiFi?

 

[genefruit]

Interested in purchasing the RED to use as a streamer when it becomes available again through Tim at Kitsune Hi-Fi.
I've come across two dealers (both China based) that currently seem to have the RED in stock and both of their descriptions show the RED being "Roon Ready". Kitsune Hi-Fi doesn't mention anything about the RED being "Roon Ready" on their site. Has anyone read/heard about an updated RED being "Roon Ready"? I'm also thinking this could be the reason for the RED being "out of stock" for now at Kitsune HiFi.

Wildism Audio
Quartz Acoustic
Kitsune HiFi

PS: Was the RED previously offered in a KTE version from Kitsune HiFi?

I don't believe it's Roon Ready but instead it is Roon Tested perhaps, due to the software included with the Red and/or can be loaded onto a micro sd card and inserted into the Red. The out of stock is due to parts not being available from the normal sources, per a response from Tim to me regarding an order I had placed. No KTE version that I'm aware of.

 

[DivinesGaming]

I just got one delivered a week ago, it's not "Roon Ready", although it works well with Roon. As others have said, even Tim to me in Email, there's a limit of supplied parts that they're constantly restocking. You'll see Red go from Out of Stock to In-stock regularly throughout the week, as the parts become available they list the devices up for sale. I'd say if you go to place your order and it's out of stock just check back regularly as it'll likely come back in stock sometime again soon.

Just as an update regarding the R26/Red & DSD - I haven't had my main amp in my system with R26 for a while as it's getting RMA'd, should be able to update whether or not it's working as intended within the week. I do want to say I tested DSD and it was working as intended but can't be 100% sure so let's call it unverified for now.

 

[joseph69]

I don't believe it's Roon Ready but instead it is Roon Tested perhaps, due to the software included with the Red and/or can be loaded onto a micro sd card and inserted into the Red. The out of stock is due to parts not being available from the normal sources, per a response from Tim to me regarding an order I had placed. No KTE version that I'm aware of.

I just got one delivered a week ago, it's not "Roon Ready", although it works well with Roon. As others have said, even Tim to me in Email, there's a limit of supplied parts that they're constantly restocking. You'll see Red go from Out of Stock to In-stock regularly throughout the week, as the parts become available they list the devices up for sale. I'd say if you go to place your order and it's out of stock just check back regularly as it'll likely come back in stock sometime again soon.

Just as an update regarding the R26/Red & DSD - I haven't had my main amp in my system with R26 for a while as it's getting RMA'd, should be able to update whether or not it's working as intended within the week. I do want to say I tested DSD and it was working as intended but can't be 100% sure so let's call it unverified for now.

Thanks for the replies about the parts availability and KTE version.
I've been checking everyday to see if the RED is in stock at Kitsune.
Still wondering why the two China based ADs show "Roon Ready" on their sites, though.

 

[spoonguaard]

Does anyone know if the I2S output of the Red is compatible with the Gustard R26 both for PCM and DSD?

I have had R26 at my home for a week and I can say it has been playing flawlessly from RED but I was mostly listening to PCM. Usually, with various dacs I did not experience any issues playing DSD from RED to dac via I2S so I believe it was working as well. I had no issues with this combination whatsoever. Red via I2S gave better sound than the internal Gustard streamer. Internal R26 streamer with external C18 clock connected, was a very similar sound to R26+RED via I2S. Overall Gustard dac liked I2S connection better than coax, the sound was less compressed, easier to listen, more live like.

 

[Dandoudou]

I have had R26 at my home for a week and I can say it has been playing flawlessly from RED but I was mostly listening to PCM. Usually, with various dacs I did not experience any issues playing DSD from RED to dac via I2S so I believe it was working as well. I had no issues with this combination whatsoever. Red via I2S gave better sound than the internal Gustard streamer. Internal R26 streamer with external C18 clock connected, was a very similar sound to R26+RED via I2S. Overall Gustard dac liked I2S connection better than coax, the sound was less compressed, easier to listen, more live like.

Your impressions are similar to my comparisons of the LAN input of the R26 (+OCK-1) to my setup of an Allo USBridge Sig (GentooPlayer/Diretta) > USB > AGD DI-20HE (+OCK-1) > I2S > R26 (+OCK-1).

I bought a Red yesterday, and I should receive it in a few days.
If it beats the combo of the Allo + DI-20, I'll reduce the number of the boxes on my system.
I will also try it as a replacement of the Allo in a combo setup with the DI-20.

I will post my findings.

 

[Jake2]

I have had R26 at my home for a week and I can say it has been playing flawlessly from RED but I was mostly listening to PCM. Usually, with various dacs I did not experience any issues playing DSD from RED to dac via I2S so I believe it was working as well. I had no issues with this combination whatsoever. Red via I2S gave better sound than the internal Gustard streamer. Internal R26 streamer with external C18 clock connected, was a very similar sound to R26+RED via I2S. Overall Gustard dac liked I2S connection better than coax, the sound was less compressed, easier to listen, more live like.

You can tell if the R26 is playing back DSD by the rate shown on its display. If it's a MHz rate it's DSD, if KHz its PCM. But more to the point if you feed it a DSD source then it'll either play it back or it won't.

My understanding to date was the R26 needed to be told via pin 15 whether the signal was DSD or PCM and most, but not all, R26 units default to PCM so would be unable to playback a DSD source as they're expecting PCM. Unless that is, the Red sends some other signal that helps the R26 in the absence of Pin 15, or that pin map for Pin 15 we've seen is incorrect and the Red does actually send a flag via Pin 15, or finally and least likely but not impossible Gustard has added auto detect functionality in recent firmware. Lots of speculation...

 

[Nicholasheadfi2]

Sorry. Lower jitter and noise numbers are GENERALLY associated with better SQ. Looking at just the numbers for the PI2AES DDC, you can see a comparison of jitter and noise for ethernet (streaming) input and different digital outputs - BNC, AES, Optical (SPDIF) and SPDIF (Coax). Of the four digital outputs FOR THIS DEVICE, SPDIF Coax has the lowest (best) numbers by far. I2S is not listed since Golden Sound is apparently having problems using or finding a suitable "clock divider" for use with his Audio Precision APx555 audio analyzer. This is my attempt to answer your question of which is better, AES or Coax. Sorry that I don't have any directly comparable I2S data.

Thank you for the info very helpful man this hobby is confusing , I am using the coax on the ddc at the moment which sounds great .
Spoke to vinshine audio and they stated that the holo audio cyan i2s is not compatible with the denafrips iris ddc i2s due to the fact that this iris is not the ps audio standard which the holo is , they can update the firmware if shipped back to Singapore but the cost is ridiculously expensive maybe half the cost of the unit itself , il stick with the coax connection for now sounds great to me .
Thanks again for your input .

 

[orrman]

hey all
Red with Rockna Wavedream user here..
I'm starting to think L and R get randomly switched even though both streamer and DAC are constantly on and I'm not changing anything with the switches or with the Rockna input. Anyone aware of an issue like that? tried searching the thread but not a lot of info comes up.
I'll run more thorough testing but it seems like sometimes the PS Audio setting works well and sometimes the Rockna setting does (both controlled from the DAC obviously).

 

[LKLok825]

hey all
Red with Rockna Wavedream user here..
I'm starting to think L and R get randomly switched even though both streamer and DAC are constantly on and I'm not changing anything with the switches or with the Rockna input. Anyone aware of an issue like that? tried searching the thread but not a lot of info comes up.
I'll run more thorough testing but it seems like sometimes the PS Audio setting works well and sometimes the Rockna setting does (both controlled from the DAC obviously).

Hi, what is the firmware version of your WD DAC? I am using Holo RED with the default I2S PIN setting output to my WD Edition using HD-Link1R. No L-R ch swap issue for PCM and DSD. My DAC Firmware version is 4.8Axe .

 

[Dandoudou]

After a week, and a half with the Red, I report that it is fully compatible with the HDMI/I2S implementation on the R26, with the I2S selector n°3 o n the Red.
I'm using it as a Diretta Target running GentooPlayer without any issues. Everything works fine, and the sound is very good.