![]() Gustard went back to the drawing board and came back with a 100% symmetrical design, positioning its display exactly in the middle, getting rid of all its physical buttons, and replacing them with elegant touch panels. It didn’t look symmetrical, and the power button for some reason reminded me of DIY cases. Their R26 was almost perfect, liking almost everything about it except for the odd lines around its display. The A26 DAC arrived a while ago, the burn-in is now finished, I can finally move mountains and I’m finally able to put my writing skills to good use, so what are we waiting for? Let’s dive in and examine its performance in both a stereo and head-fi setup.įor more than two years, Gustard have been gradually improving their designs, slowly polishing those raw edges of X26 PRO for a more refined look. You sneaky Gustard, you did it again with A26 and instead of rising its price, you defy logic and laugh in the face of competition by lowering it to $1500?! Gustard…take a chill pill as you’re clearly on fire. For a few hours, I immersed myself in my musical paradise, filling my heart with joy at the thought of testing yet another top-of-the-line Gustard-made D/A converter.ĭouble-transformers, discrete analog output stages, AKM’s newest and highest performing silicon working in a dual-mono configuration and an overkill clocking system that includes a wired streamer/renderer on the same board are again included. I even found the strength to crawl into my office and listen to some fine tunes on R26 connected to a Trafomatic Primavera. This news lifted my spirits and renewed my energy. Imagine me being unwell for a few weeks due to an outbreak of an epidemic in December last year and out of the blue I’m getting an email from Aoshida-Audio requesting a world-first written review for an upcoming Gustard DAC that they assured would be comparable in sound quality to X26 PRO and R26 models. It can’t get any better than this…or can it? ![]() The internal layout was superb, the component selection was top-notch and a sprinkle of creativity resulted in a product that earned our Gold Award and was later purchased by yours truly. The Gustard R26 was crafted in such a way that I could confidently recommend it without even listening to it. Crafting truly exceptional DACs requires a significant amount of time and dedication, with some manufacturers spending years, even decades, perfecting their creations. On the other hand, I felt a sense of sadness knowing that it is unlikely that a similar-sounding unit at a similar price point will be available shortly. It was fulfilling to be able to thoroughly test every feature and share my findings with you. Upon completing my evaluation of the Gustard R26 R-2R ladder DAC and determining it to be one of the most exceptional sounding DACs I have encountered, I decided to purchase a silver unit to complement a silver Chord Electronics stack in my living room and the white Trafomatic Primavera in my office.
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