When This Is Mongol by The HU (Qobuz / Tidal) started playing, Ive immediately felt The Golden Horde invading my listening space, picking that horsehead fiddle like it was an Ibanez or Fender guitar and throat singing so loudly that I hummed this track for the rest of the day in a fabricated language. Gustard unveils with its DAC-R26 an absolutely exceptional digital to analog converter. It is my plan to do so with the R26 Pro. By Pink Martini (Qobuz / Tidal) started playing, Ive immediately felt that the system brought voices and instruments back to life. We listened to it together while I was still writing and musicis music, regardless of genre, status or quality. Amazon.com: Gustard R26 Discrete R2R Decoder MQA Native DSD DAC with Streamer/Renderer PCM768K DSD512 XU216 K2 IIS Decoder (Silver) : Electronics Electronics Home Audio Home Theater Receivers & Amplifiers Amplifiers Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime With a signal-to-noise ratio of 122dB via XLR output, you can drill holes into your eardrums trying to hear a noise floor. Notify me when this product is available: Since 2021, AfterDark. If oversampling DACs can sound amazing below two grand, why ladder DACs cant do it too? is it worth considering upgrading from X26 Pro to A26 or R26? The BNC input is 50ohm same input specification with Esoteric gears. Digital: Rockna Wavedream Net streamer, Holo Audio May KTE. Visit a matching product below to connect. Yeah. Ive heard hollow and veiled sounding R-2R converters that had little to no transparency and depth, but R26 seems like a very different animal, zooming in and out with so much ease, that I dont see the point of (much) pricier R-2R converters anymore. Youll find everything in the latest chapters that should trigger your curiosity. State of play (29 pages) Total of about 350 hours. (27 pages) Boat Bavaria 50 Cruiser 2009 Manual. Even that simple and uninspired case of X26 PRO was taken care of and it seems that my words hit their mark. https://aoshida-audio.com/products/gustard-dac-r26, https://www.head-fi.org/threads/gustard 0/page-196. Questions, let me know. To my left sits a fresh and young contender, wearing black shorts and smelling bad attitude from afar, give a round of applause for the Gustard R26 Discrete! Stereo and Multichannel Amplifier Reviews. All things considered, starting with its build quality, impressive feature set, component selection and most importantly, sound quality, this is one of the most impressive DACs that Ive heard at my place. A New Point Of Reference - Gustard R26 Discrete R-2R Ladder DAC Review Sandu Vitalie Aug. 28, 2022 Sources My Video Review: I have a long history of reviewing all kinds of DACs, starting with regular chip-based, software-defined FPGA DACs and finishing with the ancestors of modern digital-to-analog converters that are called R-2R ladder DACs. FREE trial!!! With X26 PRO, I instantly felt its nasty attitude, hitting me hard with strong and punchy dynamics. Gustard bypassed the stock ESS filters and developed their own with the help of a hardware DSP by Analog Devices. GUSTARD DAC-R26 Discrete R2R DAC I2S Bluetooth LAN AirPlay Roon DLNA 32bit 768kHz DSD512 Silver MQA - Audiophonics Given the amount of shipping partners we work with and the vast coverage area we serve, there are likely regions with much longer transit times than others. Gustard X26 PRO ($1500) VS Matrix Audio Element X ($3000) In terms of build quality, both are carved on CNC machines with very tight tolerance numbers, they both look and feel like expensive units. After powering it on and letting it play for a few daysI refused to believe my ears and I wasnt at peace with myself, as it outperformed my own, much pricier DAC. It needs to be said that while I find it excellent via USB coming from my PC, it was clearer and faster sounding via Ethernet running Roon and even better when Ive added a Singxer SU-6 / Gustard U18 DDC in between my PC and R26. Enterprise Dealer accounts are reserved for Banner Advertisers. R26 Discrete will pair better with a wider selection of amplifiers, speakers and headphones and X26 PRO with a lesser number of components, due to a less involving character. Theres a voltage regulation stage before and after those caps, that will further clean up the power delivery. Once you long press the menu button to its right, or on the remote control, something like this will appear on its screen: After opening it up, I was greeted with a beautiful layout, perfectly arranged and split into three rooms with thick metal plates in between them. Im spotting technicalities easier in an end-game headphone setup, bypassing room acoustics, meaning that its detail-retrieval / transparency, transient and frequency response will be tested on a Hifiman Susvara planar headphone driven by a Trafomatic Primavera headphone amplifier. Trees are happier now too, as there arent user manuals in there, but you can download an English manual from here. Long story short, if you love modern and impactful tunes, but still want that life-like and natural presentation of R-2R ladder DACs, then R26 Discrete is so far, the easiest recommendation to make. Although in terms of looks, I'll give an edge to the Element X which looks nicer, more futuristic and way more elegant. A few minutes later Invisible Sun by The Prodigy (Qobuz / Tidal) entered the arena and sure enough, Hifiman Susvara started rattling my head with powerful sub-bass notes. Gustard R26 Discrete DAC With Streamer/Rende rer R2R+1Bit Native Balance Decoder Condition: New Sale ends in: 2d 13h Color Quantity: 2 available / 14 sold Gustard R26 Discrete was kindly provided by Aoshida Audio and it can be purchased from their web-store right here. This is why we constantly negotiate with existing shipping partners for lower rates and actively test new couriers for potential opportunities. If Im feeling such a drastic change via headphones, I can only imagine what it would do in my stereo the next day. Indeed. Massdrop Airist R2R DAC similar in sound to Denafrips Ares II and Soekris Dac's, Definitive Technology replacement parts -discontinued models, Add Price Range and Distance to Saved Searches, New LPs listed by American artists at lukesrecords.com, Bob Carver Black Magic 25 Tube amp. The best looking Gustard unit to date, it has the perfect size, weight and style, Still built like tank, but its more refined looking from every angle. It has mqa, that's a hard pass for most of us on ASR. Stages of buying property in Germany. It was raw and brutal, but pure at the same time and thats what I want to hear from such musical genres. Its made out of matte plastic, with rubberized buttons that offers nice tactile feedback. Mortgage in Germany from 1.5% per annum for up to 20 years. I would like to buy a Gustard R26 for "optical" reasons, and because I have a Gustard U18 as DDC - but . LPF is specifically designed for the D/A converter using discrete devices. Neither were sharp or rolled-off, but there was less bite and more texture on the R26. It is a native 1-Bit DAC that supports DSD signal decoding in its entirety; without converting it to PCM. From the ones that Ive tested lately, only several SMSL devices were increasing the noise floor. How to get a residence permit in Germany. If all conditions are not met, SHENZHENAUDIOreserves the right to refuse the return. In a loudspeaker setup it was easier getting the feel of its soundstage size, depth and pin-point location (imaging) of the notes all around and thats why it was used in two distinct setups. Gustard representative states that . If you are dissatisfied with your purchase for any reason, you may return it to SHENZHENAUDIO within 30 days of the received date, subject to the conditions and exclusions below. I am thinking about replacing my Naim box with the Gustard R26 to simplify my system some. Months passed by and I tried the very best units of Singxer, Topping and SMSL and yet, X26 PRO was still sitting on a pedestal as the true ruler of delta-sigma DACs coming from China, that wouldnt cost you a small fortune. . It did not have the same weight as my Denafrips Ares II with the exception of very low frequencies. You must log in or register to reply here. Just let go cxn v2beautiful dac and streamer and got the r26. Please allow 5-7 days for a credit to appear on your account. Too many DACs> Too many amps> Too many headphones, Not a fan of aesthetics. The voices, the guitars, the drums, everything felt revitalized and fuller sounding than ever before. The R26 is a DAC I've been tempted to try out. Property prices in Germany from 2,000 /m. Guitars were weightier, always weeping at my feet, the sounds were coming from a black void on nothingness and drums had a very natural pitch latched to them. Shipping and handling fees are nonrefundable. Brightness, has 8 brightness positions and luckily, theres an AUTO feature that will dim the display after a minute of inactivity. If there is already a thread please go ahead and delete this one. Postings are free for hobbyists. Luckily, hay fever is no longer a problem (lower those histamines they said), sun is no longer burning like a laser beam, but headbangs are still problematic, especially after following my morning coffee with a gin-tonic, whilst a beautifully crafted R-2R DAC is playing tunes on an end-game headphone setup. The unit itself was cuddled with soft foam on both sides and theres an accessory box put on top. Details Select delivery location Usually dispatched within 9 to 10 days Quantity: Buy Now Sample Rate Supported by Digital Input Channels: Worldwide Free Shipping on SHENZHENAUDIO, Please allow 1-3 business days for conduct Quality Control in order to ensure the products quality. The usual RCA and XLR outputs are present and those are fixed or variable, so it can be used as a preamplifier if you please. I know that I sounded overenthusiastic about it, but if you checked at least a few reviews around here, then you already know that Im rarely hailing things so high. Just a few minutes ago I was joking and smiling with a big month and now a tear was rolling on my cheekif a unit can do this in a span of half an hour, then words are really, unnecessary. Everything went up a notch and for all of the reasons combined, R26 Discrete deserved my absolute highest Gold Award! It may not display this or other websites correctly. Im sorry, I failed, to methis is a flawless sounding unit. After trying every single DAC released by Gustard and sharing my experiences with you, I didnt know what to expect when their massive X26 PRO landed on my table about a year ago. Select FAST for a faster and more detailed type of sound, MID for a well-rounded sound that balances technicalities and musicality or choose SLOW for a softer and mellower sound. Let's take closer look at this new DAC! Free shipping, Denafrips Pontus R2R DAC original version. $1,649.99 USD Quantity I agree with the Terms & conditions Free standard shipping to most countries Free express shipping on orders over $270*. I am the original owner and purchased this brand new, direct from Aoshida Audio in December of last year (2022). Make sure that both are showing the correct AC voltage before powering on the unit! It resolved like no other and imaging was pinpoint and more precise that anything I've ever heard. If youll be using it via USB on a Windows machine, then I recommended installing its latest (V5.45) drivers from here, from which you can also download the latest firmware update (V1.21) which helped me with Roon integration via Ethernet. All design and rights reserved by AfterDark. PCM Filter, 3 positions: Fast (default), Mid or Slow. I wont describe their inner workings and everything that makes them tick, as you already have a dedicated article for the X26 PRO right here. Discrete 8 Channels Hybrid I/VPower Conversion Circuitfor R2R, Excellent Linearity with S/N Ratio is exceeding >122dB, 1x USB-B1x I2S via HDMI LVDS1x Coaxial1x Bluetooth 5.01x AES/EBU1xOptical1x BNC. Gustard X18 Dac - Digital To Analogue Converter. It'll be interesting to start seeing reviews. Everything was built in a dual mono configuration, like having a mirrored symmetry of two DACs sitting in a single chassis. Amir aligns the fundamental tones at 0drA, while Gustard has theirs at about -22dBrA, so you have to add 22dB to everything you see to compare Gustard's graph to those from Amir, Topping, WolfX-700. When I moved to Still Loving You by Scorpions (Qobuz / Tidal) I kid you not that my chin started shaking, I was almost crying alone in my office. When Gates of Istanbul by Loreena McKennitt (Qobuz / Tidal) started playingI was surprised that R26 felt airier, dwelling deeper compared to the already exceptional sounding Gold Note DS10 Plus Streamer/DAC/Preamp. Sep 13, 2010 Posts 1,997 Likes 191 Location Troms, Norway This thread is for COMPARISONS between the Gustard A26 and R26 Discrete DAC. As expected, Gustard puts up too high a price tag of $ 1,500. Sandu on youtube likes R26 more than Terminator Plus. The sounds of the crows, drums and northern winds made everything a little more special, disconnecting me entirely from reality. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.