GUSTARD A26 DAC MQA Dual AK4499EX AK4191 With Streamer/Renderer XMOS DSD512 PCM768K MQA384K IIS Balanced Audio Decoder Black

Product Information

Another heavy rival from Gustard, A26, comes out after the top-ranking R26! Let's take closer look at this new DAC! A26 utilizes dual flagship D/A chip AK4499EX, and AK4191 modulator for solid performance. With an independent power supply and grounding for each channel, separate digital-analog architecture eliminates interferences from the beginning. I see you have the Audio-gd DDC. It is supposed to be very good. The denafrips Gaia DDC is supposed to be great, but so is the price

Hi - thanks for writing this up - very nice. I'm trying it on an A26 with renderer 1.4 and having some issues though. Once I got to resizing the partitions it's not working. Upon entering fdisk, it mentions: DSD Filter: has 4 positions, 47K, 50K, 60K and 70K. You are selecting the cut-off frequency for DSD files. If you want a crispier sound, go for 70K and if you like a smoother top-end, go with 47K. I felt it at 47K – its default position This unit is a solid performer (better than solid for the price and build quality), feed it a good stream over I2S (preferably with a USB to I2S converter) and you will hear something amazing. If you have taken care of the rest of your system and room, you are really going to hear some magic. Do try running it without a pre-amp if you have a sensitive enough system, or your amp gain can allow you to do so. If your pre-amp or amplifier aren't as good as the DACs output quality in the channel separation dept then expect imaging and soundstage to be less than what it could be. I run mine into mono amps, no pre-amp (I also have 97db sensitive speakers with more than enough power, so that helps). No need to start spewing superlatives, it hits all the marks that a good piece of equipment should, and it lets you just enjoy the music. If your system is unbelievably quiet otherwise, this piece will not ruin that balance. Like the A26, the NEO Stream follows the design of a close family member. This somehow dilutes the excitement unlike when an all-new chassis is launched but I’d say both the NEO Stream and the A26 had some bits and pieces that still make them stand out. Headphones: (i) Martin Logan Mikros 90 , Ultrasone PRO 780i , Beyerdynamic Amiron Home , Neumann NDH-30 , Ultrasone Edition Eleven ; (ii) Audeze MM-500 .I was mighty impressed by R26 and by its ability to be fast and hard-slamming the whole bloody time. While this might sound like an easy task, most resistor ladder DACs weren’t like this, getting mellow and slow sounding for the most part. If I’m taking chip-based converters into this discussion, then it was the other way around, always sounding fast and furious, but not as punchy as I was hoping for. Only much heavier, bigger and costlier units could deliver the full might of the thunder god. As a general rule of thumb, you are getting a softer sound with resistor ladder DACs and a speedier one with chip-based converters. If you wanted to have them both, then you needed to eat more bread and less pudding & cook your own meals for a few blood moons. Nonetheless, Gustard shattered my preconceptions with R26, which I’m still using on a daily basis. I have mine running 24/7 and I suggest that you do the same. I forget the power consumption figures, but last I measured them, they were accurate, meaning you shouldn't worry about leaving it on. I've had mine for about six months now. Hasn't skipped a beat (except the streamer in the beginning, and I haven't used that function in months, no need). Having said all that, here are some reasons you should not take my view as gospel without more corroboration. a) I have very little DAC experience, having only owned two (plus a couple of real cheapies that don’t really count). b) I only use it as a DAC (not a streamer or a pre), so YMMV if you use it differently. In the end, I find them comparable, yet different sounding, and depending on your taste you might prefer one or the other and that’s perfectly fine. I’m surprised that Gustard lowered the price to be in line with X26 PRO, but still kept the Streamer and Ethernet port of the pricier R26 Discrete. Regardless of what unit you will be choosing, you will be getting a top-notch D/A converter that’s comparable or better versus pricier units. System 1 - All Tri-Art Audio, TA-0.5 TT > Passive Preamp > 2 Stereo Power Amps (bi-amped) > B Series 4 Open Baffle speakers

The remote doesn’t have any hidden or special functions relevant to day-to-day use. As a convenience factor to the a26, it only indicates that the DAC is suitable for long-distance setups. The stage allows the rich bass to not divide attention in a busy mix. What is more, with meticulous layering and dynamics to generate a realistic hall, it is easy to get deep into the finer details of the song without the A26 suggesting any snags.One of the settings users should decide on is the digital attenuator of the volume. An internal switching is being done by the A26 at the -24dB mark if the attenuator is set to Auto to help with dynamic range. A relay is audibly heard indicating a hardware-level modification happened. To anyone interested, I thought I would post my thoughts on the Gustard R26 DAC that I just set-up and listened to along with my thoughts on how it sounded against the BlueSound Node DAC, my Rotel RA-1575 mkii integrated amplifier’s internal DAC, and the Mytek Liberty DAC. Trying something different, I also used the ATH-ADX5000 with a Violectric V281. I prefer this pairing for easier listening since it complements the unaggressive A26 without ending up as too mellow.

Sound impressions were compiled using the Earmen CH-Amp and ST-Amp amplifiers combined with the Dan Clark Ether 2 and the Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000. Summary

The nuance and control of the Gustard A26 over the entire frequency range is but a tiny portion of what makes it a compelling DAC. With a cleaner interface and a slight price advantage, the delta-sigma twin of the R26 is in it to conquer the segment. The problem with my setup is that before using that awesome-sounding Chord Ultima 5 power amp, I needed a dedicated preamp, I needed a DAC, and a wireless streamer that would feed it, hence adding a Chord Ultima 3 Preamp, a Chord DAVE and a Zidoo NEO Alpha wireless streamer. With Gustard’s A26, I’m killing three birds with a single stone as it already has a wired streamer, a high-performance DAC, and an adequate preamplifier section. I started using Roon last year, I added a Roon Nucleus working as a Roon Core, transforming the A26 into a plug-and-play wired streamer and DAC, controlling it via the Roon app installed on my smartphone. I haven’t tried any other DACs utilizing the AK4191 and AK4499EX tandem nor have I come across the concept itself being used widely. So, the advantage of going to such lengths seems a bit trivial for me at the moment but I understand that the A26 doesn’t deserve anything less. The glass strip decorating the front of the A26 now has a central OLED display. It looks better put together than the slightly right-biased display on the R26. Gustard also upgraded the UI by decongesting the settings menu for a less busy look. Before any listening, I needed to volume match them, since X26 PRO is outputting 5V on the XLR and Element X a weaker signal of 4.5V. For that I used a MiniDSP E.A.R.S. system and a 300-Hz sine wave. E.A.R.S. detected a difference of exactly 0.7 dB at the listening level of 85 dB with the Audeze LCD-4. Before listening, I volume matched them, I’ve used the same power cables, the same interconnect and USB cables for both devices.