Gustard R26

I bought the Gustard A26 a couple weeks ago for one of my headphone setups. I wanted to see what all the hype is about....

For wifi I have good results with this basic bridge:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5RCZQH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Anyway I thought it sounded very good and well built. Very punchy and good width of sound stage. Then I swapped for one of my Denafrips R2R DACs and realized I need to return the A26. R2R is so much more organic sounding and much better soundstage.

I'll give the R26 a try instead to see how it compares. 

But Gustard did a good job with these. I like the style of the A26 better than the R26. Good value for what you pay for them. 

System matching is important but if you really want to compare the sound quality of DACs try listening to them thru a good headphone amp. It gives you a lot more detail that can be lost in room acoustics with speakers.

@arafiq 

I just got the LADDER Schumann DAC and was really impressed with it. It sits above the Denafrips Aries 12th that I have for resolution. It seems to be a little more analytical sounding but is also very musical. I might even consider it against the Pontus II depending on what it is driving.

Right now I have the Aries 12th, Pontus II, Venus II, and the Ladder all doing a great job in my stereo and headphone systems. Using Lumin U1 and U1 Minis all with LPS. The are primarily running into Icon Audio, Woo Audio, Feliks, and AmpsandSound.

Have a Innuos Pulse Mini inbound to try as well as a PI 2 Mercury V2 streamer. Will check out the Gustard R26 as soon as able.

It's all about system matching!

Steve Huff is turning into a hermit!

I was laughing at him because he spent $1k for a power bar to improve his stereo when he actually had preamp ground loop hum. I left him a comment to let him know...

Anyway he seems like a nice guy....used to like his camera reviews. He should stick to photography.

I got the R26 this week. Not that impressed with it. Tried it against my various other equipment...Aries 12th, Pontus II, Ladder Schumann using a variety of streamers and amps. It sounded veiled, lacking dynamics and loose bass. All the others were noticeably better.

When I got the A26 a couple weeks ago I was actually pleasantly surprised. It sounded really good. It was just my preference for R2R that made me decide not to keep it.

I know the R2R DACs take time to settle in but the Aries and Ladder DACs are also recent purchases with only a few days of use so far....

Anyway for those looking for an all in one streamer DAC I would definitely go with the A26 over the R26 based on the initial experience with them.

Of course there are lots of other brands to consider. Matrix Audio I2 has not been mentioned but is in the same price range and that has a decent headphone amp and wifi built in.

@soix 

Yes running it in for a while may help but the other DACs were new too (except Pontus). And I did leave R26 on for more than a day to properly warm it up.

I heard enough to know I will not keep it. I just wanted to hear for myself what all the fuss was. And what I heard was in line with some other online reviewers comments comparing the R26 to A26.

I have had my Pontus II for a few years. There has been very little sonic change since purchased new. I think R2R DACs sound better once they are warmed up but after 100 hours I do not know if there is much difference. Maybe a small amount for capacitor forming and transformers breaking in. What did make a noticeable change on the Pontus was the recent firmware update. Way more than aging for 100 hours.

What surprised me was how good the little Aries 12th sounded being driven by the PI 2 Design I2S connection! Best bang for the buck of any combination I have listen to so far. Very clear and dynamic sounding. 

@soix 

Why pump the product?

I am an engineer. I have run testing labs and worked for the federal government, military, nuclear energy....I am trained in testing and evaluation.

I have heard what I need to hear.

Anyone who really wants to evaluate it thru a high quality system like I did is welcome to their opinions. But how many have really evaluated it carefully against multiple other products and a variety of setups? And how many are just repeating what they watched in a Youtube video?

I for one do not need to worry about this product any further.

By the way from a technical point of view the R26 DAC board hardware is similar to the Aries with 2 ladders. The Pontus provides 4 ladders to average out errors.

We should not expect a product to perform past its design. The power supply for the DAC board is also closer to Aries. 

You can compare the differences below. R26, Aries, Pontus. Also take a look at the power supply filtering in the Pontus. So the comment about the R26 beating a Terminator I think can be tossed out as internet pumping. 

I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say with some run in time it could be equal to the Aries with a streamer attached but I think Denafrips software is more refined so maybe not.

Here also is a gut shot of the Ladder Schumann.

It also is a 2 ladder DAC.

So a fair comparison is between Aries, Ladder, and R26. Pontus is in a class above with 4 ladders.

What was not fair in the test I did was using Lumin U1 Mini, Innous Pulse Mini, and Pi 2 Design Mercury 2 streamers all with LPS against the R26 built in streamer. That may be the issue not so much the R2R DAC itself. But then why buy the R26 if not for the combo DAC / streamer.

I should not rain on anyones parade who is enjoying this DAC. It is still better than many. Just not to the level of the hype IMHO. Your mileage may vary.