Gustard R26

A New Point Of Reference - Gustard R26 Discrete R-2R Ladder DAC Review (soundnews.net)

Sandhu is the man when it comes to DAC reviews. Some people think he is paid by manufacturers, whatever he is, he is a great reviewer, and has a similar taste in sound as me. I have bought a lot of gear based on his reviews and he has been spot on. He is actually the only reviewer that I have any confidence in matching my sonic preferences.

I am hoping he will review the Musetec 005. I would like to see how he compares that to the other top DACs he likes.

I am interested in how this R2R sounds. I owned the X26 Pro and wrote a lot about how much I liked it on A'gon. I sold the X26 Pro to fund the purchase of the Musetec 005. I like the 005 more than the X26 Pro but I wish I had kept the X26 Pro, it had a warmer tone than the other DACs I have and that is helpful with some of my gear.

@kairosman I did have the CODA CSiB and KRELL K-300i integrated at the same time. I sold the CSiB to get the CODA 07x and CODA #8 (I also heard the amazing CODA #16 with the 07x). I sold the KRELL K-300i to eventually buy the KRELL DUO 175XD. I sold the 07x, #8, and looking to trade-in the KRELL 175XD for a more powerful KRELL amp. Just not sure which one yet.

I really like the Benchmark LA4 preamp with both the CODA and KRELL amps over the respective integrated amps. Though, both integrateds are very good.

The Gustard was a very good DAC.

I just put my KRELL DUO 175XD up for sale. It is sonically a lot like the CODA #16 because the KRELL is Class A like the mostly Class A #16. The CODA #16 is more powerful even though it is 150 watts vs the 175 of my amp. The current is very high on the #16.

I am going back and forth between the CODA #16, KRELL 375XD mono, or if my investment succeeds, the upcoming KRELL KSA i400. Though that maybe too big, too heavy, and more expensive than KRELL originally stated.

I want a powerful amp for the KEF Blade 2 Meta. The 175XD is not enough for the room I am putting the speakers into (high volume).

I sent a friend of mine a Matrix Audio I-3 mini Pro almost 3 years ago. It was only yesterday that I setup this DAC with a headphone amp and headphones at his place in Florida. He did not want to figure out how to put it all together.

He really does not have wired in either his home or office, just WiFi. The Matrix is maybe the most flexible DAC for streaming. It has Wifi support along with BlueTooth (via an iPhone for him). We were able to get music playing in minutes and have his musical experience improved from his prior iPhone speaker to a pretty nice headphone setup. I told him the way he was using the new setup was like putting 87 octane gas into a Ferrari, but it was still better than what he was doing before.

I owned the Matrix mini i-3 Pro at one time and I tested it out the Wifi. I was amazed at how good it sounded when it WORKED. When it did not work I had to restart the DAC. I think this was related to the WiFi’s inherent quality at my home. It will be interesting to see you it works for my friend.

Wifi has some advantages (no wire into the DAC carrying noise) that I would expect it to sound good. I have 3 different Fibre Optic streamers so I know what a decent setup sounds like.