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Pontus vs Gustard?

I'm looking to upgrade my Benchmark 1, and am very interested in the Gustard X26 Pro.  My only concern is the dearth of reviews (one, excellent performance and value) and Agon posts (one member, yyzsantabarbara, has it in his excellent system and loves it).  Before looking at the Gustard, I was interested in the Pontus, which is similar in price and has many high marks from users on this forum.  Has anyone here had a chance to compare them, side by side after burn-in?
cheeg

Showing 4 responses by yyzsantabarbara

yyzsantabarbara
5,026 posts
 

@pinwa Thanks for the Pontus II and Gustard X26 comparison. You answered exactly what I wanted to know. I sold my Gustard X26 Pro but may get it back and sell my Benchmark DAC3B because I will be going into a very hot speaker. I am going to put a Schitt Freya+ in front of the DAC3B to see if it works well for this hot system.

yyzsantabarbara
5,026 posts
 
Hey I thought you already bought the Gustard I was going to ask how you liked it?

Note that the Gustard is another DAC that is crap DAC direct to amp. I noticed that after several hours of playback DAC direct to amp the hiss would increase. I had to power OFF and ON the unit decrease the hiss to negligible levels. This is one of many complaints I have about DAC direct to amp. This hiss issue is specific to the Gustard. 

I now use the Gustard with the CODA 07x preamp and it is great. 

A guy I speak audio stuff in Texas is looking to try the Gustard X26 Pro after his excellent experience with a lower Gustard model. I will post his feedback here once he gets the X26.

The Benchmark DAC3B that I have in another system is dead silent and maybe something you will like if you liked the Benchmark DAC1. I owned the DAC1 long ago and think the DAC2 and DAC3 are much better.
yyzsantabarbara
5,026 posts
 
I would not get the Gustard X26 Pro if you need to drive it Direct to amp. It has some bug that causes it to generate louder hiss after many hours. Going into a preamp does not have this issue.

Going direct to amp is using more circuity than into a preamp. The digital volume control for one thing. I believe that when you set the volume to MAX the digital volume circuit is by-passed. For me, this is not a problem because I really dislike direct to amp in all the DACs I have used.
yyzsantabarbara
5,026 posts
 
@antigrunge2 I am looking for feedback on this too. I was hoping that Sandu from Soundnews.net does a follow-up review of the X26 Pro with the clock. That guy is on the money with his reviews. I bought 3 items based on his reviews and I agreed with his findings.

- Gustard X26 Pro DAC
- Matrix Audio Mini-3 Pro DAC
- Topping A90 headphone amp

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