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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?
128x128cheeg
yyzsantabarbara
4,811 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

ja_kub_sz's avatar
ja_kub_sz
273 posts
 
Just placed and order for the Gustard X26 Pro and will put it up against my DACMagic 200m next week. Figure it'll upstage it significantly, which excites me since I love my DACMagic 200.

I'm running it to my integrated amp (Azur 851a) to power amp (Azur 851w) to KEF LS50 Meta's with Kube 12b sub.

I either us my tablet or laptop as a source, but am looking for suggestion on a DACless streamer (or DAC bypassable streamer) other then a Room Nucleus.

Will let you know.
aroundsound's avatar
aroundsound
2 posts
 

I have owned two Gustard models and have ran them direct to amp for years. No hiss no issues. Currently I am using the Willsenton R8 amp. Another large prototype Solid State as well. Very happy with them. I always thought I had a touch of digital siblance. The Jays audio transport removed it all! Very happy with Gustard. Thinking about the X26 pro. Just because??

Mike Thiel

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,838 posts
 

I don’t know if this has been posted on another thread but here’s one reviewers take on the Gustard X26 that would please anyone thinking of getting it:

All the best,
Nonoise

pinwa
285 posts
 

I have the Pontus II and Gustard X26 and have been A/B comparing them with different inputs and settings for about a week.  The only configuration where one is clearly better than the other is using Roon upsampling to PCM 768 kHz connecting to the Denafrips Iris and then over I2S to the Pontus II.  In that specific configuration the Pontus II outperforms the X26 connected to the Iris over AES (it isn't compatible with the Iris's I2S pinout), the Pontus will have a slightly better soundstage and noticeably better bass.  In every other configuration I have tried there is essentially no difference between the DACs that I can hear.  I still need to test each DAC in its NOS mode.  Personally, having owned 5 DACs now I think most users would be better served spending money elsewhere.  But maybe if you head up toward the $5K level things change though my guess is modern DACs are just very good in general.

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