Review and Measurements of Gustard DAC-X26

[March Audio]

On visual inspection the Chord has the the best measurements IMO.

Agreed, but curious about the mains pick up.

 

[yapst38]

Looks gd but this dac not xmos interface right

 

[gvl]

I wish it had a rotary volume control. You can never have it all.

 

[Dro]

I would really like to see another test of the ADI-2 DAC or Pro FS with the new analyzer. Archimago had the Pro FS come in at 115 dB SINAD in a loopback test. As two of the devices with a quite reasonable price/performance ratio, they should be present in the SINAD chart. It would be very helpful to put the performance of excellent DACs as the DAC-X26 here into perspective.

 

[Schackmannen]

I think Amir is planning on re-measuring the ADI-2 DAC soon.

 

[Killingbeans]

Looks gd but this dac not xmos interface right

As far as I can tell the (optional) USB board uses the new chip from ESS? So, neither Xmos, Atmel nor any of the other usual suspects.

 

[Dogen]

If the price weren’t an issue, I can totally see buying this for the looks, build quality and pride of ownership. I admire any company striving for perfection, even if the fruits aren’t necessarily audible. Nice review, and a breath of fresh air among all the disappointing showings by higher-end products.

 

[amirm]

Btw amir, did the -2dB do anything in regards to distortion/SINAD ?

It did. It improved it by 1 to 2 dB. Here it is at full amplitude:

 

[amirm]

The question is how may people have a good preamp, integrated or power amp do not miss the excellent measurements of some DAC.

Headphone users are in luck with likes of Massdrop THX AAA 789 and JDS Labs Atom.

 

[amirm]

I think Amir is planning on re-measuring the ADI-2 DAC soon.

Correct. We have had scheduling difficulty but hopefully I can connect with the owner and re-test it.

 

[amirm]

wondering this too, how is the remote control since I cant see any pictures of it anywhere...

It is standard issue plastic one that has been customized:

 

[Dro]

Headphone users are in luck with likes of Massdrop THX AAA 789 and JDS Labs Atom.

Problem is that you will still need an excellent DAC to make use of their quality. Ideally you would listen through an AP analyzer

 

[pkane]

These excellent results make me wonder how the predecessor Gustard X22 (only one ES9038 dac) would measure and for that its predecessor the X20 Pro (2x ES9028 dac)?

Here are some x20pro results. Not in the same league as X26:

Jitter

Multi-tone

 

[amirm]

I`d like to see the sectrum of 5khz & 10khz @90khz. What`s going wrong here?

It is the third harmonic:

This could be due to too soft a low pass filter (unless it is due to analog stage).

 

[amirm]

Problem is that you will still need an excellent DAC to make use of their quality. Ideally you would listen through an AP analyzer

This is that DAC though.

 

[Patrick1958]

Here are some x20pro results. Not in the same league as X26:

View attachment 23347

Jitter
View attachment 23349

Multi-tone
View attachment 23350

Thanks. Not that bad neither

 

[NTomokawa]

HA! Suck on it, Audio-GD.

Shame no UL though.

 

[maty]

The question is how may people have a good preamp, integrated or power amp do not miss the excellent measurements of some DAC. Very few I think...

An example with an expensive integrated.

ACCUPHASE E-470

http://www.accuphase.com/model/e-470.html

[PDF] http://www.accuphase.com/cat/e-470_e.pdf

 

[graz_lag]

HA! Suck on it, Audio-GD.

Shame no UL though.

Yeah, I do not see the CE marking either ... Perhaps @amirm 's unit belongs to the 1st batch of prototyping units ? (Which were released at the end of January.)

 

[deafenears]

Headphone users are in luck with likes of Massdrop THX AAA 789 and JDS Labs Atom.

I'm now interested in how well one of Gustards headphone amps measure, say the H20.