This is a review and measurement of the prototype of the Gustard DAC-A22. I had previously purchased the DAC-X26 and U16 USB digital audio interface from the same manufacturer at my own expense, and got good and bad measurement results.
The unit is a "tourist audition prototype" that I obtained by actively contacting the manufacturer.
As far as I know, the price of this unit will be lower than DAC-X26. (The nominal price on Taobao is USD 1099.99)
The unit is very similar to the DAC-X26, except that the button on the right is replaced with a dial. It is slightly lighter than the X26. This is a medium weight and sized unit.
Since last year, all kinds of news about AKM's new flagship DAC chip 4499 have come. Many Chinese manufacturers have also invested in the development of related DAC models. In the first half of this year, it was reported that 4499 had various difficult problems (such as low-frequency distortion). And overall the development progress of each company is very slow.
So I have been a little worried about this chip.
Anyway, give the microphone to APx555B. Here is his show time!
Measurements :
I lowered it by 4 dB using the front panel control to get 4 volt in balanced :
With the same setup, we got 2V on the RCA. The performance is also quite close.
Dynamic Range(XLR)
Jitter(USB module is still not good）
THD+N-Freq：I'm glad I haven't seen the legendary low-frequency distortion problem
Linearity：
IMD vs Level：
Multitone：
Overall, the measurements are pretty good. Although it did not reach the limit of 4499 itself. But as a product that insists on using discrete output stages, such measurements show that they are doing a good job.
The unit is a "tourist audition prototype" that I obtained by actively contacting the manufacturer.
As far as I know, the price of this unit will be lower than DAC-X26. (The nominal price on Taobao is USD 1099.99)
The unit is very similar to the DAC-X26, except that the button on the right is replaced with a dial. It is slightly lighter than the X26. This is a medium weight and sized unit.
Since last year, all kinds of news about AKM's new flagship DAC chip 4499 have come. Many Chinese manufacturers have also invested in the development of related DAC models. In the first half of this year, it was reported that 4499 had various difficult problems (such as low-frequency distortion). And overall the development progress of each company is very slow.
So I have been a little worried about this chip.
Anyway, give the microphone to APx555B. Here is his show time!
Measurements :
I lowered it by 4 dB using the front panel control to get 4 volt in balanced :
With the same setup, we got 2V on the RCA. The performance is also quite close.
Dynamic Range(XLR)
Jitter(USB module is still not good）
THD+N-Freq：I'm glad I haven't seen the legendary low-frequency distortion problem
Linearity：
IMD vs Level：
Multitone：
Overall, the measurements are pretty good. Although it did not reach the limit of 4499 itself. But as a product that insists on using discrete output stages, such measurements show that they are doing a good job.
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