Gustard A18

[PhnomPenhPaul]

Can either of the above owners of the A18 please help as to whether the A18 has a 'DAC Direct' mode allowing DSD to be output bypassing both volume control and filters. I ask as I am thinking of using an AK4499 based DAC with HQPlayer4. (I know the Topping D90 and SMSL M400, probably the A18's closest competitors, both have this feature). Thanks.

 

[Harmonie]

and they all suck

Just wondering, did you "listen" the A22 ?

 

[DeepSpace57]

Just wondering, did you "listen" the A22 ?

A22 is one of the worst thing you can buy. Many better other options are much cheaper. For example, A18 seems to be better than A22, LoL!

 

[Harmonie]

A22 is one of the worst thing you can buy. Many better other options are much cheaper. For example, A18 seems to be better than A22, LoL!

Not really sure that the A18 sounds or even measures better than the Gustard A22. (Not speaking of lended prototypes here).
I feel that the A22 was the "Audiophile/flagship" version of the AK4499 slightly like the Audio-GD spirit.
The A18 came out as the commercial answer to the Topping D90, SMSL M400 and even tries to nails the Soncoz SGD1 by aggressive price.
Gustard is taking the commercial path, maybe regretfully.
It's a pity now that serious competition like the Musician Audio Pegasus at a similar price came out.

 

[DeepSpace57]

I feel that the A22 was the "Audiophile/flagship" version of the AK4499 slightly like the Audio-GD spirit.

if you feel something, please share it on another forum. ASR has been underlined many times to be only on scientific facts.

Audio-GD ??? I am speechless. Please look at their measurements. All are crap.

 

[Veri]

Audio-GD spirit. pulled-out-of-ass shady measurements that don't match the product you received? chock full of capacitors that may die or leak within the year? I sure hope they didn't really follow any Audio-GD "spirit".

 

[JohnYang1997]

To my understanding, A22 was a fail. It didn't sell well, didn't measure well(enough). A18 is a response to D90 yes, but they ditched the discrete stage, went all out for best measurements and lowest pricing. To exaggerate a bit, we might not see Gustard in the future if the market don't respond well to A18. This is probably my imagination. But it feels like that.

 

[Harmonie]

if you feel something, please share it on another forum. ASR has been underlined many times to be only on scientific facts.

Audio-GD ??? I am speechless. Please look at their measurements. All are crap.

That's exactly my point. Audio-GD puts a lot of Audiophile spirit and measures bad as you say. Gustard's A22 followed the same path and measures not as well as one could expect. The market seems to ask for a SINAD/$ value. That's how I feel.

 

[Harmonie]

To my understanding, A22 was a fail. It didn't sell well, didn't measure well(enough). A18 is a response to D90 yes, but they ditched the discrete stage, went all out for best measurements and lowest pricing. To exaggerate a bit, we might not see Gustard in the future if the market don't respond well to A18. This is probably my imagination. But it feels like that.

Appreciate your constructive approach and "well enough" is exactly it.

 

[JohnYang1997]

That's exactly my point. Audio-GD puts a lot of Audiophile spirit and measures bad as you say. Gustard's A22 followed the same path and measures not as well as one could expect. The market seems to ask for a SINAD/$ value. That's how I feel.

A22's performance can be considered SOTA just a year ago. It's still better than benchmark DAC3. There's complete difference between Gustard and Audio-GD.

 

[Harmonie]

Audio-GD spirit. pulled-out-of-ass shady measurements that don't match the product you received? chock full of capacitors that may die or leak within the year? I sure hope they didn't really follow any Audio-GD "spirit".

My apologies, I probaly vastly exagerated the analogy with GD-Audio.

 

[Veri]

My apologies, I probaly vastly exagerated the analogy with GD-Audio.

No worries. I just don't like this brand at all: inferior products, lies on product descriptions and to boot they're not THAT cheap to have an excuse for their faults. I always think of this reddit thread when I think of audio-gd...

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/etwzfa

 

[giordy]

It's a pity now that serious competition like the Musician Audio Pegasus at a similar price came out.

we hope Amir can test it shortly

 

[Harmonie]

No worries. I just don't like this brand at all: inferior products, lies on product descriptions and to boot they're not THAT cheap to have an excuse for their faults. I always think of this reddit thread when I think of audio-gd...

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/etwzfa

Nov relation to this thread, but >>> ???
Audio-GD NFB 15 no primary side fusing AT ALL on this device. Just AC straight into a transformer. ???

 

[Veri]

Nov relation to this thread, but >>> ???
Audio-GD NFB 15 no primary side fusing AT ALL on this device. Just AC straight into a transformer. ???

Looks like.

 

[rococoxxx]

Gustard A-18 owner reporting. Fantastic sound, excellent build quality, only niggle is the tiny fonts on the OLED display. Luckily, once set up, the display should be kept off anyways. Which filter are other people using and are you able to hear the difference at all?

FYI I've tried Topping D70, Dx7 Pro and D90 as well as Chord Qutest DACs. Currently listening to Oppo 105D, Pioneer N-50AE, Cambridge Audio CXN V2 and the A-18.

If you're in the market for a DAC - put Gustard A-18 on your shortlist.

 

[Harmonie]

I am.
Interesting.
So you keep the A18 then ? Since when did you test it ?
So you mean that you had listened the D90 in the past (how long) and still give preference to the A18 ?
Can you develop please ?

 

[KingFiercer]

Which filter are other people using and are you able to hear the difference at all?

There is really not much difference, but I settled on the default Short Sharp as the most accurate in the lower range.

Can you develop please ?

I also had D90. In short, after week of listening and testing, D90 seemed tiresome to me, so I stayed with D70. Now I have been listening to music with the A18 for a while, and with the similar advantages of the D90 it does not tire me, it's dynamic, but without overabundance, and vocals sound nice and expressive. Now I use the D70 with headphones and the A18 with inexpensive speakers. I quite like the sound over bluetooth and it's very convenient.

 

[rococoxxx]

Bluetooth 5 with LDAC is 24bit 96kHz, perfect streaming quality. A-18 is really nice! I've had the D70 before. It sound as you described it. It's soft and a little laid back, very different to the Sabre presentation (to which 4499 is more similar).

 

[pimy]

"Gustard A18 DAC Review – Outstanding Performance and Value"

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/gustard-a18-dac-review-outstanding-performance-and-value/