Gustard A26 DAC & Streamer Review

[MisterOZ]

I ordered the A26 a few weeks before this reviews was posted, yesterday the DAC arrives.

My first thoughts and impressions:

• I was surprised about the very high power consumption in stand by: 7 Watts! Wasn’t there a law in the EU with a limit of 1 Watt for non-connected devices?
• It is very difficult to do A-B comparison between sources. If you switch to another input, the latter becomes inactive, so when switching back it always takes a few extra seconds for a streamer (in my case: volumio rivo) to recognize and load or configure the input again
• Even worse with the LAN Input: the DLNA Server is completely stopped when switching to USB for example. It needs nearly half a minute for the server to show up in MConnect Player again. And there are some interruptions in the first seconds when starting to play
• The display is really dark, even in the brightest setting

Anyone with similar impressions?

 

[Vijay_kumar74]

I ordered the A26 a few weeks before this reviews was posted, yesterday the DAC arrives.

My first thoughts and impressions:

• I was surprised about the very high power consumption in stand by: 7 Watts! Wasn’t there a law in the EU with a limit of 1 Watt for non-connected devices?
• It is very difficult to do A-B comparison between sources. If you switch to another input, the latter becomes inactive, so when switching back it always takes a few extra seconds for a streamer (in my case: volumio rivo) to recognize and load or configure the input again
• Even worse with the LAN Input: the DLNA Server is completely stopped when switching to USB for example. It needs nearly half a minute for the server to show up in MConnect Player again. And there are some interruptions in the first seconds when starting to play
• The display is really dark, even in the brightest setting

Anyone with similar impressions?

Any subjective sonic opinions? Does it make mega sonic changes compared to any of your existing DACs (D70s?)?

 

[Zaurux]

I ordered the A26 a few weeks before this reviews was posted, yesterday the DAC arrives.

My first thoughts and impressions:

• I was surprised about the very high power consumption in stand by: 7 Watts! Wasn’t there a law in the EU with a limit of 1 Watt for non-connected devices?

Just use the switch behind or like me, a power conditioner that handles everything (and the on/off).

• It is very difficult to do A-B comparison between sources. If you switch to another input, the latter becomes inactive, so when switching back it always takes a few extra seconds for a streamer (in my case: volumio rivo) to recognize and load or configure the input again

The problem lies with Volumio, which has to switch the stream from one service to another.
Have you tried with 2 devices on 2 inputs ?

• Even worse with the LAN Input: the DLNA Server is completely stopped when switching to USB for example. It needs nearly half a minute for the server to show up in MConnect Player again. And there are some interruptions in the first seconds when starting to play
• The display is really dark, even in the brightest setting

Anyone with similar impressions?

I agree, the UPNP sucks. A 1.41 firmware should come along.
But for the rest this dac is good...
Finally, Jussy measured a few worries on the clock side

 

[MisterOZ]

Any subjective sonic opinions? Does it make mega sonic changes compared to any of your existing DACs (D70s?)?

No mega sonic changes so far
Subjective, A26 has slightly more contrast and more depth, also the bass seems to be more precise and dynamic than with D70s. But on a really really small level - smaller than expected and not as significant as with other DACs I listend to in my system (I always preferred my D70s).

The problem lies with Volumio, which has to switch the stream from one service to another.
Have you tried with 2 devices on 2 inputs ?

Yes, I connected my Mac to a Gustard DDC U18 and switched between IIS and Rivo-USB - every time when the input of the A26 is changed to IIS and back, Volumio loses USB connection. Maybe it is a Volumio issue, but I rather think the input is switched off - with D70s this works fine without any interruption.

 

[MaxBuck]

Kinda spendy.

 

[Vijay_kumar74]

No mega sonic changes so far
Subjective, A26 has slightly more contrast and more depth, also the bass seems to be more precise and dynamic than with D70s. But on a really really small level - smaller than expected and not as significant as with other DACs I listend to in my system (I always preferred my D70s).

That helps put my plans on hold for now
Let's wait for a month or so as well in case some kind of magical "burn-in" takes place and suddenly you get your sonic Eureka moment!

 

[Vijay_kumar74]

The difference isn't in DAC quality. A good Denon receiver can't compare to the measured performance of a stand-alone DAC, but in most cases you'd be unable to hear the difference.

The considerations are mostly practical. Most music has not been mixed for 5.1, 7.1 or Atmos. The music that has been mixed for surround is often only available on esoteric formats. Using upsampling / surround simulation DSP processing is not acceptable for most listeners as it introduces artifacts and is sub-par compared to mixing for surround directly.

More importantly, though, most people don't have the space, money, or interest to invest in setting up a decent 7.2.4 system. You can pair this streamer with an amplifier and a good set of passive bookshelf speakers, or an even better set of active speakers, for well under $5,000 total and get phenomenal performance. To get comparable performance out of a 7.2.4 system you would need to invest at a minimum $15,000, without even taking into account space and the limited music available for the formats.

Some people may also want to set up an office/bedroom system in addition to a living room surround system, and no one needs two surround setups, especially in your bedroom or office.

Was watching a YT video where it was mentioned that since lot of power sharing takes place in AVR across multiple channels, so its better to go for separates though it may cost more. Also Pre outs from AVR may be doubtful. So was wondering what could be separates stack to replace AVR like functionality esp for ATMOS and other DSP features with multi channels support?
Basically what would be before Pre-Amps/Power Amps to replace AVR? Any other alternative(s) available or AVR Pre-outs -> Power Amps is best approach available?

 

[SuicideSquid]

Was watching a YT video where it was mentioned that since lot of power sharing takes place in AVR across multiple channels, so its better to go for separates though it may cost more. Also Pre outs from AVR may be doubtful. So was wondering what could be separates stack to replace AVR like functionality esp for ATMOS and other DSP features with multi channels support?
Basically what would be before Pre-Amps/Power Amps to replace AVR? Any other alternative(s) available or AVR Pre-outs -> Power Amps is best approach available?

The home theatre preamp market is pretty terrible right now. One of the reasons the Denon x3700h/x3800h and x4700h/x4800h are popular options around here is that they have good pre-outs and function well as preamps. The dedicated AV preamps I've seen measured often measure worse, or at best no better, than the Denons while costing considerably more. Denon gives you the ability to disable the power amplifiers when operating in preamp mode, which improves DAC/preamp performance somewhat.

Generally, the quality of the amps in Denon's AVRs is good enough that you won't notice a difference switching to an external amplifier unless you're asking for a really obscene amount of power, need more channels, or you're trying to do something else, like digital DSP/crossover. I have an x4700h that powers my rear and ceiling speakers, with pre-outs to a Dayton digital crossover into a 6-channel Buckeye hypex amplifier that powers my front/centre channels. This gives me 13 channels of amplification (2 channels each per front / centre speakers, 4 ceiling, 3 rear), more than the 9 built into the Denon, and allows me to have an active crossover for my front channels, improving performance. But if you don't need that many channels, the Denon is totally acceptable as an integrated unit - I used it for two years to power my Totem Forest floorstanding speakers - sound quality and volume were both excellent.

 

[Vijay_kumar74]

2 channels each per front / centre speakers

Thanks for providing details about your setup and alternatives. Pardon my ignorance but I assume Bi-amp'ed fronts and center and not paired speakers themselves (like pair of center speakers themselves and pair of front rights/lefts)?
Are double front rights (and double lefts) even used at all for HT setup for better reach? I hope not but just to clarify. Thanks!

 

[SuicideSquid]

Thanks for providing details about your setup and alternatives. Pardon my ignorance but I assume Bi-amp'ed fronts and center and not paired speakers themselves (like pair of center speakers themselves and pair of front rights/lefts)?
Are double front rights (and double lefts) even used at all for HT setup for better reach? I hope not but just to clarify. Thanks!

When using active crossovers, the tweeter and the woofer inside the speaker are disconnected from the passive crossover, and each driver is connected directly to an amplifier channel. The signal is crossed over before it is sent to the amplifier - so the tweeter's amp only receives a signal above about 1200Hz, and the woofer's amplifier only receives signal below about 3500Hz. Because you're crossing the signal over before it's amplified, it's much more efficient, and gives you more flexibility for EQ and room correction as well.

So yes it's just one two-way speaker in each of the Left, Centre, and Right positions. The only situation I'm aware of when people use multiple speakers in the front position is if they have an up-firing atmos speaker, but in that situation it's receiving a totally separate signal from your front mains.

 

[Vijay_kumar74]

When using active crossovers, the tweeter and the woofer inside the speaker are disconnected from the passive crossover, and each driver is connected directly to an amplifier channel. The signal is crossed over before it is sent to the amplifier - so the tweeter's amp only receives a signal above about 1200Hz, and the woofer's amplifier only receives signal below about 3500Hz. Because you're crossing the signal over before it's amplified, it's much more efficient, and gives you more flexibility for EQ and room correction as well.

So yes it's just one two-way speaker in each of the Left, Centre, and Right positions. The only situation I'm aware of when people use multiple speakers in the front position is if they have an up-firing atmos speaker, but in that situation it's receiving a totally separate signal from your front mains.

Thanks!
BTW came to know about AV Processors, also called as Pre/Pros as separates for AVR replacement. They presumably perform better than AVRs! But I guess good quality AVRs should suffice or AVR pre outs with external amps should be more than enough. Will see if I could get demo to decide its worth.
Thanks anyways for the help!

 

[El_Arte]

I'd name it "theoretical limit of audibility" or so. And yes exactly, everyone's TOH is different. Probably most people would be perfectly happy with anything above "the orange group" - but still, the better is the enemy of the good.
First world problems

Everyone body can throw a ball across the field. Some can throw it farther than others.
No one can throw it 10 miles away.

If the stated TOH represents the most gifted human specimen, then that line is extremely meaningful and useful.

Also, since an increase of 3 dB in Sound Pressure Level (SPL) represents a doubling of the sound pressure, putting that line -6 dB below the threshold of the most gifted human ever recorded would ensure it is indeed unattainable by any human.

 

[SuicideSquid]

Thanks!
BTW came to know about AV Processors, also called as Pre/Pros as separates for AVR replacement. They presumably perform better than AVRs! But I guess good quality AVRs should suffice or AVR pre outs with external amps should be more than enough. Will see if I could get demo to decide its worth.
Thanks anyways for the help!

In theory, pre/pros should be better than the preamp portion of an AVR, but in practice, they rarely actually measure better. The difference is almost certainly inaudible so a demo is not likely to help you.

 

[JMP68]

The A26 and the Node 2i are not at "different ends of the performance spectrum". audibly they are probably very close if not indistinguishable. It's "good enough" for a huge number of customers around the world. The problem with the A26 is that it probably needs a good usb streaming source, which makes it an expensive DAC.

A26 is far superior. Listen and tell us different

 

[BobPM]

A26 is far superior. Listen and tell us different

Do you own an A26? I had a node (original) playing through a Schiit Modious (113 Sinad) and it was great. The older node bricked and wouldn't update, so I replaced it with a Wiim Pro, also good. If you play the node through any one of the cheaper higher performing DACs on the ASR chart, I can't see any reason for your confidence.

Finally, what exactly is the software that the Gustard runs? Is it simply an Roon endpoint, or like a Pi board that runs anyone of the Pi streamer programs? Does it even have its own OS as a streamer? Amir's review was typically weak on the streamer section. Streamers are really software and being a Roon endpoint is pointless to a huge section of the buying public. I get that he likes RAAT. I liked Beta over VHS, and SACD over DVD Audio, but RAAT. like Beta, will not be a standard that wins as currently being promoted as a Roon only format.

I am in the don't want Roon camp. Limits you to certain small music services (no Apple, Amazon, Deezer, Spotify . . . ) and its vaunted search algorithm never struck me as being better than some of the older services like Pandora and Spotify. Of course if does access higher definition audio on two small players in the streaming business.

 

[JMP68]

Yes I own the A26. As a Roon End point it does a great job. I like Roon for its DSP functions if needed and connection to my 2 music services I primarily use. (Qobuz and Tidal). I also own the Node 2i and was connected to my DAC but I moved the Node2i to another system. So using the A26 as another way to access music is beneficial to me. Anyway…. happy listening.

 

[BobPM]

The product website says "Roon, UPnP and HQPlayer NAA are supported at present." Is the A26 really what would be called a stand alone streamer? Can it access any or the major music services on its own or do you need a computer running Roon for it to work? Internet Radio stations? I believe there is a way to get Qobuz natively in HQPlayer, but it sounds kind of tricky to make it work.

It seems to be a fairly marginal streamer if you are not a Roon fan.

 

[JMP68]

Okay. Don’t buy it. I have it and I’m a happy customer.

 

[BobPM]

Not trying to be difficult, but I would really like to know how the A26 functions as a streamer? I think of a Roon endpoint as a thin client for another computer that is running the retrieval programs and software. It would not function without the additional computer. My question is can you use this all by itself, and if so, how functional is it?

 

[monkey4054]

Not trying to be difficult, but I would really like to know how the A26 functions as a streamer? I think of a Roon endpoint as a thin client for another computer that is running the retrieval programs and software. It would not function without the additional computer. My question is can you use this all by itself, and if so, how functional is it?

It works well as a streamer for Roon, however, it is only a streamer. You would still need a separate computer or music server to act as the Roon core and be connected to the same network as A26.