Review and Measurements of Gustard DAC-X26

[Veri]

High-end western DAC companies may have implicitly or explicitly relied on such license not be available to low cost chinese companies.

That is probably true, yes.

 

[linh0983]

Hi everybody . . .

X26's I2S port sounds very good.

Pi3+ >> FifoPi >> I2S >> X26

 

[Sangram]

Hi everybody . . .

X26's I2S port sounds very good.

Pi3+ >> FifoPi >> I2S >> X26

I have no doubt that 6-8 inches of unshielded, untwisted jumper cables carrying high frequency, high speed IIS signals will sound "very good". Looks like the wires are all bunched together with a cable tie. Obviously there will be no crosstalk, ever.

Nice.

 

[linh0983]

I have no doubt that 6-8 inches of unshielded, untwisted jumper cables carrying high frequency, high speed IIS signals will sound "very good". Looks like the wires are all bunched together with a cable tie. Obviously there will be no crosstalk, ever.

Nice.

After completing the experiment, I connected it with the UF.L cable .
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5pc...8.0&pvid=8585df7e-e360-4401-96d4-f4821c919e1b
https://www.upsieutoc.com/images/2019/04/07/SDF1.jpg

 

[Hemi-Demon]

For those members that own this DAC, are there audible relay clicks from this device when switching source sample rates?

 

[Topher5]

For those members that own this DAC, are there audible relay clicks from this device when switching source sample rates?

Hey there, none that I can hear. I took my headphones off and switched between different sample rates.

 

[Topher5]

Android (Galaxy Note 9 via USB) works well using USB Audio Player Pro and in other phone apps in general. However, I run into an odd issue.
Whenever I play 192khz files, and I skip around within the song, or skip to the next track the songs severely glitch. The song slows down to about .25% percent speed, and then sounds like distorted 8-bit 1980's video-game music. Skipping around the track or even the album would give the same glitch. The only way to clear this is to exit the album. I can play any other high resolution PCM and I can't replicate this.

For an update, I resolved my Android issues! In USB Audio Player Pro. I had to use USB Tweak 1, which disables clock info from the DAC.

Regarding my being able to play 192khz by optical, Shenzhen audio wants to send me an optical cable to test it. But I doubt it's the cable, as the one I have allows 192 kHz from iBasso DX200 to smsl su-8 version 2. We'll see what happens.

 

[Hemi-Demon]

Hey there, none that I can hear. I took my headphones off and switched between different sample rates.

Thanks for the response

 

[SmarterthanU]

Should be cheaper given the fact it utilized an off the shelf DAC chip.

 

[amirm]

Should be cheaper given the fact it utilized an off the shelf DAC chip.

There are much more expensive DACs using off-the-shelf DAC chips.

 

[SmarterthanU]

There are much more expensive DACs using off-the-shelf DAC chips.

And none of them sound as good as DCS or Chord. You can get a DCS Debussy for $5000 which sounds expensive but when you factor in having to upgrade 3 to 5 times over the period you own the Debussy you come out with a lot better value as you avoid listening to inferior audio quality and still have an outstanding resale value when you upgrade to the latest DCS product like the Bartok.

 

[daftcombo]

And none of them sound as good as DCS or Chord. You can get a DCS Debussy for $5000 which sounds expensive but when you factor in having to upgrade 3 to 5 times over the period you own the Debussy you come out with a lot better value as you avoid listening to inferior audio quality and still have an outstanding resale value when you upgrade to the latest DCS product like the Bartok.

Didn't you read about the serious ABX organized with many people, where a 29$ Fiio couldn't be spotted from a 3.000$ DAC?
It was not a dCS Debussy but the organizer of the contest rent one at some point but couldn't find it anything special.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/dig...blind-test-audible-difference-whatsoever.html

dCS should give the composers a break, also!

 

[gvl]

And none of them sound as good as DCS or Chord.

Can we have a reference substantiatung this statement please?

 

[daftcombo]

Can we have a reference substantiatung this statement please?

Specs presentation is a major case of wanking.
https://www.dcsltd.co.uk/products/debussy-dac

I advise to print them, put in a golden frame and hang on the wall above your unit.

 

[gvl]

An honestly stated THD number is suspiciously missing. Not a good start.

 

[amirm]

An honestly stated THD number is suspiciously missing. Not a good start.

I think this is meant to be the THD:

Which would rank it at the bottom of the top tier DACs in my SINAD table.

 

[gvl]

Yup. The somewhat obscure wording is likely not accidental.

 

[amirm]

Agreed.

 

[Topher5]

I got a Matrix Audio usb converter to play around with, and 192khz via optical works after all .
I wonder why 192 khz via optical would work ibasso Dx200 >> Smsl SU-8 but not Dx200 >> X26.

 

[SmarterthanU]

Listen to them yourself, the noise in DCS is by design and still sounds better than any off the shelf chip design by a huge margin.