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Wolf's Measurements of Gustard A18 DAC

WolfX-700

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About two months ago, I got the Gustard A18 prototype. Found some bugs and notified the manufacturer.

This DAC is now officially on the market, and I have applied for a device to measure it.

Gustard is very interesting. I praise the P26 Preamp, but I don’t like many of his products.

However, among the three manufacturers I often measure, Gustard's chassis has always been the best in shape and production.

I prefer their design!

Photo.jpg


Rear.jpg


Beautiful aluminum alloy shell, fine workmanship! Except that the texture of the buttons and wheels is slightly inadequate (should use a coarser grained surface), I have almost no complaints (at this price level---559.99USD)

In my aesthetic view, its industrial design and shell manufacturing standards are superior to ToppingD90 and SMSL M400

Now let's see, is this an Apple of Sodom?

DashboardXLR4V.jpg


At a standard measurement level of 4V, the 118+ SINAD is not very good. But considering that the MAX output level is as high as 6.35V...

We can look at the measurements at 5V and MAX output:

DashboardXLR5V.jpg


DashboardXLRMAX.jpg


Dynamic-Range---No.jpg


Linearity-(-20.jpg
Ferq-THD+N-Ratio.jpg
SMPTE-Ratio.jpg
Multitone.jpg
XLROI.jpg
 

Dimifoot

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Martin

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Amazing that we’re qualifying 118 SINAD as not very good. I love Gustard’s industrial design. I’m looking forward the the H16 headphone amp.

Martin
 
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WolfX-700

WolfX-700

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I think lost in translation. Probably means that a higher value is obtained if a higher output voltage is used, which he then goes on to demonstrate. 118 SINAD is really quite good :)

lol :D

118 is really good, but comparing the 120SINAD of Topping D90 and SMSL M400 (all based on AKM4499)... this is not perfect.;)
(Am I a bit too harsh?):facepalm:
 

Hemi-Demon

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Nice job Wolf!. Nice performance for $140 cheaper than the D90. I personally would not buy it, since Gustard does not even have a dedicated website, and while I have spent far more than that for other gear, I still find $560 USD a lot, for no support.

Wolf can you explain why your linearity measurements are so different from amirm's? Is there some setting, or special calibration that he uses versus your "B" machine?
 

jae

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Any info on these other gustard products in the photo?
d423f196a5544630ede1cb1cb4ca05ee.jpg
 
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WolfX-700

WolfX-700

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Nice job Wolf!. Nice performance for $140 cheaper than the D90. I personally would not buy it, since Gustard does not even have a dedicated website, and while I have spent far more than that for other gear, I still find $560 USD a lot, for no support.

Wolf can you explain why your linearity measurements are so different from amirm's? Is there some setting, or special calibration that he uses versus your "B" machine?

I use the default settings for linearity measurement. Amir's settings are more accurate, but I think my settings are more "general"
 
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WolfX-700

WolfX-700

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Any info on these other gustard products in the photo?

H16 HeadphoneAmp XLR/4.4/3.5Pro BALout 6.35 UNBAL Out Relay Volume include Preamp

S16 Network Digital Player (Roon Support!)
 

amirm

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@Thomas savage @amirm

It would be great if Wolf's testing would be promoted to the home page, (for example, see recent Puffin)

Its kinda weird that its not
It has caused confusion in the past with people thinking they are my measurements, not his. Puffin write-up doesn't look like mine so it doesn't cause confusion like Wolf's.
 

xema

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a18 user here!
In my opinion, black version is even more good looking than silver version.
 

AudioJester

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It has caused confusion in the past with people thinking they are my measurements, not his. Puffin write-up doesn't look like mine so it doesn't cause confusion like Wolf's.

Can I ask - confusion for who? Why was it a problem? You guys have made this forum wonderfully open, would be great to see the work done here acknowledged. I would also love to see the numbers in the review charts like the DAC comparison one.
Thanks
 

Reddy

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For this price the dac seems to be quite good.
What about the thermal stability?
 

Tks

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Any chance for a SINAD vs level graph? To see the optimal level ;)

And filters :-} ?

I’m curious as to no optical spdif input? Also, what level on volume control to achieve 5V?

Lol what the heck is going on lately with Toslink. First Toshiba parts run out, then comes the worse performing Toslink connectors, and now devices with no connector. Hurry folks panic buy as many as you can ;P
 
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