Gustard A26 DAC MQA Dual AK4499EX AK4191 with Streamer/Renderer XMOS DSD512 PCM768K MQA384K IIS Balanced Audio Decoder(Black)

Gustard A26 DAC: (Bought on Amazon)I recently purchased the Gustard A26 DAC on Amazon, and let me tell you, it's been a revelation for my listening experience. The first thing that struck me was its sleek design. It looks fantastic on my audio rack, and the touch controls for on/off are a nice modern touch.The sound quality is truly exceptional. The A26 boasts fantastic channel separation, creating a wonderfully detailed soundstage. It allows you to hear every nuance of the music, and even subtle flaws from the original recording become apparent. This level of detail is outstanding to my ears.While the included plastic remote is functional, a metal one is more suitable at this price point. However, that's a minor quibble considering the outstanding sound this DAC delivers.One thing to consider is potential future service needs. Since the A26 is a high-end piece of equipment, finding a technician qualified to work on it might be tricky depending on your location. This is a common issue with high-end DACs, as I experienced with my previous Audiolab M-DAC+ in which the left channel went out and is almost at the same price point. That said, the fantastic sound quality and build quality (based on online images) make me confident this DAC will last for years to come but only time will tell, especially considering my tendency to hold onto my audio gear for a long time.Overall, the Gustard A26 is a superb DAC that delivers exceptional sound quality and a sleek design. The ease of purchasing it on Amazon with their return policy adds peace of mind. While the remote could be more premium and potential service needs are a consideration, the A26's sonic performance far outweighs these minor drawbacks. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a high-fidelity listening experience.

There are no cons to this unit aside from the built in network endpoint skipping on occasion. I'd personally prefer they left that out and put more effort into some other aspect (always room for improvement) for the difference.This unit is a solid performer (better than solid for the price and build quality), feed it a good stream over I2S (preferably with a USB to I2S converter) and you will hear something amazing. If you have taken care of the rest of your system and room, you are really going to hear some magic. Do try running it without a pre-amp if you have a sensitive enough system, or your amp gain can allow you to do so. If your pre-amp or amplifier aren't as good as the DACs output quality in the channel separation dept then expect imaging and soundstage to be less than what it could be. I run mine into mono amps, no pre-amp (I also have 97db sensitive speakers with more than enough power, so that helps). No need to start spewing superlatives, it hits all the marks that a good piece of equipment should, and it lets you just enjoy the music. If your system is unbelievably quiet otherwise, this piece will not ruin that balance.I have mine running 24/7 and I suggest that you do the same. I forget the power consumption figures, but last I measured them, they were accurate, meaning you shouldn't worry about leaving it on. I've had mine for about six months now. Hasn't skipped a beat (except the streamer in the beginning, and I haven't used that function in months, no need).If the built in network endpoint was horrible, I'd still keep this DAC. Do pay attention to how they built this thing and just compare that to the cramped thinner cased, lower quality analog section having sub $900 stuff -- those are not going to compete (I have some of that stuff, some modded, all great sounding for the money and effort, but not on this level).

I was perhaps a bit skeptical about this DAC despite the rave YouTube reviews. I bought it for a second system and have the Chord Quetest in my main system to which I can compare it.Well, the Gustard A26 lives up to the hype and has a permanent spot in my second system. I hear the full spectrum of music reproduced faithfully with no irregular emphasis or bump to any specific area of the frequency range. Bass, midrange, top end - it's all there and only limited by the capabilities of your speakers. This DAC motivated me to go out and upgrade my speakers, and now it sounds even better.I tried Topping DAC's but had no luck finding any emotion in the music using them - sounds weird, I know, but I've read similar comments about the Topping DAC's so maybe I'm not crazy.Anyway, I highly recommend auditioning this DAC if it is in your price range, or even slightly above or below it. I think it outperforms more expensive DAC's and is a big upgrade over most of the $1K DAC's out there. It scales well also with better gear, which is always a sign of quality engineering of audio gear.

I absolutely love my A26. My previous DAC was a Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M which sounded great as far as my fiancé and I could tell. I got curious though and decided to give the Gustard A26 a try and return it if it didn't make any or much of an improvement. I have mostly listened through it's LAN input and I have to say that it is a HUGE improvement over my DacMagic. The music sounded good before but there is something this DAC does that is just magical and 3D. I've always loved Ray LaMontagne, especially his Monovision album. I've listened to it a lot. When I first listened to it through my Gustard A26 I almost spit out my coffee. It sounded so real! - I don't know how else to explain it. Of course it sounded real before with my DacMagic, but this time the music was more vibrant than ever before, and it sounded like Ray and his band were standing right in front of me. So happy with my purchase!