A New Point Of Reference - Gustard R26 Discrete R-2R Ladder DAC Review

A New Point Of Reference – Gustard R26 Discrete R-2R Ladder DAC Review

My Conclusion

I know what you’re feeling, I feel it in my gut too, but I assure you that everything I wrote came from my mind and heart alone. I never tried making it look better or worse, it’s not in my nature. No one influences these reviews, nobody pays for them, these aren’t sponsored show pieces, these are honest and objective impressions after trying tens of D/A converters of all sorts. All things considered, starting with its build quality, impressive feature set, component selection and most importantly, sound quality, this is one of the most impressive DACs that I’ve heard at my place. Top 10? Make it in the top 5 of the best units I tried and that should tell you how I honestly feel about it.

In two weeks’ time, I tried hard finding some cons and I tried it hard. I was running with it to my office and then back to my stereo, searching for something that would make me exclaim and furiously write about an overlooked feature. I’m sorry, I failed, to me…this is a flawless sounding unit. I’m not sure if somebody cherry picked this unit, but I seriously doubt that as I didn’t get it directly from Gustard.

If I would nitpick a little…that would be about its cheap plastic remote, which isn’t doing it justice and, in their stead, I would probably release a metallic remote control as an extra accessory down the road, exactly as Topping did with their RC22 remote. Having an oversimplified user manual in English would be nice, as it took a while enabling its wired streamer via Roon. After updating it to FW 1.21, Roon saw it immediately and I suggest you doing that too.

I know that I sounded overenthusiastic about it, but if you checked at least a few reviews around here, then you already know that I’m rarely hailing thigs so high. Please check some of my latest DAC reviews, especially my latest Denafrips Terminator Plus…If Gustard R26 Discrete would cost two times the price, I would still be recommending it left and right and if it would be pricier, then it would still perform great at a less appealing price. I don’t recall having such a great time while writing…and maybe you’ll have a different experience, but this is all I felt and I’m sorry for being carried away by music, R26 made me do it. It goes without saying that R26 Discrete is more than an impressive sounding unit and from this very moment, I will be recommending it as the best R-2R ladder DAC bellow $3500. Please don’t take my words for granted and if you have an opportunity, go and give it a try…you won’t be disappointed.

Even that simple and uninspired case of X26 PRO was taken care of and it seems that my words hit their mark. It’s (much) cooler looking now, it has a better heat dissipation, there aren’t rough edges and pointy corners and it has a bigger display as well. Everything went up a notch and for all of the reasons combined, R26 Discrete deserved my absolute highest Gold Award! Congratulations to the team, it was fully deserved!

PROS:

The best looking Gustard unit to date, it has the perfect size, weight and style
Still built like tank, but it’s more refined looking from every angle
The most impressive part selection I’ve seen on a DAC of this caliber, flawless looking on the inside!
Rocks an all-discrete analog output stage
There’s an overkill power supply, filtering and regulation stage as well
The nicest clocking system I’ve seen thus far
Noise and distortion free unit, it’s dead-silent unit it any situation
Considerably clearer and more detailed sounding to R-2R ladder DACs of the same price bracket and the difference wasn’t small
Massive, huge and holographic sounding at all time, layered and well-spread around the listener
Incredibly transparent sounding, focusing on things playing in the background felt as a child’s play
Hefty and bold, punchy and visceral sounding with bass intensive music, amazing transients and quick shifts in dynamics!
Dynamics were always playful and a joy ride at all times
Full-bodied, organic and natural sounding, carries a warmer tonality
Covers the frequency response in full, without rolling off anything
A wide selection of digital inputs, including a 10Mhz clock input and an Ethernet port
Could still be improved with external Clock Generators and/or external DDCs
The highest bang for buck I’ve experienced thus far