Gustard A26 Audio science review

Gustard A26 Audio science review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Gustard A26 network streamer and balanced stereo DAC.

The case is extremely heavy and stout. It looks more modern than previous Gustard products which I much appreciated. FYI the display is near white, not blue as you see in the image. Back side shows the differentiation from typical balanced DAC:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced stereo remote control review.jpg

The Ethernet “LAN” input allows streaming from Roon player or UpNP servers. The interface was easy to navigate with the remote. I like the longer timeout on such settings as Filter so you could change them without going through the menu sequence again.

Gustard A26 Measurements
Let’s start with our usual dashboard of USB in and XLR output with volume adjusted by -2 dB to get us nominal 4 volts output:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced Measurements.png

Combination of noise and distortion lands at -120 dB which is well below threshold of audibility so transparency is proven. Competition is tough though:

Best streamer stereo review 2023.png

Zooming in:

Best streamer stereo review zoom 2023.png

Here is dashboard with RCA output:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer RCA Measurements.png

Still transparent. Same when we use the LAN input and stream to it:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced Roon Measurements.png

The reason SINAD is not any better despite vanishingly low distortion spikes at -135 dB is because noise while excellent, is not class leading (as far as DACs are concerned):

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced DNR Measurements.png

Multitone showcases the superbly low distortion:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced Multitone Measurements.png

There is a bit of jitter/spikes but fortunately well below audibility:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced Jitter Measurements.png

Linearity is perfect:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced Linearity Measurements.png

IMD is excellent but again, a touch noisier than best of the best DACs:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced IMD Measurements.png

We have the usual AKM DAC filters:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced Filter Measurements.png

 

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced Frequency Response Measurements.png

We see the impact of noise once again in our wideband THD+N measurement:

Gustard A26 DAC and Streamer Balanced THD vs Frequency Measurements.png

Conclusions
The Gustard A26 gives up a tiny bit of measured performance compared to best of the best DACs but compensates by giving you a streamer. I am quite fine with that trade off especially since performance is provably transparent still. The overall design is professional looking and fits better in a home stereo rack than many desktop products do.

Overall I am happy to recommend the Gustard A26 DAC and streamer.

 

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