Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
To send content to the MediaRenderer you need an application that acts as a MediaServer and RenderingControl to send the proper content to the renderer. Yes, my fellow music lovers, X26 PRO isn’t sounding at all like regular ESS-Sabre DACs, it is something else entirely and it’s worth my full attention. I knew going in that the Gustard A26 is a premium product that has quite a few tricks up its sleeve but even so I was not ready for the size and heft of this thing. There was a sense of grandeur and depth that A26 couldn’t apprehend even on world-class electronics. With R26, I could catch my breath and relax my mind in between passages, but with A26 it felt like an act of self-punishment, constantly bombarding my hearing apparatuses with energy-filled sounds that were coming from everywhere.
Regardless of what I was listening to, A26 had a sharper stereo image, placing the notes precisely around me. Luckily, both A26 and R26 are proving that crucial information, but A26 felt sharper sounding and slightly more defined, as the contours of the notes were outlined via A26. This is a crucial part of any DAC, this is the reason it uses two toroidal transformers and this is why it dissipates so much heat.It has two voltage switches instead of one, you can select between 115 and 230 V input, those switches are connected directly to a pair of custom 50W toroidal transformers. On its front panel, there is a decent screen display for reaching the music info clearly, it's smooth and aesthetic. The rest of the front is occupied by a touch panel OLED screen with a glass screen protector on top.
The track was eerie, smooth and yet so highly engaging, filled with lots of air, drum hits and cymbals coming from the background.A DAC is a mini computer that receives a digital signal and outputs an analog one that will be amplified later on. USB input comes next, it is also one of the most feature-packed digital input, accepting PCM and native DSD material, including MQA content. Take pocked-sized state-of-the-art measuring DACs of Topping, SMSL, and even of Gustard like X16, which will reveal the last bits of information way too easily.
I am deliberately going to avoid explaining how to disassemble the Gustard A26 because it isn't trivial to do so without also potentially getting a few other components loose/damaged along the way. Gustard also complements these DACs with streamers, external clocks and headphone amplifiers, among other things. I had a longer time frame to appreciate their vibration and their beauty, leaving a long trail of sounds along the way. Its output stage was crafted mostly from discrete devices such as diodes and transistors, which could have unlimited potential in the hands of a skilled engineer.
As you are well aware by now, I’m testing D/A converters in both headphone and stereo setups, so I can have a better feel about their performance. While both are highly resolving and equally transparent sounding, A26 will be giving you a little bit more.
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