Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
The two main assets of the SU-10 are its gold feet accents and the high-resolution full-color display at the front of the unit. Those who find the plain UI of the A26 will enjoy the vibrant colors of the screen used by SMSL. Performance
While these are quite different sounding, it would be a horrible idea to swap one with the other. These are honestly more alike than different, their tonality is similar, yet different at the same time. I’ll break it down into smaller sections, so you can better understand their performance. 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).
A post from the R26 thread where a user says he exchanged his R26 for a A26, which he prefers because is sounds a bit more airy and resolving: Boasting a total of sixteen channels from its pair of ES9038PRO, the SMSL SU-10 at around half the cost is covering its bases for a balanced unit. Another heavy rival from Gustard, A26, comes out after the top-ranking R26! Let's take closer look at this new DAC! A26 utilizes dual flagship D/A chip AK4499EX, and AK4191 modulator for solid performance. With an independent power supply and grounding for each channel, separate digital-analog architecture eliminates interferences from the beginning.
The glass strip decorating the front of the A26 now has a central OLED display. It looks better put together than the slightly right-biased display on the R26. Gustard also upgraded the UI by decongesting the settings menu for a less busy look. DACs: Gustard X26 PRO, Gustard X16, Matrix Audio Element X, Audiobyte HydraVox + HydraZap, Flux Lab Acoustics FCN-10 A26 felt sharper sounding, with notes popping in and out faster. With all that being said, R26 was always beautiful sounding and quite magical as well. Since these are quite long and there are several comparisons mixed along in the A26 review, I have extracted what I found to be the most important sonic descriptions of the two DAC's. (Underscore and bold by me.)At the moment, with Gustard firmware v1.4, from my MacOS Tidal App I'm able to see the R26 only trough AirPlay and this connection seems to not preserve the original audio format. As a twin to the R26, the accessories provided are practically the same. There is a remote, power cable, USB-B cable, warranty card, and a minidisc. While R26 is still a true bargain and I won’t part ways with it anytime soon, A26 is the true value king, the giant killer that will be remembered for a very long time.
It's not a streamer. A streamer is able to play files on its own (from a NAS or connected USB drive or internal drive) or play Qobuz, Tidal, or Deezer on their own without any additional computer. And the Gustard R26 doesn't do that. More on the grills adorning the sides, the silver color option does help it pop more. And, the almost closed-off internals of the A26 breathes through the slim slits carefully hidden on its upper portion. Now, depending on your tastes, the fact that Gustard has now removed the physical power button and control wheel could swing either way. Where I stand on this is that while mechanical components feel more engaging, the touch sensors up the presence better. Taking the first half of its name, the Qutest looks cute compared to the A26. I have nothing against big or small DACs but one should consider where they’ll put their setup. For me, the Qutest can easily sit anywhere, which is one of the main reasons I haven’t sold it.
The problem with my setup is that before using that awesome-sounding Chord Ultima 5 power amp, I needed a dedicated preamp, I needed a DAC, and a wireless streamer that would feed it, hence adding a Chord Ultima 3 Preamp, a Chord DAVE and a Zidoo NEO Alpha wireless streamer. With Gustard’s A26, I’m killing three birds with a single stone as it already has a wired streamer, a high-performance DAC, and an adequate preamplifier section. I started using Roon last year, I added a Roon Nucleus working as a Roon Core, transforming the A26 into a plug-and-play wired streamer and DAC, controlling it via the Roon app installed on my smartphone.
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