GUSTARD DAC-R26 Discrete R2R DAC I2S Bluetooth LAN AirPlay Roon DLNA 32bit 768kHz DSD512 Silver MQA - reviews - There are 9 reviews.

Juste la musique, un point c'est tout...
Tout a déjà été dit sur ce magnifique appareil.

J'écoute toute sorte de musiques, beaucoup de classique, d'indi, de jazz, de rock...Ce R26 ne vous décevra jamais.
Avec lui c'est juste l'essence de la musique, c'est analytique, mais pas trop, c'est dynamique, ça monte haut, respect des timbres, ça descend bas, aucune agressivité, l'image stéréo est immense en largeur et profondeur...que dire, on a juste la musique en face de soi...

J'avais lu sur les réseaux quelques problèmes avec le streamer, mais non, tout fonctionne parfaitement chez moi, Tidal connect, Bubbleupnp, LMS.

Encore au dessus d'un SMSL Su-9 qui est pourtant un DAC remarquable. Bien mis en oeuvre on a la une base de choix pour bâtir un système de haute qualité..

Pas donné bien sur, mais rapport qualité prix incroyable, et service Audiophonics impeccable.

Complément d'avis
Pour compléter mon précédent avis.
Au moins 150h de rodage sont nécessaires pour vraiment apprécier ce DAC à sa juste valeur. Le grave est plus équilibré, la scène sonore semble plus précise encore, le coté "naturel" s'accentue encore.
Vraiment très satisfait de mon achat. Un appareil qui se place largement au-dessus de la mêlée des DAC à 500 ou 1000€.
Il semblerait que Gustard ait annoncé les petits correctifs UPnP attendus sur ce R26 (et A26 aussi qui partage le même streamer).

Extra
Ce DAC qui embarque à la fois un streamer (utilisé dans mon cas avec Roon et/ou HQPlayer) est absolument fabuleux en terme de précision transparence et détails. La scène sonore est vaste. Il se dégage un certain naturel dans la restitution. Je pense que du fait de toutes ces qualités, il faut prendre soin à ce qu'on met pour accompagner cet appareil.
Le grave est massif ou autoritaire selon l'appréciation ou son système, mais très bien controlé toutefois.
Le fait de pouvoir se passer d'un streamer est vraiment très appréciable. Je pense qu'il doit falloir investir beaucoup pour aller plus loin que le streamer intégré.

Des petits moins qui sont à signaler et peuvent concerner certains:
- En mode LAN (streamer), l'UPnP présente semble t'il avec la dernière version du firmware (v1.4) des petits problèmes. Ce sera surement corrigé mais pas d'info claire de Gustard encore à ce jour.
- La documentation très très légère.

Znakomity DAC!
Tak jak pisał kolega poniżej, uzależniające granie, aż chce się słuchać. Myślę, że mój sprzęt nie wykorzystuje do końca możliwości tego DAC. Mam UR Unico Nuovo + Monitor Audio Silver 500 6G.

Un excellent DAC!!
Appareil exceptionnel par son équilibre et l’ampleur de la scène sonore restituée.
Écoute juste, fine et détaillée, très analogique, beaucoup de présence, on en oublie que l’on écoute du numérique.
Utilisé sur un système très neutre, ce DAC fait des merveilles.
L’écoute devient addictive, du pur bonheur!
J’ai pu le comparer, dans les mêmes conditions, avec un Musician Pegasus dont l’écoute donne une sensation d’effet loudness (basses renforcées presque à l’excès sur certains enregistrements)
À la première mise en service, le R26 donnerait un peu la même sensation mais tout s’estompe au bout de 4h d’utilisation.
L’alimentation (transfos toriques) peut aussi se faire entendre pendant cette période de rodage avec une petite ronflette permanente, mais tout rentre vite dans l’ordre et l’appareil est par la suite très silencieux.
Je confirme les retours élogieux faits sur le R26.

Superlative!
Superlative sound. Forget about measurements.
Just wonderful sound.
Superb soundstage.
Regardless the price tag, a very-very high quality DAC.

An amazing DAC with a truly sense of presence and naturalness!
Nowadays DACs play an import role in a system, as the new formats like HD PCM, DSD, MQA and streaming services become available. While every other component can stay steady, the DACs are quickly evolving. For a couple of years, almost 15, I’ve have been keeping the Krell CD player, the Krell amplifier, the B&W floor stand speakers, the Rega turntable and Vincent phono preamp, only replacing the music player (streamer) and the DAC. So, I had some DACs from Cambridge Audio, NuForce/NuPrime, Gustard (X16) and Mytek. All different and each with their strengths and weaknesses. With R26 I’ve found a very nice balance for sound stage, detail, transparency, and pace, but the biggest difference is a truly sense of presence and naturalness which is amazing (the stage sound is so large that you may have to rotate speakers in to the listener position to have a better center image for voice). Using a music streamer based on Rasperry Pi 4 connect via USB 2.0 port, everything works fine too (current R26 firmware version is 1.4), without any issues (from Spotify, TIDAL, Youtube and local music database based on a NAS). The built-in streamer works very well, decoding all formats easily. Tried 2 configurations: 1st With Roon installed on a Synology DS220+ NAS (Intel CPU required) with a local library of music files and everything worked fine too. 2nd using R26 used as a UPnP renderer via mconnect Player Lite, but some improvement is required for this as, occasionally, the first time a DSD file is loaded from the NAS (using DLNA), there are some halts (these files are huge in size). Had 2nd thoughts about the A26 model, also a very praised DAC by critical listeners and reviewers, but there is something in the high processed audio signals from Delta-sigma DACs that make long listening’s easy tiring. In summary R26 is very musical DAC giving great sense of realism, excelling in bringing the emotion of live recorded music. For listening the best results are obtained in Non-Oversampling mode (NOS ON). Last a praise to Audiophonics which sent the equipment fast and very well protect.

An amazing DAC with a truly sense of presence and naturalness!
Nowadays DACs play an import role in a system, as the new formats like HD PCM, DSD, MQA and streaming services become available. While every other component can stay steady, the DACs are quickly evolving. For a couple of years, almost 15, I’ve have been keeping the Krell CD player, the Krell amplifier, the B&W floor stand speakers, the Rega turntable and Vincent phono preamp, only replacing the music player (streamer) and the DAC. So, I had some DACs from Cambridge Audio, NuForce/NuPrime, Gustard (X16) and Mytek. All different and each with their strengths and weaknesses. With R26 I’ve found a very nice balance for sound stage, detail, transparency, and pace, but the biggest difference is a truly sense of presence and naturalness which is amazing. Using a music streamer based on Rasperry Pi 4 connect via USB 2.0 port, everything works fine too (current R26 firmware version is 1.4), without any issues (from Spotify, TIDAL, Youtube and local music database based on a NAS). The built-in streamer works very well, decoding all formats easily. Tried 2 configurations: 1st With Roon installed on a Synology DS220+ NAS (Intel CPU required) with a local library of music files and everything worked fine too. 2nd using R26 used as a UPnP renderer via mconnect Player Lite, but some improvement is required for this as, occasionally, the first time a DSD file is loaded from the NAS (using DLNA), there are some halts (these files are huge in size). Had 2nd thoughts about the A26 model, also a very praised DAC by critical listeners and reviewers, but there is something in the high processed audio signals from Delta-sigma DACs that make long listening’s easy tiring. In summary R26 is very musical DAC giving great sense of realism, excelling in bringing the emotion of live recorded music. For listening the best results are obtained in Non-Oversampling mode (NOS ON). Last a praise to Audiophonics which sent the equipment fast and very well protect.

An amazing DAC with a truly sense of presence and naturalness.
Nowadays DACs play an import role in a system, as the new formats like HD PCM, DSD, MQA and streaming services become available. While every other component can stay steady, the DACs are quickly evolving. For a couple of years, almost 15, I’ve have been keeping the Krell CD player, the Krell amplifier, the B&W floor stand speakers, the Rega turntable and Vincent phono preamp, only replacing the music player (streamer) and the DAC. So, I had some DACs from Cambridge Audio, NuForce/NuPrime, Gustard (X16) and Mytek. All different and each with their strengths and weaknesses. With R26 I’ve found a very nice balance for sound stage, detail, transparency, and pace, but the biggest difference is a truly sense of presence and naturalness which is amazing. Using a music streamer based on Rasperry Pi 4 connect via USB 2.0 port, everything works fine too (current R26 firmware version is 1.4), without any issues (from Spotify, TIDAL, Youtube and local music database based on a NAS). The built-in streamer works very well, decoding all formats easily. Tried 2 configurations: 1st With Roon installed on a Synology DS220+ NAS (Intel CPU required) with a local library of music files and everything worked fine too. 2nd using R26 used as a UPnP renderer via mconnect Player Lite, but some improvement is required for this as, occasionally, the first time a DSD file is loaded from the NAS (using DLNA), there are some halts (these files are huge in size). Had 2nd thoughts about the A26 model, also a very praised DAC by critical listeners and reviewers, but there is something in the high processed audio signals from Delta-sigma DACs that make long listening’s easy tiring. In summary R26 is very musical DAC giving great sense of realism, excelling in bringing the emotion of live recorded music. For listening the best results are obtained in Non-Oversampling mode (NOS ON). Last a praise to Audiophonics which sent the equipment fast and very well protect.