This is my review of the new
Gustard X26III DAC which I purchased recently from HiFiGO and have been breaking it in for more than 600 hrs.
Let me make this very clear from the start...this is the DAC that you upgrade to if you're wanting to see an actual meaningful change/difference to your music for the absolute better...if you're coming from an entry level or mid range DAC.
This is the DAC that laughs hysterically in the faces of people who think "all DAC's sound the same" and that they "don't make much of a difference".
This is the DAC that could potentially make some people question all what they thought they knew about DAC's and high fidelity audio.
Like many, I started fairly modestly in my "headphone journey" almost 5 years ago. Philips Fidelio X2HR with a FiiO K5 Pro amp/DAC to be exact lol.
Fast forward to my current gear...I have a "high end" stack from Gustard. My chain is PC > Gustard U18 DDC > Gustard X26III DAC > Gustard H26 Amp > JM Audio XTC2 Open (64 ohm Beryllium) headphones. Before the X26III, I was using a Gustard X18 for a couple years which served me really damn well.
So...why do I think that the X26III doesn't sound awful at all? Well, it's a very airy and potent sounding DAC. Sporting 2 of ESS' flagship 9039 PRO chips, it is a very energetic yet smooth sounding digital to analogue converter. None of that Sabre glare or harshness is present from yesteryear.
The soundstage is pretty big and expansive. The imaging and separation is super sharp, making it child's play to pick out instruments in the mix. It's an extremely 3D sounding device with great width and depth. Height is pretty good but not Earth shatteringly world class. Because of the exceptional 3D sounding nature of this DAC, many a time did this thing have me looking over my shoulder and sometimes forcing me to completely stop the music playing due to paranoia of what I think I'm hearing in the real world and what's going on through my headphones lol.
The highs are very extended but again...very smooth. It is revealing so if you're playing horribly compressed and sibilant tunes...you can't polish a turd lol. Cymbals and high hats are especially pretty sounding with no grating glare. Throw in a nice healthy dose of up top shimmer for that sexy sparkle and you have some sweet icing on your cake.
Midrange is very nuanced and pleasing. As someone who mostly listens to indie, alternative rock, classic rock, reggaeton and 80's trash including Italo disco...I can say that this is a fairly neutral sounding DAC that is gorgeously extended at both ends. Vocals are pristine, elegant and slightly forward without any sign of pesky 1khz-3khz honk that would annoy some people. Zero shoutyness...unless it's a poor recording. For a delta sigma DAC...the mid range, actually the sound as a whole feels slightly weighty. You literally feel every single note whether it's coming from the instruments or vocals. It has quite an interesting sound signature with it sounding very neutral but a bit hefty/weighty...all while being extremely vibrant with superb extension at both ends of the spectrum. It's sometimes shocking how much information this Gustard can resolve sometimes lol...all without any sterileness, harshness, sibilance etc. Timbre appears accurate and very satisfying. So much textures are heard and felt with absolute authority. The beautiful solid airy, but ever so slight weighty sound of the X26III leads me to my favourite part of this thing...
...the bass. THE BASS! Ohhhhhh man. FU**. I never knew certain DAC's could be capable of having such a tight, strong and articulated bass/subbass. How....HOW?!!!! Please forgive my embarrassing gushing but I've not been exposed to these kind of influences from a goddamn DAC. Now I totally get why Sandu from Soundnews raves about certain DAC's moving his soul...the ones that have the best dynamics, soundstage, bass punch without any frequencies getting rolled off. What I love so much about the bass is how one track can sound vibrant and smooth with a lovely pleasant bass line underpinning the music in a very cohesive balanced manner. The next track after that will absolutely obliterate you with it's bass punch while having a very sinister extremely deep sounding subbass throbbing at around 30hz-40hz lurking in the background. It is insane lol.
This is the real friggin deal guys.
I'll just say it....adding a DAC like this to your chain is akin to upgrading certain headphones or speakers in some situations. Sorry, but it's that big of a difference. If you're already coming from a "high end" DAC looking for the next best thing...chances are it'll more likely be a sidegrade.
Don't get me wrong here, of course...generally you'll always see the biggest changes in your hifi setup from headphones/speakers, however, an amp or....believe it or not, a DAC can add a profound change in your system.
Now, having the X26III in my possession has made me appreciate my Gustard X18 DAC even more. Truth be told, the upgrade in detail and soundstage of the X26III compared to the X18 is not massive at all. Price difference is essentially double but you get far from twice the performance. It's really only the bass/subbass of the X26III that is clearly a big upgrade.
I also feel more appreciative of my XTC2 Open headphone from JM audio since getting this new DAC. It has scaled up admirably becoming even more spacious, 3D sounding, tight as hell with gut wrenching bass punch. The X6III has also made me refrain from using EQ entirely now. Was only using a tiny bit of it in EqualizerAPO in the subbass area but this new Gustard DAC has so much grunt down low....EQ is no longer bloody needed.
Have I mentioned the speed and tightness of the X26III? Man...this thing is fast as hell with quick but very natural sounding decay. Sometimes you sit there listening to your tunes while also chuckling to yourself because of how a lot of your songs sound slightly sped up in tempo due to the crazy speed, pace and rhythm.
No shade to anyone here but many times on these groups/forums I see certain people rocking a "summit fi" flagship headphone such as a Focal Utopia, driven by some generic mid range SMSL amp/DAC and I often say to myself..."instead of browsing these forums and maybe always being on the lookout for a new headphone...why not upgrade your source gear to something legit hi end...to match your hi end/summit fi headphones?!" I don't believe my XTC2 Open's are "summit fi", however, I know that they are most definitely "hi-fi" or "hi end" if you will so......I took my own bloody advice and got an X26III DAC and H26 amp lol.
This Gustard DAC certainly ain't cheap, however, the performance probably punches waaaaaaaaaaaaaay above it's weight.
Saying all of what I said above...take what I say with a grain of salt cause I've still not heard that many DAC's in my time to compare. I have an old first generation iFi Neo DAC/Amp which was ok at the time but I haven't tried using it since forever lol so it would be unfair to compare, never mind it being in a different price category.
For now...I am done in this "headphone journey". I know for sure there's better out there but due to current financial status...I can't justify spending any more when diminishing returns greets me to say hi.
