Gustard X30 DAC
Anyone have any experience with this DAC? Not interested in the Streamer capability. It's received several very positive reviews on line, from the usual you tubers, but strangely little response from the audio community at large.
Yes. I've had one for a few weeks. It replaced a Gustard R26 dac. I'd say that the positive reviews that I read are accurate. I'm quite happy with it. I'm using an Innuos Zen Mk3 streamer into a Gustard ddc to the I2s input on the dac. I've also used the coaxial input with my Denon DCD-1700NE player serving as a transport. It sounds great. |
More detail and clarity, but not bright or sibilant. Better separation of instruments. It's like one reviewer said.... It has the positive attributes of both a r2r dac and a chip dac. I was concerned about going from a r2r dac to a chip dac, but there's no loss of soundstage size, etc. I'm not good at describing what I hear. It just sounds right. |
I would imagine it's another winner from Gustard. I have been a Gustard guy for years. I have both the X26 and A26. The X26 sounds excellent but can be a tat grainy in the highs so I moved it to a secondary system. The A26 took care of that issue. The X30 probably does too per the reviews. The main reason I will not invest in the X30 is that, just like the X26, it gets rather hot to the touch even after just a couple hours. The A26 is stone cold no matter if you run it all day. It's a major positive for me. I run an Innuos Zenith mk3 via Gustard DDC with I2s connection to the A26. Also use the Gustard master clock controlling the timing of the ethernet switch, DDC and Dac. I concurr with @sls883, it sounds just right to my ears. It did take high quality cables and fuses to get there. Everything matters. |
