It's been a while, but how do you feel about the Gustard X18 compared to the three in the comparison section? It can be had sub $500 second-hand and I'm not convinced that these are worth the price difference.
You have a nice-sounding DAC and an upgrade will probably feel like a side grade at ~$500. If you need a real upgrade to your X18, then start saving for a used or new X26 III. That one is something else.
I would love to see the best dac amp desktop and portable for a price range of 400 to 1000. But it should be the newest and have the newest technology's up to date Great review like always. Thanks 😊
I am just holding my horses until Gustard comes out with and R26MK II. It all feels too incremental a difference to me right now sporting a SMSL M500 MK III and Aune X8 XVIIIth + Sparkos and linear PS in my systems (with shielded power cables).
Sad, sadder and saddest. It´s clear SMSL and Topping going in the wrong direction the last few years and it seems become irreversible. They spit out a new dac every month (or even sooner) but took steps back in quality/parts and take no time or effort to make something truly special.
You're right! Topping started going in the right direction, especially after releasing the D90 Discrete and Centaurus, but I feel that SMSL has been going in circles for at least 10 years now...If putting 100 op-amps in a headphone amplifier is "clever engineering", I don't want to imagine what's coming next.
@@SoundnewsIndeed but even Topping, although new designs like Discrete and Centaurus, doesn´t invest in good power supplies, high quality caps,...anymore (only Gustard is taking this seriously). The results are showing, there is not one raving review to be found about the latest generation Topping/SMSL. They all have many features and a hundred different designs 🤯 but a sublime sound is lacking.
Happy new year Sandu cheers to a successful 2025 🍻
thank you a lot for that review! slightly missing a soundstage chapter tho 😊
hi , thanks for the review. Is it noticeable better than the SMSl SU -9 Ultra?
It's been a while, but how do you feel about the Gustard X18 compared to the three in the comparison section? It can be had sub $500 second-hand and I'm not convinced that these are worth the price difference.
You have a nice-sounding DAC and an upgrade will probably feel like a side grade at ~$500. If you need a real upgrade to your X18, then start saving for a used or new X26 III. That one is something else.
Price point is irelevant; in digital a dac is a dac. Please do a blind test between this dac and a soundblaster & see if you can tell the difference?
I would love to see the best dac amp desktop and portable for a price range of 400 to 1000. But it should be the newest and have the newest technology's up to date
Great review like always. Thanks 😊
I am just holding my horses until Gustard comes out with and R26MK II. It all feels too incremental a difference to me right now sporting a SMSL M500 MK III and Aune X8 XVIIIth + Sparkos and linear PS in my systems (with shielded power cables).
I think you invested more time in the review than SMSL in the development 😅
Just another smsl dac...
Sad, sadder and saddest. It´s clear SMSL and Topping going in the wrong direction the last few years and it seems become irreversible. They spit out a new dac every month (or even sooner) but took steps back in quality/parts and take no time or effort to make something truly special.
You're right! Topping started going in the right direction, especially after releasing the D90 Discrete and Centaurus, but I feel that SMSL has been going in circles for at least 10 years now...If putting 100 op-amps in a headphone amplifier is "clever engineering", I don't want to imagine what's coming next.
@@SoundnewsIndeed but even Topping, although new designs like Discrete and Centaurus, doesn´t invest in good power supplies, high quality caps,...anymore (only Gustard is taking this seriously). The results are showing, there is not one raving review to be found about the latest generation Topping/SMSL. They all have many features and a hundred different designs 🤯 but a sublime sound is lacking.