---
product_id: 516568183
title: "KGUSS Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC ES9038PRO PCM768kHz DSD512 Decoder LDAC Balanced K2 Clock Decoder with Remote Control Silver"
brand: "kguss"
price: "$U373757"
currency: UYU
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 5
category: "Kguss"
url: https://www.desertcart.uy/products/516568183-kguss-gustard-r26-discrete-r2r-dac-es9038pro-pcm768khz-dsd512-decoder
store_origin: UY
region: Uruguay
---

# Supports PCM768kHz & DSD1024 Ethernet streaming with Roon & UPnP Dual R2R & 1Bit DAC tech KGUSS Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC ES9038PRO PCM768kHz DSD512 Decoder LDAC Balanced K2 Clock Decoder with Remote Control Silver

**Brand:** kguss
**Price:** $U373757
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 🎶 Elevate your soundscape — because your ears deserve the future of audio.

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** KGUSS Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC ES9038PRO PCM768kHz DSD512 Decoder LDAC Balanced K2 Clock Decoder with Remote Control Silver by kguss
- **How much does it cost?** $U373757 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.uy](https://www.desertcart.uy/products/516568183-kguss-gustard-r26-discrete-r2r-dac-es9038pro-pcm768khz-dsd512-decoder)

## Best For

- kguss enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted kguss brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Seamless Network Integration:** Roon Ready and UPnP support with Ethernet input eliminates USB noise for flawless streaming.
- • **Ultra-High Resolution Audio Playback:** Supports native PCM up to 768kHz and DSD up to 1024 for audiophile-grade detail and dynamic range.
- • **User-Centric Controls & Compatibility:** Adjustable brightness, remote control, and broad OS support make high-end audio effortless and stylish.
- • **Precision Clocking for Zero Interference:** Exclusive CPLD tech and dual toroidal transformers ensure ultra-low jitter and pristine signal integrity.
- • **Pure Analog Warmth Meets Cutting-Edge Tech:** Dual architecture with independent R2R and 1Bit DACs delivers unmatched natural sound clarity and depth.

## Overview

The KGUSS Gustard R26 is a high-end discrete R2R DAC featuring dual independent DAC architectures (R2R and 1Bit) that support native PCM up to 768kHz and DSD up to 1024. Designed for audiophiles and professionals, it offers advanced clock management with CPLD technology, dual toroidal transformers for power isolation, and versatile input options including USB, Ethernet (Roon Ready), Bluetooth LDAC, and more. Its NOS mode bypasses digital processing for pure analog warmth, while network streaming capabilities ensure glitch-free playback. Compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux, the R26 is a premium solution for those seeking natural, detailed, and immersive audio experiences.

## Description

Features Dual architecture: Independent R2R 1Bit,support native PCM native DSD and DSD to PCM. PCM NOS: Without any digital signal processing,bypassing the volume adjustment,raw PCM stream was decoded by the R2R array directly. Native 1Bit DAC,support DSD 512 (via USB)and DSD 1024 (via IIS).The DSD stream decoded by the independent 1 bit convertor without DSD to PCM converting. *Volume is fixed under this mode. Streamer/Renderer: Support roon,upnp and more protocols in the future. Replace the input signal's clock with precision oscillators (local or external). Interference from the input source's clock is avoided. Function off: IIS,AES,COAX,OPT,BT;PCM NOS,1BitFunction on:USB LAN CPLD-Complex Programmable Logic Device Exclusive technology over CPLD ·Signal routing ·Clock management ·2nd order PLL ·DOP decoding ·Depop for PCM&DSD Two specific toroidal transformers for audio application,isolated the digital analog power supply. Discrete LPF with specific parameters provide best performance PCM filters :fast,mid(default),slow. XU216 from XMOS,supports up to PCM768 DSD512 Adjustable Brightness with 10s autosave,friendly UX. Specifications Input COAX/AES/OPT:PCM 16-24bit/44.1-192kHz;DSD DOP64 USB: PCM16-32bit/44.1-768kHz; DSD DOP64-DOP256; NATIVE DSD:DSD64-DSD512 OS support:Windows 7~11 32/64bit;macOS;Linux IIS: PCM 16-32bit/44.1-768kHz; DSD DOP64-DOP256; NATIVE DSD:DSD64-DSD1024 LAN:ROON UPNP(more in the future) Bluetooth:LDAC、AAC、SBC、APTX、APTX LL、APTX HD 10M Clock in: 50 Ohm BNC,0dBm-20dBm,square wave 0.2V-3.3V,sinewave 0.5-3.3V. Output Frequency Response: 20-20kHz/+-0.2dB(Oversampling) Dynamic range: >115dB Signal-to-noise ratio: >122dB Crosstalk: -134dB

Review: In this long review I’m going to share some important set up tips that you may not figure out until you’ve read every single posted word on this heavenly music rendering machine like I had to. I have a long history in high end audio, a very good ear (and intact hearing) and am primarily a music lover, not a gear hound and definitely not an “audiophool”. I shop carefully and listen critically, I don’t do “flavor of the month” purchases and tend to stay loyal to what I’ve got. In this case, some equipment failures turned my world upside down and I HAD to buy a new DAC for streaming Tidal and from my NAS. In anticipation of this DAC arriving, I started using ROON knowing ahead of time what a perfect match that software would be with this DAC. A key feature being able to go ETHERNET direct into the R26 in lieu of the electronic sewer pipe otherwise known as USB from a noisy PC laptop. I also took the time to clean up a typical clueless ETHERNET mess in my home by purchasing an 8 port NETGEAR switch to handle ALL the ethernet connections, thus only one cable runs from the Router to the switch and all else is managed by the switch. This I learned manages traffic much better than a mish-mash of devices plugged both into a router AND a switch, don’t do that! For feel good since it was cheap and valid in theory, I also got an FMC to install between the switch and the GUSTARD which galvanically walls off the DAC’s input circuitry completely. Ok and a linear power supply for the FMC just because. All shielded Cat 8 cables except purposely the final run from the FMC to the R26. I can first say after all this I have not had a SINGLE glitch streaming Tidal and my NAS into this DAC hours a time for weeks now. That was NOT the case before I cleaned up the network and was running my ROON laptop USB into a temporary DAC I had to resort to (my old OPPO BDP105). When I first hooked up the R26 via ethernet, ROON immediately saw the Gustard by name and what I assumed was the output setting to stream via ethernet. But although things played on the status bar no sound came out. Out of impatience I then resorted to the USB input of the R26 and music flowed. My first impressions were still very good and compared to the OPPO DAC which is certainly anyone’s idea of the notorious “Sabre glare” I can assure you the difference was immediately obvious. “Analogue” was a good stereotypical way to describe the rich, dense, though slightly “warm and fuzzy” qualities I heard. This was mostly in NOS mode and let me give a tip here: Thanks to the grammar of a double negative it’s easy to get confused whether upsampling is on or off; NOS ON means upsampling is OFF! After a day of this I disconnected USB and tried ETHERNET again rebooting ROON and the Gustard once or twice and sure enough now it was playing music! Yea or so I thought. Here again there was no struggle to hear a significant improvement in smooth, natural, organic, artifact-free clarity. I’m not going to nerd out too much describing things just yet, but compared to my outgoing OPPO and a Cambridge Audio Network streamer imagine you’ve always had a low level white noise generator going in the background then you shut it off…this is a good way to describe the immediate sensation of clean, peaceful, harmonic “rightness” you get from this device. Not unlike what you hear from a very good Single Ended Triode amp into appropriate speakers with appropriate source material. But unlike that analogy I have not found this DAC to be a case of being uncannily good at some things and really bad at others. All kinds of recording from all my great classic Jazz, classical, all the way to Ozric Tenticles and 80’s metal sound so focused, natural, dense and clear in completely un-hyped way. But I was confused by seeing “AirPlay” with the Gustard ethernet input in ROON and then realized as others have that all upsampled files whether by ROON or not were showing as 44.1 on the Gustard display screen. Airplay explains how to my bewilderment ROON was able to stream to another streamer DAC in my spare room that is neither ROON ready, nor ROON tested and no intention to be so (Yamaha WXC50). The ROON airplay mode was downsampling not the Gustard. Well here’s your next big tip; it turns out the output device in ROON you want for the Gustard ETHERNET-IN confusingly has USB in the name, you want the one that says “USB ALSA” to stream via ETHERNET the right and ultimate way. Apparently the Ethernet input merges with the USB input circuitry somewhere is the reason for that unfortunate nomenclature. NOW things were really got good! I want to float the idea that the intent of an NOS Mode is not necessarily to listen to music straight-no-chaser direct into the ladder dac with no FIR filtering at all. Years ago I went that route with an Audio Note DAC and concluded there were obvious and audible artifacts coming through, sonic warts if you will. Simplicity is always the best way but too simple is not. Instead, and the translated manual for this DAC alludes to this as well, the REAL reason is to allow the superior option of doing intense and very noisy upsampling OUTSIDE the DAC altogether, in my case by ROON on my PC . You do NOT want to make a mess out of lots of redundant up and down sampling. This is where I am now. I spent a lot of time deciding on the upsampling and filtering that sounds right done by ROON then send that to the GUSTARD running pure in NOS mode. As charming as the notion is redbook digital in the purest mode possible, that only sounded good or ok in a very recording-specific way, the brutal brickwall filtering applied to most especially older CDs does not sound right in NOS mode and NO Upsampling by ROON it seems. We all know there are choices of filters in most dacs and four in ROON, what I myself don’t understand yet is whether the three in the R26 are also bypassed by the Gustard in NOS mode but it seems you can select NOS on but also still select 1 of 3 filters and I suspect they are actually not engaged if NOS is ON but I could be wrong. Anyway, after all this I can say the sound quality does not stop amazing me. What used to be and in HINDSIGHT; sonically pixilated synthetic digital artifacts masquerading as “detail” is now a feeling of astounding naturalness. Although my Cambridge Audio was clean and quite innocuous in a good way, I would still compare that like going from a typical computer screen image to the first time you saw APPLE’s retina display. That’s overstating things but conveys what I am hearing. As a musician raised by musicians I’m most sensitive to “truth of timbre” than anything else, that acoustic instruments sound like they do in real life. In my opinion, you get that right and “sound-staging” and everything else just lands where it is by default. I’m sure plenty of people prefer to marvel at what sounds like virtual reality spatial detail at the expense of everything else but not me. Cymbals have their immediate hit and complex brassy decay, not sounding like they are coated with Teflon. Same with acoustic piano, a crowd clapping doesn’t sound a broken air hose, a harpsicord doesn’t sound like a synthesizer, violins don’t have that squeaky styrofoam kind quality etc. Just heaven! In summary I have to say using this DAC via USB from a laptop though still very nice is a significant compromise. It’s not surprising this DAC was obviously intended to intimately partner with ROON for maximum results and that is definitely the case for me.
Review: Ignore the Gustard R26 R2R Ladder Dac at your peril....if you cherish Musicality, Detail, Clarity, huge Dynamic swings, Bass slam and Goose Bump vocals.....the Gustard really is that good. I bypassed my Hegel H390s Internal Dac using the Dac Loop on the Hegel which is a straightforward process if you have the correct cables. Sound quality wise the Gustard is a huge upgrade to the Hegel Dac , which is no slouch itself by the way...but the Gustard really is in a different league I have to say. Although this Dac carries a hefty near £1,700 price tag, I would still describe it as an Audiophile Hifi bargain if your system needs a lift in all the areas I described earlier. And as far as high end Dacs go it is actually quite cheap. The Gustard Dac has made the Hegel sound like it is now on Steroids! The joy of using the Dac Loop is that you still get the Full Fat goodness and Brilliance of the Hegels Amplifier stage and you are still able to use the Hegels Streamer module and use Qobuz via Roon...my personal Streaming setup of choice.... as the Hegel Amps are now all certified "Roon Ready". By using the Dac Loop, you totally bypass the Hegels Dac and utilise the Gustard Dac. Some Hifi upgrades give small improvements and benefits over your existing set up...but I can honestly say, hand on heart, that buying the Gustard Dac has given my system a HUGE boost and improvement...and to be honest it was pretty damn good before. I cannot recommend the R26 highly enough if you love your music and want to hear it as the maker intended. It majors with all genre's of music too which makes it exceptionally versatile as well. Buy this Dac with confidence....it really is a "No Brainer"

## Features

- Dual architecture: Independent R2R 1Bit,support native PCM native DSD and DSD to PCM.
- PCM NOS: Without any digital signal processing,bypassing the volume adjustment, raw PCM stream was decoded by the R2R array directly.
- Native 1Bit DAC,supports DSD 512 (via USB)and DSD 1024 (via IIS).The DSD stream decoded by the independent 1 bit converter without DSD to PCM converting. *Volume is fixed under this mode.
- Streamer/Renderer: Support roon,upnp and more protocols in the future.
- Replace the input signal's clock with precision oscillators (local or external). Interference from the input source's clock is avoided.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN | B0BDLKRK65 |
| Manufacturer | GUSTARD |
| Manufacturer reference | GUSTARD-R26-SLIVER-KGUSS |
| Package Dimensions | 42.67 x 33.53 x 18.29 cm; 6.71 kg |

## Images

![KGUSS Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC ES9038PRO PCM768kHz DSD512 Decoder LDAC Balanced K2 Clock Decoder with Remote Control Silver - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41RGwZQiTXL.jpg)
![KGUSS Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC ES9038PRO PCM768kHz DSD512 Decoder LDAC Balanced K2 Clock Decoder with Remote Control Silver - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51lcJRPEt8L.jpg)
![KGUSS Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC ES9038PRO PCM768kHz DSD512 Decoder LDAC Balanced K2 Clock Decoder with Remote Control Silver - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61+NSSKbfWL.jpg)
![KGUSS Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC ES9038PRO PCM768kHz DSD512 Decoder LDAC Balanced K2 Clock Decoder with Remote Control Silver - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/617Yms9RvFL.jpg)
![KGUSS Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC ES9038PRO PCM768kHz DSD512 Decoder LDAC Balanced K2 Clock Decoder with Remote Control Silver - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61erZkUj2QL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by M***K on 10 March 2023*

In this long review I’m going to share some important set up tips that you may not figure out until you’ve read every single posted word on this heavenly music rendering machine like I had to. I have a long history in high end audio, a very good ear (and intact hearing) and am primarily a music lover, not a gear hound and definitely not an “audiophool”. I shop carefully and listen critically, I don’t do “flavor of the month” purchases and tend to stay loyal to what I’ve got. In this case, some equipment failures turned my world upside down and I HAD to buy a new DAC for streaming Tidal and from my NAS. In anticipation of this DAC arriving, I started using ROON knowing ahead of time what a perfect match that software would be with this DAC. A key feature being able to go ETHERNET direct into the R26 in lieu of the electronic sewer pipe otherwise known as USB from a noisy PC laptop. I also took the time to clean up a typical clueless ETHERNET mess in my home by purchasing an 8 port NETGEAR switch to handle ALL the ethernet connections, thus only one cable runs from the Router to the switch and all else is managed by the switch. This I learned manages traffic much better than a mish-mash of devices plugged both into a router AND a switch, don’t do that! For feel good since it was cheap and valid in theory, I also got an FMC to install between the switch and the GUSTARD which galvanically walls off the DAC’s input circuitry completely. Ok and a linear power supply for the FMC just because. All shielded Cat 8 cables except purposely the final run from the FMC to the R26. I can first say after all this I have not had a SINGLE glitch streaming Tidal and my NAS into this DAC hours a time for weeks now. That was NOT the case before I cleaned up the network and was running my ROON laptop USB into a temporary DAC I had to resort to (my old OPPO BDP105). When I first hooked up the R26 via ethernet, ROON immediately saw the Gustard by name and what I assumed was the output setting to stream via ethernet. But although things played on the status bar no sound came out. Out of impatience I then resorted to the USB input of the R26 and music flowed. My first impressions were still very good and compared to the OPPO DAC which is certainly anyone’s idea of the notorious “Sabre glare” I can assure you the difference was immediately obvious. “Analogue” was a good stereotypical way to describe the rich, dense, though slightly “warm and fuzzy” qualities I heard. This was mostly in NOS mode and let me give a tip here: Thanks to the grammar of a double negative it’s easy to get confused whether upsampling is on or off; NOS ON means upsampling is OFF! After a day of this I disconnected USB and tried ETHERNET again rebooting ROON and the Gustard once or twice and sure enough now it was playing music! Yea or so I thought. Here again there was no struggle to hear a significant improvement in smooth, natural, organic, artifact-free clarity. I’m not going to nerd out too much describing things just yet, but compared to my outgoing OPPO and a Cambridge Audio Network streamer imagine you’ve always had a low level white noise generator going in the background then you shut it off…this is a good way to describe the immediate sensation of clean, peaceful, harmonic “rightness” you get from this device. Not unlike what you hear from a very good Single Ended Triode amp into appropriate speakers with appropriate source material. But unlike that analogy I have not found this DAC to be a case of being uncannily good at some things and really bad at others. All kinds of recording from all my great classic Jazz, classical, all the way to Ozric Tenticles and 80’s metal sound so focused, natural, dense and clear in completely un-hyped way. But I was confused by seeing “AirPlay” with the Gustard ethernet input in ROON and then realized as others have that all upsampled files whether by ROON or not were showing as 44.1 on the Gustard display screen. Airplay explains how to my bewilderment ROON was able to stream to another streamer DAC in my spare room that is neither ROON ready, nor ROON tested and no intention to be so (Yamaha WXC50). The ROON airplay mode was downsampling not the Gustard. Well here’s your next big tip; it turns out the output device in ROON you want for the Gustard ETHERNET-IN confusingly has USB in the name, you want the one that says “USB ALSA” to stream via ETHERNET the right and ultimate way. Apparently the Ethernet input merges with the USB input circuitry somewhere is the reason for that unfortunate nomenclature. NOW things were really got good! I want to float the idea that the intent of an NOS Mode is not necessarily to listen to music straight-no-chaser direct into the ladder dac with no FIR filtering at all. Years ago I went that route with an Audio Note DAC and concluded there were obvious and audible artifacts coming through, sonic warts if you will. Simplicity is always the best way but too simple is not. Instead, and the translated manual for this DAC alludes to this as well, the REAL reason is to allow the superior option of doing intense and very noisy upsampling OUTSIDE the DAC altogether, in my case by ROON on my PC . You do NOT want to make a mess out of lots of redundant up and down sampling. This is where I am now. I spent a lot of time deciding on the upsampling and filtering that sounds right done by ROON then send that to the GUSTARD running pure in NOS mode. As charming as the notion is redbook digital in the purest mode possible, that only sounded good or ok in a very recording-specific way, the brutal brickwall filtering applied to most especially older CDs does not sound right in NOS mode and NO Upsampling by ROON it seems. We all know there are choices of filters in most dacs and four in ROON, what I myself don’t understand yet is whether the three in the R26 are also bypassed by the Gustard in NOS mode but it seems you can select NOS on but also still select 1 of 3 filters and I suspect they are actually not engaged if NOS is ON but I could be wrong. Anyway, after all this I can say the sound quality does not stop amazing me. What used to be and in HINDSIGHT; sonically pixilated synthetic digital artifacts masquerading as “detail” is now a feeling of astounding naturalness. Although my Cambridge Audio was clean and quite innocuous in a good way, I would still compare that like going from a typical computer screen image to the first time you saw APPLE’s retina display. That’s overstating things but conveys what I am hearing. As a musician raised by musicians I’m most sensitive to “truth of timbre” than anything else, that acoustic instruments sound like they do in real life. In my opinion, you get that right and “sound-staging” and everything else just lands where it is by default. I’m sure plenty of people prefer to marvel at what sounds like virtual reality spatial detail at the expense of everything else but not me. Cymbals have their immediate hit and complex brassy decay, not sounding like they are coated with Teflon. Same with acoustic piano, a crowd clapping doesn’t sound a broken air hose, a harpsicord doesn’t sound like a synthesizer, violins don’t have that squeaky styrofoam kind quality etc. Just heaven! In summary I have to say using this DAC via USB from a laptop though still very nice is a significant compromise. It’s not surprising this DAC was obviously intended to intimately partner with ROON for maximum results and that is definitely the case for me.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by G***Y on 1 March 2023*

Ignore the Gustard R26 R2R Ladder Dac at your peril....if you cherish Musicality, Detail, Clarity, huge Dynamic swings, Bass slam and Goose Bump vocals.....the Gustard really is that good. I bypassed my Hegel H390s Internal Dac using the Dac Loop on the Hegel which is a straightforward process if you have the correct cables. Sound quality wise the Gustard is a huge upgrade to the Hegel Dac , which is no slouch itself by the way...but the Gustard really is in a different league I have to say. Although this Dac carries a hefty near £1,700 price tag, I would still describe it as an Audiophile Hifi bargain if your system needs a lift in all the areas I described earlier. And as far as high end Dacs go it is actually quite cheap. The Gustard Dac has made the Hegel sound like it is now on Steroids! The joy of using the Dac Loop is that you still get the Full Fat goodness and Brilliance of the Hegels Amplifier stage and you are still able to use the Hegels Streamer module and use Qobuz via Roon...my personal Streaming setup of choice.... as the Hegel Amps are now all certified "Roon Ready". By using the Dac Loop, you totally bypass the Hegels Dac and utilise the Gustard Dac. Some Hifi upgrades give small improvements and benefits over your existing set up...but I can honestly say, hand on heart, that buying the Gustard Dac has given my system a HUGE boost and improvement...and to be honest it was pretty damn good before. I cannot recommend the R26 highly enough if you love your music and want to hear it as the maker intended. It majors with all genre's of music too which makes it exceptionally versatile as well. Buy this Dac with confidence....it really is a "No Brainer"

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by V***V on 23 May 2025*

It is a very musical DAC with big bass. It sounds amazing and sweet. However, it is not the best DAC for heavy metal. Also, it sounds best when the volume is 50% or more. It is not so good for near-field or quiet listening.

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*Product available on Desertcart Uruguay*
*Store origin: UY*
*Last updated: 2026-03-15*