Gustard’s all-new R30 is a sleek-looking R2R streaming DAC with a front panel display that’s part touch interface. According to the Chinese manufacturer, the in-house designed resistor ladder DAC circuit promises 27-bits of resolution and a separate decoder pathway for DSD signals.
On the analogue side of the D/A converter sits a defeatable passive resistor ladder volume control and discrete Class A output stage (no op-amps) that talk to a choice of single-ended RCA and balanced XLR sockets.
On the input side, an Ethernet-only ‘CelWare’ streaming board whose support for Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay, HQPlayer NAA and UPnP can each be turned on/off via the a simple web interface.
The streaming inputs are augmented by an array of hard-wired digital connectivity: TOSLINK, coaxial, AES/EBU, XMOS XU216 USB (DSD512, 768kHz) and 4-mode I2S that extends DSD and PCM support to DSD1024 and 1536kHz respectively.
The analogue and digital stages are fed by separate toroidal transformers.
Data clocking comes from an internal OXCO, its partnering GCLK-02 module and an FPGA or – optionally – an external box that hooks into the R30’s rear-panel 50-Ohm/10MHz BNC socket. According to Gustard, that same FPGA ensures no pops or clicks when switching between PCM and DSD sources.
A full suite of measurements has been published by Aoshida Audio.
Price? US$3599. Your choice of black or silver.
Further information: Aoshida Audio
