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Gustard X16 Balanced MQA DAC Review

Fluty

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Because SACD have a copy protection. You will have to use analog out from the player.
I may be wrong, but I thought the copy protection "handshake" occurred at the reader. According to the manual my SACD player outputs 1-bit DSD at 2.822 Mhz with frequency response to 100kHz. I'd really like to put that through a more modern and superior quality dac, such as the X16. There is text in the X16 manual referring to sacd but I can't make sense of it.
 
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Fluty

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Trying to get my head around this, which looks like an installation file for SACD. Can anyone help with even simpler instructions for a non- literate user like me? Para 8 in the instruction manual.
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gustard

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I haven't read all 148 pages here so apologies if I'm repeating a query already discussed. I love my X16 but it won't recognise an SACD input. I've seen reference to SACD in the manual but its all in Chinese - can anyone please explain?
X16 supports DSD, USB IIS supports DSD512, and AES coaxial fiber supports DSD64 (DoP64).
What is your front-end equipment? How to connect, how to play, please describe in detail and find the reason together.
 

gustard

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Optical or Coax input from SACD player. The X16 will only recognise and play normal CD discs, does not see them if SACD.
SACD players cannot output DSD signals via coaxial or optical fiber. This is regulated by Sony. If the output of the DSD signal violates the regulations, the manufacturer will receive a court summons. SACD players can output ordinary CD signals without limitation.
It can also be understood as playing SACD discs and does not support coaxial fiber output.
 
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Fluty

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Thanks for your reply. I have a Denon SACD player connect by Coax to the X16, giving a huge improvement in CD quality. Thanks to your X16 my CDs now sound far superior to SACDs played through the Denon. I was hoping to get a similar improvement out of SACDs also, through the X16. The extract from the X16 manual which I posted above, referring to SACD, gave me hope that this was the case. If as you say SACD format will not be processed by the X16, then what does the above extract from the manual mean?
 

gustard

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Trying to get my head around this, which looks like an installation file for SACD. Can anyone help with even simpler instructions for a non- literate user like me? Para 8 in the instruction manual.
View attachment 149190
This is the setting of the PC playback software, that is to say, to play DSD file (DSF DFF DST ISO) music through the PC, it needs to be set. If you are a SACD player, you do not need to make these settings.
 

gustard

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Thanks for your reply. I have a Denon SACD player connect by Coax to the X16, giving a huge improvement in CD quality. Thanks to your X16 my CDs now sound far superior to SACDs played through the Denon. I was hoping to get a similar improvement out of SACDs also, through the X16. The extract from the X16 manual which I posted above, referring to SACD, gave me hope that this was the case. If as you say SACD format will not be processed by the X16, then what does the above extract from the manual mean?
You may not understand that the coaxial fiber of SACD player does not output DSD signal, it is not that X16 does not process SACD signal. No signal output, equivalent to not plugging in a coaxial cable.
 

Atanasi

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You may not understand that the coaxial fiber of SACD player does not output DSD signal, it is not that X16 does not process SACD signal. No signal output, equivalent to not plugging in a coaxial cable.
Do any DVD drives plugged into the computer through USB support SACD playback?
 

Fluty

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You may not understand that the coaxial fiber of SACD player does not output DSD signal, it is not that X16 does not process SACD signal. No signal output, equivalent to not plugging in a coaxial cable.
Not really understanding what you're saying - if not coaxial, (or optical?) is there any way that the X16 can process SACD?
 

gustard

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Not really understanding what you're saying - if not coaxial, (or optical?) is there any way that the X16 can process SACD?
I still don’t seem to understand that SACD players do not support coaxial and cannot connect to any DAC, not only X16, but all DACs are NO.
 

gustard

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X16 can be connected to PC via USB to support DSD, and it can also be connected to network player via USB AES coaxial optical fiber to support DSD.
 

Snoopy

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X16 can be connected to PC via USB to support DSD, and it can also be connected to network player via USB AES coaxial optical fiber to support DSD.

A PS3 with jailbreak (custom firmware) is able to play SACD (rip them as well).

Ripped SACD images (Iso files) played through a PC are another option.
 

HARMAN

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Gustard won't take analog in.

Unofficially, Gustard said a while back Coax is better than optical.

Either Coax or optical will do the rest of mqa unfolding after Node2i initial unfold. Node2i must be in fix volume mode and mqa pass through must be disabled for that to happen.

If possible, use XLR out from Gustard.
Must be disable in both options?
 

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enricoclaudio

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The new NODE (2021) which I have, is not too friendly with external DACs over Coax. I tried with a Topping D90SE and got lot of incompatibilities issues with MQA files and Roon. At the end, following @JohnYang1997 recommendation, asked the seller for a return/refund. The new NODE does not have the "Audio Clock Trim" option which seems to address/fix MQA incompatibilities with external DACs over coax and optical.
 

enricoclaudio

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To my ears they sound identical. Bits are bits no matter how you transport them ;) However, Coax could introduce hum due to ground loops, optical not.
 

Fluty

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To my ears they sound identical. Bits are bits no matter how you transport them ;) However, Coax could introduce hum due to ground loops, optical not.
Bits are definitely not bits. There are Ears and Ears - my ears can hear a significant difference between optical and coax, and not only that but there's coax and coax. Sorry for my poor attempt at humour, but after first getting clear improvement after changing from optical to "ordinary" electronic-shop coax I then bought an Audio quality coax and the improvement was staggering. I've been a professional classical musician all my life, see my member name here, sat in the middle of professional symphony orchestras on a daily basis for decades, recon I can hear these differences. Check out my ears here: www.michaelscottflute.com
 

Fluty

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@gustard - It says mqa on the screen, but does the X16 do the complete mqa unfold if connected by usb from mobile phone? ie do I really need to use a separate streamer?
 
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