Gustard X16 Balanced MQA DAC Review

[BDWoody]

Let's leave the endless and passionate MQA/Tidal stuff elsewhere. Not the place.

Thread cleaned up.

 

[AdamG]

Thread Notice: This is an Official Product Review Thread. Keep the conversation rooted in discussion about the test results and the product. Take all off topic conversation elsewhere please and thank you. This means I will be actively deleting any further off topic posts….

 

[MiRaGe_BG]

It's been asked and answered: Any proof that Digione Sig has better SQ then Digione?

Believe what you want my friend. I prefer my opinion and hearing experience. I have both and can definitely clear very very big difference in favor of the Signature. But.. at the end of the day there is your decision and your money on the table.

 

[cecelo01]

WARNING!!

Gustard has released new firmware (V.5.30.0), I have Gustard X16 on my main system. After updating the firmware, it was noticed:

. Better detailing.
. Better decoding at low frequencies, bass is drier and faster.
. Best 3D image in stereo.
. Overall, the X16's performance has improved. What was very good, is now excellent. They made a great fine-tuning of the decoding process.

My system: Integrated Luxman, MA Gold 200 4G, notebook optimized for 2ch (HQ Player 4) and marantz sacd/cd player

. http://www.gustard.cn/?page_id=8956

Gustard replied to my email about the V5.30.0 update for X16.

I was right in my observations. my ears are good

Thank you Gustard

 

[Veri]

Of course they're going to politely thank you for the superlatives you throw at them

I was right in my observations. my ears are good

 

[Blew]

I occasionally get a very slight crackle in the audio and I’m guessing it’s USB related. I was thinking of investing in a Allo DigiOne for my Raspi3 Roon end point and using the digital output to the DAC instead of USB. Anybody have experience with the Allo?

https://darko.audio/2017/08/allos-digione-pulls-five-star-sound-quality-from-the-raspberry-pi/

Review and Measurements of Allo DigiOne RPI S/PDIF

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Allo DigiOne Raspberry Pi digital audio (S/PDIF) interface. It retails for USD $99 and is on kind loan from Allo. Unlike its higher-end brother (DigiOne Signature), this is a single board implementation at half the price. When combined with...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Did you manage to resolve the issue with USB? I'm interested in doing the same with a Rpi 4 + Gustard X16 via USB and would rather not have to use Toslink/Spdif.

 

[MiLi]

Did you manage to resolve the issue with USB? I'm interested in doing the same with a Rpi 4 + Gustard X16 via USB and would rather not have to use Toslink/Spdif.

Invest in RPI 4 first and test it. With high probability it is known issue of USB port sharing resources with network driver in RPI3 architecture, RPI4 has different design of dedicated USB circuit. We are not experiencing USB issues in RPI4.

 

[Dennis_FL]

Did you manage to resolve the issue with USB? I'm interested in doing the same with a Rpi 4 + Gustard X16 via USB and would rather not have to use Toslink/Spdif.

I decided against the Allo Digione (at least for now) as it has toslink limitations with DSD and Hi Res bit rates. I have received feedback from others that my problem may be WiFi. Over at Roon, the community has experienced noise on USB/Raspi/WiFi and it goes away with USB/Raspi/ethernet.

I'm skeptical as my LAN WiFi is super fast and very strong signals (Google nest). I can see that happening with older WiFi setups.

However, my house was prewired with Cat-5 cable and I'm guessing maybe a day or two of installing RJ45 plugs and finding where I put ethernet switches from the last house and I can see if it's true.

I also have a RP4 sitting around doing nothing that I can try with Ropieee or Volemio as well (now I have RP3 w/DietPi).

When I switched from a 20 ft USB cable (from my Mac to the DAC) to a Raspi endpoint, the noise was substantially reduced and now I get a mild dropout maybe once every hour or two. I also just realized I am using a short USB cable I found in a closet and not the nice USB cable that came with the Gustard. I'm going to swap that out shortly, but I don't think short USBs need to be fancy.

So, soon I should be able to be wired ethernet and if that doesn't work, I'll try RP4. I'll report back.

I might add that I have never had an issue with my current setup when I'm sitting in my listening chair. It has always happened when I'm working on my computer with the Roon core. But it happens so infrequently now, that I'm not sure it's a computer multitasking issue. Could be coincidental.

 

[MiLi]

I decided against the Allo Digione (at least for now) as it has toslink limitations with DSD and Hi Res bit rates. I have received feedback from others that my problem may be WiFi. Over at Roon, the community has experienced noise on USB/Raspi/WiFi and it goes away with USB/Raspi/ethernet.

I'm skeptical as my LAN WiFi is super fast and very strong signals (Google nest). I can see that happening with older WiFi setups.

However, my house was prewired with Cat-5 cable and I'm guessing maybe a day or two of installing RJ45 plugs and finding where I put ethernet switches from the last house and I can see if it's true.

I also have a RP4 sitting around doing nothing that I can try with Ropieee or Volemio as well (now I have RP3 w/DietPi).

When I switched from a 20 ft USB cable (from my Mac to the DAC) to a Raspi endpoint, the noise was substantially reduced and now I get a mild dropout maybe once every hour or two. I also just realized I am using a short USB cable I found in a closet and not the nice USB cable that came with the Gustard. I'm going to swap that out shortly, but I don't think short USBs need to be fancy.

So, soon I should be able to be wired ethernet and if that doesn't work, I'll try RP4. I'll report back.

I might add that I have never had an issue with my current setup when I'm sitting in my listening chair. It has always happened when I'm working on my computer with the Roon core. But it happens so infrequently now, that I'm not sure it's a computer multitasking issue. Could be coincidental.

I recommend to start with RPI 3 to RPI 4 switch and you could save lot of time if your wifi is so powerful.

 

[Dennis_FL]

I recommend to start with RPI 3 to RPI 4 switch and you could save lot of time if your wifi is so powerful.

Yeah. I can do that.

I was just re-reading Darko and his statement:

... [Digione] directly connects to the Pi’s 40-Pin socket to pull digital audio upwards to output via S/PDIF with reduced amounts of jitter and/or electrical noise

[emphasis by me]

Which has me rethinking my views on the Allo.

 

[Dennis_FL]

Believe what you want my friend. I prefer my opinion and hearing experience. I have both and can definitely clear very very big difference in favor of the Signature. But.. at the end of the day there is your decision and your money on the table.

I read a little more and watched those videos by Darko and Hans Beekhuyzen and I'm beginning to change my mind......the Signature does a lot more than I thought.

 

[RHO]

I read a little more and watched those videos by Darko and Hans Beekhuyzen and I'm beginning to change my mind......the Signature does a lot more than I thought.

 

[Blew]

I read a little more and watched those videos by Darko and Hans Beekhuyzen and I'm beginning to change my mind......the Signature does a lot more than I thought.

Thanks for the updates. I have an old Rpi 3 which I will try first. I'll use wifi at first too. I want to use the Pi as a squeezebox player streaming from LMS on my NAS. If I get those pops/clicks/dropouts I'll do some troubleshooting and experimenting before buying a Pi 4 to replace. Have you tried adjusting USB audio buffers? Do you do any audio processing on the Pi other than decoding FLAC? The issue with Pi 3 and USB/Wifi/Ethernet is not a bus bandwidth issue, but a kernel interrupt bug. It just so happens that it's not present on the Pi 4.

I'm keen to stick to USB as it's asynchronous and avoids the jitter issue that affects synchronous connections of Toslink and S/PDIF. I'd be very very interested to see if you do hear a difference in electrical noise between using a HAT like Digione and USB!

In the end I decided to go for the Topping E50 over the Gustard x16 due to the Topping being updatable via firmware. I bought a SMSL M500 which is affected by the tone bug on the one channel, and it's impossible for me to update the firmware to fix the bug without sending it to China and not being able to listen to it for weeks while it's delayed in Covid logistical complications! So the ability to update firmware is essential in my book.

 

[Dennis_FL]

Thanks for the updates. I have an old Rpi 3 which I will try first. I'll use wifi at first too. I want to use the Pi as a squeezebox player streaming from LMS on my NAS. If I get those pops/clicks/dropouts I'll do some troubleshooting and experimenting before buying a Pi 4 to replace. Have you tried adjusting USB audio buffers? Do you do any audio processing on the Pi other than decoding FLAC? The issue with Pi 3 and USB/Wifi/Ethernet is not a bus bandwidth issue, but a kernel interrupt bug. It just so happens that it's not present on the Pi 4.

I'm keen to stick to USB as it's asynchronous and avoids the jitter issue that affects synchronous connections of Toslink and S/PDIF. I'd be very very interested to see if you do hear a difference in electrical noise between using a HAT like Digione and USB!

In the end I decided to go for the Topping E50 over the Gustard x16 due to the Topping being updatable via firmware. I bought a SMSL M500 which is affected by the tone bug on the one channel, and it's impossible for me to update the firmware to fix the bug without sending it to China and not being able to listen to it for weeks while it's delayed in Covid logistical complications! So the ability to update firmware is essential in my book.

If I read correctly, the jitter in the Digione is about the same as amir's test equipment. eg there isn't any

 

[rooster.jorge]

Can someone please tell me why there is no MQA display but instead a OFS? I am a new owner. Mine arrived after 2 months today and I am beginning to feel stressed here. What’s wrong? What does Original Frequency sample mean? Is it MQA or not? Why OFS? The “first” unfolding? So it NOT MQA? It was advertised as full MQA decoder over coaxial , optical and no only USB.
Bu the way, I AM connecting thru USB, what’s going on?

 

[Dennis_FL]

Can someone please tell me why there is no MQA display but instead a OFS? I am a new owner. Mine arrived after 2 months today and I am beginning to feel stressed here. What’s wrong? What does Original Frequency sample mean? Is it MQA or not? Why OFS? The “first” unfolding? So it NOT MQA? It was advertised as full MQA decoder over coaxial , optical and no only USB.
Bu the way, I AM connecting thru USB, what’s going on?

My MQA works fine. What is your source? You're upstream needs to be MQA compliant

 

[Dennis_FL]

I recommend to start with RPI 3 to RPI 4 switch and you could save lot of time if your wifi is so powerful.

I switched to RP4 (with Ropieee) and am now using ethernet instead of WiFi. So far so good. But now I have an RP3A I can't use and I probably need to buy another RP4 for other stuff.

But after 20 minutes (not long enough) -- zero noise, pops, dropouts.

 

[p_stefan98]

Hey guys,

I recently purchased this DAC and have been using it for the past couple of days.

Tonight I tried using the XLR output and I heard a loud pop come through my speakers. Everything was okay after but it’s got me thinking.

Thanks!

 

[Pdxwayne]

Hey guys,

I recently purchased this DAC and have been using it for the past couple of days.

Tonight I tried using the XLR output and I heard a loud pop come through my speakers. Everything was okay after but it’s got me thinking.

Thanks!

Did you power on and off the DAC when hearing the pop? If so, this is a known issue of the DAC.

 

[p_stefan98]

Did you power on and off the DAC when hearing the pop? If so, this is a known issue of the DAC.

Yes, it was when I switched the DAC to on. Is there any fix or way to circumvent this?