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Gustard DAC-X30

VientoB said:
That would imply you have better hearing than many of us and better hearing than can be measured, which doesn't seem right at all.
Click to expand...

If you can't hear the difference between a slow/leaky filter and a correct one (that has maximum attenuation before Nyquist - so few of these around nowadays), more power to you. Choose the leaky one and be done with it. Hell, go the whole hog and choose NOS!

(BTW, it's trivial measuring the effects of various filters in the audioband through null testing. For example, null testing shows that correct/fast filters do NOT ring... assuming band-limited signals.)

Now, back to some music...
 
Purité Audio said:
Manufacturers can of course still make ‘better’ measuring equipment and charge more for it, but customers must be aware that the extra cost almost certainly does not correlate with better sound quality.
Keith
Click to expand...
I'm beginning to to believe all of the super SINAD stuff is just bonkers - and selling a measurement to get your money. As I've read this:
"Since Absolute Threshold of Hearing is about 25 dB SPL at 100 Hz, the distortion component at 100Hz / 120 Hz should be 75 dB below the clipping level measured at least at quarter power (-6dB), or maximum at half power (-3dB). If SINAD is greater than 75 dB, then this distortion component is below the -75 dBre limit.
And what if the distortion is mainly 3rd order? The just-noticeable third harmonic distortion with pure tones is 55-60 dB, so even 60 dB SINAD (0.1% THD+N) is sufficient in the full audio range."
Basically it appears that any DAC that's capable of 75db SINAD is decent and "good enough". What Dac's need to do is offer more features or better ascetics (be it jewelry or operational). I believe the Gustard X30 has done this as I really don't like the small form factor in my rack...not quite worth $3K but I could see doing it for $1900. Now if we all came to the good enough epiphany, the dac business would be out of business as they tend to last a long time. No need to get a new one.
 
Anyone using an X-30 with Roon? Does it support volume control via Roon apps?
 
Has anyone noticed an audible noise between tracks?

It seems to only do it when the sampling rate between 2 tracks is different (say from 44.1 to 48 KHz).

My Topping D30 Pro doesn’t do this.
 
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Dibu said:
especially that he has it at home.
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They most likely gave it to him for free so he would promote it to others. Seems like they got their moneys worth. Subjective reviewers are just disguised salesmen.
 
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prerich said:
I'm beginning to to believe all of the super SINAD stuff is just bonkers - and selling a measurement to get your money. As I've read this:
"Since Absolute Threshold of Hearing is about 25 dB SPL at 100 Hz, the distortion component at 100Hz / 120 Hz should be 75 dB below the clipping level measured at least at quarter power (-6dB), or maximum at half power (-3dB). If SINAD is greater than 75 dB, then this distortion component is below the -75 dBre limit.
And what if the distortion is mainly 3rd order? The just-noticeable third harmonic distortion with pure tones is 55-60 dB, so even 60 dB SINAD (0.1% THD+N) is sufficient in the full audio range."
Basically it appears that any DAC that's capable of 75db SINAD is decent and "good enough". What Dac's need to do is offer more features or better ascetics (be it jewelry or operational). I believe the Gustard X30 has done this as I really don't like the small form factor in my rack...not quite worth $3K but I could see doing it for $1900. Now if we all came to the good enough epiphany, the dac business would be out of business as they tend to last a long time. No need to get a new one.
Click to expand...

At least "SINAD" peddlers are selling something that can be objectively evaluated. Like buying a supercar in any European country except Germany, where you can never drive it to sell speed unless you go to a racing track (which is fine, but somewhat an artificial context, it is not the same as actually driving the car on a normal road).
 
mocenigo said:
At least "SINAD" peddlers are selling something that can be objectively evaluated. Like buying a supercar in any European country except Germany, where you can never drive it to sell speed unless you go to a racing track (which is fine, but somewhat an artificial context, it is not the same as actually driving the car on a normal road).
Click to expand...
I'd argue it's safer driving a supercar on a racetrack than an actual road. They're tested on racetracks. Autobahn is just fairly straight, boring road which is not going to test the handling.

Also in hot weather on the concrete Autobahns the concrete can expand and "blow up" which is very hazardous.

So, a poor analogy imo.
 
Dibu said:
I'm not interested in a list. I'm interested in which DAC you can compare to the Gustard X30 for $200.
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Every single DAC on the list. They all sound the same regardless of price

www.audiosciencereview.com

How can DAC's have a SOUND SIGNATURE if they measure as transparent?

I know there are people out there that think cables affect sound, which is much worse, but there really is no response to something like that, but just to smile and nod. But what about people who talk about DACS as if they were headphone drivers or speakers, and talk about the SOUNDSTAGE...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
 
Svend P said:
Every single DAC on the list. They all sound the same regardless of price

www.audiosciencereview.com

How can DAC's have a SOUND SIGNATURE if they measure as transparent?

I know there are people out there that think cables affect sound, which is much worse, but there really is no response to something like that, but just to smile and nod. But what about people who talk about DACS as if they were headphone drivers or speakers, and talk about the SOUNDSTAGE...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
Click to expand...
I disagree.
It should be: All DACs having the same measures sound identical
Some DAC have different measures (ex: distortion) and so they sound differently. Some of these distortions are very pleasing, which make a DAC desirable. Not all of us are hearing music 8 hours per day, so a pleasing sound is just...pleasing. Hence the succes of tubes and R2R
Just my 2 cents....
 
LucreciaBorgia said:
I disagree.
It should be: All DACs having the same measures sound identical
Some DAC have different measures (ex: distortion) and so they sound differently. Some of these distortions are very pleasing, which make a DAC desirable. Not all of us are hearing music 8 hours per day, so a pleasing sound is just...pleasing. Hence the succes of tubes and R2R
Just my 2 cents....
Click to expand...
How can they sound different if they measure the same? We can measure way down below the threshold of human hearing. Have a think about that.
 
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