Gustard X16 Balanced MQA DAC Review

[themystical]

I contacted them.

Same here. Waiting for a response.

 

[Dennis_FL]

Same here. Waiting for a response.

The OLED display is a removalble part. If you feel comfortable taking the unit apart and replacing it yourself, it is a medium difficulty.

Directions are similar to the firmware updates described in this thread. But I suspect getting the part may be a problem

 

[themystical]

The OLED display is a removalble part. If you feel comfortable taking the unit apart and replacing it yourself, it is a medium difficulty.

Directions are similar to the firmware updates described in this thread. But I suspect getting the part may be a problem

I would be happy for them to ship a new screen for replacement by myself rather than shipping the DAC to China but I am not sure that is the outcome I will achieve. Let’s see how they respond.

 

[El_Arte]

I would be happy for them to ship a new screen for replacement by myself rather than shipping the DAC to China but I am not sure that is the outcome I will achieve. Let’s see how they respond.

They said “contact your retailer”.

 

[themystical]

They said “contact your retailer”.

Same here so I have contacted HiFi2GO who have asked for a video to illustrate the issue.

 

[m8o]

My X16 started exhibiting weirdness on its screen, whereby some “pixels” appear brighter than others, regardless of any brightness setting.

Anybody else saw that?

Mine doesn't have exactly that. But mine has been screwed up for years, either within or right after my 1st year of ownership. Really destroyed any chance to sell it. And has soured me on Gustard. (I turned auto display off off to take the pics, but is normally now on, and display brightness is set to 0.)

In real life the difference between lit and unlit is more pronounced; the phone photo processing evened the difference out a bit.. With my bad eyes some things are very tough to read.

 

[El_Arte]

Mine doesn't have exactly that. But mine has been screwed up for years, either within or right after my 1st year of ownership. Really destroyed any chance to sell it. And has soured me on Gustard. (I turned auto display off off to take the pics, but is normally now on, and display brightness is set to 0.)

In real life the difference between lit and unlit is more pronounced; the phone photo processing evened the difference out a bit.. With my bad eyes some things are very tough to read.

Yep, mine is similar to that, but a little worse.

 

[raif71]

Mine doesn't have exactly that. But mine has been screwed up for years, either within or right after my 1st year of ownership. Really destroyed any chance to sell it. And has soured me on Gustard. (I turned auto display off off to take the pics, but is normally now on, and display brightness is set to 0.)

In real life the difference between lit and unlit is more pronounced; the phone photo processing evened the difference out a bit.. With my bad eyes some things are very tough to read.

Sorry to see the display breaking up like that. Mine, over 2 years now but each time being on rarely above an hour at a time, still looks ok.

 

[G-rig]

I contacted them.

Good work, so you should.. get them so sort their hardware out, they aren't exactly cheap.

 

[JMP68]

Interesting, I get OFS when I turn off MQA decoding. So this means that the Gustard X16 can only do the second unfold right? I guess if it doesnt affect the sound quality its not bad right? The 44 seems a bit low for the master tracks but maybe it was just the ones I chose for this small test. Ill try coax as well.

View attachment 108535View attachment 108536

DSP affects reading on display of MQA when using Roon also. OFS is still MQA file according to manual for my A26

 

[kopczas]

Did any of you notice some problems during DSD playback thru coax or optic?
While playing dsf file, it goes as DoP64 to X16, music plays but there are some glitches and pops.
I get this behavior on both inputs.
192khz/24bit files run smoothly.

 

[Roland68]

Did any of you notice some problems during DSD playback thru coax or optic?
While playing dsf file, it goes as DoP64 to X16, music plays but there are some glitches and pops.
I get this behavior on both inputs.
192khz/24bit files run smoothly.

There was a firmware update for that. Google Gustard X16 and DSF.

 

[Rewind]

There was a firmware update for that. Google Gustard X16 and DSF.

The firmware update did not fix the problem. But using Roon there is no problem. Foobar2000 still has pops between songs on some DSD albums.
I sent it back to the seller in France, and I have checked firmware on the unit and it was updated.
Hard nut to crack for some manufacturers.

 

[kopczas]

There was a firmware update for that. Google Gustard X16 and DSF.

Is it different firmware update then this one with cracks and noises at the end of tracks ? I did some upgrade and it resolved the issue but with USB input. Until yesterday I haven`t use Spdif inputs.

 

[dan kolov]

Is it different firmware update then this one with cracks and noises at the end of tracks ? I did some upgrade and it resolved the issue but with USB input. Until yesterday I haven`t use Spdif inputs.

I have never had a problem with dsd and dsf,I have never had any cracks or noises. but I always listen via USB.I haven't updated the firmware until now. I have an x16 from 2020.

 

[Dennis_FL]

Is it different firmware update then this one with cracks and noises at the end of tracks ? I did some upgrade and it resolved the issue but with USB input. Until yesterday I haven`t use Spdif inputs.

I had an SMSL device which converted USB to Toslink and it worked fine until one day it died. It was discontinued by SMSL and I got a different brand. The replacement I got was cheap Cubilex and playback was filled with cracks and pops. It wasn't the Gustard...

So now I have an Allo Digione hat on a Raspberry and all is fine again.

Note that with the Raspberry (and Ropieee XL) I can feed different sources through either USB or the Allo coax outputs. In my case it is DLNA, Apple Airplay, and Roon endpoint.

I found I can stream 2 sources (Roon via ethernet and JRiver via DLNA) to USB with no problems. If I try Airplay through USB however, I have to shut Roon's core down - Roon doesn't like it. So I route Airplay through optical and change inputs on the Gustard.

So, in my case, the pops and the cracks came from upstream.

 

[El_Arte]

Anyone found a source of replacement displays?

 

[El_Arte]

They said “contact your retailer”.

Long overdue update…

Shenzhen Audio stocks displays. Bought one and did the replacement. The masking frame wasn't quite right for the new display, so I had to yank it after installing. So, I have a tiny bit of noise at the top edge of the display.

BUT it’s a brand new display and I can read it as new. All good!