My shortlist was Gustard A18, SMSL SU-9 and Topping D70s. You can read my detailed review in
Gustard X16 Owners feedback (#125) at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-x16-owners-feedback.20055/page-7#post-693644
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Gustard X16 Balanced MQA DAC Review
- Thread starter amirm
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Gustard X16 Owners feedback (#125) at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-x16-owners-feedback.20055/page-7#post-693644
Very awkward...Yesterday at 10:07 PM
#11
I m placing the order 18/2 from Audiophonics France, but something happens and the package stack in France airport... I send to them an email and below is the answer...
I can't wait,, 17 days now.
curiouspeter
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I already owned an iFi NEO iDSD, which was used in my headphones setup. One option was to move the NEO to my integrated amp and get a Lotoo PAW S1or an iFi Zen DAC for my headphones.
Alternatively, I could keep the NEO for my speakers and get on of these for my speakers:
- Gustard X16
- Matrix Mini-i Pro 3 (before the price increase, the Roon Ready premium could be justified)
- Schiit Bifrost 2 (going rogue )
- Cambridge DacMagic 200M
The Matrix looked very nice, but in the end, I decided not to spend the extra money. Some hardware or touchscreen pause/play/next buttons would have changed my decision.
In the end, the Gustard was chosen because I preferred the auto-off OLED screen over the many LED lights of the Cambridge. I would not need a HP amp anyway.
Wise ChoiceI already owned an iFi NEO iDSD, which was used in my headphones setup. One option was to move the NEO to my integrated amp and get a Lotoo PAW S1or an iFi Zen DAC for my headphones.
Alternatively, I could keep the NEO for my speakers and get on of these for my speakers:
Well, the Schitt was more like a joke option. ($200 more, no MQA, no DSD, limited to 24/192)
- Gustard X16
- Matrix Mini-i Pro 3 (before the price increase, the Roon Ready premium could be justified)
- Schiit Bifrost 2 (going rogue
- Cambridge DacMagic 200M
The Matrix looked very nice, but in the end, I decided not to spend the extra money. Some hardware or touchscreen pause/play/next buttons would have changed my decision.
In the end, the Gustard was chosen because I preferred the auto-off OLED screen over the many LED lights of the Cambridge. I would not need a HP amp anyway.
Oukkidoukki
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Yo, does any x16 owner here also own d90......how do they compare? Everytime I check d90 demos from youtube I seem to be mesmerized by the void it creates......so airy vocals , so effortless presentation. Couldn’t find many x16 videos but in those I didnt feel the void same way and maybe vocals litle bit more congested...........
Veri
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A recording goes through a dac, amp, speaker, room, mic, ADC, YouTube compression. And then again through your own chain of DAC/amp/transducer. It is extremely unreliable to compare something this way.. no way you "hear" the D90.
Oukkidoukki
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Well, yeah....that’s why I asked if someone has d90 and x16 side by side in treated room......however, there is d90 vs gustard a22 comparison in youtube and you can sense this ”void quality” there.........
ninetylol
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Einbildung ist auch eine Bildung.
Oukkidoukki
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Nich sprechen deutch very well man, sorry.....but i can guess.....one opinion is only one opinion......there were others saying the same in comment section.........and we bought the x16 by the way....no speakers yet though.....but these d90 videos made me wonder....staggering price difference between akm 4499 and es9068....80€ vs 8€ or something like that...make me wonder even though numbers tell they are the same
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It could be altered to make it appear that way social media is just advertisement in the end, people hear what they want to hear and repeat what's fits their bias. The basic understanding is that a dac doesn't change the music, it's not an equalizer or a producer mixing station. So if you read here about transparent dacs it means they are true to the source material and distortions and noise are below the listening thresholds.
Thanks for the detailed explanation, how are you liking it?I already owned an iFi NEO iDSD, which was used in my headphones setup. One option was to move the NEO to my integrated amp and get a Lotoo PAW S1or an iFi Zen DAC for my headphones.
Alternatively, I could keep the NEO for my speakers and get on of these for my speakers:
Well, the Schitt was more like a joke option. ($200 more, no MQA, no DSD, limited to 24/192)
- Gustard X16
- Matrix Mini-i Pro 3 (before the price increase, the Roon Ready premium could be justified)
- Schiit Bifrost 2 (going rogue
- Cambridge DacMagic 200M
The Matrix looked very nice, but in the end, I decided not to spend the extra money. Some hardware or touchscreen pause/play/next buttons would have changed my decision.
In the end, the Gustard was chosen because I preferred the auto-off OLED screen over the many LED lights of the Cambridge. I would not need a HP amp anyway.
curiouspeter
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I like it. But differences between DACs are subtle if any.
I also rarely touch it because I only use USB and 0 db volume.
You have to cycle through the inputs by pressing a button. The rotatory disc is not as satisfying as a knob if you use it for volume. But I do neither.
There is also a remote for the above functions. I also never used the remote.
Yeah I elected to cancel the X16 and save a some money and just get a Topping E30. I'm outputting from a Node 2i so the X16 seemed like overkill.
Main reason for getting the X16 was for balanced outputs but since I'm using coax and not USB I'm not worried about ground loops.
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ninetylol
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Why order in in the first place then?
Why order in in the first place then?
I bought it then had buyer's remorse so I canceled the order. Glad I did, saved myself $350+
Why are you angry? It's a good thing I didn't go overboard like I usually do. DACs seems to be getting cheaper and more efficient every year.
I'm okay with spending $150 now for an improvement over the internal Node 2i, but $500 seemed like overkill.
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Canceled vs. returned. Interesting...
curiouspeter
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Fair enough.
Canceled, it was never shipped.
I'm sure it sounds great, but other than balanced outputs I didn't see they need for such a big jump in price. Balanced outputs make sense if was connecting the DAC to a PC as USB cables due to ground loop concerns but I'm connecting to the Coax out of the Node 2i.
I'm proud of myself because it's easy for me to overspend. Plus I would have to order new XLR cables as well another $40.
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Wise choice. If I had the knowledge as now, I would go all in SE too.
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