Gustard X16 Balanced MQA DAC Review

[dmac6419]

I’m genuinely happy to hear it.

For anyone who wants to check for themselves, I’m able to consistently reproduce the issue with the beginning of track six in this sampler from NativeDSD, and also throughout the first introductory track. Neither track has any issues on my Onyx, on any system, but every app and system that I’ve tried with the Gustard has the problem.

Rodgers_The Sweetest Sounds (from JL009) track 6 128 bit no crackle for me,sorry you have crackle.

 

[AXR]

MQA with dot is Studio

thanks man

 

[frankh]

Here as I use IOs on a Mac Mini together with Audirvana v3.5, the X16 is perfect.
Windows 10 in my opinion is very bad for audio.
f anyone wants Windows the best is Server 2019.
With Windows 10 I always had Ploc problem. Then I tested Server 2019 and it didn't happen anymore.

Windows for audio never again.

That's totally not true because I've been using Windows 10 for a few good years creating music for TV and Radio commercials with my MOTU audio interface without any audio glitch issues. Windows 10 is not the issue, it's the driver or hardware that is the issue.

 

[dmac6419]

That's totally not true because I've been using Windows 10 for a few good years creating music for TV and Radio commercials with my MOTU audio interface without any audio glitch issues. Windows 10 is not the issue, it's the driver or hardware that is the issue.

A lot of folks don't know how to fix latency on usb if that's the problem

 

[Reynaldo]

That's totally not true because I've been using Windows 10 for a few good years creating music for TV and Radio commercials with my MOTU audio interface without any audio glitch issues. Windows 10 is not the issue, it's the driver or hardware that is the issue.

In my case I used another DAC and even changing the latency sometimes had a problem.
Not to mention that I think the audio quality with Windows 10 is much worse than with Mac.
In audio everyone has a different experience.

 

[bikeguy]

I've had the Gustard X16 for a few months. No real problems. It's attached via USB to a Pi4 running NAA (Network Audio Adaptor daemon) on a custom Linux OS image provided by signalyst.com, an HQ Player endpoint. I feed it up to 768 mhz upsampled PCM. I also have the Gustard NOS option set to ON to bypass the X16 filters and I am getting extremely good SQ using the HQPlayer filters. I don't have DSD files nor have I attached it to a Windows computer so I can't comment there. I have tried via HQ Player upsampling PCM files to DSD 256 to the Gustard via NAA and did not have any clicks or issues there. Overall, it's a capable dac that can be improved upon by using better filters from HQ Player (but it's not a requirement). The NOS option ON/OFF is a nice feature.

 

[frankh]

A lot of folks don't know how to fix latency on usb if that's the problem

I've been in this business half my life so you can bet that I sure know how to set the buffer to fix latency issues

 

[frankh]

In my case I used another DAC and even changing the latency sometimes had a problem.
Not to mention that I think the audio quality with Windows 10 is much worse than with Mac.
In audio everyone has a different experience.

My new MAC Mini M1 can't even connect with one of my audio interfaces but thankfully it connects well with my X16 but NO volume control from the keyboard....sigh. I brought up this issue on another thread but unfortunately nothing's been done to fix this.

 

[Reynaldo]

My new MAC Mini M1 can't even connect with one of my audio interfaces but thankfully it connects well with my X16 but NO volume control from the keyboard....sigh. I brought up this issue on another thread but unfortunately nothing's been done to fix this.

Yes this new Mac mini with M1 has had some issues.
Mine is a 2014 Intel I5 model

 

[AXR]

Office equipment is here. Both purchased per Amir's recommendation. Now I can start working.

 

[wisechoice]

I just heard back from the seller about the problem. They say Gustard has a fix but it requires some technical know-how. We’ll see what that means, but presumably it’s a firmware update. I’m waiting for them to email me the fix. Will keep everyone posted.

 

[wisechoice]

I'm using Windows 10(ver.1903) and Gustard X16. No crackling,no stuttering when I listen to any format DSD and MQA.Stuttering = low latency.If you have stuttering, increase latency.This works for me. View attachment 137026

Thanks, but I wouldn’t describe this as stuttering. It’s more like a mild static crackle, and it “pops up” (haha) consistently in regions of quiet or near-silence. Interestingly, I don't hear it at all during a silent pre-roll of any duration. As dskelto and I both mentioned, you need to have the volume turned up to hear it—which is appropriate for the acoustic and vocal performances that I’m listening to, and not at all a special case. Those performances are much more common in “pure” DSD (since digital editing and mixing require a conversion to PCM).

That suggests IMHO that it’s something to do with how the Gustard is processing dynamics or transients at that level while in DSD mode. DSD works by signalling a change in frequency with each bit, and the popping might have to do with a problem in the transitions around a certain (low) threshold. That’s just my educated guess.

I doubt it’s a buffering or latency issue, as I can play PCM up to 768KHz without any problem, and DSD is being sent as DSD encapsulated within PCM (DoP) on the Mac. DSD 64 and 128 should use less bandwidth than that.

Also, as stated above, the company has apparently acknowledged the issue and has a fix. So fingers crossed.

 

[pimy]

Gustard X16 Review :

https://headfonics.com/gustard-x16-review/

 

[Reynaldo]

Thanks, but I wouldn’t describe this as stuttering. It’s more like a mild static crackle, and it “pops up” (haha) consistently in regions of quiet or near-silence. Interestingly, I don't hear it at all during a silent pre-roll of any duration. As dskelto and I both mentioned, you need to have the volume turned up to hear it—which is appropriate for the acoustic and vocal performances that I’m listening to, and not at all a special case. Those performances are much more common in “pure” DSD (since digital editing and mixing require a conversion to PCM).

That suggests IMHO that it’s something to do with how the Gustard is processing dynamics or transients at that level while in DSD mode. DSD works by signalling a change in frequency with each bit, and the popping might have to do with a problem in the transitions around a certain (low) threshold. That’s just my educated guess.

I doubt it’s a buffering or latency issue, as I can play PCM up to 768KHz without any problem, and DSD is being sent as DSD encapsulated within PCM (DoP) on the Mac. DSD 64 and 128 should use less bandwidth than that.

Also, as stated above, the company has apparently acknowledged the issue and has a fix. So fingers crossed.

So if I understand your explanation, on Mac it doesn't happen because of DoP, right?
More than 90% of my discs are ISO SACD and DSD and I never heard it.

 

[wisechoice]

So if I understand your explanation, on Mac it doesn't happen because of DoP, right?
More than 90% of my discs are ISO SACD and DSD and I never heard it.

It does happen with DoP, as well.

Is the Gustard displaying DSD when you play the discs or is there a conversion to PCM a happening before that? It’s detectable in quiet or near-silent passages like at the beginning of an acoustic track before the instruments start playing, or towards the end of a fade out at the end of the track, or in moments throughout a studio-recorded spoken word track. If you want to reproduce it, download the free sample files here (e.g. 2ch 128 fs) and listen to tracks 1 and 6 at a fairly high volume.

 

[Reynaldo]

It does happen with DoP, as well.

Is the Gustard displaying DSD when you play the discs or is there a conversion to PCM a happening before that?.

Yes, the display shows DSD.
I will test the files.
Thanks

 

[Reynaldo]

On X16 you can enable or disable the NOS. But don't many DACs use oversampling?
In the case of SMSL, Topping etc.

 

[wisechoice]

I just heard back from the seller about the problem. They say Gustard has a fix but it requires some technical know-how. We’ll see what that means, but presumably it’s a firmware update. I’m waiting for them to email me the fix. Will keep everyone posted.

Believe it or not, they're sending me a kit from China that includes some hardware to flash/upgrade the device via the motherboard. The seller said they would stand by the product and offer me 90 days on the return if things don't work out. At this point, I'm just going to hang in for the adventure… Wish me luck!

 

[dmac6419]

A


Believe it or not, they're sending me a kit from China that includes some hardware to flash/upgrade the device via the motherboard. The seller said they would stand by the product and offer me 90 days on the return if things don't work out. At this point, I'm just going to hang in for the adventure… Wish me luck!

Let us know how it works out

 

[Joe0429]

Oh, That's a good news. They've found out how to fix the problem.
But also a bad news, it's couldn't be fixed by updating firmware thought USB port.