Gustard X16 Balanced MQA DAC Review

[dmac6419]

I'm just mad mines didn't have a cherry on top, might have to return it to Gustard.

 

[Frio]

At that time they did not consider using HDMI only for audio.

That's not an issue every hdmi extractor could solve the problem and with the cc audio there is a dongle that made it happen but it's discontinued and waiting for a successor.bpeople experiment enogh for year with their I olementation but always fall back on loosing some inputs like rca which are rare. The point of my suggestion was just put that to use to a input that would expand the possibilities of a dac and adding value, something a i2s will only do for a few percent.

 

[Dannemand]

I'm just mad mines didn't have a cherry on top, might have to return it to Gustard.

What, yours didn't come with cherries?

 

[ABall]

I see. Thanks!

Parasound A21 web page mentioned it has DC Servo and relay protection circuits. I am feeling a bit safer now. But I won't test it out anytime soon and will always turn off the amp before powering on and off x16.
: )

Looks like your amp has a 5 second start up delay so if you turn everything on together as my remote switch does you will have no problems, the relays should disconnect the speakers as soon as the power is disconnected.

 

[MiradoOne]

X16 XLR 4V, RCA 2V, the voltage is very low. When clipping occurs, if the amplifier gain is too high, try reducing the amplifier gain.

Yeah, that's what I figured. The 789 and (I would assume given their similarities) 887 THX amps should only clip on gain 3 at 2.1V and above so I'm inclined to remove output voltage as the culprit.

Yes it does seem strange to me. I look forward to your testing as this may be due to a defective amp perhaps or some other factors. For example, the start of this song sounds very crackly and distorted: https://soundcloud.com/nightbluemusic%2Fjim-yosef-riell-hate-you

Currently my unit is jammed in customs but I will keep you in mind when I receive it. For what it's worth, I played that track on my current setup (PC -> toslink -> Modi Multibit -> RCA -> THX 789 -> Balanced out -> HE6se) and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with the track itself, so that's one variable down. The Modi outputs at 2V so I can't get the 789 to clip even on gain 3, but when the X16 comes in and replaces it I'll do some investigating as your issue has some relevance to me.

 

[Pdxwayne]

I really like how x16 XLR outs controlling my subs! Wow, really nice! I don't recall E30 could have such good control....

 

[idkwho]

Yeah, that's what I figured. The 789 and (I would assume given their similarities) 887 THX amps should only clip on gain 3 at 2.1V and above so I'm inclined to remove output voltage as the culprit.



Currently my unit is jammed in customs but I will keep you in mind when I receive it. For what it's worth, I played that track on my current setup (PC -> toslink -> Modi Multibit -> RCA -> THX 789 -> Balanced out -> HE6se) and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with the track itself, so that's one variable down. The Modi outputs at 2V so I can't get the 789 to clip even on gain 3, but when the X16 comes in and replaces it I'll do some investigating as your issue has some relevance to me.

Great. Thanks for trying with your current setup and reporting your results. I am using SE out but this probably doesn't make a difference. In hindsight I do agree that it is probably not the output voltage so I suspect my amp may be defective - I may need to purchase a different one to test or get a replacement.

Update: It turns out that the RCA cables I had plugged into the Passthrough to my amp for my speakers may have interfered with the signal causing distortion that I heard through the headphones. After unplugging them the distortion is gone. If you decide to use the RCA passthrough in the future this could be useful to keep in mind.

 

[Fjfjsh]

With all these complaints popping up, can we still just take a moment to appreciate the fact that we are getting such a well measured, feature rich device without having to loose any body parts?

 

[dmac6419]

What, yours didn't come with cherries?

Eh Eh,still sweet though

 

[cyberthingy]

My X16 arrived today but no time yet to set it up and listen. I am hooking it to an H16 amp which I had already received a few weeks ago and I love it. I'm confident the stack will sound awesome. I really think some of the complaints I'm reading about are really trivial to most users but they have their own merits for those individuals. I hope they find the DAC of their dreams some day.

 

[MiradoOne]

Update: It turns out that the RCA cables I had plugged into the Passthrough to my amp for my speakers may have interfered with the signal causing distortion that I heard through the headphones. After unplugging them the distortion is gone. If you decide to use the RCA passthrough in the future this could be useful to keep in mind.

Glad to hear you solved it!

With all these complaints popping up, can we still just take a moment to appreciate the fact that we are getting such a well measured, feature rich device without having to loose any body parts?

Absolutely, we are really starting to see a renaissance of well performing, feature packed, affordable devices.

 

[axeman]

HELP NEEDED - SETUP PROBLEM - I have received this unit yesterday and think it is faulty. I cannot get the unit to recognise MQA enabled files, and the display shows PCM 44.1 regardless of what is being sent to it. I have attached my Bluesound Node 2i via Coaxial digital cable, enabled the external MQA DAC setting in the Bluesound to passthrough the Tidal signal to the DAC for processing - Nothing. No MQA. I have also tried using my MacBook Pro over USB to feed it from the USB input - again, no MQA and 44.1 regardless of the source file. There is literally no help information available online because the unit is so new, and I am close to giving up and returning it. Does anybody have any idea how to resolve this?

 

[dmac6419]

HELP NEEDED - SETUP PROBLEM - I have received this unit yesterday and think it is faulty. I cannot get the unit to recognise MQA enabled files, and the display shows PCM 44.1 regardless of what is being sent to it. I have attached my Bluesound Node 2i via Coaxial digital cable, enabled the external MQA DAC setting in the Bluesound to passthrough the Tidal signal to the DAC for processing - Nothing. No MQA. I have also tried using my MacBook Pro over USB to feed it from the USB input - again, no MQA and 44.1 regardless of the source file. There is literally no help information available online because the unit is so new, and I am close to giving up and returning it. Does anybody have any idea how to resolve this?

Run it through Tidal desktop app and see if it works,usb,DAC and Tidal.

 

[navin]

Usually, i2s is used for internal transmission in a device over short distances.
But in order to be able to transmit it over longer distances, the i2s signal is converted into LVDS (low voltage differential signalling) for transport via HDMI (cable). Similar to balanced, every signal is transmitted in + / - / ground.

Thanks does this mean that if LVDS is used by both the streamer/player and the DAC the cable length can exceed 6"? If so, what is the maximum cable length for LVDS (HDMI)? Thank you.

 

[KNUPAC]

Hi, I've just got my X16 and now paired with A90 straight away.
I don't know if this has been asked before, but been checking few pages back.

1. Is there any option in remote/controller to switch output to Balanced only or RCA only?
2. Do anyone feel the sonic differences when switching the PCM filter and NOS on/off?
3. I have Cayin N6ii DAP and it does have mini I2S output, can I use mini HDMI to HDMI cable for this? (I know this was asked few pages back but not specific to Cayin DAP)

MQA seems running in order
Cheers

 

[gustard]

Dear Gustard, I'm very happy with the audio quality of the X16 but please don't give us your lame excuses. Why is it that I can control the X16 volume via my keyboard on Windows 10 but I can't do the same on my Mac Mini M1 and MacBook Pro with X16??? Are you telling us that connecting the X16 to Windows 10 produce inferior sound quality by enabling the keyboad volume control on Windows 10??? Obviously not true right!

If you have to develop a driver for Mac OS to enable volume control then do it and stop giving us lame excuses! If it's so difficult then please explain to us why Topping and other companies can do it for their DACs and why can't you do it for the X16???

Tested another DAC brand that supports MQA. On MAC computers, the volume cannot be adjusted.
As China approaches the Spring Festival, engineers have been on vacation. After the holiday, they will further study the issue.

 

[lizhuoyin]

Tested another DAC brand that supports MQA. On MAC computers, the volume cannot be adjusted.
As China approaches the Spring Festival, engineers have been on vacation. After the holiday, they will further study the issue.

It looks like they have a firmware update to DAC to fix this issue.

 

[gustard]

Using XU208, DACs that do not support MQA function can support MAC volume adjustment. After the engineer takes a vacation, he will study the specific differences.

 

[gustard]

Hi, I've just got my X16 and now paired with A90 straight away.
I don't know if this has been asked before, but been checking few pages back.

1. Is there any option in remote/controller to switch output to Balanced only or RCA only?
2. Do anyone feel the sonic differences when switching the PCM filter and NOS on/off?
3. I have Cayin N6ii DAP and it does have mini I2S output, can I use mini HDMI to HDMI cable for this? (I know this was asked few pages back but not specific to Cayin DAP)

MQA seems running in order
Cheers

1. No, all at the same time;
2.
3. Gustard is not compatible with Cayin IIS and cannot be used.

 

[gustard]

HELP NEEDED - SETUP PROBLEM - I have received this unit yesterday and think it is faulty. I cannot get the unit to recognise MQA enabled files, and the display shows PCM 44.1 regardless of what is being sent to it. I have attached my Bluesound Node 2i via Coaxial digital cable, enabled the external MQA DAC setting in the Bluesound to passthrough the Tidal signal to the DAC for processing - Nothing. No MQA. I have also tried using my MacBook Pro over USB to feed it from the USB input - again, no MQA and 44.1 regardless of the source file. There is literally no help information available online because the unit is so new, and I am close to giving up and returning it. Does anybody have any idea how to resolve this?

I cannot make the machine recognize the MQA-enabled file, and no matter what is sent, the display shows PCM 44.1. -The front end requires the original code output (ASIO), and the front end needs to adjust the volume to maximum.

Bluesound node 2i needs to output MQA CORE signal, and the following will happen:
1. DAC shows PCM 44.1K, no MQA CORE signal output.
2. If PCM 88.2K is displayed, there is an output MQA CORE signal, but the DAC does not support the renderer;
3. If OFS XX.XK is displayed, the MQA CORE signal is output, and the DAC supports the renderer.

To use MacBook Pro via USB, you need to specify the output device in the playback software and adjust the volume to maximum.