For people here who are questioning the value of a DAC that can properly play back DSD, let me just say that there is music out there that was recorded that way, and in my view, it’s worth listening to the way it was intended. You can disagree with me, of course, but if you do, I would just ask that you don’t market a DAC that promises to help me reach that goal. Nothing else is really relevant for the purposes of this thread.
With that in mind, it’s unfortunate that Gustard seems to have spent more time and effort on MQA than they did on basic QA. I’m still within the return window myself, and I’m considering how important decent DSD playback is to me on my main system. For what it’s worth, I think DSD from the Gustard sounds better through my KH 120s than from the Onyx, when it’s not crackling. That’s part of what makes the problem so disappointing. But there are also other options, so we’ll see.