Gustard X16 Owners feedback...

[curiouspeter]

Hmm, so there can be glitches and high frequency noise. Mine is arriving next Monday according to DHL. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I hope Apos has good support.

 

[dahuky]

Hmm, so there can be glitches and high frequency noise. Mine is arriving next Monday according to DHL. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I hope Apos has good support.

what does it mean? is the product damaged? or there is something i should or at least can do.

 

[curiouspeter]

what does it mean? is the product damaged? or there is something i should or at least can do.

I don't know. I just ordered it last night.

I'm hoping others here will have a solution.

Can you contact the reseller and see if they can swap it for you? Do it soon because the Lunar New Year holiday is coming.

 

[lizhuoyin]

the device makes a lot of noise.
when i plug it in to my amp, i can hear a high freq sound on high volumes, when i switch to the normal stereo output of my pc, the noise is gone, even at same volume.

Can you describe the noise in details? It sounds vague to me. I have X16 connected to my integrated amp and listen at -20dB and could not hear any noise.

 

[dahuky]

there you go, its not THAT loud, i placed my mic near the speakers.

 

[frankh]

@frankh can you try a different computer and USB cable?

Thank you for the advice Nationalizer. I've tried a few USB cables including the one that came with X16 but same problem still persist. I suspect that it could be a buggy X16 v5 driver. Hopefully Gustard will release a new driver that can resolve this issue.

 

[kopczas]

Did you try to connect your smartphone to the DAC?

 

[curiouspeter]

Thank you for the advice Nationalizer. I've tried a few USB cables including the one that came with X16 but same problem still persist. I suspect that it could be a buggy X16 v5 driver. Hopefully Gustard will release a new driver that can resolve this issue.

Definitely try a computer with a different OS. Windows/MacOS/Android/iOS/Linux.

At least you know if it is a USB driver issue or a hardware issue.

 

[frankh]

Did you try to connect your smartphone to the DAC?

I did connect my smartphone to X16 via Bluetooth using the LDAC codec and no issues there.

 

[frankh]

Definitely try a computer with a different OS. Windows/MacOS/Android/iOS/Linux.

At least you know if it is a USB driver issue or a hardware issue.

I connected the X16 to both my Mac Mini M1 and MacBook Pro but I can't control the volume via the computer but no glitchy issues. Sound is pristinely good from the X16. I shall try connecting to my other Windows 10 laptop and see if the same glitch issue persist. I shall update soon.

 

[lizhuoyin]

I received my X16 a week ago and after installing the latest v5 driver from Shenzhen Audio, it was good to go on my Windows 10 PC but unfortunately I've been getting sporadic audio glitches and dropouts no matter what bit rate (16, 24 or 32) or sampling rate (44.1kHz, 48kHz etc.) playback I set it to on the Gustard USB audio device control panel. I even tried changing the buffer settings (1024, 512, 256 etc) but I still can't solve this issue. Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of the X16 when it works but the glitchy issue is really annoying.

I tried to disable all Windows 10 startup programs except Gustard USB audio device control panel and that doesn't help either. I even checked my PC with LatencyMon and my PC passed the digital audio playback latency test with flying colours. I've run out of ways to solve this sporadic glitchy audio issue on my WIndows 10 PC. It glitches even playing back simple YouTube videos and Spotify (paid account) songs. I wonder if anybody is having the same issue as me and if you have found a solution to this. Please do share. Thank you.

Did you setup Windows' sound setting to match Gustard's?

 

[frankh]

Did you setup Windows' sound setting to match Gustard's?
View attachment 111985

I've tried multiple sample rates and the glitch still persist.

 

[Dannemand]

I did connect my smartphone to X16 via Bluetooth using the LDAC codec and no issues there.

Connect your phone to the USB. If you use Android, get UAPP from play store, it'll give you bit-perfect USB up to 384KHz, DSD, MQA, including Tidal and Qobuz. You'll need a USB OTG adapter, preferably the cable type.

I believe the same is possible from iPhone, though I don't know details.

 

[curiouspeter]

I connected the X16 to both my Mac Mini M1 and MacBook Pro but I can't control the volume via the computer but no glitchy issues. Sound is pristinely good from the X16. I shall try connecting to my other Windows 10 laptop and see if the same glitch issue persist. I shall update soon.

Looks like some issues specific to the Windows driver. Could still be hardware issues in your box related to how Windows interacts with it.

 

[lizhuoyin]

I've tried multiple sample rates and the glitch still persist.

More details on playing from Windows:

 

[lizhuoyin]

I've tried multiple sample rates and the glitch still persist.

Also don't use USB ports at front panel of your PC. Use ports from back.

 

[curiouspeter]

I've tried multiple sample rates and the glitch still persist.

Do you have another Windows PC to test?

 

[dahuky]

is any body else experiencing those kinds failures with qobuz?

https://easyupload.io/7r386b

 

[curiouspeter]

Is it true the X16 does not come with any cable? Am I supposed to get an "audiophile" power cord? LOL.

 

[cursive]

Is it true the X16 does not come with any cable? Am I supposed to get an "audiophile" power cord? LOL.

Hopefully some one who got theirs already chimes in, but at apos.audio their description says it comes with power cord and usb cable. I'd be pretty shocked if it didn't come with one, though the one that came with my SMSL product was like 2-3ft, so not long enough to use and have it sit on my desk.

Definitely don't buy any audio foolery cords lol, just a normal power cord will do if needed. Luckily I have tons laying around from PC building days.