Gustard X26Pro firmware release (F20 beta)

[Naturlig]

I have recently installed a X26 Pro (still F1.A fw). My comment to the sound quality: some stress and unclear in famale/male voices. The vivid filter is most used, later switched to gentle with better a result.
Your tell us about the F2.0 beta fw: sound quality reviewed, can you comment more on this?

 

[Naturlig]

Updated to F20 fw.
I have an Ifi ZEN Stream (based on Linux 4.4.167+) connected to USB and I use Roon endpoint.
Show DSD 24.5 MHz in display when power on.
Seem to be stable with various types of music formats EXCEPT for DSD64 and DSD128. The first time a track starts up I hear white noise some seconds before the music is playing, somewhat longer with DSD128.
For the moment I have not done any music sessions to evaluate the music quality and to notice any difference from F1.A fw.
However still waiting the answer from Gustard here, see my previous post.

 

[taner]

Hey @gustard , please give us some feedback. This is a $1500 device and I miss the comfort of my $50 dongle when I want to listen to the music. I don't want to play tricks with my dac when I expect it to behave properly.

We deserve better treat as customers.

 

[Deleted member 41613]

Hi @taner, did you try Daphile also? Very easy to try, a Gustard DAC-X20 Pro was running on Daphile.

 

[taner]

Hi @taner, did you try Daphile also? Very easy to try, a Gustard DAC-X20 Pro was running on Daphile.

No, and I don't intend to. These customized Linux distributions are using the same base operating system (most of are Debian and Ubuntu based) and kernel.

 

[Deleted member 41613]

You have to search for UAC version and see which version it needs.

 

[Frontwave]

In order to offer high quality filters, Gustard has chosen to develop its own filters using a DSP Analog Device SHARC chip. This solution integrates an anti-aliasing algorithm designed by Gustard, using a high-precision 64bit floating point system. Moreover, this algorithm has been optimized to work perfectly with ESS DACs and ensure the best possible sound quality.
this filter is causing problems
or clock
description
have testing, 2x gustard x26pro
they had almost the same problem
filter works ok on usb but runs spif on tv, are there dropout
tried all filters
if in researching it is done with a firmware it will be good
try to get the filter tested
maybe just one, bad batch of gustard x26pro
uses f2 firmware

Hi, I also have a X26 Pro and love it. Curious as to putting a U18 in between that and my Mac Mini which I run Tidal and Audirvana on. If you do that do you also run the clock output from the U18 to the clock input on the X26? Do y9ou think it's worth the money? Did you notice much of a difference?

On another note I picked up a HDMI to IIS converter to be able to send DSD from my SACD player to my X26. When I do the sound is there but overrun by an almost pink noise that is way louder then the music. The X26 sees it and displays DSD256 for example but the sound is distorted. If I change the output on my SACD player to output DSD using PCM then it works fine. Any thoughts?

 

[alpha_logic]

Hi, I also have a X26 Pro and love it. Curious as to putting a U18 in between that and my Mac Mini which I run Tidal and Audirvana on. If you do that do you also run the clock output from the U18 to the clock input on the X26? Do y9ou think it's worth the money? Did you notice much of a difference?

On another note I picked up a HDMI to IIS converter to be able to send DSD from my SACD player to my X26. When I do the sound is there but overrun by an almost pink noise that is way louder then the music. The X26 sees it and displays DSD256 for example but the sound is distorted. If I change the output on my SACD player to output DSD using PCM then it works fine. Any thoughts?

The U18 uses the exact same K2 clock as the X26 Pro, not sure if that will yield any benefit? The USB input on the X26 Pro is very, very good - unless you have a really noisy usb connection, and/or long usb cables i doubt you'll see much of a benefit from plugging the U18 in the chain. I have a Gustard U18 which I use to convert USB to I2S on a 2.5m USB connection, and I think it works for that scenario, but using that same U18 on the Gustard X26 Pro I can't really tell a difference.

 

[Ramayana79]

Hi Everyone.
I just got a delivery of X26 pro yesterday, and I seem to have the same problem with linux streamer connection with USB.
I get DSD 24.5 MHz in display when power on and can hear some pop noise when playing music.
I have upgraded the firmware to F20 and problem still persists.
The pop sound comes at a random sequence so it comes and goes with different music.
Also, is there a way to configure MQA correctly in ROON for this device? When I play MQA files the DAC's screen switches back and forth constantly showing MQA and regular format and it goes in a bit of stuttering mode which makes music play very unstable. This is making TIDAL streaming almost unlistenable as most playlist have a mix of MQA and normal files.. I believe this is also related to the linux USB problem as well.
Hope that Gustard can come up with a real fix soon.
For your reference, I'm using currently is Opticalrendu as a streamer and thinking of using my laptop to test if the problem occurs with PC connection.

 

[migo77]

Hi Everyone.
I just got a delivery of X26 pro yesterday, and I seem to have the same problem with linux streamer connection with USB.
I get DSD 24.5 MHz in display when power on and can hear some pop noise when playing music.
I have upgraded the firmware to F20 and problem still persists.
The pop sound comes at a random sequence so it comes and goes with different music.
Also, is there a way to configure MQA correctly in ROON for this device? When I play MQA files the DAC's screen switches back and forth constantly showing MQA and regular format and it goes in a bit of stuttering mode which makes music play very unstable. This is making TIDAL streaming almost unlistenable as most playlist have a mix of MQA and normal files.. I believe this is also related to the linux USB problem as well.
Hope that Gustard can come up with a real fix soon.
For your reference, I'm using currently is Opticalrendu as a streamer and thinking of using my laptop to test if the problem occurs with PC connection.

I've similar problems with Android playback, that was caused with default android usb driver. Switching to internal USB driver of UAPP app solved all of them and playback is excellent now with MQA and without too. I know this is not real solution to your problem, but it indicates that is driver related.

 

[Ramayana79]

Hi Everyone.
I just got a delivery of X26 pro yesterday, and I seem to have the same problem with linux streamer connection with USB.
I get DSD 24.5 MHz in display when power on and can hear some pop noise when playing music.
I have upgraded the firmware to F20 and problem still persists.
The pop sound comes at a random sequence so it comes and goes with different music.
Also, is there a way to configure MQA correctly in ROON for this device? When I play MQA files the DAC's screen switches back and forth constantly showing MQA and regular format and it goes in a bit of stuttering mode which makes music play very unstable. This is making TIDAL streaming almost unlistenable as most playlist have a mix of MQA and normal files.. I believe this is also related to the linux USB problem as well.
Hope that Gustard can come up with a real fix soon.
For your reference, I'm using currently is Opticalrendu as a streamer and thinking of using my laptop to test if the problem occurs with PC connection.

I want report back that after checking my system and connection, I was able to solve the problem by removing the USB isolator between the streamer and the DAC. The DAC still shows DSD 24.5 MHz when first connected but once music plays it shows correct resolution and there's no issues with random pop sounds or tidal MQA stuttering. So, in my case direct USB connection between opticalrendu (linux based) and the DAC
did the trick. I also have a sotm streamer lying around so will try that as well and let you know if that works too.

 

[migo77]

@gustard can you tell me please what audio format it is?

I'm playing master file from Android Tidal app now and OFS is displayed, but couldn't find any info about it in user manual.
thank you!
When playing the same song with Android UAPP app X26PRO displays MQA.

 

[Igor Gaich]

@gustard can you tell me please what audio format it is? View attachment 182556
I'm playing master file from Android Tidal app now and OFS is displayed, but couldn't find any info about it in user manual.
thank you!
When playing the same song with Android UAPP app X26PRO displays MQA.

And you turn on Tidal HI FI instead of master , and on tracks with MQA, the DAC should display MQA .....
I also had this on android devices with TIDAL....
But in general, when The DAC displays OFS which means it is a renderer and the first decode happens before the DAC. I determined this when I set up the ROON player

 

[sq225917]

The gustard u18 is a pointless tool unless you wish to use it as a standards convertor. It sounds no different to usb.

 

[Igor Gaich]

The gustard u18 is a pointless tool unless you wish to use it as a standards convertor. It sounds no different to usb.

it can be used if you need to implement 2 usb inputs, one on the DAC and one on the converter....

 

[migo77]

And you turn on Tidal HI FI instead of master , and on tracks with MQA, the DAC should display MQA .....
I also had this on android devices with TIDAL....
But in general, when The DAC displays OFS which means it is a renderer and the first decode happens before the DAC. I determined this when I set up the ROON player

I've Master quality turned on all time.

 

[sq225917]

It has no usb out or throughput, just usb to other standards. So you can use it feed i2s to the dac and aes to a sub...

 

[F.van Dijk]

Any news on an official firmware update?

Still no news?
And can some one tell me the sound improofments of the f20 firmware?

 

[christal]

Hello,

This is my first posting in the forums regarding F20 beta firmware for the X26 Pro. Everything seems to be working correctly at this point EXCEPT unpleasant dropouts from the optical input. The sound from the TV source is breaking up. This can be fixed via firmware. Do you have plans for a new firmware release?
Otherwise the Gustard X26 Pro is a killer DAC.

 

[F.van Dijk]

@gustard Can you please reply to the last few posts?
Or are the cunsumers left hanging to dry.