LEAF Dac Dual 9038Q2M VS Gustard X16 ! Pictures inside )

[Zek]

Not all sellers have an option with a remote control, only some sellers have that option.

 

[ModDIY]

Not all sellers have an option with a remote control, only some sellers have that option.

Yes I saw.

Daniboun are you still satisfied with this DAC?

Edit : Finally what subjective difference do you perceive vs Gustard X16??

 

[ModDIY]

Similar DAC from leaf reviewed by wolf:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...surements-of-the-leaf-audio-dsd1796dac.10174/

Dac PCM5102....not same

it is not similar. uses a much worse dac chip.

Exact!

 

[Zek]

Dac PCM5102....not same

DSD1796 chip, not PCM.

 

[ModDIY]

DSD1796 chip, not PCM.

Yes it's true...but from TI too..

 

[ModDIY]

Hi, I have placed the order.

 

[raif71]

Hi amigos,

I share with a quick review of an unknown new DAC. (Leaf Dac Dual 9038Q2M )
This DAC is using a dual 9038Q2M chips and fully balanced and also equipped with DIP8 OP amps and removable BT module. It is using the same chips as the Soncoz SGD1 )
At first sight, the DAC is really really well made with quality components and seems to be very flexible = removable OP amps, removable BT board etc It is also compact (168*110*55mm ) and provided with a external PSU brick (5V/2.8A)

I own the Gustard X16 to compare with. )
I will share a more in-depth test when I have listened to it carefully

For the time being : I gave a quick test with the OPA1612 / 1622 and 1656 ; I really enjoy the 1656 and 1612 both have a very linear response and abolutely dead silence between tracks even with my ears glued to the speakers.
It sounds aboslutely nice out of the box but I updated the PSU with a quality German brick PSU.
Combined with my Hypex NC252MP / David Munyon HD Playlist it is really close to my Gustard X16 and just noticed a lower gain. Anyway : I willl test with my favorite HD Audio Playlist soon.

The inputs interface is really amazing @ such a price !
I think that at the price of 145 euros, we have a little treasure there : To be continued...

SPEC :

Audio input: Bluetooth / USB / LVDS / Optical / Coaxial
Audio output: Stereo RCA / XLR / Balanced headphone jack
BT CSR8675 supports ACC/SBC/APTX/APTX-LL/APTX-HD/LDAC
USB XMOS XU208
IIS that supports DSD64-DSD512 de 32 bits/384Khz,
USB that supports DSD64-DSD256 de 32 bits/384Khz
Opitcal that supports 192KHz y DOP DSD64
Coax PCM 44,1 K-192K/24bit.
RCA inputs 2V RMS
XLR inputs 2V RMS
Headphone amp output power: 1.5W/32Ω, 200mW/300Ω
Matched headphone impedance: 16-300Ω

Thanks for the heads up. At my local online seller, I'm seeing this lower than smsl su-8 V2 price but higher than smsl-su8 V1. Of course smsl support 768khz playback while this one does only 384khz but then I only play at most 192khz pcm. Also this DAC has i2s which the smsl su-8 doesn't have. Both uses the same dual ES9038q2m chip.

 

[ModDIY]

...

i think this is the circuit. see my picture. The 9038Q2M chip is green. but in the end it leads to an opamp again, which again cannot be balanced.

Hi, I agree.

This is how I see the OP connections. Those of the module, 2 OP for the headphone output.

Below, the green arrow is the RCA output which passes through an OP buffer.

The previous two which are 5532 I believe (yellows arrows), for the rear XLR outputs.

What do you think ?

 

[zanny]

If you think an X16 competitor is cool, check out this X26 Pro competitor for about a 1/3 of the price:

Nuotech Dual ES9038PRO DAC Full Balanced Support Bluetooth 5.0 with OLED Display Lossless Optical Coaxial Decoder

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002588458790.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000023.1.21006c2d1njnOG

It's had zero buyers/reviews but it's so tempting, I wish someone with more money than me would be a guinea pig

 

[ModDIY]

Hi zanny,

It is still a lot of money for a DAC that we do not know the company or designer.

Amir measured, from memory, a Weiland DAC, although the PCBs seemed well designed, the measurements were not very good, there was noise.

I believe that at this price it is better to buy well tested products. Also I don't see any relays on the PCB, which I think can cause some noise when the audio signal stops.

I'm not very familiar with electronic circuits, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Veri]

Hi zanny,

It is still a lot of money for a DAC that we do not know the company or designer.

Definitely. Tread carefully of these zero-credential products.

 

[MOCKBA]

I wish someone with more money than me would be a guinea

I could be the pig, but $62 shipping kills the deal.

 

[cestmoi]

Anyone know what is the hp output impedance?

Edit: about 10 Ohm according to sone sellers on Aliexpress...

Has anyone succedded at downloading its manual from the link https://pan.baidu.com/s/1Mg2dH5l7M7jF9-UW_pSqow ?



@daniboun
Salut!

Do you still have the DAC? If so, what are your impressions after a longer period using it?

Merci.

@ModDIY

Do you think it's not full balanced?

 

[ModDIY]

@ModDIY

Do you think it's not full balanced?

On the contrary, I believe it is fully balanced, it is just the RCA output which is not.

My amps are unbalanced, so at the moment I'm using the SMSL M200 DAC, the RCA output to the amp for the speakers, and the XLR balanced outputs to my sub.

The image with the arrows that I posted at the top was to identify the OPs to change according to our needs. Like OP I/V, I will put 2 OPA1612, the OP buffer for RCAs an OPA1692, and the two 5532 for XLRs, I will not touch them for the moment because for the bass.

I have 2 good DACs in my show setup, I will receive my Leaf next week, I will get back to you with my first impressions with the stock OPs.

 

[cestmoi]

@ModDIY

Salut.

Thank you for your prompt reply.

I'm about to order the DAC, but I'm going to use it mostly with full headphones.

Merci.

 

[ModDIY]

@cestmoi

If it is to use with headphones, you can upgrade the 2 OPs for the I / V (OPA1612), these are the two OPs that follow immediately after the ES9038 chips, then change the two OPs on the top card for the XLR headphone output by 2 OPA1692.

You do not have to make these upgrades, but having done it on another DAC ES9038, the changes made to the sound quality level are very appreciable.

 

[maxxevv]

If you think an X16 competitor is cool, check out this X26 Pro competitor for about a 1/3 of the price:

Nuotech Dual ES9038PRO DAC Full Balanced Support Bluetooth 5.0 with OLED Display Lossless Optical Coaxial Decoder

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002588458790.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000023.1.21006c2d1njnOG

View attachment 134318

It's had zero buyers/reviews but it's so tempting, I wish someone with more money than me would be a guinea pig

@WolfX-700 did a measurement of a dual ES9038Pro set back in July last year. It wasn't really anywhere near state of the art. Though to most people, it may be audibly transparent and seem "good"in that regard.

I wouldn't give it too much credit until proven otherwise.

https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/measurements-of-weiliang-audio-2019-dc300-dac/

 

[cestmoi]

@ModDIY

Thank you for sharing that trick!

 

[Zek]

Is there finally a consensus on what each of the 7 op-amps is for?

 

[cestmoi]

Is there finally a consensus on what each of the 7 op-amps is for?

I asked one seller on Aliexpress for the schematic of the outputs but I got no answer. I will upated here if they send me any related info.