[TomS]

It is travelsted, 100% positive.

Thanks!

[quadman]

And back to Gustard.  Both my dac and my friends dac are now what Ric would call full Level 1 dac's (the difference being the oscillator clocks, standard Gustard labeled one and newer Accusilicon one).  I applied one of Ric's favorite tweaks (WA Quantum Chips) to the ESS chips, and to the large power caps and the FGPA chip on the digital board.  I must say I was very skeptical, these just look like fancy stickers, the adhesive back side is silver like the inside of most mylar balloons with a high quality embossed paper cover.  They say on their site they are tuned for the device they are made for; Capacitor chips, fuse chips, cable chips, semiconductor chips etc.  Man that sounds like audiophile snake oil if I ever heard it.  Ric swears by them and so far he has not steered me wrong, so $60 bucks for 2 dacs, I'll bite.

Since my friends dac is easier to access I applied them to his first, Listened for a couple of hours, I liked what I heard but it was not that different then before.  Then I played 3 very well known tracks, to me, and switched to my dac and played the same 3 tracks.  Hmmm I liked mine better it seemed like his dac closed the stage down a bit and the bass was softer, maybe fatter compared to my dac.  I listened to mine for a bit then the same 3 songs and back to his dac, same impression.  I was not impressed so far.  The next day, memorial day, I was doing a long big meat cook on the BBQ and fired up the system around noon, my friends dac playing, about 4 hours into it I sat and listened and thought this is sounding pretty good, so played the same 3 tracks and switched to mine.  Now the results were different his stage was larger, the bass was much tighter than before and the transparency level was up.  My dac sounded a bit flat against his.  I listened to mine a bit then same 3 songs and back to his, same impression, I was liking his more.  So of course I applied the chips to my dac and let it run with signal for 3 hours while I continued to listen to my friends dac.  Played the same 3 songs and switched to my dac, this was more like it mine was still a bit behind his but the gap was closing and it was better than with no chips.  So I let mine run with signal for the entire night while I listened to his.  Yesterday was another shootout and both dacs now had about 14 hours of signal with the chips.  They are pretty close in SQ; big stage, very very transparent, lots of presence, tonality spot on, highs to die for just very very engaging.  I must say after 5-6 hours of playing the chips did improve and continued to improve for a bit longer (if they are still improving it is hard to tell as both dac's improve together).  I would have to say it was well worth $30 a dac to get this SQ improvement.

The dacs, both excellent, do sound a bit different which I attribute to the clocks and to really get a handle on what is what I need more listening time as first impressions can become, what did I do? after long term listening. (I am sure if you have been in the hobby long enough that has happened to you).  As a general statement I think his dac has sharper better defined leading edges of transients which provides a touch more jump factor, it may also have a bit more transparency.  My dac with the Gustard labeled clock is possibly a touch more relaxed with great weight in the bass but possibly a touch fatter, it also has lots of information but may not capture the most tiny inner detail as the accusilicon clock.  Both dac's are a joy to listen to and I like which ever one is playing at the time which is good news to owners of the older, stock Gustard clock.  We don't have to sell our dac's to get the new chip.  More listening will further clarify this observation and if my opinion changes much I will report.

The DSD512 project I can report I ordered the card a week ago and today finally settled on the external PSU I need to provide 2x3.3Vdc output.  Unfortunately both items are coming from China via Hong Kong Post and I expect a 2 week delivery time.  All other things needed for this project are ordered and will be ready as soon as the PSU board hits.  I think I have a good handle on how to connect everything internally with fitment being the biggest obstacle and will probably require some case cutting to provide access to the USB input on the Chinese DSD card.  So hopefully by 3rd week June I should have this project up and running and we will see if DSD512 is possible with this dac (I know the specs say so but some folks claim ESS has never officially stated support for DSD512 with the 9018 chip) and if playback is stable at that rate.  I have a i7-4790 processor that is only using 22-25% at DSD256 so 512 should be no problem for that machine.  A big shout out to @SimonBromley for his help on this project as he has already connected his Wave I/O card internally in the X20 and can playback DSD256 with it.

[reillyzing]

Are there dealers that do warranty repairs in the U.S.?

[quadman]

Are there dealers that do warranty repairs in the U.S.?

As far as I know, No there are none, check with Worthy audio as they import it.

[ccklone]

Hey Now,

On sale at Amazon for $799 USB model. Just picked one up.

--
Finest kind,
Chris

[JayNYC]

Question:  are the XLR outputs "truly balanced" or is the X20 fundamentally single ended and they just added XLR jacks for convenience?

[Syrah]

I've had my eye on one of these.

However, I'm looking at the new Sabre Pro chips from ESS.

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/news/newsroom/ess-technology-introduces-sabre-pro-series-dacs-setting-new-performance-bar-unprecedented-140-db-dynamic-range/

I wonder if Gustard will make a DAC with the 9038?

If not, I wonder if the 9018 can just be switched with the 9028.  Anyone know if this is a plug and play kind of thing?

[mresseguie]

Hello, Syrah.

I read the news about the Sabre 9028 and Pro chips from ESS, too. Either chip would make for an incredible DAC, but I suspect they will cost a fair penny for a couple years. Since I already own an X20u, I'll happily use it till the pro chips come down in price. The future holds some truly amazing choices for us.

Michael

[DaveC113]

I've had my eye on one of these.

However, I'm looking at the new Sabre Pro chips from ESS.

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/news/newsroom/ess-technology-introduces-sabre-pro-series-dacs-setting-new-performance-bar-unprecedented-140-db-dynamic-range/

I wonder if Gustard will make a DAC with the 9038?

If not, I wonder if the 9018 can just be switched with the 9028.  Anyone know if this is a plug and play kind of thing?

I'm waiting for DACs made using the new chip for sure, it may make implementation of the DAC as well as streamers easier or at least not as critical to performance. Current requirements for an DSD upsampling server + streamer are a huge turnoff for me, imo it's ridiculous that the DAC is so sensitive to peripherals.

[quadman]

Here's an interesting item.  My friend Wally got his Gustard thursday last week.  He was in a hurry to listen so I suggested he use his macbook since that does not need a driver and he could take his time and figure out how to install the driver on his win 10 machine.  I didn't hear from him for a couple of days and then I got an email from him and he said WOW I got my win 10 machine up and running finally and what a difference the Gustard sounds wonderful.  Apparently with the mac (osx 10.8 ) the gustard sounded very bad in fact his words were "John - I was devastated  - the sound during first 2 days - was like  1/3  way from CD  to  AM station"  and there was a huge change for the better with Win 10.  So he sent an email off to forexman and asked: 
I  sent question to Gustard seller - " is Macbook  with OS 10.8  giving good sound performance ? "

They responded  -  only  driver included  on mini CD loaded to windows-10  is giving best sound performance

even latest  Macbooks are inferior to W-10 

So do any mac users feel the gustard is not sounding good?

[nc42acc]

When I switched from my Mac Book Pro to an Aurender it made a huge difference.

[GentleBender]

I love my Macs, but simplicity is not always better. Good thing Mac users have Bootcamp that will let us use most any OS we want. I still have to do a comparison between OSX 10.10 and Win 10 on my cheap Sony UDA-1 DAC.

[navi]

That's a worry as a MAC user who is just about to purchase a GUSTARD.

Here's an interesting item.  My friend Wally got his Gustard thursday last week.  He was in a hurry to listen so I suggested he use his macbook since that does not need a driver and he could take his time and figure out how to install the driver on his win 10 machine.  I didn't hear from him for a couple of days and then I got an email from him and he said WOW I got my win 10 machine up and running finally and what a difference the Gustard sounds wonderful.  Apparently with the mac (osx 10.8 ) the gustard sounded very bad in fact his words were "John - I was devastated  - the sound during first 2 days - was like  1/3  way from CD  to  AM station"  and there was a huge change for the better with Win 10.  So he sent an email off to forexman and asked: 
I  sent question to Gustard seller - " is Macbook  with OS 10.8  giving good sound performance ? "

They responded  -  only  driver included  on mini CD loaded to windows-10  is giving best sound performance

even latest  Macbooks are inferior to W-10 

So do any mac users feel the gustard is not sounding good?

what software did your friend use with the MAC?

[quadman]

That's a worry as a MAC user who is just about to purchase a GUSTARD.


what software did your friend use with the MAC?

He has the one before Mavericks 10.8 I think.  Usually newer OS systems sound better than older OS.  I know with my old dac a NAD M51 when I went from mac with mavericks to windows 7 I thought windows was a nice improvement, and felt the same when I moved to windows 10.

[PeteG]

I'm using a Mac mini ( El Capitan ) with my Gustard I have no complaints. Had Boot camp with Win7 for a while, might try Win10 later.

[mresseguie]

That's a worry as a MAC user who is just about to purchase a GUSTARD.

And a PITA for a Mac Mini owner who recently purchased an X20u. Hmm. I'll have to try Gentlebender's idea.   I wonder, is this still a problem for a Mac user if he also buys a micro-Rendu?

[orientalexpress]

Now my gustard driver doesn't work with foobar2k 1.3.10 or Jriver even Diyhk version .I'm not sure when Gustard have a new driver that work.my Device managment on window 10 said it work but foobar can not inititial driver or connect to the device.,same go Jriver.I hope gustard have a website for driver update.otherwise my Dac is just sit there.

[ccklone]

Hey Now,

On sale at Amazon for $799 USB model. Just picked one up.

--
Finest kind,
Chris

Hey Now,
 
Ordered with Amazon on Monday, June 6th --> arrived today, June 9th at 1200 noon EDT! Gustard X20U in da' house. How'd it get here so quick from Shenzhen, China? Shipped via DHL.
 
Not working with my DIY Intel NUC Audiolinux music streamer, but using it with my 5K iMac (Yosemite 10.10.5) -> Roon -> HQPlayer -> upsampling all files to DoP 128 -> AQJB -> Kimber Cable USB Cu -> Regen -> Gustard -> Balanced out -> Parasound P3 -> Monarchy Audio SM-70 Pro mono blocks -> Omega Super 3Ts w/Crown XLS-1500 bucket subs. Sounding pretty good out of the box, gonna let it run for a few days and check back in with it.
 
--
Finest kind,
Chris

[ACHiPo]

I'm sorry to hear about the Mac issues.  The X20U sounds great with my Aurender and HAL.

[ccklone]

Hey Now,

This thing is sounder better and better in just 24 hours of playing. I got my DIY streamer working with a little help from some friends 8^). So here are some screenshots of my chain:

5K iMac i5 Core (Yosemite 10.10.5) --> Roon/HQPlayer --> output upsampling all PCM files to DSD256 --> DIY Intel NUC Streamer [Linux image (?)] --> AQJB --> iFi USB cable --> Regen --> hard connector --> Gustard at DSD256! How cool is that 

Roon Output



HQPlayer Preferences



Gustard Display



I am going to let this burn in for a week or so and enjoy listening to it. I'll probably start on some of Ric Schulz's suggested tweaks in due time. Life is good 8^).

--
Finest kind,
Chris