ansi said:

  Alright, just dropped by Gustard and tried out a bunch of stuff. They had gotten HE6 to the lab, no particular reason they said. Lies. 
 
I did have some of my own gear with me this time around and I can say that X20 is good. If it wasn't so damn big and heavy I would have grabbed one. Maybe on my way back home.
 
But something way more interesting than the huge X20 was a small black box. A prototype...

Click to expand...

When I read that I was thinking it was a new U12! I was all like "yeahhhhh, U20!!", but then it turned out to be that portable player that you were asking about earlier  
 
Good for Gustard, though, and hopefully they can get something viable out of it. Both in product and ability to produce it. Although the A&K products are cool looking and seem to be selling well, they're priced like a punch in the face. Something more reasonable and good can definitely take the stage. Good luck to them

benny-x said:

  Ah, it works like a USB hub. It reclocks the signal as it enters and exits the USB PHY hub chip, nothing special about that. People have been touting putting a USB hub in the chain for ages. If you're familiar with the Vaunix Lab Hub, people right here on good old head-fi have been using it for about 4 years. Curiously it reclocks the signal and ads it's own LPSU for power... Recently people have been saying the same on several audio forums about adding a switch when using ethernet between PCs or a DAC with ethernet input.
 
Then he used whatever skill he has to make the output impedance whatever subjective value he thought mated best with your run of the mill USB DAC input. And finally he modded the impedance of the ground wire, which other DIY people have also been doing to good effect. That's quite strange though, matching impedances and stuff, it's almost like what engineers talk about it how lengths of wire can affect signals and reflections data transmission in different midums of cable... The result simply being, in UpTone's opinion, to lower the error rate of the transmission to lower the work load for the DAC USB PHY input chip in decoding the signal and changing to I2s. 
 
I'm regurgitating my understanding of it as best as I can, but even if I got some terms wrong, the entire concept of it is pretty straight forward and NOT NEW. Whether it makes any audible difference, I can't say, but what I can say is that I won't be saying there are shills over on Computer Audiophile pumping UpTones tires and smoke bombing the masses. There have been something like 400 units sold and there are a **** ton of commenters over, not just 3 or 4 people that keep winding it up again and again.
 
If you'd like some better and more in depth reading on the topic, go have a look at the Tech Corner or whatever the info page is on their website. John Swenson goes into a lot of detail in explaining how everything works, and that way you don't end up with a  "" "genereate a completely new USB data signal to feed your DAC"? 

 "" ...

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Really? I'll like you to bring this discussion to Sound Science forum. I have no time for pseudo science.
 
BTW, I'll wait for your product to feature on Amazon before making further comments.
 
Your site is clearly a phishing site.  Ciao.

The self-appointed science police have finally arrived - everyone duck!!  

chongky said:

   
Really? I'll like you to bring this discussion to Sound Science forum. I have no time for pseudo science.
 
BTW, I'll wait for your product to feature on Amazon before making further comments.
 
Your site is clearly a phishing site. 

 Ciao.

Click to expand...

So do I take the high road, and the honest road, and ask you to point me toward whichever thread this is being discussed in a civilized and informed manor, or do I take the low road and just a call you an idiot because I clearly stated I was no expert and only attempting to be (1) nice and (2) provide what I had learned about the product, which again, I qualified as being unqualified?
 
I'm no armchair warrior, I'm here to find out about ****, enjoy audio, learn and share. If there's something I can learn more of, link me to the thread. I don't want to read a white paper and I don't want to read pages of technical documents. I'm no engineer, so think "hobbyist" when you get back to all of us with you reply  

 After 10 days, here is my feedback on the Gustard X12 USB if you're interested
(and sorry for my english)
 
Disclaimer : I do have a K701 and a iFi ican but I listen music on speakers most of the time (Hypex 180hxr, B&W cm7, velodyne spl800 ultra).
 
Background
I have a hiface (first version) connected to a TC electronic BMC-2 dac. It's a well known dac in france and after many years I can say it's a rather good dac. Everything is connected to a dedicated computer on linux (Daphile) with large buffers and finely tuned Alsa settings. I was previously on OSX with Pure music.
 
Day 1
The USB is plug&play. it's a nice and heavy box. It's feel ready to stay powered on 24/7 
Noticed great improvement regarding the matching with my passive pre-amp. The X12 really drive the whole chain flawlessly. Low volume listening is clearly better. Digital volume is also really good and helps a lot to find a perfect matching with the amp.
I had to lower the subwoofer settings to find the right balance
There's a lot of resolution. There's also a lot of energy, way too much energy...
 
Day 4
Sound is very detailed, no question about that. I hoped some burn-in will greatly smooth the sound but there's no improvement so far. I have also noticed that the Dac needs power from the USB (5v) . A cheap USB lithium battery helps a lot and I finally got something good.
 
Day 6
I have tested the old hiface with spdif input and the same USB battery. Oh oh !
Yes, the first hiface is clearly better than the dac USB input. In less than 30 seconds of music you immediately notice the difference. To tell the truth at this point I'm not even mad because it sounds so much better. I found that the dac in itself is really, really good. I finally get the "upgrade" feeling and chills with the music. My setup never sounded like that and it starts to totally justify the 500€ I paid.
In the other end, I don't even know why Gustard engineers bothered to put an Xmos chip in the dac. It's dull and useless.
 
Today
Cheap USB battery can produce some RF noise despite low ripple and overall good performance. (most of the time, voltage is boosted to reach 5v). I had to test a very very clean 5v power supply to make my mind on the Gustard X12 USB input.
I have made a cheap Alcaline battery pack (4 AA cells), unregulated and slowly discharged to reach 5v
 
Yes, there's a catch 
The dac USB input finally catch up with the hiface and even exceed it !
I wasn't expecting that but at this point the setup is so transparent you quickly notice the shift on the soundstage. It was deep, now it's deeper and clearer. No matter how hard I try to push the old hiface, I can't output something as good.
 
At this point, I don't know what to think.
I'm in a middle of my honeymoon with this dac and I may be wrong but I don't even think the U12 could add anything the sound.
 
 
Back to the thread
Those alcaline cells will be dead soon and I will come back to reality.
I will come back to questions like Regen or Wyrd or iUSB or Aqvox ? or question like do I really have to pay half the price of the dac to have something I can have with few AA cells  ?
I have already made tons of optimisations on the computer side to help data transmission with overall good results (dedicated computer, playing from ram, etc). I wonder why there is no cheap commercial battery solution for USB power supply. I'm sure something can be made for less than $50.

ansi said:

  Alright, just dropped by Gustard and tried out a bunch of stuff. They had gotten HE6 to the lab, no particular reason they said. Lies. 
 
I did have some of my own gear with me this time around and I can say that X20 is good. If it wasn't so damn big and heavy I would have grabbed one. Maybe on my way back home.
 
But something way more interesting than the huge X20 was a small black box. A prototype portable dual ess9018k2m (also another prototype is being made with another chip...), dsd-compatible, balanced, class-a dac/amp combo. Unfortunately mass producing one apparently needs some serious manufacturing chops due to the small size and the complexity which means not just any factory can make them, which in turn means it may never get made since they'd have to make so many of them. 

Click to expand...

 
What lies, does that mean they're making an amp for the HE-6? You brought this question to yourself lol, this statement couldn't go unnoticed from me.

Getting a bit quiet here. Has anyone actually ordered the X20 from Taobao? I'm not seeing anything from the resellers yet, and in two days it'll be July.

It would be a good start to sales if someone could find an objective way to compare the output of the X10 vs the X12 vs the x12+U12 and the X20 so you have a better expectation of the value in upgrading. I was an early adopter of the X10 and have gained an enormous amount of pleasure from the luxury of DSD128 oversampling. I am now considering whether it is worth my while upgrading to the X20 (Christmas present) and either relocating the X10 to my office 5.1 system (as an option) or selling it on ebay? And presumably the X20 supports DSD256 out of the box? Other issues to consider would be the Windows ASIO driver, the Windows audio renderer (I'm still using Foobar and JRiver and have tinkered with HQPlayer), room correction and  the quality of the source material (DSD vs FLAC) and the playback hardware. If only there weren't so many variables?

sodaboy said:

  Getting a bit quiet here. Has anyone actually ordered the X20 from Taobao? I'm not seeing anything from the resellers yet, and in two days it'll be July.

Click to expand...

I have been in contact with Mr. Huang of Gustard and a review of the new X20 is in the works.  I should be receiving it sometime after the 15th of July. It is my intention to do the full review for Positive-Feedback online magazine, but I will also be reporting my findings right here to the swabbies aboard the SS Gustard.   I will be doing direct comparisons to the X12 and also to ALO dual mono Continental.  Fun times and smooth sailing ahead!

stuartmc said:

  I have been in contact with Mr. Huang of Gustard and a review of the new X20 is in the works.  I should be receiving it sometime after the 15th of July. It is my intention to do the full review for Positive-Feedback online magazine, but I will also be reporting my findings right here to the swabbies aboard the SS Gustard.   I will be doing direct comparisons to the X12 and also to ALO dual mono Continental.  Fun times and smooth sailing ahead!

Click to expand...

 
Awesome. Despite the X20 being out already, you'll probably still end up being the first person to review it. I'm glad that Gustard is agreeing to send out review kit.. X20 is getting a little bit too expensive to buy out of curiosity.

greetings to all.

sorry for my bad english

i need help for repairing my gustard x12

I purchased gustard x12 through a taobao agent on february 2015.
yesterday the dac stopped working and the lcd panel light blinking continously.

i contacted the taobao agent but theyre not too keen to assist and just told me to call the seller.

as i dont speak or read chinese language
please help me on how to send the unit back. can i just send the board to save shipping cost?

many thanks in advance.

andy

patrickstar said:

greetings to all.

sorry for my bad english

i need help for repairing my gustard x12

I purchased gustard x12 through a taobao agent on february 2015.
yesterday the dac stopped working and the lcd panel light blinking continously.

i contacted the taobao agent but theyre not too keen to assist and just told me to call the seller.

as i dont speak or read chinese language
please help me on how to send the unit back. can i just send the board to save shipping cost?

many thanks in advance.

andy

Click to expand...

 
It happened to me once.

 
I was trying to tweak the USB buffer size from the computer. At a certain point, the Dac stopped locking the signal and the LCD started to blink (and even display the serial number). A reboot was not enough. Unplugging and plugging the USB again fixed the problem for me.
 

Is your problem only with the USB input ?
(I know the dac can be quite unresponsive when the USB is tripping)
Does your USB connection is stable enough ?

patrickstar said:

greetings to all.

sorry for my bad english

i need help for repairing my gustard x12

I purchased gustard x12 through a taobao agent on february 2015.
yesterday the dac stopped working and the lcd panel light blinking continously.

i contacted the taobao agent but theyre not too keen to assist and just told me to call the seller.

as i dont speak or read chinese language
please help me on how to send the unit back. can i just send the board to save shipping cost?

many thanks in advance.

andy

Click to expand...

 
Use the form on this site: http://www.seowon-audio.com/

Thank you all for the reply.
 
the unit controller is stuck 
I can't choose other digital input nor change volume
 
I
ll try Seewon audio and hopefully can get some resolve
 
 
Once again  Thank you all 

patrickstar said:

  Thank you all for the reply.
 
the unit controller is stuck 
I can't choose other digital input nor change volume
 
I
ll try Seewon audio and hopefully can get some resolve
 
 
Once again  Thank you all 

Click to expand...

 
The form is gone and there's an email address instead with a request to resend everything. You may want to look into that.