[gaddabout]

That's good to know. I know they also sell their wares through Amazon. Still, I would be a lot more comfortable spending $1k if they had a presence in North America and customer support here (like Grant Fidelity in Canada does for a bunch of less established Chinese brands, or a larger dealer network like more established brands such as Shanling, Cayin, Opera/Consonance, etc.).

Its better for you i suppose to stay with brands. You are a little negative...a short googling will tell you that Shenzhenaudio is a very reliable company.
btw thanks for letting me in in this correspondence.

 

[ekrauss]

I see that you haven't had issues with the warranty in Germany. Hopefully it would not be a problem in the US. Has anyone had any experiences with customer service (including DAC firmware updates, if any) and repair, replacement, and warranty support that they can post about? I've read the warranty as stated in the manual and it is confusing and appears to have been badly translated into English. I guess I am just more cautious than many of the people posting in this thread.

 

[MINORISUKE]

Now, according to this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/752522/gustard-amplifiers-and-dacs/45#post_11440314 Gustard is the in-house brand of Shenzhenaudio and has been making equipment as an OEM for a while.

I do not think this is correct, for the store confirmed it was not.
There are lots of Gustard sellers other than Shenzhen Audio.

 

[mtoc]

Someone sent me this photo, the ESS USB interface
 
 

 

[phthora]

Looks like there's a sale at Shenzhenaudio on the X20 Pro, with or without USB:
 
https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/gustard-dac-x20-pro-super-ultimate-2-x-es9028-xmos-hifi-dac-384khz-dsd-dop-decoder.html
 
Shenzhenaudio offers a 1-year warranty on the purchase, too.

 

[hyperdanny]

   
Shenzhenaudio offers a 1-year warranty on the purchase, too.

of course they do..but you have to ship it to China at your expense.......and repay tax and duties when (and if) it comes back...
These China products have many advantages , but the warranty is basically useless .
I myself have a Gustard, purchased from Kidult through amazon, and even if it was shipped from the Uk warehouse they said that in case of problems I should have done that anyway.
I accepted the risk and bought anyway, and indeed in the box there was a nice creditcard-like warranty thingy, but it's basically economically not feasible to use it.

 

[wwmhf]

  of course they do..but you have to ship it to China at your expense.......and repay tax and duties when (and if) it comes back...
These China products have many advantages , but the warranty is basically useless .
I myself have a Gustard, purchased from Kidult through amazon, and even if it was shipped from the Uk warehouse they said that in case of problems I should have done that anyway.
I accepted the risk and bought anyway, and indeed in the box there was a nice creditcard-like warranty thingy, but it's basically economically not feasible to use it.

 
I agree that buying a Gustard product has a fair amount of gambling flavor, but so far all my Gustard products are still working properly. 

 

[hyperdanny]

yes I agree. I wasn't carping or anything about little Gustard (as I said, I have one, a X-20) I just meant that these "manufacturer warranties" for products purchased directly from China cannot really be equalled to "normal" warranties.

 

[phthora]

  of course they do..but you have to ship it to China at your expense.......and repay tax and duties when (and if) it comes back...
These China products have many advantages , but the warranty is basically useless .
I myself have a Gustard, purchased from Kidult through amazon, and even if it was shipped from the Uk warehouse they said that in case of problems I should have done that anyway.
I accepted the risk and bought anyway, and indeed in the box there was a nice creditcard-like warranty thingy, but it's basically economically not feasible to use it.

 
I just estimated the taxes and duties to be roughly $33 according to this: https://www.dutycalculator.com/ for China to US.
 
And going by shipping rates for other equipment I've purchased from China/sent to China/estimated shipping from China, $60 seems typical. Insurance, I don't know.
 
So, it looks to be about $100 a pop for a warranty claim. I am actually more than okay with that given the price, value, and the fact that I can't find anyone who has actually used the warranty.

 

[hyperdanny]

in the US taxes and duties are MUCH lower than here  in Europe. (at least until Trump takes on China..)
Here the whole thing would not be feasible at all.
Actually you gave me an idea : I could buy the DAC that currently intrigues me , a Denafrips , when back to the in-laws' in FL next summer, and bring it back in my hand luggage..even the Venus would fit, and the local customs are not really heavy on the screening if it's a flight from the US..also thanks for the calculator website

 

[phthora]

  evidently in the US taxes and duties are MUCH lower than here  in Europe. (at least until Trump takes on China..)
Here the whole thing would not be feasible at all.
Actually you have given me a very good idea : I could buy me a Denafrips when back to the in-laws' in FL next summer, and bring it back in my hand luggage..even the Venus would fit, and the local customs are not really heavy on the screening if it's a flight from the US..also thanks for the calculator website

Yeah, that VAT is no joke. Still, I think one repair, even at that cost, might still be worth it. $900 for the DAC is such a good price. Even at $300 to repair, I feel I would come out ahead. That's just me, though.

 

[Mapleflurry]

Is trouble solved? I have sent your problem to them（Gustard in china）.They told me that you can use the following email to contact them directly
：gustard@163.com

 

[Mapleflurry]

hi.
need help on the x20 pro unit. received Brand new yesterday from Shenzen audio. the unit is NOT switching ON. It is DEAD! Shenzen not replying to my emails.
No manual in the box, no battery with remote.
pls advise what to do? what is the model no of the battery?
i paid heavy import duty.....help please.
thx

Is trouble solved? I have sent your problem to them（Gustard in china）.They told me that you can use the following email to contact them directly
：gustard@163.com

 

[Ampeezy]

Hey all, just got my x20pro and so far the sound is phenomenal. I got one without usb because I had no use for it, but I was wondering if it could easily be added later? is there a module i could buy and fit in if i ever wanted to use the usb input?

 

[markk02474]

  Hey all, just got my x20pro and so far the sound is phenomenal. I got one without usb because I had no use for it, but I was wondering if it could easily be added later? is there a module i could buy and fit in if i ever wanted to use the usb input?

The USB card by Gustard is small and fits in a slot. You would just need a Torx driver to open the case and back panel to get it in. I don't know what they would charge for just the card. This card does not do DSD512, which people say is the best quality. The XMOS chip used by Gustard is not the latest and greatest, so you might want to wait. Also their outboard converter doesn't have DSD512 or the latest XMOS USB chip.
 
The higher performance option is an outboard box that converts from USB to I2S or SPDIF coax. These usually have better clocks with less jitter.
 
When a good option for getting DSD512 happens, I'll go for it then. Right now, only a few guys have hacked together their own solution with much soldering and effort, and are very pleased using HQ Player to upsample to DSD512 compared to DSD256.