[zenki14]

Originally Posted by Lyra5

 
Ok so, now I get it.  It's sent with EMS but it seems your local shipping system that handles it after arrival, is DHL (or whatever).  You haven't paid extra for DHL shipping, so you expecting DHL Express international shipping for the EMS price, is rather unfair imo.  Just because DHL handles things locally at your place it doesn't mean all sellers must do DHL Express internationally when you paid for EMS - seems you don't understand that?  In many countries DHL costs much more than EMS.
 
"Wrong declared" is pretty much the nature of items shipped from Asia.  What a lot of companies does is declare it low so that the buyer doesn't get customs tax charged too high.  This comes from several times experience I got DACs from Asia.  Including ebay sellers, Audio-GD and Tam Audio.  However, it seems for your country and system it needs exact amounts declared.  Valab wouldn't have known that, so perhaps you should have mentioned declaring the correct price before you paid.
 
When you deal with somebody for the first time, you should make sure of everything before payment.
 
I think this is happening because DHL and UPS is quite strict on the correct amount declared.  So if they find things suspicious they just hold it.  To clear this you need to send them the actual invoice (probably Paypal receipt is best) so they can go on with clearance.
 
Call me boring or whatever, I don't really care - nonsense chlidish rage?  It's you with the rage, I'm happy with my gear, thanks.  I haven't even bought things from Valab before so I can't even possibly be a fanboy.  I just thought calling someone blatantly a scammer (when they actually have recent successful trade records too) is a bit sad.
 
Have you actually seen real scammers before?  Most of them don't even have feedback.  They try to sell expensive things for low and fish people.  And guess what, scammers don't send actual items.  If they send the actual item then how is that scam?  Also ebay is quite sensitive to reports, so these accounts get banned so quickly.  Seems you can't tell a difference between a true scammer and a bad trader.  I believe your limited vocab and experience just calls them all scammers.. I'm so sorry for not realising this.
 
I'm just sorry for your experience and I hoped some of my advice can be a bit of help.  However now it seems you're heavily offended.  Good luck with customs clearance.

 

[PRw0]

Mine cost £42 to release from customs (uk), with 2 week delivery. The packaging was very basic and there is no manual, power lead, remote or anything just two bits of polystyrene and the dac in a box, oh and a driver CD. More or less as expected. I was looking at the various kits on ebay but thought it was less risky to buy a built unit for a little more. My only disappointment would be the lack of a schematic as I will want to tweak it. On the plus side if does seem to support DXD, DSD (DoP) and 192k HD formats directly, which is impressive for the price (£350 altogether). It does not have a remote or phone jack, but the single ended outputs can drive my HD-650 reasonably loud (setting -10dB for normal listening).


Peter.

 

[babas61]

hello lyra5,
 
I have a dac x9 and your and the dac x10 have similar power.
You must open the dac, and between transformers you have two switch 110/230. you can change if your need before plug 

 
when your receipt this dac I'am interested by your review of his sound.
 
Best regads

 

[babas61]

see this picture:
 
http://www.google.fr/imgres?sa=X&espv=210&es_sm=93&biw=1680&bih=962&tbm=isch&tbnid=xb0hkAJEXr251M:&imgrefurl=http://www.soomal.com/bbs/10100009344.htm&docid=mp0ztt1zkCHleM&imgurl=http://ww2.sinaimg.cn/mw690/7e918991jw1e6nupbe2mjj20go0n5n0z.jpg&w=600&h=833&ei=ESaNUsuwMuv07AbAy4HYDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1046&vpy=514&dur=764&hovh=265&hovw=190&tx=107&ty=147&page=1&tbnh=146&tbnw=102&start=0&ndsp=42&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0,i:154

 

[]eep]

I'm interested in this dac, it seems quite good and maybe it can even compete with my NOS dac. So I was hoping to read some user reviews here. But now my mood is totally spoiled by Lyra5.

I have quite some experience for over 20 years with shipments from China and Taiwan, USA and Germany, even Russia, Turkey, Italy w/e. I totally agree with Zenki14. I have orderred several items from VALab, but no problems so far. They are very fast at shipping items. After that it's out of their hands. I actually prefer the lower 'estimated' value stated on the box. They see it as a courtesy to their customers (as do all east-Asians) because noone likes to pay to pay 'protectionmoney' and unreasonably high rates to expeditors ($20 handlingfee for filing a standard form, over the customs rates and VAT).

dude just everything of your last post is stupid and wrong - it makes you look like a raging valab fanboy histerically defending one of the worst ebay sellers ever.

It might be more productive to moderate your tone somewhat. What he said was insightful and helpful. As well as restrained. You are presumptuous and generalizing. Their rating is; Feedback: 98,7% positive, 16.632 ratings. This is a very good long time score.

EMS is trackable by your local postoffice/service, in your case Deutsche post, in mine postNL, the everyday mailman. And the best service IMO. A lot better than DHL in this case.

the customs informed me that it was wrong declared thats why its hold by them. so again valabs fault (sry fanboy).

Like I said, all packages from China et all are labeled as $5 or $10 or maybe $20. That the customsofficials hold your mail might just be due to the fact that they are Germans. Everything needs to be exact to 2 decimal points or their head will explode. Its just how Germans are (and I didn't even use the words anally or retentive). :rolleyes:

to add to this attitude the actual product dont look like on the pictures but have a big brand name on the front "Gustard" fits perfect to their known behaviour.

How can you know what it looks like if you are ranting about it still being retained in customs? I will bet you that it will look exactly like the picture without that fake fantasy brand label the others are selling. Valab tend to sell similar items with improvements in components to their own (better) taste. And NO labels. They tend to have blank OEM boxes. Chinese small manufactures are willing to put any markings on your case as long as you pay for it or buy in quantity. Including CE marking (saying it means: 'China Export').

The real name of this product contrary to the first post and pics is : "Gustard Dac X-10 ES9018" look at this link

Again; how can you tell if you still haven't received your item?

if this concern is for anyone else but this boring stupid zenki guy nonsense childish rage im out no problem. glad i could help at least one or two not to run into this since im not the only one who lost money cause of this particular ebayer.

This reminds me of the movie 'Charlie and the Chocolate factory' where the little gamer boy is ranting at Johnny Depp, and he replies: "I can't understand a word you are saying boy, you'r mumbling".

FYI, I have a VALab NOS DAC on the way, and I'm not the least bit concerned. This one looks exactly like a Teradak on the outside but is is definitely different on the inside. That is why I decided on the VALab.

The other sellers of this ES9018 (SMSL Hersee Audio and DAC at MiniShow0328) are not ones I have seen before. And I have seen quite a lot in over 7 years I led a topic (12 topics with x00 of pages) on Chinese audio. Valab Audio Labs has always been there. And every store gets unsatisfied customers. Mostly they disappear within the year if the negative ratings mount. Chinese are real rating fetishists. Valab are based in Taiwan (FRC) and are a very different breed of Chinese without the communist 'discipline'. Furthermore the ratings are deformed because if a shipment takes to long or something is wrong you are to late to complain. If everything goes well there is no reason to complain and plenty of time. Shipments from Taiwan are often very quick. From China can take forever. I said: can. And then you are to late to complain.

Ordering from China can be very lucrative, but there are risks. Live with it. And use your common sense. Unfortunately common sense isn't very common.

 

[Lyra5]

@Jeep as much as i like the netherlands more than my own country (and folk more often than i like to say) i dont get why you throw out so many racistic hints to "the German" since there is no such clishee thing in reality.
 
Sure i like precision and accuracy. And of course not being involved in trying to scam the customs of their taxes which these chinese sellers do when they declare it wrong. It can lead to alot of problems in this country here. And higher costs anyway as when everything is right. Im not speaking about 0.00x Euro but a few hundred Euro are a whole different story.
 
And i got this "Valab" DAC now after a long journey and a lot of problems with ebay / customs. The high praised Vintage Audio Seller didnt care anyway.
 
So this non labled Valab Dac has a big name on it on the front as expected which is "GUSTARD" and some other crap like "full balanced digital audio compress" and "Dac-X10". The Backside is also full of letters and the model name Dac-X.
 
So beside your racism to Germans cause of the 2nd worldwar as you said they sent the wrong unit and not the Valab DAC but the Gustard Version of it. Which means you are wrong with your pro Valab assumptions. ...I dont want to join the racism ride since i have nothing to do with that at all.
Not even my grandfather had may he RIP.
 
But i recommend you to read some books or try a psychologist since racism is often only a compensation of deeper problems.
(edit 24.11.13 : Did the admins remove some of your 2nd worldwar racistic statements or did you?)
 

Review starts here:​

 
Anyway let me try to describe this Gustard aka Valab Dac X-10 for the people who are curious here.
 
After switching from 110 V to 220 V by a friend who knows about electronics more than me i have connected it with my XLR SC Galileo 238 cables to my Genelec Monitors.
Im using a double ferrit core USB cable to connect the DAC directly to an USB 3.0 port of my notebook. After easy installation of the drivers which were in the package i let it burn in the whole night.
 
Before i start my comparison let me tell you who are interested in this Dac that the Valab and the Gustard are slightly different from the quality. For example the non labled version shall be using a better masterclock with 100.000 Mhz while the Gustard only has a 80.000 Mhz one inside. The Gustard looks in reality a bit cheaper than on the pics not only cause the display is different and looks like a gameboy greyish display but black like on the pics. Also the rubber feet are not even. The Gustard Dac X-10 needs corrections to not drop to one or the other side (sry for my english).
 
All together it doesnt look as valuable / elegant as on the pics but ok... The cheaper ES9018 i own looks better.
 
Comparing:  M-Dac vs Gustard aka Valab Dac X-10 vs No Name ES9018 from Minishow0328
 
Soundstage: First i like my M-Dac for its great soundstage and dont think any Dac but maybe the X-Sabre can reach that in a near pricerange. The Gustard X-10 cant compete in this theritory with my M-Dac at all and even lose slightly vs the cheap ES9018 from minishow0328 i bought before.
 
Neutrality: This on the other hand is a pure win for the Gustard Dac X-10. I never heard a more neutral Dac than this one. The M-Dac adds some kind of signature to every music no matter what source or quality it has while i feel the X-10 is as neutral as it can get. The No Name ES9018 also adds some kind of colouring to the sound but more subtile than the M-Dac id say.
 
Musical: Well this is hard to say even in a pure subjective perspective. The X-10 is so neutral it depends heavily on the record id say. If the record is good or very good the musicality of this Dac is "good". When i compare the same good record on my M-Dac it sounds more pleasing more living but less natural and less neutral. The cheap ES9018 is on the lose side here. Its musicality is still good but the other 2 are better by a decent amount (depending on record ofc).
 
Sound Spectrum (Mid/High/Low): No Name ES9018 is the loser here.
Highs can get a bit harsh, mids a bit dull and lows not as fast and accurate as the other 2. But i compare 3 ES9018 so its still better than most DACs with older chips like Wolfsons. The X-10 has near perfect highs while the M-Dac has a not too low colouring to make the highs sound pleasing. In some tracks and specially at classic music i prefer the M-Dac because the X-10 is for the price very good for Highs but can hurt depending on the tracks. For recordings it might be better to use the X-10 tho.
For pure Listening id say M-Dac wins in Highs.
 
Mids are best on the M-Dac too even with the slight colouring. Again for recording id say the X-10 might be better cause its more natural and non pleasing. No Name Dac is nearly the same as the X-10 in mids id say.
 
Lows are the thing for the X-10. The lows are more precice and faster than on both other Dacs. The deeper it gets on my Genelec Sub the better in favor for the X-10. The M-Dac sounds a bit dull on the lows the deeper it gets and the No Name ES9018 is not exactly as precise as the X-10 but surprisingly better than the M-Dac.
 
Stereo Imaging: This is where the M-Dac slightly wins vs the X-10 but only marginally or not to say they might be even. The No Name ES9018 is also slightly better than the X-10 and my measurements tell me my ears are still very good.
 
DSD / DXD: This cant be compared cause only the X-10 can do it (somehow). After installing the DSD plugin in foobar i tested some classics with 352khz (best i could find) and yes it is audible better than CD or even 192khz. Specially in classic music its very nice and makes the illusion of sitting in a room where the violins are on the right side and the trumpets on the left side even more realistic than on the other 2 DACs at ofc lower res.
 
Problem with the Gustard at higher than 96khz sample rates! When you set it to 192khz there are dropouts every now and then. It sounds like a hicup and is maybe caused by the lower masterclock contrary to the advertised 100.000 Mhz they offer. I can only think of the 80.000 Mhz clock of the Gustard Version has problems with that high sample rates. Any suggestions are welcome to fix that. I tried every buffer and latency setting and couldnt get rid of it.
 
Fazit: In neutrality and non-colouring the X-10 wins vs both Dacs hands down. But when it comes to pure listening the M-Dac is more pleasing my ears and the No Name ES9018 is somewhere in the middle. I think the biggest advantage of the X-10 vs many other Dacs specially for the price is not for Hi Fi listening but for the Studio where you need as neutral and precise output as possible specially in the low end.
Dont get me wrong its not clinical or what people tend to say in other threads its just that what got recorded and how it can sound without colouring. Maybe cause its discrete and no opamps i dunno.
 
If you cant afford the X-Sabre and need higher res than the M-Dac at a higher neutrality the X-10 is good for you. I wouldnt buy it again and if anyone want to buy it for the price i paid im glad to get rid of it and buy the X-Sabre for not even double the price (including taxes).
 
Please no more stupid racism - questions about the DAC are welcome of course.

 

[nimo]

Question.
 
Between the X9 and X10.  I noticed they need drivers.  
- Will they work with just Windows Native drivers?
- What do the drivers do?
 
I'm running Win 8.1 Pro x64 + foobar and leaning towards the X9.

 

[Lyra5]

  Question.
 
Between the X9 and X10.  I noticed they need drivers.  
- Will they work with just Windows Native drivers?
- What do the drivers do?
 
I'm running Win 8.1 Pro x64 + foobar and leaning towards the X9.

The XMOS Chip only works with USB Audio Class 2. Windows only supports USB Audio Class 1 natively. The ASIO drivers are needed to make the XMOS chip work under windows.
Only Mac OSX supports USB Audio Class 2 natively. So you always need drivers on windows 7 or 8 if you use newer USB receiver chips. Older chips like in my M-Dac dont need drivers cause the Tenor chip only uses USB Audio Class 1.

 

[nimo]

 
The XMOS Chip only works with USB Audio Class 2. Windows only supports USB Audio Class 1 natively. The ASIO drivers are needed to make the XMOS chip work under windows.
Only Mac OSX supports USB Audio Class 2 natively. So you always need drivers on windows 7 or 8 if you use newer USB receiver chips. Older chips like in my M-Dac dont need drivers cause the Tenor chip only uses USB Audio Class 1.

Thanks for the reply.
 
Am somewhat a lil' apprehensive about additional drivers.  
My TEAC UD-H01 + drivers was the reason for constant BSOD on my Win 7 Pro x64 setup.  Literally like 2-3 times days.
My HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC doesn't require more than native drivers.  Less than USD50 and not a single BSOD since.

 

[Lyra5]

  Thanks for the reply.
 
Am somewhat a lil' apprehensive about additional drivers.  
My TEAC UD-H01 + drivers was the reason for constant BSOD on my Win 7 Pro x64 setup.  Literally like 2-3 times days.
My HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC doesn't require more than native drivers.  Less than USD50 and not a single BSOD since.

BSODS might happen cause of the incompatibility of asynchronous streaming on certain Intel platforms and their chipset drivers. Mostly you only see a driver called ntoskrnl.exe as the problem which isnt exactly the case. Anyway i checked the Dac X-9 and it looks like it uses the Tenor TE7022L which dont require drivers in windows. I can also guarantee you that it doesnt interfere with any asynchronous streaming limits of intel same as the newer xmos.
 
In fact i would prefer the TE7022L before the better CM666x if i dont need higher res than 24 bit 96 khz anyway. Plug and play everywhere is always a plus. Not to forget not to have to mess with intels hub controller configuration at the current platform im using.

 

[nimo]

 
BSODS might happen cause of the incompatibility of asynchronous streaming on certain Intel platforms and their chipset drivers. Mostly you only see a driver called ntoskrnl.exe as the problem which isnt exactly the case. Anyway i checked the Dac X-9 and it looks like it uses the Tenor TE7022L which dont require drivers in windows. I can also guarantee you that it doesnt interfere with any asynchronous streaming limits of intel same as the newer xmos.
 
In fact i would prefer the TE7022L before the better CM666x if i dont need higher res than 24 bit 96 khz anyway. Plug and play everywhere is always a plus. Not to forget not to have to mess with intels hub controller configuration at the current platform im using.

Cool. Thanks Lyra5

 

[Lyra5]

  Cool. Thanks Lyra5

Np, just checked ebay and it seems the newer versions of the Dac X-9 are using XMOS for 32 bit 192 khz. This is what they posted:
 
"With the USB technology development, USB 24bit/96K is no longer able to music lovers requirements. USB 24BIT/192K became inevitable outcome. X9 born."
"Therefore, we did not stop on the USB study, but the requirements for USB is up to another level, after more than six months, we finally put the industry's very famous XMOS program officially launched, also achieved with high-end USB DAC's dream, this is the third generation X9."
 
XMOS is definetly the best choice even it needs drivers. And it works on all intel platforms.

 

[babas61]

Hello Lyra5,
 
 
Thank your for your good review on the Dac X10.
 
I was buy my Dac X9 to Vintage audio lab, and my dac is a little different as the picture on ebay. My dac is a more "low cost".
as for your the dac, the dac X10 is not the "better" but is better Than the Dac x9 (2X W8741)?
If th dac X10 is better than the X9, I think I will buy one.
Do you know where I can find a seller with the good Dac X10 (no the Gustard).
 
Have a good day.

 

[Lyra5]

  Hello Lyra5,
 
 
Thank your for your good review on the Dac X10.
 
I was buy my Dac X9 to Vintage audio lab, and my dac is a little different as the picture on ebay. My dac is a more "low cost".
as for your the dac, the dac X10 is not the "better" but is better Than the Dac x9 (2X W8741)?
If th dac X10 is better than the X9, I think I will buy one.
Do you know where I can find a seller with the good Dac X10 (no the Gustard).
 
Have a good day.

Glad you liked my review it was my first for a DAC.
The X-10 is technically superior to the X-9 cause of the ES9018 which is the best chip for D/A in the world. Another bonus is the opamp free analog output which is very rare for DACs in this price range. I dont know if any of the sellers got the "no Gustard" version. I guess you have to ask them for that directly. These are the ebay sellers who are offering it : forexman, minishow0328 and of course vintage_audio_lab. Just ask them if you can get the "no Gustard" version and if its still available at all.
Good Luck!

 

[MichaelPublic]

Hi folks, I had a little trouble understanding.
 
Does the X10 dac that Valab sells play DSDx64(2.8224MHz)、DSDx128(5.6448MHz)?
 
Or is it only the X10 dac that minishow0328 sells that plays DSDx64(2.8224MHz)、DSDx128(5.6448MHz)?
 
The Dacs appear identical, but only minishow0328 mentions the MHz ranges play options
 
Thank you.