[abartels]

  good news! alex, which dac will you be demoing units on?

 
Hi m0reilly,
 
I have a diy cs4398 based dac with seperate extended power rails, 192kHz max only (no DSD, no I2S), but sounding outstanding, very natural and capable of revealing "all the bits and pieces".
All connected to self made mosfet class-A pre and power amp. Speakers are self made too, 20Hz -3db, low-mid unit 100Hz/6kHz, B&G magnetostat HT all on 6dB crossover.
Dedicated powerlines to powerfilter, listening distance to speakers about 8 mtr.
 
Source will be Server 2012 R2 ( DualPC setup) with JPlay 6.2 and AO 1.40, hardware fully optimized.
 
I will compare to Heavily modded MX-U8
 
Don't know if I receive Hydra-Z with external psu, otherwise I will use 15600mAh Lion psu.
 
 
To be continued,
 
 
Cheers 

 
 
Alex

 

[abartels]

Hi Stuartmc,
 
Thank you for your listening impressions, did you listen to it with Tanly connected to it?
Can the DAC work in slave mode, so clocks on digital interface will provide clock?
Otherwise DAC is depending on internal clocks, which probably aren't the best available,,,,
 
Untill now X20 is promising, but in my oppinion it sounds like it's not worth the price difference between X12 and X20.
 
How many hours did it burn-in? At least 150 I hope?
 
 
Thanks again and regards,
 
 
 
Alex

 

[stuartmc]

  Hi Stuartmc,
 
Thank you for your listening impressions, did you listen to it with Tanly connected to it?
Can the DAC work in slave mode, so clocks on digital interface will provide clock?
Otherwise DAC is depending on internal clocks, which probably aren't the best available,,,,
 
Untill now X20 is promising, but in my oppinion it sounds like it's not worth the price difference between X12 and X20.
 
How many hours did it burn-in? At least 150 I hope?
 
 
Thanks again and regards,
 
 
 
Alex

Yes, my listening was with the Tanly connected at all times.  I have asked Gustard to tell me more about the difference between "Standard" and "Auto" mode with the clocks.  The description on their product page would suggest that auto allows it to run in Slave mode, but I'm not certain. It certainly sounds better to me in the Auto mode.  I have about 70 hours of burn in on the X-20. I used the Purist Audio break in disc which does tend to speed the process. Also my experience with the X-12 was that it didn't take nearly as much burn in time as the H10. I was 95% there with only 50 hours on the X-12. Although I believe most of the burn in changes are complete, I won't be giving any "final" impressions until sometime next week.  That should be plenty of time to rule out any further break-in phenomena. 
 
I can't judge for anyone else, but the improvements I am already hearing are well worth the ~$300 price difference.  There is no question in my mind that I will be keeping the X-20 and selling my X-12.  I come from the old, dedicated listening room, big rig school of audio reviewing.  Most of the audiophiles I knew and who actually read my stuff, would not blink at paying 10X that price for commensurate sound improvements.

 

[nc42acc]

New guy here but I have to agree with Stuart on the X20. Mine came today and has been playing since it arrived. Early impressions are OMG! For reference I am comparing to a Line Magnetic 502ca, Oppo 105, Schiit Gungnir. I prefer to hook up new equipment cold out of the box and listen to them bloom as they settle in. The X20 has been one wow after another as I cycle through songs. YMMV

 

[stuartmc]

New guy here but I have to agree with Stuart on the X20. Mine came today and has been playing since it arrived. Early impressions are OMG! For reference I am comparing to a Line Magnetic 502ca, Oppo 105, Schiit Gungnir. I prefer to hook up new equipment cold out of the box and listen to them bloom as they settle in. The X20 has been one wow after another as I cycle through songs. YMMV

That's some very good units to compare to. My X-12 already spanked the Aune S16, the Rega Apollo R, Bel Canto Dac-1, and Meitner BiDat, to name a few. I am now only comparing to the X-12, since that is a known commodity around here.  I think some notes on direct comparisons with the Line Magnetic and the Gungnir would be very helpful.

 

[nc42acc]

Stuart I will be traveling the remaining balance of the week but will be happy to delve into the sonic nuances of each this weekend. The Gungnir in my opinion isn't even in the same league and the LM gets close with some tube rolling. I will get into more detail with each over the weekend.

 

[stuartmc]

Stuart I will be traveling the remaining balance of the week but will be happy to delve into the sonic nuances of each this weekend. The Gungnir in my opinion isn't even in the same league and the LM gets close with some tube rolling. I will get into more detail with each over the weekend.

Thanks 'Matey....and welcome aboard the SS. Gustard, home of the "swabbies."

 

[stuartmc]

A little show and tell of the test bed setup.  I've changed things around and now I have my Standesign rack in the bedroom with Townsend Seismic sinks and other goodies to eliminate physical vibrations and resonance.  My tablet is connected to the Tanly USB-DDC on the top shelf, the second shelf has the H10 and X12, and the third shelf down is the exclusive province of the new X20. On the bottom shelf is the Rega Apollo R, which is getting no love these days because the playback with the Tablet, J-River and the Tanly is just too good.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
How's that for a bedside stack?!......is there any wonder why I don't get much sleep these days? 

 

 

[BassDigger]

Tasty, very tasty! Do you find that the rack, cone isolation feet and mechanical isolation, in general, make much difference for headphone listening?

 

[stuartmc]

Tasty, very tasty! Do you find that the rack, cone isolation feet and mechanical isolation, in general, make much difference for headphone listening?

It has about the same effect as on the big rig. Digital equipment with clock crystals seem to benefit the most, second only to mechanical transports. Changing the resonant frequency of the case/pcb/component part matrix very definitely has an audible effect. Not as striking as damping loudspeakers cabinets, but still very fun to tune.

 

[BassDigger]

It has about the same effect as on the big rig. Digital equipment with clock crystals seem to benefit the most, second only to mechanical transports. Changing the resonant frequency of the case/pcb/component part matrix very definitely has an audible effect. Not as striking as damping loudspeakers cabinets, but still very fun to tune.

 Reeeally? You're saying that, even without loudspeaker sourced vibrations, the damping of electronic equipment has not only a marked effect, but the same effect! The effects of component damping are virtually the same, whether you listen through loudspeakers OR headphones?!?
 
If this is what you mean, then I find that quite shocking; obviously speakers create plenty of vibration that could interfere with other equipment (especially if you're into RooOCK!!!). But if the effects are the same with 'phones, then what is the isolation/damping actually doing?
 
(Sorry for the OT, BTW)

 

[abartels]

Nice rig stuart!
 
Glad to hear the X20 performs better than I thought!
I have a standisign too, but the one with 4 legs on spikes, the damping shelves and other materials are looking good too, very nice to experiment with!
 
 
 
Regards,
 
Alex

 

[conquerator2]

Do we have a Tanly link?

 

[stuartmc]

Do we have a Tanly link?

http://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=40193288881

 

[conquerator2]

http://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=40193288881

Wouldn't load :/