[knightskid]

Will there be new amp coming up as well?

 

[SodaBoy]

Quote:

  Will there be new amp coming up as well?

 
Yeah, a balanced amp coming Q3-Q4 according to Ansi, which could be anywhere from July to December. Don't even have a name for it so we just call it the H20. I didn't ask about the amp since I doubt the retail channels would have a firm date for something that far out.

 

[knightskid]

  Quote:
 
Yeah, a balanced amp coming Q3-Q4 according to Ansi, which could be anywhere from July to December. Don't even have a name for it so we just call it the H20. I didn't ask about the amp since I doubt the retail channels would have a firm date for something that far out.

Ok, then i will probably order the H10 as i believes that the next amp will be priced much higher than this H10, just that the price of H10 will drop due to new amp coming out. 

 

[Lorspeaker]

I just confirmed with Shenzhenaudio that the Gustard X20 will be released this June.

wats the indicative price...

 

[SodaBoy]

wats the indicative price...

They didn't have price info.

 

[money4me247]

  No i don't have an X12, I have a CS4398 based upsampling dac but want to upgrade to High Quality DSD Dac within a few months.
That is why i was so interested in X20, i opt-in for the first 200 batch btw
 
Regards,
Alex

@abartels - how did you opt in for the x20 already & do you have any idea what the price point is? thanks.

 

[abartels]

  @abartels - how did you opt in for the x20 already & do you have any idea what the price point is? thanks.

 
Member ANSI gave us this opportunity. No info about price point.

 

[genclaymore]

I hope it affordable but i doubt it would be. Atleast when it comes out the X12 should drop in price.

 

[Shmuel]

Can anyone fill me in on what the X20 is?
If with amp section, will it possibly be a balanced H10?

Thanks!

 

[SodaBoy]

Quote:

Can anyone fill me in on what the X20 is?
If with amp section, will it possibly be a balanced H10?

Thanks!

 
X20 is a dedicated DAC, it has no headphone amp section. A separate balanced amp is coming later this year. IMO, discrete components are just the way I like it, maximum savings and flexibility for the consumer.
 

  I hope it affordable but i doubt it would be. Atleast when it comes out the X12 should drop in price.

 
I reckon the X20 will be ~$1,000 or lower. The LKS MH-DA003 is dual mono ES9018 and it's around $1300 right now, frequently found for $1100-1200 on sale. There is another dual mono ES9018, the YSDZ DA-03, which looks like an all through-hole DIY job that is selling for $1000. As you can see, it's getting quite crowded in the segment.
 
The X12 is probably the cheapest reputable ES9018 DAC, I don't think they have any room to drop prices on it. The X20 isn't meant to replace the X12 I think, it's meant to be a step above. I mean currently you can get a X12+H10 stack for less than a typical ~$1000 Sabre DAC like Mytek, Yulong, Matrix, or Lavry.

 

[Shmuel]

Thanks Sodaboy.
Very interesting times.

 

[ansi]

  I hope it affordable but i doubt it would be. Atleast when it comes out the X12 should drop in price.

 
Nope, X12 won't drop in price. If you are planning to wait until X20 to buy an X12, don't.

 

[ansi]

  Quote:
 
X20 is a dedicated DAC, it has no headphone amp section. A separate balanced amp is coming later this year. IMO, discrete components are just the way I like it, maximum savings and flexibility for the consumer.
 
 
I reckon the X20 will be ~$1,000 or lower. The LKS MH-DA003 is dual mono ES9018 and it's around $1300 right now, frequently found for $1100-1200 on sale. There is another dual mono ES9018, the YSDZ DA-03, which looks like an all through-hole DIY job that is selling for $1000. As you can see, it's getting quite crowded in the segment.
 
The X12 is probably the cheapest reputable ES9018 DAC, I don't think they have any room to drop prices on it. The X20 isn't meant to replace the X12 I think, it's meant to be a step above. I mean currently you can get a X12+H10 stack for less than a typical ~$1000 Sabre DAC like Mytek, Yulong, Matrix, or Lavry.

 
Sorry guys, I totally forgot that I know the price. RMB 4,280 for the one with USB. That's around USD 690 so you were a bit off. Or you can get the one without USB for RMB 3,980 which is USD 640.
 
Oh, and it's coming out next month. Not really sure about the date exactly.
 
Edit: X20+H10 for $960. 

 

[SodaBoy]

   
Sorry guys, I totally forgot that I know the price. RMB 4,280 for the one with USB. That's around USD 690 so you were a bit off. Or you can get the one without USB for RMB 3,980 which is USD 640.
 
Oh, and it's coming out next month. Not really sure about the date exactly.

Thanks a lot Ansi. You and hgpesemaj are like our inside guys

.
 
Personally, I thought it would be around ~USD 800 but I felt it was better to be on the safe side. What I see so far is pretty incredible at this price point though. It seems to me that they are selling a statement product on slim margins to build their brand.
 
I hope they send a rear panel photo, and higher resolution photos of the internals to our most informed insider friends
 
I also hope Gustard won't troll us by putting the H20 balanced in on the left side when the X20 balanced out is on the far right lol. I'm not even sure if they will call it H20 actually, since everyone will confuse it for H2O or something. "Where can I bai dat gustard water doe?"

 

[ansi]

  Thanks a lot Ansi. You and hgpesemaj are like our inside guys

.
 
Personally, I thought it would be around ~USD 800 but I felt it was better to be on the safe side. What I see so far is pretty incredible at this price point though. It seems to me that they are selling a statement product on slim margins to build their brand.
 
I hope they send a rear panel photo, and higher resolution photos of the internals to our most informed insider friends
 
I also hope Gustard won't troll us by putting the H20 balanced in on the left side when the X20 balanced out is on the far right lol. I'm not even sure if they will call it H20 actually, since everyone will confuse it for H2O or something. "Where can I bai dat gustard water doe?"

 
There are a few things that factor in to the price of Gustard products, low margin is one, but they're also clever with sourcing and manufacturing. As a result their product time-to-market is very long but the price point they can sell it is very low. You can do that with high-end audio since hey, what's good now is going to be good years from now. In other businesses like computers or mobile phones you just can't do that.
 
By the way at no point has Gustard said the balanced amp will be called H20. It's what head-fiers keep calling it. There's still time to influence the design of the amp so if you guys do have any suggestions I'll pass them forward for sure.