[Pharmaboy]

I just tested mine. It cuts off at 8 feet. You can be slightly off angle but the remote will not work from the sides of the unit.

I'm getting interested in this amp, which I would primarily use as a preamp. Question about the remote: where on the front panel is the IR sensor that the remote communicates with?

I ask because in my crammed equipment space, I would only have line of sight (from 4-5 feet away) on part of the front panel.

 

[Poganin]

I'm getting interested in this amp, which I would primarily use as a preamp. Question about the remote: where on the front panel is the IR sensor that the remote communicates with?

I ask because in my crammed equipment space, I would only have line of sight (from 4-5 feet away) on part of the front panel.

I believe it's in the small notch between the 4-pin XLR socket and the volume wheel. But the manual doesn't actually specify.

 

[Marlowe]

I use this amp in my Blu-ray/TV setup stacked with its matching X16 DAC. It's set up immediately next to my chair when I'm watching, so I generally never use the remote. However, a few times I used it for late night music listening and sat in another spot a few feet away and used the remote. I had a heck of a time getting it to work, pointing it at a couple of dozen different spots until it finally clicked in.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I believe it's in the small notch between the 4-pin XLR socket and the volume wheel. But the manual doesn't actually specify.

If that's so, I have a fighting chance to control this device from my office chair.

Thanks!!

 

[Pharmaboy]

Since my last post above, I picked up a new-in-the-box H16 for a reasonable price. I have many amps already; I bought this one strictly to use as a preamp. It lets me spell the Violectric V281--my favorite SS amp, used 12 hours/day, 7 days/week for 5+ years as a system preamp in my main office system (also my #1 headphone amp). The H16 has worked well as a preamp for ~100 hrs. Not quite as long as I usually burn in electronics, but far enough to try it out as a headphone amp.

This isn't as easy as it sounds. One of the 2 serious flaws of this amp is that the preamp output doesn't mute when you plug in a headphone. That's a terrible omission: turning up the volume on the headphone turns up the volume on speakers & sub. To get around it, I wired another amp/preamp in as preamp, leaving only the input from the DAC plugged into the H16. And for the past 45" I used the Final D8000 planar headphone to compare the H16 to the V281 in balanced mode.

Color me impressed: the H16 is way better as a headphone amp than I could expect. This compact, dense little box sounds a lot like that V281, falling short of V281 excellence in just a few ways:

• The lower frequencies lack the last bit of texture & authority on the H16
• The resolution of faint musical signals deep in the mix isn't quite as good as the V281
• And the overall dynamics of the H16 fall a bit short of the V281 (as does every SS amp I've compared to the V281

Still, this little amp gets pretty close to V281-level sound. The "voicing" of these amps is quite similar. The H16 is a music-first component that won't hurt the listener's ears off with edgy treble transients. I didn't purchase this to use as a headphone amp, so it's a happy suprise that it's an over-achiever when used for that.

Final comment: the H16's other fatal flaw is that its power ratings were gamed on purpose by Gustard. To get the rated power specs, you have to have a balanced DAC outputting 7.0 volts into the H16. That's ridiculous. It's pretty easy to tell with a planar headphone that this amp isn't as powerful as the specs say. Then again, an amp this inexpensive, compact and good sounding (able to give an honest 1.5 to 2.0 wpc in a real world system) is a very good thing IMO.

 

[Marlowe]

Final comment: the H16's other fatal flaw is that its power ratings were gamed on purpose by Gustard. To get the rated power specs, you have to have a balanced DAC outputting 7.0 volts into the H16. That's ridiculous. It's pretty easy to tell with a planar headphone that this amp isn't as powerful as the specs say. Then again, an amp this inexpensive, compact and good sounding (able to give an honest 1.5 to 2.0 wpc in a real world system) is a very good thing IMO.

I appreciate this information which explains a lot. I use the H16 in my Blu-ray TV setup and from the start I thought that I either had a bad unit or Gustard's stated power output was overstated. I expected to primarily use medium gain, but I needed high gain on everything with, depending on content, the volume somewhere between 35 and 60. This was mostly with the Sennheiser HD700 but sometimes the Focal Elex or ZMF Aeolus, none of which are particularly hard to drive. Admittedly, I like it loud, but this seemed off given the rated power. The H16 is stacked with its matching X16 DAC, which is fully balanced but, I believe, only outputs 4.0 volts from the XLR outputs. Recently, I pretty much exclusively use the Hifiman Arya Stealth with the H16 and, strangely enough, despite a lower sensitivity than any of the other headphones, it actually gets the same volume as the others with a slightly lower setting.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I appreciate this information which explains a lot. I use the H16 in my Blu-ray TV setup and from the start I thought that I either had a bad unit or Gustard's stated power output was overstated. I expected to primarily use medium gain, but I needed high gain on everything with, depending on content, the volume somewhere between 35 and 60. This was mostly with the Sennheiser HD700 but sometimes the Focal Elex or ZMF Aeolus, none of which are particularly hard to drive. Admittedly, I like it loud, but this seemed off given the rated power. The H16 is stacked with its matching X16 DAC, which is fully balanced but, I believe, only outputs 4.0 volts from the XLR outputs. Recently, I pretty much exclusively use the Hifiman Arya Stealth with the H16 and, strangely enough, despite a lower sensitivity than any of the other headphones, it actually gets the same volume as the others with a slightly lower setting.

Gustard is a real mixed bag:

• The H16 (design flaws aside) gives a lot of performance and operational flexibility for very little money. It's compact; has a well-designed, digitally controlled stepped pot; remote control; 3 gain levels; adequate power for the majority of real-world headphones; and sounds terrific
• The bigger, more expensive amp/DAC stack (H26 DAC + H20 amp) get rave reviews and many positive user comments, while their retail cost is quite low for high-end electronics

In Gustard I see a Chinese electronics company that, much like Audio GD, has the design quality and engineering credentials to break free of the mass of cheap, unremarkable electronics that China is known for. Both of these brands have true high-end aspirations.

Given that, I don't understand why Gustard would publicly shoot itself in the foot with these 2 obvious flaws in their otherwise excellent, overperforming H16: their gaming of the power output specs (unnecessary, since the true power capability is good for such a small amp); and the amp's failure to mute the preamp output when a headphone jack is plugged into one of the headphone outputs. The first is a PR decision that earns them nothing but criticism; and the second is an easily & inexpensively corrected omission that never should've gotten past the drawing board.

Those two flaws aside, I'm a fan of Gustard. I tend to believe the H26/H20 stack would be very interesting to try out. If good sound is the whole point of this hobby, Gustard really delivers.

 

[Cuthbert 80]

Since my last post above, I picked up a new-in-the-box H16 for a reasonable price. I have many amps already; I bought this one strictly to use as a preamp. It lets me spell the Violectric V281--my favorite SS amp, used 12 hours/day, 7 days/week for 5+ years as a system preamp in my main office system (also my #1 headphone amp). The H16 has worked well as a preamp for ~100 hrs. Not quite as long as I usually burn in electronics, but far enough to try it out as a headphone amp.

This isn't as easy as it sounds. One of the 2 serious flaws of this amp is that the preamp output doesn't mute when you plug in a headphone. That's a terrible omission: turning up the volume on the headphone turns up the volume on speakers & sub. To get around it, I wired another amp/preamp in as preamp, leaving only the input from the DAC plugged into the H16. And for the past 45" I used the Final D8000 planar headphone to compare the H16 to the V281 in balanced mode.

Color me impressed: the H16 is way better as a headphone amp than I could expect. This compact, dense little box sounds a lot like that V281, falling short of V281 excellence in just a few ways:

• The lower frequencies lack the last bit of texture & authority on the H16
• The resolution of faint musical signals deep in the mix isn't quite as good as the V281
• And the overall dynamics of the H16 fall a bit short of the V281 (as does every SS amp I've compared to the V281

Still, this little amp gets pretty close to V281-level sound. The "voicing" of these amps is quite similar. The H16 is a music-first component that won't hurt the listener's ears off with edgy treble transients. I didn't purchase this to use as a headphone amp, so it's a happy suprise that it's an over-achiever when used for that.

Final comment: the H16's other fatal flaw is that its power ratings were gamed on purpose by Gustard. To get the rated power specs, you have to have a balanced DAC outputting 7.0 volts into the H16. That's ridiculous. It's pretty easy to tell with a planar headphone that this amp isn't as powerful as the specs say. Then again, an amp this inexpensive, compact and good sounding (able to give an honest 1.5 to 2.0 wpc in a real world system) is a very good thing IMO.

Hey @Pharmaboy thanks for your impressions!

Regarding your H16 comparison to your V81...I know this is "snake oil" territory for many people but to possibly get almost the last ounces of texture and dynamics in your H16...I would suggest in "upgrading" the fuse in your H16 with Gustard's own "Hi-Fi" fuse that they sell online. I say this as it's a relatively inexpensive purchase...around $27.

I have one currently on order for my own H16 so obviously can't vouch for it personally...yet....but I already have 2 of these fuses running in my Gustard X18 DAC and U18 DDC........there definitely appears to be a difference, subjectively of course.

I agree with your summary of the H16 lacking that last bit of authority in the low end...I use parametric EQ to (attempt to) mitigate this somewhat. With these Gustard fuses in my DAC and DDC...I seemingly don't appear to suffer from this minor drawback anymore lol.

Using my Meze 109 Pro headphones...bass/subbass is really actually thumping now...and is hard hitting. So much so that I had to EQ down some of the subbass lol.

The dynamics is absolutely crazy now. In certain songs, my ears are now getting assaulted...in a good way...if that's your kind of thing lol. Bear in mind that this is all in high gain on the H16. You certainly don't need high gain on the H16 cause the Meze 109 Pro is highly efficient, however, I prefer high gain cause of the extra dynamics and bite.

I didn't believe that "Hi-Fi" fuses could make a difference but in my humble opinion...I hear changes but I'm not gonna exaggerate and tell you that you'll hear night and day differences...it's just subtle "enhancements".

 

[oldbimmercoupe]

I’m going with this unit. Will use in home audio rack straight to Yamaha AVR. Using Yamaha dac. My Senn660s has 4.4 cable. What about rear panel of this amp to Yamaha? Zone 2 is recommended but there are RCA options. I’ve never used a single cable for stereo (Zone 2) - is L/R RCA better? Told I could also choose to connect amp to my gen3 Apple TV with optical cable. Do I lose the DAC in the Yamaha doing that?
Thanks for your suggestions.
Jim

 

[wimawow]

I know this post is over a year old but I have a gustard x16 question someone here could possibly answer. I have this DAC and am wondering how you were able to output fixed volume out of RCA output if you are also using XLR to connect x16 to a home amp. I'm trying to figure out how to connect x16 to an RCA based headphone amp.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I know this post is over a year old but I have a gustard x16 question someone here could possibly answer. I have this DAC and am wondering how you were able to output fixed volume out of RCA output if you are also using XLR to connect x16 to a home amp. I'm trying to figure out how to connect x16 to an RCA based headphone amp.

I think your question concerns the use of the H16 strictly as a preamp (ie, no headphones connected to front-facing outputs). One of the peculiarities of the H16 is that the preamp outputs (RCA pair + 3-pin XLR output pair) do not mute when you plug a headphone into any of the headphone outputs on the front.

So--if you connect the XLR output pair to one amp, and the RCA output pair to a different amp, the volume control will control both outputs at the same time. In the case of a XLR-powered home amp (assuming it's an amplifier-only, not an integrated amp), you would use the H16's volume pot to control volume levels of the downstream speakers. But for the RCA-powered headphone amp, it would have its own volume pot. I guess you'd adjust that volume pot to get the final headphone volume?

But this is pretty confusing. If you have the H16's volume pot set to a level that sounds great via your XLR-fed speaker amp, that pot setting may or may not be sufficient for the RCA-powered downstream headphone amp.

 

[enz0pt]

Pull the trigger and brought it, think is well priced accordingly feature set

 

[jazzzy]

How it's pairing with IEMs (balanced input+output) for you guys ?

 

[enz0pt]

Both are transparent but the Singxer measures better. Though annoyingly, its gain switch is on the bottom.
I have the H16 and I am happy with it. It drives all of my gear without problems with power to spare.

I have the same setup, i run at 17-20 on the gustard mid gain. im getting 70 - 80 db.
Its pretty loud, im constatly lowering to 13.

 

[wimawow]

I ended up getting the Topping A90D because I really needed the ability to output to Pre-Out OR Headphone but not both at the same time. The Gustard H16 will always output to headphone and Pre out simultaneously which is no good.