Gustard U12 USB Interface 8 Core XMOS chip

[rb2013]

 
Thank for your reply
 
Hi, I am here again and having problems connecting the GUSTARD u12 to my Mac Mini. I am trying to used with OSX Maverick 10.9.5 and the plug and play, and simply it does not work. It does no recognize the USB SOUND OUTPUT. I have a DAC now (v90 MUSICA FIDELITY) and I am connecting it like this:
 
Mac mini, usb --- usb cable--- usb input, GUSTARD u12,optical output--- optical cable--- optical input, v90-DAC---to my sound system.
 
 
I need the drives to make it work with OSX Maverick 10.9.5… is there any other way???
 
Please HELP!!
 
Thanks!!
 
glip

Shouldn't require any drivers - try unplugging then replugging the USB cord.  Also check the voltage switch inside to see if it's set your voltage.
BTW does the display light up?
Good luck!

 

[bimmer100]

  Here would be my current ranking and ratings:
 
 
 
DXIO Silver/TeraDak DC-30W/Cerious     130
PUC2 Lite TeraDak X1/FR caps/Cerious    125
DXIO Black/TeraDak DC-30W/Cerious      118
PUC2 Lite - USB power                          110
Breeze with Cerious Graphene                108
Breeze DU-U8 (Talema version)                98
Breeze DU-U8 (BingZi version)                 95
Hydra Z with LPS                                    92
Melodious MX-U8 (upgraded caps)             85
Melodious MX-U8 (stock)                          81
Gustard U12 (upgraded caps)                    76
Gustard U12 stock                                   72
iDAC DAC2 (used as a DDC)                      65
Musiland USB3.0 US Dragon                      65
M2Tech EVO with LPS                               60
Audiophileo 2                                          50
M2Tech Hiface                                         40

what sort of rating system is this? 
 
on a scale from 0-100 how would you rate them.
 
a baseline of 0 not working at all. 50 sounding like poo (AM radio) 60 (FM radio) 65(HDradio) etc . and 100 being real life perfection.? how can things sound better than 100percent? or is there some level above perfection i've yet to hear?  (sarcasm) but PLEASE come up with a logical measurement of rankings.
 
i'm guessing all these stack around 80-90pts. 
 
I'm just trying to get a more accurate understanding of what these numbers are you're coming up with actually mean. the m2Tech is literally less than a 1/3rd of the performance of the DXIO? really? or am I misunderstanding this. I would think a 1/3rd of the performance is crazy crappy sounding. worse than a tape deck? or maybe 8 track player?

 

[auvgeek]

^^Yeah, I find it hard to believe the silver Pro3a (even with LPS & GE) sounds nearly twice as good as the U12...
 
Edit: That said, I'm appreciative of the time he took to rank all of these, and the numerical values (while perhaps arbitrary) give a sense of how different he thinks they sound. If you hear two of the DDCs on his list, you can get a sense of how much effect the others might have, assuming the numerical ratings are linear.

 

[bimmer100]

  ^^Yeah, I find it hard to believe the silver Pro3a (even with LPS & GE) sounds nearly twice as good as the U12...
 
Edit: That said, I'm appreciative of the time he took to rank all of these, and the numerical values (while perhaps arbitrary) give a sense of how different he thinks they sound. If you hear two of the DDCs on his list, you can get a sense of how much effect the others might have, assuming the numerical ratings are linear.

 
 
in my experience of testing my heavily modded U12 vs stock... I would say... if the rating of 72 for the stock U12 is correct. The pro3a is the best i've heard so far...that being said.
anything above this or near 100 - I personally don't believe is possible in our current technology to create REALISM of sound at this point, even with the best of headphones or loud speakers. Maybe 90 can be achieved.
 
Ratings that make a little more sense to me:
 
 
my version (I didn't notice much, if any differences with power cables with DDC's, my baseline power cable has been SR Tesla T1SE, NOT generic cable, so this is not testing with cheapo power cables,  ( this is subject to change, but a quick rough draft is below)
 
REALITY - 100
Pro3A Silver TOP - not going to find out 
Pro3A Black TOP - not going to find out
Pro3A YELLOW TOP fed from USB power from PPA3 usb/Paul Hynes Sr3 PSU (I own this one lol) - 85
Pro3A YELLOW TOP fed from teradak DC30W 1mV noise (I own this one lol) - 84.
Pro3A YELLOW TOP fed from standard USB port(ax1200 corsair psu with 10mV noise) (I own this one lol) - 83
Breeze+ Cerious GE cable - ??? soon to find out
Breeze - ??? soon to find out
DIU8 mod + Cerious GE + Crystek 957  - ??? 
DIU8 stock + Cerious GE - 81
DIU8 stock +SRTesla T1SE- 81
Melodious MX-U8 + 957 crystek - 80
U12 modded (957s, panny caps, bellison regulator, dc linear input from TeraDak DC30W 7V) - T1SE- 79
Melodious MX-U8 stock - 78
Amanero Combo 384 (stock audiogd class A powered implementation -  fed from USB power from PPA3 usb/Paul Hynes Sr3 PSU) - 77
U12 stock +Cerious GE (powered from AC regenerator and 20uV noise linear powered source for 5v usb power) - 76
U12 stock +SRTesla T1SE (powered from AC regenerator and 20uV noise linear powered source for 5v usb power) - 76
 
 
just guesstimates at this point. I really should separate some with .5 points. Will update soon.

 

[glip]

Hi rb2013!! thank for your fast reply!!!  
I have try those things!! …Unplugging the USB and changing the electrical connection! I see hyphens/dashes on the screen when I connect the USB… and it does not appears on de SOUD option configuration on the mac.
 
I did no check inside the GUSTARD cabinet the voltage switch…I do not have the tool… should get them??
 
THANKS rb2013!!
 
PS. what is BTW??
 
 

 

[rb2013]

  Hi rb2013!! thank for your fast reply!!!  
I have try those things!! …Unplugging the USB and changing the electrical connection! I see hyphens/dashes on the screen when I connect the USB… and it does not appears on de SOUD option configuration on the mac.
 
I did no check inside the GUSTARD cabinet the voltage switch…I do not have the tool… should get them??
 
THANKS rb2013!!
 
PS. what is BTW??
 
 

BTW=By the way.  Well I don't know what could be the problem  - other then a defective unit.

 

[rb2013]

Speaking of defective units!  I think the 1st DXIO Pro3a I recieved (black) is slightly defective.  Not only does the 2nd one sound even better - cold out of the box - but it operates better.
 
Let me explain - I leave my systems running 24/7 - when I check on the main system in the morning with the Pro 3a black - it seems to have unlocked during the night - virtually every night.  No big deal I just close Foobar. plug in the power end of the 2G and reopen Foobar - no need for even a reboot.  But the 2nd one (silver) did not unlock last night!  Further I tried closing Foobar and reopenning with just the 2g data leg (and VBUS Blocker JB in between) - and on reopenning Foobar it worked!  So the DXIO does NOT need a USB power handshake (like the U12).  That's what I had figured as to the need to replug the power leg.  And the nightly unlocking I attributed to the nightly wind and rain storms we've been having here in the Pac NW virtually every day - they play havoc with the electrical grid.
 
So it appears the 1st DXIO I recieved is defective!  I will be contacting DIYinHK for a replacement.
 
That explains why the new 2nd one (silver) sounds so much better - and I expect it to getter even better with a 100 hours run time.
 
Cheers to that!
 
I will edit the rankings to reflect this.

 

[FredA]

BTW=By the way.  Well I don't know what could be the problem  - other then a defective unit.

Yes. On a mac, there is normally not much fuss. It is supposed to work right away after selecting the device as output, whatever the external ddc or onboard ddc. I have tried 5-6 at least and never had a hint of a problem, besides some stability problem with most of them (have to reboot every 5 days of intensive playback).

 

[rb2013]

Oh and the CA 15 USB bridge shootout had the following ranking:
 

The final shootout score is as follows:​

​

​

Matrix 24/96 - 60​

​

Hegel HD2 - 65​

​

Musical Fidelity V-Link II - 75​

​

Stello CDT-100 - 75​

​

Bryston BDP-1 - 80​

​

Halide Design The Bridge – 80 (+5 when powered from​

SOtM

​

USB

card)​

​

M2Tech HiFace Evo - 80​

​

Stello U3 - 85​

​

JK SPDIF Mk3 - 90​

​

M2Tech HiFace Evo + Evo Supply - 90​

​

Soulution 590 – 90 (+5 when powered from​

SOtM

​

USB

card)​

​

Audiophilleo 1/2 - 95​

​

dCS U-Clock - 95 (+5 when used with dCS​

DAC

and the Clock Link feature enabled)​

​

Empirical Audio Off Ramp Turbo 5 - 95​

​

AP1 with the PurePower battery​

PSU

- 95 (borderline 100)​

​

M2Tech HiFace Evo + Evo Supply + Evo Clock - 100​

​

dCS Scarlatti CD/SACD transport - 100 (+5 when used with dCS​

DAC

and the Clock Link feature enabled)​

​

Berkeley Audio Designs Alpha USB – 110​

 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/15-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-spdif-converters-shootout-15327/
 
Is a EVO+clock+supply almost twice as good as a Hegel?

 

[Currawong]

I'm leaving this thread closed as the OP has bailed.
 
I think a dedicated thread for USB converter comparisons is required at this point. 

 

 

[StrikeFreedom]

Too bad you didn't get the Talema version - it is better.

I assume your are talking about the TXCO SiTime SiT5000?

Better phase noise then the generic JYEC TXCO - but not nearlyas good as the NDK SD or Crystek CCHD-957:

SiTIme SiT5000 TXCO Phase Noise: @1kHz -140db, @10kHz -150db @100kHz -150db (to bad no readings at 10Hz and 100Hz).

JYEC TXCO: @1kHz -125db (only numbers available - anyone have an English data sheet?)

NDK SD TXCO: @1kHz -154db, @10kHz -156db, @100khz -156db

Crystek CCHD-957: @1kHz -149db, @10kHz -162db, @100kHz -168db

http://www.sitime.com/products/datasheets/sit5000/SiT5000-datasheet.pdf

Technical specifications
Frequency range: 1.000 ~ 160MHz
Frequency-temperature stability: ± 0.5ppm @ 0 ℃ ~ 50 ℃
And load characteristics of the output: Sine OR TTL
Frequency Accuracy: ± 1.0ppm Max
Aging rate: ± 1.0ppm / year Max
Storage temperature range: -40 ~ +105 ℃
Load frequency stability: ± 5% load fluctuations maximum ± 0.1ppm
Supply voltage: 5.0V or 3.3V
Frequency voltage stability: ± 5% voltage fluctuation maximum ± 0.1ppm
Phase noise: 10Hz: -70dBc/Hz
100Hz: -100dBc/Hz
1KHz: -130dBc/Hz
10KHz: -140dBc/Hz
100KHz: -145dBc/Hz
Supply Current: <20mA

http://www.diytrade.com/china/pd/5042580/Supply_warming_crystal_TCXO_temperature_OCXO.html

 

[m usicguy]

I have an U12. I think it has been the best usb to coaxial converter i have heard.

One of my converters. The display window doesnt show all of the display. Like the number 8. the flat line a crossed the middle of 8 is out. should i be worried? It works fine. The reason why i ask is Gustard is overseas. I know we all want out stuff to be perfect. But for a number display i dont even really look at. Or does anyone know that it effects sound quality?

musicguy

 

[DACLadder]

I have an U12. I think it has been the best usb to coaxial converter i have heard.

One of my converters. The display window doesnt show all of the display. Like the number 8. the flat line a crossed the middle of 8 is out. should i be worried? It works fine. The reason why i ask is Gustard is overseas. I know we all want out stuff to be perfect. But for a number display i dont even really look at. Or does anyone know that it effects sound quality?

musicguy

Operationally nothing to worry about. Either the display or the display segment driver is broken. I have a Furman power conditioner with a broken segment in its voltage display and has been this way for years. Just looks bad but functions normally.

 

[amirm]

I just finished testing the U12 and compared it to a few other converters (Audiophilleo, Melodious-Audio MX-8, Fiio E10K) with two DACs (Topping D30 and Exasound E32): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-of-gustard-u12-usb-to-s-pdif-converter.2166/

The U12 didn't do all that well.

 

[wwmhf]

Thank you for sharing your experience with Gustard U12. There is a definite interest in how the U12 can perform with its I^2S output