Gustard U16 - the first USB Interface featuring ESS USB chip

[Ludique]

Unfortunately, my friend has the C16 too, tried it with with U16 with no luck.
About the caps, I talked about it with the designer too. He said the voltage on the caps during operation is lower than 25V, so it’s OK to use them. I don’t know if it’s true.

It’s true in China where the Mains voltage is 220V. It is not true in countries of 230V or higher. I have measured mine close to 26v.

 

[boxerlc]

I have owned both the SU-6 and U16 for half a year. Using I2S , there is slight difference in presentation but both are just as good in terms of SQ.

However the U16 has horrible firmware issues and doesn't work properly half the time. Never mind the notoriously problematic I2S, I have been testing AES with a spare Aune DAC and the bugs when switching sample rates (eg shuffled playlists) continue to affect the U16, current 1.61 firmware. This just tells me that Gustard has done a very very poor job.

The last communication with Shenzen Audio and Gustard was 2 months ago, I was promised a new firmware 'very soon' but nothing has yet surfaced. Make of it what you will, and good luck to anyone thinking of taking a punt on the U16.

I should've read your post before buying U16, I bought in last November, told to wait for a firmware update. Now almost 11 months has past, no new firmware. 99% percent of the time, U16 was eating dust at the corner, not usable at all.

It’s true in China where the Mains voltage is 220V. It is not true in countries of 230V or higher. I have measured mine close to 26v.

In fact somebody measured the voltage in China, it was also over 25 volts.
The designer said the capacitor can sustain 20% more over the marked voltage. Also there will be a voltage drop when connect to loads.
I’m just copying what I was told here. Personally, if I were the designer, I will give some large overhead to the capacitors to make them last longer.

 

[Ludique]

Seems like U16 works perfectly only with PS Audio Directstream dacs and maybe Gustard’s own.

 

[UsoppNoKami]

I should've read your post before buying U16, I bought in last November, told to wait for a firmware update. Now almost 11 months has past, no new firmware. 99% percent of the time, U16 was eating dust at the corner, not usable at all.

My gaming rig is still happily running on Singxer SU-6 + Audio-GD R1 DAC.

My main music rig now runs Allo USBridgeSig (Roon bridge) -> Uptone ISOregen -> Audio-GD DI-20HE to my R7HE DAC.

I've not gotten around to making a U16 bonfire video yet, but thanks for the reminder lol

 

[boxerlc]

My gaming rig is still happily running on Singxer SU-6 + Audio-GD R1 DAC.

My main music rig now runs Allo USBridgeSig (Roon bridge) -> Uptone ISOregen -> Audio-GD DI-20HE to my R7HE DAC.

I've not gotten around to making a U16 bonfire video yet, but thanks for the reminder lol

LOL!

 

[wwmhf]

Seems like U16 works perfectly only with PS Audio Directstream dacs and maybe Gustard’s own.

The U16 seems to work well with Gustard x26 for me, either with internal clock or external clock, but the external clock sounds better to me.

This is just based on how it sound, I cannot do any measurement.

 

[wwmhf]

I do have an external 10mhz clock so I could try it first. What does the changing of input caps do? I could change them but then would void factory warranty (not that gustard support has been that helpful so for).

If you do have one, then you should try to listen to how it sound for you. To me, the external 10Mhz clock sounds better.

I think Ludque mentioned the cap in the power supply, not input. It is always a good idea to use larger capacity, higher voltage, higher quality caps in the power supply.

 

[Deolum]

I need some help from you guys.

Soon my Metrum Pavane Dac will arrive.
As far as i know from the forum that must not be named on headfi the best input is the i2s, closely followed by AES and USB is by far the worst.

My unit is without i2s input but that can be upgraded later.

At the moment my only source is a Sotm-Sms 200 which only has a usb output.

Now which of the following options would be sonically the best?

A) Adding a U16 or Matrix Spdif 2 to the Sotm. So i can use the AES output of the U16 now, the I2S output later when i upgraded it and can someday upgrade the Sotm to the ultra neo

B) Getting a Metrum Ambre or Sonnet Hermes to connect directly via I2S and AES.

Or i get something like a Aries Femto with AES connection.

But can a Sotm Ultra Neo + U16 combo be better than a Streamer like a Ambre or Pi2aes which does connect directly to the correct input of the dac?

 

[lucianpescaru]

Changing the ps caps to 35v ones is also mandatory IMO, because the voltage there is 26v. I think it’s an unforgivable error from Gustard to use 25v Muse caps there.
The probable reason is they wanted/had to use Muse caps and the 35v ones wouldn’t fit in this enclosure.

Can you provide a link for 35V replacement capacitors? I prefer Nichicon KA series. What is the maximum diameter and height?

 

[boxerlc]

I need some help from you guys.

Soon my Metrum Pavane Dac will arrive.
As far as i know from the forum that must not be named on headfi the best input is the i2s, closely followed by AES and USB is by far the worst.

My unit is without i2s input but that can be upgraded later.

At the moment my only source is a Sotm-Sms 200 which only has a usb output.

Now which of the following options would be sonically the best?

A) Adding a U16 or Matrix Spdif 2 to the Sotm. So i can use the AES output of the U16 now, the I2S output later when i upgraded it and can someday upgrade the Sotm to the ultra neo

B) Getting a Metrum Ambre or Sonnet Hermes to connect directly via I2S and AES.

Or i get something like a Aries Femto with AES connection.

But can a Sotm Ultra Neo + U16 combo be better than a Streamer like a Ambre or Pi2aes which does connect directly to the correct input of the dac?

At least don’t get the u16, it has poor support under Linux based OS due to the buggy ES8620 chip firmware. Get the singxer su-2 instead, guaranteed much better. Actually not recommend u16 even for windows, too many unsolvable bugs.

something like the su-2 provide you with the option to use a external clock to further improve the signal quality. Also the I2S port pin definition can be changed, so you can use it after changing your DAC. Each manufacturer has its own I2S pin definition, the compatibility is not guaranteed if the I2S definition of a source device cannot be changed. U16 and Su-2 support definition configuration for the majority of the DAC, it might be another good reason to get a USB audio bridge.

If you go to Shenzhenaudio today, Everything will be on sale for Black Friday.

 

[jimmychan]

I need some help from you guys.

Soon my Metrum Pavane Dac will arrive.
As far as i know from the forum that must not be named on headfi the best input is the i2s, closely followed by AES and USB is by far the worst.

My unit is without i2s input but that can be upgraded later.

At the moment my only source is a Sotm-Sms 200 which only has a usb output.

Now which of the following options would be sonically the best?

A) Adding a U16 or Matrix Spdif 2 to the Sotm. So i can use the AES output of the U16 now, the I2S output later when i upgraded it and can someday upgrade the Sotm to the ultra neo

B) Getting a Metrum Ambre or Sonnet Hermes to connect directly via I2S and AES.

Or i get something like a Aries Femto with AES connection.

But can a Sotm Ultra Neo + U16 combo be better than a Streamer like a Ambre or Pi2aes which does connect directly to the correct input of the dac?

I don't know Ambre or Pi2aes, but I have tried Rpi4B + U16 can beat dCS Network Bridge, Aurrender N10, Naim Uniti Core.

I recently upgraded U16 to DI-20HE, which is much better than U16.

 

[JaMo]

I still think U16 is very good value for the money at USD299. It is true the DI20's are better and should be at their higher cost. (DI20 and DI20HE)
I have two U16's where one has a USD50 Ext XO connected and it is nice sounding. Both U16 runs on 1.61NFB firmware without any problems using LINUX players on raspberry Pi's. With a limited budget I think U16 is a good choice.
/J

 

[boxerlc]

I still think U16 is very good value for the money at USD299. It is true the DI20's are better and should be at their higher cost. (DI20 and DI20HE)
I have two U16's where one has a USD50 Ext XO connected and it is nice sounding. Both U16 runs on 1.61NFB firmware without any problems using LINUX players on raspberry Pi's. With a limited budget I think U16 is a good choice.
/J

The problem of U16 will be exposed if you play high sample rate music files, like 192KHz, it will cause some DAC not be able to lock to the signal. Under Windows it has this problem too. I had my hands on three of these U16s, tested on at NT503, Qutest and Titans Audio Helen. If you try to play hi-res long enough, I’m sure you will find some problem.

 

[Ludique]

Can you provide a link for 35V replacement capacitors? I prefer Nichicon KA series. What is the maximum diameter and height?

C. 16x32 mm fits in well.

 

[lucianpescaru]

C. 16x32 mm fits in well.

Ordered 3300uf Nichicon KA 35V 16x35.5mm will come back with the results. By measurement it seems to have 38mm of off the board. Including the board thickness so it will be a tight fit. Will put some isolation tape on top of the caps, maybe they'll fit.