[BrainFood]

Can't say I've noticed any bass distortion at 16/44 with 1.4 0db firmware (BNC -> coaxial)

 

[Articnoise]

I have had no problem with the S/PDIF and the 1.61 firmware.

 

[peteg]

Should have mine sometime today, hopefully it will be broke-in for the weekend.

 

[wwmhf]

I feel that breaking is less critical than choosing a right firmware (V1.4, V1.52, V1.61, ...)

 

[peteg]

My unit is from the second batch of silver ones made, so pretty new. It should have v1.61.

 

[PLGA]

My experience with the U16 is that it got much better after burning in.
Mine came with the V1.61 and I changed it for V1.4 because Ive had noise in some PCM sample rates, but V1.4 didnt solve it.
If I go back to V1.4, should I get better sound? Has any of you compared V1.61 vs V1.4 firmwares regarding JUST sound quality?
Im having a "tremendous" sound with V1.4, but doesnt hurt to try if theres a better opinion on V1.61 regarding sound quality.

 

[BrainFood]

My experience with the U16 is that it got much better after burning in.
Mine came with the V1.61 and I changed it for V1.4 because Ive had noise in some PCM sample rates, but V1.4 didnt solve it.
If I go back to V1.4, should I get better sound? Has any of you compared V1.61 vs V1.4 firmwares regarding JUST sound quality?
Im having a "tremendous" sound with V1.4, but doesnt hurt to try if theres a better opinion on V1.61 regarding sound quality.

As reported a couple of pages back, I thought I heard a step down in sq when changing from 1.61 to 1.4 0db. That was only on day two from new though.

 

[Aurion]

So the U16 drivers are version 4.47 of Thesycon drivers. That's the same version as FiiO's latest Q5/X7 drivers. So I copied the CplApp.exe, the Xml file and the ini file.
Rename them to GustardAudioUSBAudioCpl.exe, GustardAudioUSBAudioCpl.xml.
Insert the InterfaceGUID = {0A5FD377-0EF8-4380-AD47-F0B86D4796E0} in xml file where it says
<DriverInterfaceGUID>{0A5FD377-0EF8-4380-AD47-F0B86D4796E0}</DriverInterfaceGUID>.

Make all Auto or Hidden options set to Visible. And you are good to go.

I recently acquired the Gustard U16, and have been using it as a front end for the Holo Audio Cyan. Very pleased with the Gustard U16 as it vastly improved the Cyan clean sound and imaging, making the Cyan nearly holographic. My only problem was that after my NUC8i7hvk Windows 10 startup, the Gustard U16 would not initialize and play Youtube.com files without turning the Gustard power switch Off then On. On the other hand all of my music and video files through Jriver and Roon would play without turning Gustard power On and Off.

After some thought regarding soumya.banerjee's insightful post, and his mentioning that the Thesycon drivers are the same as the Fiio's Q5/X7 drivers, it occured to me that my Cyan drivers probably belonged to the same Thesycon family of USB drivers.

I followed soumya.banerjee's instructions, only substituting the Holo Cyan USB exe, Xml, and ini files and renaming them to the Gustard exe, Xml, and ini files, as suggested by Soumya.

I now have in my Gustard U16 C:\Drivers folder the renamed, and ini edited KitsuneHiFi_HoloAudio_v4.43.0.zip files: GustardAudioUSBAudioCpl.strings (folder), custom.ini, GustardAudioUSBAudioCpl.exe, and GustardAudioUSBAudioCpl.xml.

Everything works perfectly now. My thanks again to souyma.banerjee.

 

[Joong]

Anybody here tried U16 with Topping DX7s?

 

[wwmhf]

I recently acquired the Gustard U16, and have been using it as a front end for the Holo Audio Cyan. Very pleased with the Gustard U16 as it vastly improved the Cyan clean sound and imaging, making the Cyan nearly holographic. My only problem was that after my NUC8i7hvk Windows 10 startup, the Gustard U16 would not initialize and play Youtube.com files without turning the Gustard power switch Off then On. On the other hand all of my music and video files through Jriver and Roon would play without turning Gustard power On and Off.

After some thought regarding soumya.banerjee's insightful post, and his mentioning that the Thesycon drivers are the same as the Fiio's Q5/X7 drivers, it occured to me that my Cyan drivers probably belonged to the same Thesycon family of USB drivers.

I followed soumya.banerjee's instructions, only substituting the Holo Cyan USB exe, Xml, and ini files and renaming them to the Gustard exe, Xml, and ini files, as suggested by Soumya.

I now have in my Gustard U16 C:\Drivers folder the renamed, and ini edited KitsuneHiFi_HoloAudio_v4.43.0.zip files: GustardAudioUSBAudioCpl.strings (folder), custom.ini, GustardAudioUSBAudioCpl.exe, and GustardAudioUSBAudioCpl.xml.

Everything works perfectly now. My thanks again to souyma.banerjee.

Thanks for sharing this info, and of course, I would like to thank Soumya again. We are making improvement on a good device, even though its manufacture is not doing much to make even better.

 

[peteg]

I have around 75hrs now and really enjoying the sound I'm getting, less edgy sound around the notes but still has detail. U16 is more analog sounding than my Singxer su-1.

Now the not so good, when playing 176/192khz I get the dreaded distortion (v1.6/v1.4) so I have the ability to down sample to 96khz which works and sounds good, just a band-aid for now hopefully. All DSD plays fine.

As mentioned here already disconnecting the power from the USB to the U16 increases SQ. I'm interested in the Singxer su-6 but it has a pretty hefty price.

 

[motberg]

I have around 75hrs now and really enjoying the sound I'm getting, less edgy sound around the notes but still has detail. U16 is more analog sounding than my Singxer su-1.

Now the not so good, when playing 176/192khz I get the dreaded distortion (v1.6/v1.4) so I have the ability to down sample to 96khz which works and sounds good, just a band-aid for now hopefully. All DSD plays fine.

As mentioned here already disconnecting the power from the USB to the U16 increases SQ. I'm interested in the Singxer su-6 but it has a pretty hefty price.

If you don't mind, what DAC and connection type (SPDIF, i2S, etc..) are you using?

 

[motberg]

Interesting comment above; disconnecting the power from the USB to the U16 increases SQ

I am finding here in 2 systems the U16 really likes the W4S Recovery reclocker cleaning up the USB input.
...opened the soundstage and added realistic detail to vocals and cymbals.
I am using pretty expensive power for these (Uptone LPS1.2 or LPS1.0 powered by 8.5V 3A LPS with good cables), so maybe that is a good part of the improvement.. not sure

https://wyred4sound.com/products/digital-converters/recovery

149 USD with discount code wyred4RECOVERY

 

[motberg]

Anyone here recently having U16 success with Linux and i2s output ?
Since I need upsample everything to one of my DAC's using the Windows driver, I was thinking try the HQPlayer Linux based NAA endpoint or something like AudioLinux .

 

[peteg]

If you don't mind, what DAC and connection type (SPDIF, i2S, etc..) are you using?

Lumin U1 >U16 >I2s into a denafrips terminator.