[soundlogic]

Regarding all the customer complaints of glitches with the U16... I need to humbly and proudly note that my unit has been flawless! I have used it for just a little over its initial release. it came factory loaded with PSA 1.4 FW. Since I have a PS Audio Directstream DAC, and I use exclusively the HDMI out from the U16, it has worked as advertised on all files and sizes. USB out from my Aries streamer, originally 1st gen. Aries, and now Aries G2 , feeds the Gustard. The ONLY thing I have found bothersome is that the Gustard causes the “pre-emphasis flag” to become enacted on the Directstream, but as a work around, I just covered the pin on the HDMI cable that causes it, and all is good. Sonics with the U16 definitely trumped my Kitsune’ modified SU1 by a large degree. Although with the inclusion of FPGA upgrades, the Audio-GD DI-20 looks worth investigating.

 

[Baten]

Someone measured U16. Not Amir but a member on ASR that purchased the latest and greatest AP analyser. He will soon also measure new model holo spring and audio-gd gear. I personally don't think he has any bias against brands etc cause he is from China himself.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ts-of-gustard-u16-usb-digital-interface.9997/

He is not that optimistic about the device. Maybe it performs better with external clock?

 

[ProLoL]

Someone measured U16. Not Amir but a member on ASR that purchased the latest and greatest AP analyser. He will soon also measure new model holo spring and audio-gd gear. I personally don't think he has any bias against brands etc cause he is from China himself.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ts-of-gustard-u16-usb-digital-interface.9997/

He is not that optimistic about the device. Maybe it performs better with external clock?

Even without OCXO, it takes every dac to the next level.

 

[PLGA]

Well, to me, I would trust my ears. I wouldnt care about measurements.

In my system, the U16 sounds terrific alone and even better with an external OCXO.

I found the way to make it work, almost 100% of the times, perfectly with PCM 44.1/16 wich is what I need. It doesnt work with higher PCM rates or DSD, but I dont really care much about it.

I have a 300B valve power amp wich has I think about 1% of THD and it sounds MUCH better (to me) than a class D power amp with MUCH less distortion on paper. I have the class D amp on a case.

If I decide to change the U16 with the DI-20 it will be based on other trusted audiophiles experiences and not measurements. In some forums some people published supposedly bad measurements of Audio-GD DACs and must of us know that they sound incredible and are a real bargain in the audiophile market.

 

[motberg]

I have 2 U16's - one to an Audio-GD DAC and one to a Gustard DAC.. both working fine via i2s (got some DSD pops with the Gustard DAC though).
The Gustard sounds better than both the TANLY and a modded SU-1 that I had, and both those were double the price... so I would not think it is throwing money away using a U16.

I recently bought 3 DAC's reviewed at that site - the Topping D50 (nice vocals but strange tonality of other stuff - plastic sounding guitars, strange DI-like bass guitar, cymbals lacking depth) and Topping D70 (good tone but no dynamics). The Gustard A20A is pretty good though - even the built in balanced preamp not too bad, but I am using the SE outputs and a Lightspeed passive pre with all silver litz to the amp - very very nice AK4497 implementation with natural tonality and normal dynamics.

 

[Baten]

Well, to me, I would trust my ears. I wouldnt care about measurements.

In my system, the U16 sounds terrific alone and even better with an external OCXO.

I found the way to make it work, almost 100% of the times, perfectly with PCM 44.1/16 wich is what I need. It doesnt work with higher PCM rates or DSD, but I dont really care much about it.

I'm sure the U16 is great just wanted to share those measurements, I know there's no 1:1 relation to actual sound but it still is valuable to see any defects or faults.

Stock, the U16 does not have the greatest jitter in picosecond measurement. With many devices claiming 'femto' performance, it does seem like the Gustard is a little lacking to me. But I've not heard it, I'm using a modded Singxer SU-1 myself... which also measured BAD at ASR, LOL. sounds fine.

 

[PLGA]

I'm sure the U16 is great just wanted to share those measurements, I know there's no 1:1 relation to actual sound but it still is valuable to see any defects or faults.

Stock, the U16 does not have the greatest jitter in picosecond measurement. With many devices claiming 'femto' performance, it does seem like the Gustard is a little lacking to me. But I've not heard it, I'm using a modded Singxer SU-1 myself... which also measured BAD at ASR, LOL. sounds fine.

Yes, sure. Thank you for the information.

Do you have the U16 or are you planning on buying one? I guess an Audio-GD Di-20 would be a safer bet.

 

[Baten]

Do you have the U16 or are you planning on buying one? I guess an Audio-GD Di-20 would be a safer bet.

Not sure yet. I like my SU-1 so was thinking of going to SU-6 eventually, but haven't made up my mind yet.

U16 looked good too, but hearing it is bug-free on 44Khz but can have problems at other rates, that's not assuring.

 

[PLGA]

Not sure yet. I like my SU-1 so was thinking of going to SU-6 eventually, but haven't made up my mind yet.

U16 looked good too, but hearing it is bug-free on 44Khz but can have problems at other rates, that's not assuring.

Yes, I guess the U16 is not the safest bet. I've got mine working flawlessly after some time trying different firmwares and configurations on my R8 DAC. It's worth to mention that mine a VERY few times provides an unbalanced soundstage, but I don't care as it happens exceptionally.

Instead of the SU-6, wich some other head-fi members say it doesnt sound better than the U16, I would look for information on the Audio-GD DI-20, wich some members say it sounds considerably better than the U16 and the price si similar to the SU-6, as I understand.

The thread is: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/aud...atched_thread_reply_messagetext#post-15330510

 

[motberg]

The external 10M clock input is a nice feature... a few days ago I was listening to the U16/A20H source and noticed something was off... I figured something was not plugged into the mains regenerator, or maybe just a bad day for subjective listening...

Then I remembered the 10M clock was not engaged on the U16 (I have the display blocked so the room is dark... ) and that was the problem.
A stock U16 will probably sound different from a modded well-powered SU-1, but if you like the SU-1 sound then it may take some kind of well-powered 10M OCXO to get the U16 to be preferable (if you have luck with the sample rates problem..)

There should be some cheap U16's on the used market soon due to the Di-20 release, maybe worth a try to folks on the fence - add the cheap eBay OCXO and LPS if you like, and if not a substantial improvement can flip the U16 and save the OCXO stuff for a Di-20.

 

[darren700]

The external 10M clock input is a nice feature... a few days ago I was listening to the U16/A20H source and noticed something was off... I figured something was not plugged into the mains regenerator, or maybe just a bad day for subjective listening...

Then I remembered the 10M clock was not engaged on the U16 (I have the display blocked so the room is dark... ) and that was the problem.
A stock U16 will probably sound different from a modded well-powered SU-1, but if you like the SU-1 sound then it may take some kind of well-powered 10M OCXO to get the U16 to be preferable (if you have luck with the sample rates problem..)

There should be some cheap U16's on the used market soon due to the Di-20 release, maybe worth a try to folks on the fence - add the cheap eBay OCXO and LPS if you like, and if not a substantial improvement can flip the U16 and save the OCXO stuff for a Di-20.

I upgraded my U16 to the Audio-GD DI-20 and have been quite happy.

I also have my U16 up for sale if anyone is interested. I am located in Canada but will consider shipping else-ware.
https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649570574-gustard-u16-ddc/

 

[ProLoL]

The OCXO takes my R2R11 into a different level.. stock U16 feels like it drives in 100mph, with the external OXCO, it feels the music flows in 200mph.

The level of realism is unbelievable.. I was missing a dimension of which I wasn't aware of.

 

[BrainFood]

The OCXO takes my R2R11 into a different level.. stock U16 feels like it drives in 100mph, with the external OXCO, it feels the music flows in 200mph.

The level of realism is unbelievable.. I was missing a dimension of which I wasn't aware of.

Hi. Could you link to the ocxo you purchased?

 

[ProLoL]

Sure,
Using it in sine wave + Ifi Ipower.
Music flows effortlessly.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/10MHz-OCXO-Frequency-Standard-Reference-2-CH-Sine-wave-1-CH-Square-wave/173448116014?_trkparms=ispr=1&hash=item286250372e:g:X3cAAOSw6AVbZCWt&enc=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&checksum=173448116014a70c76b042ff4812b93716f25c82568c&enc=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&checksum=173448116014a70c76b042ff4812b93716f25c82568c

 

[baramzisyan]

Okay, guys, when new u16 firmware were aviable?