Gustard U16 - the first USB Interface featuring ESS USB chip

Aug 28, 2019 at 3:44 PM Post #1,308 of 1,706
The U16 external clock input is 50 ohms. Make sure the OCXO and cable impedances are 50 ohm to match.

The U16 connector type is BNC. You may find OCXOs with SMA type and others. Just have to find a cable that matches both ends.

RG-58 cable is the standard size 50 ohm cable (RG-59 is 75 ohm). You may also see smaller diameter RG-174 50 ohm cable which has more loss than RG-58. For long runs RG-58 or better. There are also double shielded cables that have different names and looking into currently.

Like anything else in audio a shorter cable is better. Lower loss and attenuation. I just use a 1m generic RG-58 cable with BNCs on each end.
 
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Aug 28, 2019 at 4:03 PM Post #1,310 of 1,706
You have to switch to Ext. clock on each power up. Connect the clock and press the left button until you see EXT on the display.

I was listening for 30 minutes today and suddenly realized I was actually on INT. So check when power is applied to the U16. INT is default.
 
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Aug 28, 2019 at 9:52 PM Post #1,311 of 1,706
Aug 31, 2019 at 11:27 AM Post #1,312 of 1,706
It would be ideal to an have an integral 10Mhz OCXO inside the U16, possibly eliminating the TCXO [and offsetting some of the upgrade cost] and having the 10Mhz reference be an output instead of an input.
 
Aug 31, 2019 at 11:55 AM Post #1,313 of 1,706
It would be ideal to an have an integral 10Mhz OCXO inside the U16, possibly eliminating the TCXO [and offsetting some of the upgrade cost] and having the 10Mhz reference be an output instead of an input.
It is not just the ocxo, it is how clean its signal is. The u16 would need a much bigger chassis, shielding and others precautions to ensure its clock signal is clean in the first place and remains as such. If such precautions were taken for the current tcxos, i am not sure the external clock would make so much difference. But the u16's price would increase by much.
 
Aug 31, 2019 at 2:27 PM Post #1,314 of 1,706
Here is a screen shot of the Made in China - Accusilicon 10Mhz OCXO with a whopping 15dB lower noise @ 1Hz than a Crystek 957.

It'd be nice to know its cost and to compare the noise with the $50 solution.

upload_2019-8-31_14-27-16.png
 
Sep 4, 2019 at 8:46 AM Post #1,315 of 1,706
Good afternoon gentlemen,

I have just received mine Gustard C16 and i am eager to connect it on U16 and hear, whatever there is to hear, improvement.

Can someone please explain to me what is the difference between the "gentle" and "vivid" outputs? Which output do you prefer? Are you using the stock bnc cable or not?

Should there be any difference in the first place, since we are talking about clock signals here?

Sorry for the too many questions.
 
Sep 4, 2019 at 9:17 AM Post #1,316 of 1,706
Good afternoon gentlemen,

I have just received mine Gustard C16 and i am eager to connect it on U16 and hear, whatever there is to hear, improvement.

Can someone please explain to me what is the difference between the "gentle" and "vivid" outputs? Which output do you prefer? Are you using the stock bnc cable or not?

Should there be any difference in the first place, since we are talking about clock signals here?

Sorry for the too many questions.
Hi, I have had my 16 for a couple of weeks now and I have not tried the gentle outputs. I have not seen anything that explains the difference. Maybe sine vs. square wave, but that is just a guess. The stock cable is too short for my system so I purchased a different on eBay.
 
Sep 4, 2019 at 9:27 AM Post #1,317 of 1,706
Good Evening!

Yesterday I had to abandoned the Gustard U-16 and using again my old Schiit Eitr.
In last couple of weeks the Gustard U-16 made me mad. I got this unit couple of months ago and it came with V1.61 firmware and there was no
problem playing all the sample rate ( didn't tried DSD). But from last couple of weeks it started showing intermittent playing problem like freezing, distorted sound, static sound and not finding the device.
Changed the firmware to 1.61NFB but the problem remains the same. So I had to replace it with Eitr.

Dear Inmates, unless the Gustard resolves this issue completely, please do not recommend this product.
We should not promote this faulty product and make others to suffer.

Happy listening!
 
Sep 4, 2019 at 12:45 PM Post #1,318 of 1,706
Good afternoon gentlemen,

I have just received mine Gustard C16 and i am eager to connect it on U16 and hear, whatever there is to hear, improvement.

Can someone please explain to me what is the difference between the "gentle" and "vivid" outputs? Which output do you prefer? Are you using the stock bnc cable or not?

Should there be any difference in the first place, since we are talking about clock signals here?

Sorry for the too many questions.

From the internal photos, it looks like only three of the six outputs are isolated. Looking at the unit from the front, the isolated outputs would be the three on the right side at the rear (the "gentle" outputs).


-- "vivid" = C16 NON-ISOLATED CLOCKS and
-- "gentle" = C16 ISOLATED CLOCKS.


Steps:

1.The front panel's vivid and gentle buttons have the function of enabling or turning off the clock output of the same name on the rear panel.

2.Each time the power is turned on for the first fifteen minutes, the double LED flashes to indicate warm-up. At the same time, all clock output ports on the rear panel have no output.

3.After 15 minutes of power on, the dual LEDs are always on and all outputs are automatically turned on.

4. During the fifteen-minute warm-up period, you can ignore the warm-up to achieve direct output by pressing the vivid or gentle button on the front panel.
 
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Sep 4, 2019 at 12:52 PM Post #1,319 of 1,706
Hi, I have had my 16 for a couple of weeks now and I have not tried the gentle outputs. I have not seen anything that explains the difference. Maybe sine vs. square wave, but that is just a guess. The stock cable is too short for my system so I purchased a different on eBay.
Can you please share your experience with the C16 hooked to the U16? Is the improvement easily noticeable? Does it justify the cost of the C16? I’m thinking about getting one but I don’t want to it “blindly”. Thanks in advance.
 

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