[zima500]

Anyone with a Musician DAC notice that the vocals are more forward in Gustard mode?

Edit: nvm, had the pinout config wrong.

 

[mantraone]

Anyone with a Musician DAC notice that the vocals are more forward in Gustard mode?

I am preferring the Mode 3 sound as the instruments are more audible.

It's very strange, mode 3 is the LKS pinout correct?
I tested in mode 2=PsAudio and Mode 1=Gustard but sonic result for me the same. Which model? Pegasus? Make attention if changing mode the L and R are reversed.

 

[Matthew Willims]

Anyone with a Musician DAC notice that the vocals are more forward in Gustard mode?

I am preferring the Mode 3 sound as the instruments are more audible.

Pretty sure I’m using mode 2 hey. Sounds good to me. Running an Aquarius with mine.

 

[doitttt]

hiend fuse is only a waste to gustard u18
due to current regulator LT3045 when you are down to 0.8 uvrms
20 times smaller than audiophile power supply
where do you hear the difference
but in my dac, i will put highend fuses where one can hear the difference.

 

[JaMo]

hiend fuse is only a waste to gustard u18
due to current regulator LT3045 when you are down to 0.8 uvrms
20 times smaller than audiophile power supply
where do you hear the difference
but in my dac, i will put highend fuses where one can hear the difference.

I disagree. I get a "night/day" difference when switching fuses (standard-silverbased) in the U18. -What fuses have You tested with in the U18?

 

[Matthew Willims]

I disagree. I get a "night/day" difference when switching fuses (standard-silverbased) in the U18. -What fuses have You tested with in the U18?

Changed the fuse for an SR Purple this evening and got an immediate enormous overall improvement from the 630ma Gustard fuse I previously had in there. Blown away by the improvement actually and that’s without any burn in!

 

[Rantenti]

would users of Gustard's own fuses share how Gustard fuses compare with others like Aucharm, SIBA, ESKA, Hifi tuning?

My own comparison of Gustard's 3.15A fuse in the X26 Pro vs its original glass T2.5A fuse was that the Gustard fuse has a deeper soundstage, slightly better dynamics and attacks are less sharp. But it's hard to say if it is caused by the difference in their ratings.

Comparing the Gustard 3.15A with a cryoed Schurter 3.15A fuse finds that the Schurter has a more relaxed but rougher sound, and a more pronounced mid range.

Users of UK plugs need to consider two fuses in the chain, one in the plug, one in the Gustard, a real headache IMHO

 

[Matthew Willims]

The Aucharm silver fuses actually sounded thin and bright in mine and a bit 2D, likely because I’ve too much silver elsewhere in my system for it to work out. The Gustard fuse was warm and very solid sounding. A little too warm for me though is the second best of the 3 I’ve tried. The SR Purple on the other hand just has no weaknesses: full sounding and incredibly detailed and natural sounding at the same time. It’s neither warm nor bright. Gives a wide, open and liquid sound stage. I can’t think of another that comes remotely close. Basically like a window into the recording studio as clichéd as that may be….

The difference was more pronounced than in my Musician Aquarius DAC or Pass Aleph-M power amp though that may just be because it’s earlier in the signal path? Perhaps the difference wouldn’t be as great if I hadn’t already changed the fuses in those?

Makes me wonder if it’s worthwhile getting another for the fuse for the Linear Power Supply that powers my Tortuga LDR300x V3 Active pre. I’ve a silver & gold filament in mineral oil fuse there currently. Might have to get another at some point I guess.

 

[zima500]

Changed the fuse for an SR Purple this evening and got an immediate enormous overall improvement from the 630ma Gustard fuse I previously had in there. Blown away by the improvement actually and that’s without any burn in!

The specs for the SR purple are 630ma 5x20mm slo-blow for the U18?
I just ordered 2 SR purple fuses for the Aquarius, due to the 110v requirement. Will return if I cannot notice anything. Maybe the Gustard fuse is too warm in my setup. Sounds congested. Or could be lack of burn in.

And what are your exact settings for the U18 and Aquarius? Have the same DAC and find these pin configurations confusing.

 

[Matthew Willims]

The specs for the SR purple are 630ma 5x20mm slo-blow for the U18?
I just ordered 2 SR purple fuses for the Aquarius, due to the 110v requirement. Will return if I cannot notice anything. Maybe the Gustard fuse is too warm in my setup. Sounds congested. Or could be lack of burn in.

And what are your exact settings for the U18 and Aquarius? Have the same DAC and find these pin configurations confusing.

I’m using a 500ma SR Purple in the U18. The same value as the original fuse it came with. I initially liked the Gustard fuse but over a month or so found there was just something I didn’t like about it. It seemed to boost bass but diminish both treble and mids. Significantly less coherent than the Purple. The main thing that was annoying me was how the Gustard fuse seemed to diminish or recess the midrange. That was unforgivable for me.

I’m running setting 2 on the U18 and just cycled through settings on the Aquarius till it worked distortion free, and left/right channels not mixed up. The setting is different for different cables. I bought the custom AVPlay HD300 “Plan 2” pure silver I2S cable. It sounded appalling initially but improved significantly with use.

 

[zima500]

Original fuse is 500mA/250V and Gustard recommend their own silver fuse on 630mA/250V. You may choose 500mA/250V or 1A/250V. Both will do the job but 500mA/250 is the safest choice for the protection of the electronics.

I just placed an order for an SR 630ma fuse. Should I cancel and reorder at 500ma?

 

[Matthew Willims]

I just placed an order for an SR 630ma fuse. Should I cancel and reorder at 500ma?

Depends on whether you want it to blow if it needs to. Best to use original values where possible. Better for a fuse to die than the gear itself.

 

[Rantenti]

I have ground loop +/- EMI noises with my computer USB feeding the Gustard X26 pro. It happens when outputting via RCA but not audible via XLR. So I mainly use XLR without problems.

I am considering adding a Gustard U18 to seek further improvement but I'm a bit hesitant since I need to take the time and money to find a well-matching I2S cable by trial and error for the U18 to DAC.

I believe the U18 will only break ground loop issues but not EMI/ RFI picked up by RCA cables/ IEM cables in the subsequent audio chain?

 

[rettib2001]

I’m just about to order an avplay hdmi i2s cable which will go between the U18 and a Musician Pegasus.

I thought I knew which ‘Plan’ to choose but now I’m not sure, given the 7 phase options the Pegasus has and the the 4 modes of the U18.

The U18 is set to mode 4 which seems to correspond to the pin layout of the Pegasus.

For those of you using this cable with a Musician DAC which cable version did you buy? The seller suggested ‘plan 3’.

Cheers

 

[Matthew Willims]

Pretty sure they suggested plan 2 for the U18 and my Aquarius. Works well.