[doitttt]

I ask an engineer at a technical college
if you a gold-plated fuse
can give between 1-5% better sound
if you want to improve something, the ac socket should be gold-plated to the transformer
and fuse holder
in gustard u18
so achieve up to 10% better sound
due to the electrical resistance in gold
a gustard fuse 630ma will be good choice
gustard u18 sounds really good default

 

[kopczas]

if you a gold-plated fuse
can give between 1-5% better sound

So which fuses would you suggest? starting from reasonably prices. Gustard is entry level, but is there something more to consider available on the market?

 

[DAPpower]

So which fuses would you suggest? starting from reasonably prices. Gustard is entry level, but is there something more to consider available on the market?

Gustard fuses are probably the best value for performance under $200 to be honest.

 

[Rantenti]

Does the U18 get warm after being turned on for a while?

 

[CFGamescape]

Does the U18 get warm after being turned on for a while?

Not really. I keep mine on 24/7.

 

[DAPpower]

Does the U18 get warm after being turned on for a while?

U18 doesn't ever get warm in my experience, unlike my X26 Pro which is like an oven.

 

[Metal-Fi]

My U18 starts getting a bit warm after one hour or so. Nothing to worry about, by the way. My V281/V850 get quite hot in comparison.

 

[Rantenti]

Gustard fuses are probably the best value for performance under $200 to be honest.

I've tried a few fuses for my X26 Pro and my streamer's LPS. I've now settled for SR Purple for the source and SR Master for the X26 Pro. Comparatively, the Gustard fuse has some treble glare, but the price difference is huge so that comparison is impractical. SR Purple has that smoothness where detail is not compromised. Its thickness of tone is balanced with the addition of a SR Master fuse. The SR Master fuse adds a lot more clarity but it's treble is anything but harsh.

 

[DAPpower]

The SR Master fuse is ridiculously priced. If it was $299 I would still understand but $595 is out of this world.

If money is no object than go to town with it! I have briefly heard a local friend's R26 with the Master Fuse and I was definitely impressed.

 

[doitttt]

https://www.analogueseduction.net/fuses/amr-audiophile-gold-hi-fi-fuse-20mm-x-5mm.html
amr-audiophile-gold-hi-fi-fuse are very good, maybe the best
Approval: UL SA PSE CE CCC it is very important test
SR Purple are not Approval: Ul

 

[kopczas]

I have one more question for any kind of DDC users:
main reason to use something like U18 is isolation of USB input (or PC or whatever device USB out).
How this compares to coaxial output of device X to DAC , which both use galvanic isolation by default?
How different is USB output via DDC to Coax straight to the DAC? (with decent coax cable)
Soundwise, USB is easy winner in terms of bandwidth obviously.

 

[CFGamescape]

I ran into an interesting (to me) issue that I'm not experienced enough to know why.

Here is my scenario:

1. For music, I use Qobuz in Wasabi (Exclusive Mode).
2. My PC sound setting is at 24 bit, 48kHz.
3. Just yesterday, I hooked up the LHY OCK-2 to the U18 using the squarewave output on the OCK-2.
4. My U18 is set to external clock mode.
5. From my U18, I use the I2S output into my R26. The cable is a Supra HDMI. Prior to this, I used an HDMI cable I bought from Amazon.
6. On the U18, I left the function mode to "Gustard." Music played fine, but didn't really sound better (or worse).
7. I have a Burson amp in which I've been op amp rolling. As a result, I've been running into an issue where one or two of my op amps weren't seated correctly using op amp extenders, so no sound came through. I remedied this by putting my op amps into a configuration that didn't encounter this issue.
8. As I was testing tracks with this "safe" op amp configuration, the first track on my playlist played fine (sound came through). That track is rated as 24 bit, 96kHz in Qobuz. I skipped to the next track that is at a different bit/sample rate, and no sound came through. Clearly, this wasn't an op amp issue.
9. I looked at my U18's screen, and it showed 88.2kHz. The R26 displays the same.
10. I changed modes to Mode 2, and sound came through and sounded GREAT. It still displayed 88.2kHz, though. Sound did not play on Mode 3, but did on Mode 4.
11. After playing around, it seems that sound NOT coming through on "Gustard" mode and Mode 3 are track dependent. Some tracks play in all modes, and some don't play in those two modes.

Questions:

• Why do some tracks play in all modes and some don't play in the two abovementioned modes?
• Why does the U18 display 88.2kHz when none of the tracks in Qobuz show this?
• Could this have anything to do with me using a different HDMI cable (see #5 above)?
• Could I have run into this issue of no sound coming through before I got the LHY OCK-2? In other words, was my op amp issue not an issue, but it was me having the wrong mode selected on the U18?

For now, I'm sticking with Mode 2 since it seems to work with all tracks and sounds great.

Thanks!

EDIT: Per my post below, I power cycled the U18 and the issue seems to have resolved itself.

 

[DAPpower]

I ran into an interesting (to me) issue that I'm not experienced enough to know why.

Here is my scenario:

1. For music, I use Qobuz in Wasabi (Exclusive Mode).
2. My PC sound setting is at 24 bit, 48kHz.
3. Just yesterday, I hooked up the LHY OCK-2 to the U18 using the squarewave output on the OCK-2.
4. My U18 is set to external clock mode.
5. From my U18, I use the I2S output into my R26. The cable is a Supra HDMI. Prior to this, I used an HDMI cable I bought from Amazon.
6. On the U18, I left the function mode to "Gustard." Music played fine, but didn't really sound better (or worse).
7. I have a Burson amp in which I've been op amp rolling. As a result, I've been running into an issue where one or two of my op amps weren't seated correctly using op amp extenders, so no sound came through. I remedied this by putting my op amps into a configuration that didn't encounter this issue.
8. As I was testing tracks with this "safe" op amp configuration, the first track on my playlist played fine (sound came through). That track is rated as 24 bit, 96kHz in Qobuz. I skipped to the next track that is at a different bit/sample rate, and no sound came through. Clearly, this wasn't an op amp issue.
9. I looked at my U18's screen, and it showed 88.2kHz. The R26 displays the same.
10. I changed modes to Mode 2, and sound came through and sounded GREAT. It still displayed 88.2kHz, though. Sound did not play on Mode 3, but did on Mode 4.
11. After playing around, it seems that sound NOT coming through on "Gustard" mode and Mode 3 are track dependent. Some tracks play in all modes, and some don't play in those two modes.

Questions:

• Why do some tracks play in all modes and some don't play in the two abovementioned modes?
• Why does the U18 display 88.2kHz when none of the tracks in Qobuz show this?
• Could this have anything to do with me using a different HDMI cable (see #5 above)?
• Could I have run into this issue of no sound coming through before I got the LHY OCK-2? In other words, was my op amp issue not an issue, but it was me having the wrong mode selected on the U18?

For now, I'm sticking with Mode 2 since it seems to work with all tracks and sounds great.

Thanks!

If Gustard mode doesn't work then I would immediately start blaming the I2S/HDMI cable, maybe you should get a different HDMI cable to test this.

Op amps shouldn't affect the pin out of the I2S connection.

Dumb advice but also make sure you have the op amps correctly installed in the right positions in your Burson amp.

 

[CFGamescape]

If Gustard mode doesn't work then I would immediately start blaming the I2S/HDMI cable, maybe you should get a different HDMI cable to test this.

Op amps shouldn't affect the pin out of the I2S connection.

Dumb advice but also make sure you have the op amps correctly installed in the right positions in your Burson amp.

Thanks, I did try the previous HDMI cables I used and they both exhibit the same behavior.

Yes, I did make sure the op amps were correctly installed with the notches matching up.

 

[CFGamescape]

I power cycled the U18 and the issue seems to have gone away. Sound comes from all modes and they all sound the same (equally good). The sample rate also displays what is for the track in Quboz. Weird.