[mocenigo]

   
Thanks! Those boards look interesting but I use two embedded (SOC) types, which I like.  PPA card too.

 
Trouble with 'computer audio' is that there are so many variables affecting the sound, it's difficult to know what's causing what
 
In any case, the X20 seems to appreciate a good level of transport (be it CD, PC etc) and amplification.

 

Have you tried with a laptop running out of the battery?

 

[BrainFood]

  Have you tried with a laptop running out of the battery?

 
Thanks! The issue is fully resolved. 
 
Really starting to enjoy this DAC now 

.  One good thing is there's no pressing need to buy a usb converter, as the internal version of the U12 seems pretty good to me.

 

[Wynnytsky]

  "Ok somebody hid a turntable in my room - and a darn good one. But where is it?"
 
 Roberto

 
This is my first DSD DAC and that was exactly my reaction.  The treble peaks that so easily offend in PCM are simply not there (buckets of headroom).  With PCM I'm always dressing up the source with the right combination of accoutrements (cables, filters, psus) to tame those pitchy notes.  For brighter amps+speakers you'll need more (or darker) accoutrements for the dial in.
 
The real punch in my stomach was when I heard MP3 converted to DSF.  The improvement was undeniable and implication terrifying.  If I'm going to batch convert my entire library to DSD then I need a plan:
 
1) Is there playback software or a DAC (like PSAudio's DirectStream) that can encode DSD in real time and match what I'm hearing from the DSFs created in JRiver?
 
2) If convert I must, then I better be damn sure I'm using the best software for the job (I read SoX is better than JRiver)
 
3) perhaps the upsample should be a function of the source (ex: DSD64 for 16bit, DSD128 for 24/48, DSD256 for 24/96+)
 
4) Should I store it side by side with the original media, or does it get it's own drive? Should I move all my DSD stuff to it's own drive (ISOs included)?  I'll need a folder naming strategy to disclose the original format.  ex:
Abc - [2015] Xyz.FLAC24192
becomes
Abc - [2015] Xyz.FLAC24192_DSD256

 

[SimonBromley]

  Four weeks in and *finally* getting some good sound out of the damn thing. That's after changing over to dual PC's linked together with fibre optic cards, cables and a switch (the latter arrived yesterday).
 
Evidently my single PC wasn't cutting it previously because there was a warm colouration and a cloudy forwardness that didn't sound particularly linear. It's now dramatically more open and clear. 
 
The X20 is a fine tool for telling you all about the rest of your system downstream. The bad news is that it needs to in order because the DAC will tell you all about it 

 

Interesting stuff ...
 
I was thinking about building a little dedicated audio PC round an 
ASRock N3150T Quad Core USB 3 Mini ITX Motherboard. Mainly because 
it's easy to power from an external linear power source. Then adding 
a PPA (or similar) usb card to it as well.
 
Now I'm wondering if the Intel N3150 1.6 Ghz chip may not pack enough 
horsepower to run everything 100% smoothly ? It manages 1584 on PassMark.
What SoC's are you running ?
 
On my i7 system cpu use rarely gets above single figures when running foobar.
Which is why I thought something like a N3150 based PC would be fine, despite
being 4 or 5 times less powerful.
 
However, it does seem strange that you got such an alteration in the character of 
the sound. I'd have thought you'd get clipping and stuttering rather than an 
actual change in the quality of sound if there were processing issues.
 
Then again computers often seem to have a random and very frustrating mind 
of their own at times, as I'm sure we've all experienced on various occasions !! 
 
Anyway, I'm glad you're finally beginning to enjoy your X20
 
Cheers
 
Simon

 

[SimonBromley]

Foobar2000 up-samples MP3 and WAV etc to DSD on the fly.
 
I spent some time up-sampling everything to DSD 256, and it definitely 
smooths out the sound.
 
However, when A/B'ing vocals between the up-sampled DSD and the original
PCM copies, I did notice a distinct change in tone and emphasis. 
 
On some tracks I prefered the DSD version, but on many others I actually 
much prefered the original PCM version, and so no longer have upsampling to
DSD set as my default.
 
It's great having the option, and definitely suits some tracks and musical 
styles, but to 'my' ears is no panacea.
 
This only relates to my experience with upsampling to DSD. Not DSD originated
material.
 
Cheers
 
Simon

 

[wwmhf]

 
Foobar2000 up-samples MP3 and WAV etc to DSD on the fly.
 
I spent some time up-sampling everything to DSD 256, and it definitely 
smooths out the sound.
 
However, when A/B'ing vocals between the up-sampled DSD and the original
PCM copies, I did notice a distinct change in tone and emphasis. 
 
On some tracks I prefered the DSD version, but on many others I actually 
much prefered the original PCM version, and so no longer have upsampling to
DSD set as my default.
 
It's great having the option, and definitely suits some tracks and musical 
styles, but to 'my' ears is no panacea.
 
This only relates to my experience with upsampling to DSD. Not DSD originated
material.
 
Cheers
 
Simon

 
What you described is one of reasons for a group of people against up-sampling. 

 

[BrainFood]

 
I was thinking about building a little dedicated audio PC round an 
ASRock N3150T Quad Core USB 3 Mini ITX Motherboard. Mainly because 
it's easy to power from an external linear power source. Then adding 
a PPA (or similar) usb card to it as well.

 
 
Hi. For a single PC, the N3150 will probably be powerful enough, as long as your chosen software isn't too demanding on system resources. I run a Q1900 and N3150M with JPLAY/ Minimserver/ Kazoo, typically only using around 1% or 2% CPU while playing music. I would definitely recommend W10 if using windows. Feel free to PM me if you need any help or tips, although I only have recent experience of the above software (and foobar) 
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/embedded-style-motherboard-good-bad-idea-27562/
 
 
Quote:

However, it does seem strange that you got such an alteration in the character of 
the sound. I'd have thought you'd get clipping and stuttering rather than an 
actual change in the quality of sound if there were processing issues.

 
I agree, especially considering the same single pc was then used as the audio pc in my dual set up. My take on it is that the X20 is really accentuating the benefits of dual pc streaming, fibre optic ethernet (for galvanic isolation), plus the optical switch (with its clock). Still doesn't fully explain why the audio pc (when used as a single pc) provided such a coloured and pushy sound through the same active monitors.
 
I think this DAC is very revealing regardless of source.  There was a noticeable SQ difference when housing the same motherboard in two different cases the other day 

  
 

Then again computers often seem to have a random and very frustrating mind 
of their own at times, as I'm sure we've all experienced on various occasions !! 

 
It's a weird trip, let's face it 

 

 

[Wynnytsky]

  fibre optic ethernet (for galvanic isolation), plus the optical switch (with its clock).

I like the sound of this.  Devialet was citing isolation as one of the advantages of going wireless but I prefer the lower latency and higher bandwidth of your hard wired solution.
 
So I tried to research this own my own, starting with newegg where I saw reviews going back to 2004.  I was embarrassed to discover MOCA devices 6 years after they came out, but this is even worse.  Can you share links to what you use?
 
This one Trendnet listing let's me compare the newer+smaller+costlier LC/LC connection (100/1000 SFP) vs the older+cheaper SC/SC connection (550M)
http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Intelligent-1000Base-T-1000Base-SX-TFC-1000MSC/dp/B00008NV11
Looks like $160 to wire up LC/LC and $116 to do SC/SC

 

[BrainFood]

I recommend:
2 x TP Link 220L Fibre Media Converters
2 x second-hand Cisco SFP's (GLC-LH-SM  30-1299-01)
1 x LC to LC, OS1 9/125 singlemode duplex fibre cable
 
The best resource and place to ask questions is the thread on CA:
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/optical-network-configurations-24641/
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/network-isolation-4265/

 

[Wynnytsky]

ugh, so much to learn
 
why you single-mode over multimode
why use 9/125 over 62.5/125
why use the TP-Link converter with a used Cisco transceiver instead of the $35 TP-Link under amazon's "Frequently Bought Together"
how long before iFi sees this thread and build's an all-in-one device that look's like their iPurifier with female RJ45 ports on each end
 
join me on my trip to computeraudiophile.com where I'll uncover all these answers and more...

 

[Fabio Lovato]

Hi guys, sorry for my bad English.
I am happy owner of Gustard X20, this DAC for me has extraordinary price performance ratio but compare with Aqua La Scala Mk II, obviously La Scala It is much better on all parameters.
 
 
However, this is not the reason why write this post.
 
Yesterday tested the I2S input with Raspberry PI 2 and ODROID C1 plus... nothing works.
 
I tried:
 
- www.runeaudio.com
- www.moodeaudio.org
 
Tried ODROID C1 plus HDMI on board and I2S Kit Audio GD and Raspberry only I2S Kit Audio GD accordance to pin instructions.
 
Everything works well with PS Audio - Raspberry - www.moodeaudio.org  (here a photo: http://www.hifilibre.it/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=527&hilit=mac+mini&start=30 )
 
Anyone of you did play Gustard X20 I2S input ?
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[MINORISUKE]

  .....
Yesterday tested the I2S input with Raspberry PI 2 and ODROID C1 plus... nothing works.
.....

See my previous post below.  The output of Agudio-gd board must be the same as that of U12, which I do not think so.
MCLK should not be connected.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/736294/gustard-u12-usb-interface-8-core-xmos-chip/3105#post_12206039

 

[Wynnytsky]

  Anyone of you did play Gustard X20 I2S input ?

 
Hydra-Z likes the X20's HDMI port

 

[mocenigo]

  Hi guys, sorry for my bad English.
I am happy owner of Gustard X20, this DAC for me has extraordinary price performance ratio but compare with Aqua La Scala Mk II, obviously La Scala It is much better on all parameters.

 
Ciao! 
 
... and ... I think what you are saying should be expected. Several people here have directly compared the X20(U) - mind you, a ~800 EUR component - to DACs costing 3-4 times as much, and in many cases preferred the Gustard.  But If I do not err the Aqua La Scala Mk II costs nearly 5 thousands EUR, and it is known to be an excellent DAC (John H. Darko considers it the best DAC he auditioned, and the list of DACs he reviewed is quite impressive).  That is sounds better is not necessarily expected - nothing is obvious in the world of audio - but I am not surprised.
 
Do you own it? In that case I should pay you a visit next time I come to Italy
 
 Roberto

 

[Fabio Lovato]

   
 
Do you own it? In that case I should pay you a visit next time I come to Italy
 
 Roberto

 
Ciao Roberto,
 
 
 
I would be grateful if you sign up to our forum www.hifilibre.it it's difficult for me write in English.
 
If you want to listen La Scala, Meitner DA-1, Merging Hapi no problem.
 
PS: Thank's Head-Fi forum hospitality.