[DBB1]

Thanks to all those who responded and helped to convince me. I put in an order today. Will report back on my impressions on how it compares to the x12 in a month or so.

 

[GioF71]

 
I am not really in a position to comment since I have only ever used Windows. However, given the speed of todays processors and memory, advances made in the various OS, the quality of the USB interface, and the maturity of the ASIO and WASAPI drivers then I don't think the underlying OS will have much of an influence on the sound. My lounge system has a dedicated Windows 10 music player and rarely skips a beat.  I find upsampling Foobar to DSD128 provides the most satisfying sound experience.
 
I also use Windows 10 on my Office system (which is also the Music server) with optional ASUS DS7.1 sound card and Schiit Loki DAC. I have loaded the ASIO4ALL driver to support Kernel Streaming to the sound card and the Schiit ASIO DSD64 driver for the Loki. I much prefer the Loki output compared to the sound card. When I first tested the X20u I did not notice much improvement over the Loki which I put down to the quality of the preamp and speakers. I don't use headphones. Also, I do a lot more processing on my office system (i5 2500k clocked to 4.2GHz and running web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, ripping) and rarely does it interfere with the music normally playing in the background.
 
My lounge system with the dedicated notebook music processor (JRiver benchmark score of 2200), X20u DAC, AVM PA5.2 pre amp, AVM MA3.2 power amp and magneplanar 1.7 speakers, is much more exciting than my office system, provides a stable well defined image,  and justifies the investment in the X20u. I have made minimal changes to Windows and have not gone down the path of deleting redundant services. The CPU load (i7 620m) rarely exceeds 10%. I did not notice any changes moving from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. And I prefer Foobar to JRiver - I feel I have more control using Foobar and I like the tablet client interface. Also I don't have to pay an annual JRiver licensing fee.

 
First I'd like to note I am not promoting any commercial product. The software solution I proposed is very common and almost entirely based on free / open source software (with the exception of one type of controller for android).
 
The quality of USB interface is not generally improving alongside with the performances of the host pc. That's the reason for the very existence of accessories that act as (expensive) USB hub and supposedly improve the quality of the signal and power. You might think it's 'snake oil' and I would understand it as I was thinking the same, but I have a clear evidence (which I won't publicly post here to avoid damaging a well-known and appreciated brand) of at least a case of an issue caused by the USB interface of ALL the PC I own, that has been solved by one mentioned USB accessory.
 
Though, this does not have to necessarily be relevant in your case. Your PC might have the best and more stable USB interfaces. Good for you if it's the case, but for sure this is not the rule.
 
As for audio quality, it's not only a matter of not interfering with the audio playback.
My PC is a few years old and a roughly in the same league (based on intel i5 2500), and I still hear a difference against my dedicated solution. No objective results, so I am not doing absolute claims. It's all a matter of impressions.
I do not own the expensive equipment able to measure differences of my setups; in fact even if I had such money to spend for audio, I would buy some new gear, and not measurement tools
 
Cheers

 

[gulakpi]

  Thanks to all those who responded and helped to convince me. I put in an order today. Will report back on my impressions on how it compares to the x12 in a month or so.

Looking forward to your impression on this DAC!
My X20U has just arrived.  I found it so much better than my previous XMOS-1794 DAC, which won't take DSD streams.
The X20U has more details and tighter bass, which is what I'm looking for.  I will report again after it is burned in, in a few weeks!

 

[mocenigo]

  Looking forward to your impression on this DAC!
My X20U has just arrived.  I found it so much better than my previous XMOS-1794 DAC, which won't take DSD streams.
The X20U has more details and tighter bass, which is what I'm looking for.  I will report again after it is burned in, in a few weeks!

Where did you purchase it? 
 
 Roberto

 

[gyalporinpochi]

Good afternoon , my friends recently bought the device from Gustard x20, I am very happy , sound good . But I have two questions that I care about , I have not worked on and off button on the remote control , tell you , too, right? And another question screen after a few minutes becomes less bright , not whether it should be switched off completely ?

 

[gulakpi]

 
Where did you purchase it? 
 
 Roberto

From Shenzhen Audio

 

[gulakpi]

  Good afternoon , my friends recently bought the device from Gustard x20, I am very happy , sound good . But I have two questions that I care about , I have not worked on and off button on the remote control , tell you , too, right? And another question screen after a few minutes becomes less bright , not whether it should be switched off completely ?

Sorry! I do not understand your first question!
Yes!  The Display will dim automatically after a minute or so. There are 5 levels of brightness which you can select, but you are not supposed to switch off the display completely. The brightness level covers a wide range, and Level 1 is in fact, rather dim!

 

[gyalporinpochi]

power button on my remote dont work, your power button works?

 

[SimonBromley]

Hey there Triplefun.
 
That's a pretty revealing system you got there. Thanks for the insight.
 
Anyay, I've taken the plunge and ordered an X20u from Kidult via Amazon.co.uk.
Price was £579.00 and includes UK tax and free delivery. Which seems a very 
reasonable amount for what's being offered. Plus, I had the security of doing 
this through Amazon and all that entails. If I'd had to negotiate unknown ( to me )
foreign websites and pay high potential import/customs/admin fees etc ( as I have 
done in the past ), I don't think I'd have ended up going for it.
 
However, it's now on it's way ...
 
Will give some feedback in a couple of weeks, once I've got it and let it burn in.
 
Thanks
 
Simon

 

[MINORISUKE]

  .....
 
Anyay, I've taken the plunge and ordered an X20u from Kidult via Amazon.co.uk.
Price was £579.00 and includes UK tax and free delivery. Which seems a very 
reasonable amount for what's being offered. Plus, I had the security of doing 
this through Amazon and all that entails. If I'd had to negotiate unknown ( to me )
foreign websites and pay high potential import/customs/admin fees etc ( as I have 
done in the past ), I don't think I'd have ended up going for it.
.....
 

I checked amazon.co.uk, and do not think your X20U comes from their UK warehouse.  They only say "FREE UK delivery" but do not mention "VAT included".
Please post when you have received the item.
GBP 579 is the same as USD 870, which is the list price of stores shipping from China.  Including the UK tax, the amazon.co.uk price cannot be lower than that of China.
I ordered mine from a store in China and the German import duty must be paid.  This store now offering sale price (USD 60 less), I believe it is definitely cheaper.
 
Amazon.co.uk says:
Estimated delivery 18 - 28 Jan. to the UK - Mainland

 

[SimonBromley]

Hi there
 
Just re-checked on Amazon.co.uk, and it clearly states under the heading.
 
Kidult_Online Tax Information ( linked to the X20 page )
 
That:-

'Prices are displayed inclusive of any applicable VAT.'
 
So, I presume the item is initially delivered into Kidults UK depot, probably as part
of one of their regular shipments. Processed, then dispatched to me from there.
 
We shall see ... I'll email them to confirm the situation, but I can't see them being 
able to state that on Amazon if it weren't true. 
 
Thanks
 
Simon

 

[SimonBromley]

Just out of interest.
 
I took a look at the cost of a few other items I was interested in.
Re: UK vs Chinese pricing, and the UK seems to fair very reasonably indeed.
 
At www.simplyelectronics.net, a well known large UK based electrical supplier.
The following prices are very good indeed (all include VAT) and free delivery.
 
L.K.S Audio MH-DA003 ES9018 USB DAC  £799.95        
Yulong Sabre DA8 II (Silver) 32Bit/384kHz DSD DAC  £619.95
Yulong D200 (Silver) 32Bit/384kHz DSD DAC  £309.95
SMSL M8 (Silver) 24Bit/384KHz DSD DAC XMOS USB Asynchronous Decoder  £128.95
 
So perhaps the price on the X20u isn't so far fetched.
 
Maybe the UK is the place to buy these items at the moment ?
 
I'll post up my experience with Kidult, once I know more.
 
Thanks
 
Simon

 

[NTTY]

  Here's a little more on the subject that I posted in the H10 thread when talking about these two filters on the Gustard X12 ----
 
 
I think you are referring to the two switchable filters that you can access from the front panel buttons.  The two filters are designated "Sharp" and "Slow." These are built into the ES9018 chip and everyone seems to think that the ESS boys did a good job with them.

Stereophile tested these and produced these graphs. The one on the left is the "Slow" filter and you can see that high frequency response is slightly rolled off as compared to the "Sharp" filter on the right.  The Sharp, or "brick wall" filter does have more "pre-ringing" than does the Slow and some people think this pre-ringing sounds somewhat unnatural.  The slow filter has much less pre-ringing at the price of letting a more aliased signal image through and theoretically increasing harmonic distortion.  In my experience, the difference between these filters on the X12 is pretty subtle and very music dependent to really identify the differences. Generally speaking, I find the Sharp filter to set the stage a little further back, provides a slightly more dynamic and tighter bass and a more airy, extended treble.  The Slow filter warms things up a bit, giving what some would call a "darker" sound. It loses some of the top end air and detail in favor of a slightly more relaxed, forgiving sound.  
 
By the way, for those of you asking about the smoothness of the X12 and how well it eschews the apparently ubiquitous Sabre glare, I can tell you that I do most of my listening with the Sharp filter with no problems whatsoever with glare or harshness.  I'm a soundstage/imaging freak, so I want the lowest possible noise floor to let the ambient cues rise above the surface (think draining lake analogy again) and the best possible high frequency extension and resolution.   I'm getting this with the X12 on Sharp and I'm very satisfied.  So much so, that I already sent the Aune S16 packing. Yep, it's on its way to France to another head-fier.  I also have the Rega Apollo R with the Wolfson 8742.  So many have commented about Wolfson dacs sounding more relaxed and musical than sabre dacs, that I of course had to do a lot of A-B listening between the two. I concluded that the X12 outperforms the Apollo R's dac in almost every parameter.  In fact, when I run the X12 with the Slow filter, they are surprisingly close in overall sound signature with the X12 having a little more dynamic punch and still revealing a little more low level information.  
 
FlySweep, I couldn't be happier with the HE-560's (thanks for the encouragement) and I would thoroughly enjoy your take on the X12.  If you are interested in an affordable Sabre dac that sounds very sweet, like a Wolfson with  a little more air and detail, I think this is the one.

Hello Stuart,
 
I just ordered the X20 and thank you for this thread.
Looking at the ES9018 datasheet, I see it mentions: "for added flexibility, two digital filter settings are possible: sharp roll-off and a slow roll-off for PCM mode. For DSD mode, there are 4 available filters with cutoffs at 47kHz, 50kHz, 60kHz, and 70kHz".
So does it mean that the interface shows 4 different settings when the X20 is playing a DSD signal instead of PCM?
Thank you

 

[JulioCat2]

  Hello Stuart,
 
So does it mean that the interface shows 4 different settings when the X20 is playing a DSD signal instead of PCM?
 

 
 
Yes !!!!

 

[stuartmc]

   
 
Yes !!!!

Ditto.....lol.