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In Reply to: RE: a lot of talk about Gustard X20 DAC PRO ES9028, but... posted by paco on December 29, 2016 at 01:34:37
Most of that "talk" has come from me. I don't find the ESS DACs to be inherently anything but how you use them. Not saying other DAC chips don't sound "warmer" or whatever. However, I have been modding Oppos with the ESS DACs and now the Gustard and Gustard Pro and I can make them sound any way I like. They are very sensitive to everything you do.....and very revealing. So, if your clocking, output stages, power supplies, etc. are not super than that is what you will get. The Crystek "femto clock" everyone uses is a $28 part anyone can buy at Digikey or Mouser.....it is not a super duper clock.....please read posts #37 and 59 here to read what people think of the Pulsar clock compared to the Crystek:http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendors-bazaar/258789-pulsar-clock-ultra-low-noise-ocxo-4.html
I am now just ordering the $400 Pulsar clock for my Pro and cannot wait to hear the result!
Do you think that bipolar op amps with tons of feedback will sound that great? No super high end DAC that I know of uses op amps (yes, I am sure someone will find an exception or two).....I still hear the op amp sound on my Pro and will be fixing it soon with either the output trannies or another possible solution.
The stock Pro is good....nothing special. However, with just level one mods it makes me cry. I can hear so much information that I can tell what brand of strings someone is using.....that is musical....it moves me. It is not warm or musical in the tube sense. It is magic in the real sense......but not stock....but not stock. Stock, it is boring, a-harmonic, compressed and closed in sounding.
I cannot wait to hear this thing with the Pulsar clock and better output stage....omg...omg...Omg...OMg.....OMG....OMG!!!!!!!
By the way, I am listening with coax input from my modded Oppo 103D. I have the usb board removed for better sound. CDs sound like 24/96 used to sound. I have not heard it with its usb board. I don't have a usb source.
Edits: 12/29/16Follow Ups:
very interesting post indeed... yet you should understand that you'd need an independent,
unbiased reviewer -better a professional one- of those Gustard DAC mods;
in that way your work could be much more appreciated by your potential customers...
https://www.amazon.com/GUSTARD-DAC-X20-384KHz-Decoder-USB/product-reviews/B015R112XA
Those reviews/comments are all about how a "stock" Gustard sounds versus things. A modded one sounds way better than a stock one. And now we have the much better sounding 9028 version that also has the "apodizing" filter option. The apodizing filter is the type that Meridian and Ayre like......me like too! The old Gustard does not have this option.I am not sure the person that did not like the old Gustard in the reviews mentioned above had a good working sample. I have never seen a Gustard or anything that did not remember what settings it had when you turn it off and on.
Happy New Year! and Happy Birthday (new years eve) to me!
Edits: 12/31/16 12/31/16
you're not hearing enough DETAIL!
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