Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Certainly, the new chips from ESS do their job perfectly. At the same time, Gustard managed to present them properly prepared and at a really nice price for this level. It is difficult to name competitors in this price today. For example, the latest SMSL or Topping DACs don’t offer anything like X16: either a little cheaper and much worse, or much more expensive and almost the same in the best case. However, Gustard managed to find a middle ground and their own sound emphasis, and we really like it. Combined with my Hypex NC252MP / David Munyon HD Playlist it is really close to my Gustard X16 and just noticed a lower gain. Anyway : I willl test with my favorite HD Audio Playlist soon.
The trebles on the EM6L are really well extended. They are very airy and detailed. However, the detailed trebles come with their cons too. As such, the EM6L is a bit sibilant. It also doesn't compare to the Xenns Top, which has very well extended, extremely detailed, and quality trebles but presents them in a controlled and smooth manner. Hence, it is not fatiguing or overwhelming during long sessions. The Top also has better technicality and separations than the EM6L or the Khan by a huge margin (understandably as they belong in different price ratios). So the trebles sound better on the Xenns Top. The EM6L sometimes sounds fatiguing and piercing with treble-heavy songs.For excellent recordings in general, I like almost everything from Reference Recordings (Keith Johnson & Co). I can share a list of Tidal links if anybody is interested. No MQA, all RedBook If you expect a mellow, smooth and organic midrange, then I’m going to disappoint you. There is still some meat to the bone, some soul, few harmonics felt sweeter, there are natural decays and you can spot even warmth from time to time, but it isn’t putting an accent of the human pitch and on the emotional side of the music listening. It wants to be honest and true, without adding or subtracting anything from the mix. The good thing is that I never found its midrange section lifeless, boring or dry sounding, nothing like that. Midrange isn’t sugar coated and X16 will not beautify your music in any way. In my home system, most of my listening is done with my Magneplanar LRS quasi-ribbon loudspeakers, which can tend to sound, perhaps, a bit bright with certain material. My other go-to loudspeakers, the Zu Audio Omens, use compression drivers in what is essentially a treble horn arrangement, and they also tend to sound a bit bright. So, there’s that dynamic I must deal with in trying to make an objective decision on how oversampling might be affecting what I’m hearing through the Gustard X16. That tendency towards brightness of both of my loudspeaker choices might be impacting what I’m hearing with oversampling engaged in Roon when played through the X16. I might feel (or hear) differently if the oversampling was done by HQ Player rather than Roon, but I don’t currently have full access, so for now, it’s a moot point. I plan on doing more serious listening in the near future, and try to reach some sort of consensus on how I feel about using oversampling with Roon and the X16. Bluetooth 5.0 DAC: GUSTARD DAC-X16 is equipped with Bluetooth chip CSR8675, supports Bluetooth 5.0, supports LDAC, AAC, SBC, APTX multiple audio formats.
This DAC is using a dual 9038Q2M chips and fully balanced and also equipped with DIP8 OP amps and removable BT module. It is using the same chips as the Soncoz SGD1 ) The
Its treble performance felt right from the get go, it was clean, defined, very extended even past top octave. It never jumps ahead of that low-end and midrange, but it sometimes asks for more attention from the listener. I don’t find it rash or bright, or elevated, but sometimes it might appear as metallic or slightly fake sounding. Cymbals were really snappy; snare drum hits were quite impactful and the tambourines had the right amount of shimmering. It had everything I wanted from my treble, except for nasty brightness which I cannot stand for long. Overall, the frequency response of X16 felt complete, extended at both ends, without any rises or drops. Expect a straight line from the sub-bass to the top octave, with some extra topping on top. I’ll go directly to my personal favorite chapter. From tens of digital sources that I’ve tried, the ones that went the fastest were surely oversampling DACs with delta-sigma modulators and from this limited crowd, well-designed ESS-Sabre units were the most impressive devices not only when it came to speed, but also when it came to moving larger quantities of air, delivering a nicer low-end delivery, in simple words: a much better bass slam. I like my music extended from the bottom to the upper treble peaks and I’m less impressed when roll-off makes an appearance in my tunes. This is still one of the reasons Element X stood by my side for a long period, because I find it immaculate when it comes to bass performance and everything that has to do with it, like its speed and subsequently, impact.
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