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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. X16 has a clean front panel with just a simple monochrome OLED screen in the middle and a nice volume wheel on the far right. If you want to use it in the DAC mode, select maximum volume of 0 dB and if you will be using it as a DAC and Preamp, you can choose the desired volume level via that remote control or via its volume wheel. In the middle of the volume wheel a button is located, a short press on it will select your desired digital input and a long press will engage its user menu, where additional setting can be found. Gustard is not forcing you to use the remote control in case you’ll want to change setting like digital filters, you can do that single-handedly, unlike Topping that is forcing to use its remote for advanced settings. 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. Treble is the standard ESS Sabre affair, without the usual glare and brightness associated with this chipset. It goes sky high, there are as many details as you please, it just breathes in the treble. You will not find nasty pre or post-ringing in the treble. Its timing its perfect and it never appeared as harsh or bright sounding to me. The interesting part is that X26 PRO was always connected to a Benchmark HPA4 that is straight as a line and doesn’t awake as many emotions, it can even transform several sources into bright ones, but that never happened, even for a micro-second with the Gustard unit. I’m glad to tell you that it pairs very well with lean and linear setups, you can easily use it bright setups too. It worked with warm sounding setups, I personally used several Class-A amplifiers and it worked great with all of them. Keep in mind that you can also alter its voicing a little bit, by the help of its digital filters and NOS modes. Bluetooth is easy to set up. Go into the menu, turn on the Bluetooth power and the computer or phone sees the DAC immediately. Select BT input with the remote and you are away. We often have issues with Bluetooth in the house but the Gustard performed flawlessly. Bluetooth streaming is what it is to my mind and I rarely use it – it worked fine! CONCLUSION
The fine gents of Aoshida Audio sent me the X18 and a its companion U18 digital-to-digital converter (or DDC for short) that has the same size and form factor. Obviously, it wasn’t made for X18 and X16 owners alone, as you can use it with any DAC you can think of. I cannot put a finger on anything that bothers me really with this unit, the soul of the music is here, it created emotions that only R2R units could easily unearth from my music, it has the soundstage of serious AKM designs, it has their flow, while retaining the best virtues of ESS-Sabre designs like detail retrieval, transparency, cleanness, speed and thunder like impact. Can I really complaint about anything wrong in this unit? I probably can’t. 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. If the scale of the music is important to you, being immersed in your music, having a very good placement of all the notes around you, then I just described one of the most impressive delta-sigma DACs I’ve tried of late. 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.The Gustard X16 arrives in a cardboard box. Unfortunately, the box was fiercely opened by the customs department, so I am not going to hurt your eyes and take this one for the team. Upon opening the top lid of the box, you see a protective compartment that holds the X16 and the accessories. The accessories are modest. You get a USB-A to USB-B cable, which seems to be of good quality, a remote, a Bluetooth antenna and a power cable along with the warranty card. Unfortunately, my sample’s manual was missing. However, it can easily be found on the web. Why : 1/ there is one dedicated ship for each canal that cannot be effect less on crosstalk. 2/ there is one embeded linear regulator, INSIDE each chip for the first time on ESS Sabre. A critical step on each Dac implementation is the chip supply quality. Here it cannot be better. However, on chilled jazz and the likes of the Café del Mar series of records, it’s a really good match with that Sunday morning come-down feel to it. I have to say that if I didn’t listen to so much fast-paced techno etc then this would have got a better score than it will get. The X16 is remarkably well constructed, and is a really robust piece of audio kit that offers an astonishingly good level of connectivity at its modest price point.
Among modern DACs of the middle and high class, a very common approach with analytical, extremely informative character of reproduction, which each manufacturer tries to solve within their budget and circuit elements. It is curious that Gustard, apparently relying on his rich experience in creating audio components for audiophile, does not pursue super-analyticity: there is no super-detail, hyperscale and monstrous image of the music scene, there is no attempt to show every detail in all its glory. But when listening X16, you literally immediately understand that the sound is balanced, harmonious, everything is in place and everything is enough: details, space and temperament of performance. But in any bundle that we tested with X16, along with the elegant musicality, you can feel the signature style of the gustard. Among the accessories, a remote, a USB cable, a power cable and an anthem, together with a guarantee card (with serial number). I nice touch.Another really superb recording that I reviewed in Copper Issue 144 is jazz pianist and vocalist Patricia Barber's latest release, Clique. I've ripped the DSD layer of the SACD disc, and I also have the 32-bit/352.8 kHz DXD files. I had the following to say about this excellent release then: " Clique is an exceptional recording; one of those rare events where all elements of the creative process combine to yield a record of perfect performances and technical brilliance. Clique is a truly outstanding listening experience." The DXD file is easily the finest-sounding digital music file on my entire music server, and it reached a new level of magnificence when played with the Gustard X16 in my big system. If you are looking for an instrument grade DAC, that is as detailed and transparent as the best converters I’ve tried, that is straight as a line in the frequency response, that will not beautify and sugar coat your music in any way, then X16 seems to be an excellent choice. 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.
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