Gustard DAC-X16 MQA MQA DAC ES9068AS DSD512 768kHz Full Balanced Bluetooth 5.0 Desktop Audio Decoder I2S/AES/Coax/Opt Input (Black)

This DAC is what's up. Quite spectactular specs. I had previously had bad luck with the SMSL M400 and the Topping X30 and settled on the more expensive Gustard X16 after reading the glowing review by Audio Science. This DAC has two ESS ES9068AS chips which has built-in hardware decoding of MQA bitstream. I think the internet spies followed my buy as a day later I got an offer for a couple of months of Tidal HiFi with MQA implementation.I tried a few songs from Tidal and my Gustard display showed MQA in big letters.But the best part is the sound. My previous experience is with the above DACs ( all less than $300 ) and an Oppo H2, plus my Marantz reciever DACs.The Gustard has now spoiled me. The sound is very natural and detailed. The Topping and SMSL were detailed but there was a hard edge that was not pleasing for long listens.Overall---a keeper.

Well built with a wonderful pure sound while being dead silent otherwise. Lives up to the reviews and I would not hesitate to recommend this DAC to anyone, plus its priced right. Product support is top notch, shipped fast and packed extremely well. If I had one suggestion, similar to some of the other reviewers, it would be to increase/improve the display and make it more readable from afar. If you have the X16 close to you, then its not an issue, but if your stack is far away its tough to see what's on the display. The remote works very well and the manual volume wheel has a nice physical feedback for accuracy. Runs cool, Bluetooth works very well, no issues to date with DSD format playback.

but overall material quality is just average. But at this mid price point, I was not surprised. Most importantly however the audio quality is very neutral and accurate, and that is what counts ultimately. And yeah, the remote volume control is very handy and again, its build quality is average.I got this partly for MQA and now that I've heard it, I am not convinced of its hype.

Its literally world class performance. Installed the driver and right away picked up and matched DSD PCM and MQA sampling rate of the source material from my win 10 laptop and played them flawlessly. This smoked my $2500 focal arche head amp and doesn't have all the playback issues. Im using foobar2000 as my player. Keep in mind you need to add ASIO and SACD foobar components for ISO, DSD playback. Love this little thing. Read the Audio Science Review on this to buy with confidence. Its at the top of the chart for performance and SINAD. Cheers.

Running qobuz on my laptop, connected via USB to the Gustard x16 and right out of the box connected it to my receiver via BJC RCA cables. I could not believe how different music sounds. Wow!! Will be buying another of these units plus a Gustard H16 for my desktop as soon as I can afford it.

These small scale (small size) DACs with modest power supplies do not have the scale, bass and dynamics to be used on full scale audio systems, whether they are used with a separate preamplifier or without, it makes no difference. The source, decoding and all the tech nothwistanding, output stage and power supply are limiting factors. Other than that, this is a very resolving DAC with a lot of features good for small scale systems (headphones) but it doesn't replace a real DAC with a robust power supply and proper output stage. Looks like their x26pro is a step toward that. All these fantastic specs are with small signal levels (like the dynamic range). You aren't going to get close to the stated dynamic range, in room. Maybe with flea-weight headphones.

This product tested excellent on the bench, second only to a DAC several time it's price. I highly recommend the X16. I use it with a AAA789 HP Amp and Senn 800S.

Unassuming price, giant performance: it offers a listening experience comparable to the $ 13,400 Mola Mola Tambaqui, and better independently measured specs. Fit'n finish is impeccable, save for a small OLED display. Easy user interface. What is not to like about the X16?