[cucumber]

interesting stack!
Tell me which purchase you prefer:
1. Gustard A20H (combo)
2. Gustard H16 + X16
3. Yulong Daart Aquila II

I listen mainly to instrumental music, a bit of classical rock. Headphones - Meze 99 Classic
If you take X16 + H16, I don't like the power button on the back (in my case, it's hard to hit with my hand), as well as the need to buy interconnect cables.

 

[dpump]

This was asked earlier-any experience with iems on low gain with noise and level control? Anyone had or know of any reliability issues with the H16? I want an amp to use with iems on the 4.4 pentacon as well as XLR balanced and 6.35 single ended. I like the volume control with the relays and also having a separate single ended amp and a separate balanced amp. Almost seems to good to be true!

 

[Dionietzscheus]

Okay, I am planning to pull the trigger on the X16/H16 stack. I think this is a value for money combo over the Topping D90/A90. I am mostly into iems, but I suspect/hope my single DD driver iems - FD5 & Zen - is gonna love the extra powah this stack promises to provide, and dynamics if not anything else will improve significantly. Oooh! The somewhat conventional view is that I don't need this much power to drive iems only, kinda overkill, but who cares? This hobby is all about (pleasant) surprises and discoveries, after all. Will be getting the 99 Classics & Sundara later.

 

[cucumber]

Okay, I am planning to pull the trigger on the X16/H16 stack. I think this is a value for money combo over the Topping D90/A90. I am mostly into iems, but I suspect/hope my single DD driver iems - FD5 & Zen - is gonna love the extra powah this stack promises to provide, and dynamics if not anything else will improve significantly. Oooh! The somewhat conventional view is that I don't need this much power to drive iems only, kinda overkill, but who cares? This hobby is all about (pleasant) surprises and discoveries, after all. Will be getting the 99 Classics & Sundara later.

Hey! Why did you choose this stack? Maybe Yulong Daart Aquila II or Gustard A 20H? Already selected interconnect cables for this stack? Are you planning a separate power supply?
Be sure to talk about the sound when everyone arrives! I also have a Meze 99 Classic, and I also want H16 + X16

 

[Archerious]

I ordered a H16 from Amazon but thinking of cancelling it. Seems Apos stopped selling it citing issues with reliability and high return rate. Makes me concerned. Don’t want something that’ll just break down a few months after purchase. SH-9 is cheaper and seems nearly identical. Also has a remote control which I need. If I didn’t need a remote control I’d just go A90 or SA-1.

 

[Archerious]

Well my H16 arrived early (thanks Amazon Prime ).

It's actually pretty good. It's brighter than my Beyerdynamic A20, sounds more different from the Magni Heresy than I expected. It's more analytical for sure. The remote control is extremely useful.

Lots of power, rarely going past 17 out of 100 for my HD650. It has fun synergy with the HD650 imo since it makes the HD650 sound less veiled, less dark, more alive.

Only thing I don't like about it is the brightness is a bit much with the HD599 SE and DT880, making them slightly fatiguing to me.

If UPS finds my lost ZMF cans then I cannot wait to test them with the H16.

All in all I don't regret buying this amp but I am not sure if I'll keep it.

EDIT: It's grown on me, I am hearing more detail with it for sure than my A20. Measurements must not tell the whole story as I hear more than my Magni Heresy. HD650 really sing with this amp.

 

[Dionietzscheus]

Well my H16 arrived early (thanks Amazon Prime ).

It's actually pretty good. It's brighter than my Beyerdynamic A20, sounds more different from the Magni Heresy than I expected. It's more analytical for sure. The remote control is extremely useful.

Lots of power, rarely going past 17 out of 100 for my HD650. It has fun synergy with the HD650 imo since it makes the HD650 sound less veiled, less dark, more alive.

Only thing I don't like about it is the brightness is a bit much with the HD599 SE and DT880, making them slightly fatiguing to me.

If UPS finds my lost ZMF cans then I cannot wait to test them with the H16.

All in all I don't regret buying this amp but I am not sure if I'll keep it.



EDIT: It's grown on me, I am hearing more detail with it for sure than my A20. Measurements must not tell the whole story as I hear more than my Magni Heresy. HD650 really sing with this amp.

Can you try out a couple of iems if you have and say how they sound on the H16 on 4.4 balanced mode? I was wondering how well single DD iems like FD5 or Zen would sound on the amp? I don't have any hps. TIA.

 

[Archerious]

Can you try out a couple of iems if you have and say how they sound on the H16 on 4.4 balanced mode? I was wondering how well single DD iems like FD5 or Zen would sound on the amp? I don't have any hps. TIA.

I will need to purchase an adapter for 4.4 mode, but to be honest the only wired IEM I currently own is the Moondrop Aria.

When I tried them out on the IEMagni it didn't really sound much different than my iPhone Lightning to 3.5mm dongle, thus I don't think they scale as much.

I can try them out anyway though in 4.4 mode. Will report back once I have.

So far from testing in 3.5mm bal with the default gain setting mine shipped with (medium according to ASR) I hear some hiss. I have volume at 1/100 because its quite loud already. I can maybe stretch to 3/100 but it's quite sensitive, suspect we'd have to flip the H16 to the back to adjust gain to low. Pretty sure ASR wrote that the H16 pretty audible hiss/hum for IEMs as well. Link here.

It sounds like a slightly quieter version of this constantly on top of my music, still remains when music is paused too, also it's somewhat channel imbalanced on my Aria's, I hear mostly the left channel.

Definitely would need to set gain to low, but it would be annoying to have to raise it back to medium (the default gain it shipped with) for my planar cans.

Don't think I'd recommend this amp for IEMs, if you don't need a remote control the A90 has the advantage here with it's gain controls on the front of the device.

 

[dpump]

Gain control on the H16 can be done with the remote control, as can all the settings such as display brightness, input, and volume. I tried my FiiO FD5 on 4.4 and I heard no hiss on low or medium gain. It sounds like your gain and hiss problems are being caused by having a noisy source with too high an output. Try a regular DAC as a source if possible.

 

[Archerious]

Gain control on the H16 can be done with the remote control, as can all the settings such as display brightness, input, and volume. I tried my FiiO FD5 on 4.4 and I heard no hiss on low or medium gain. It sounds like your gain and hiss problems are being caused by having a noisy source with too high an output. Try a regular DAC as a source if possible.

I used my Gumby I can try using my Yggy as well but even if I disconnect the source I’m hearing the hiss on medium default gain with the Aria’s.

Hmm, that being said the remote finally worked for the menu key and now I see gain options. It didn’t do anything but I kept trying since you pointed me in the right direction. Most reviewers only mentioned the gain adjustment from the bottom of the amp.

 

[dpump]

You have to hold the Amp button down on the remote for 3 seconds for the remote to work with the amp. There aren't any gain adjustments on the bottom of the amp. You might be thinking about the Singxer SA1 amp, which has the gain adjustment on the bottom.

If you're only using your computer as a source with USB to your DAC, try disconnecting the computer and use coax or optical to your DAC. Or try an rca or balanced connection from a cd or dvd player. I typically run rca from a dvd player so I can play the stereo track of my SACDs.

 

[Archerious]

You have to hold the Amp button down on the remote for 3 seconds for the remote to work with the amp. There aren't any gain adjustments on the bottom of the amp. You might be thinking about the Singxer SA1 amp, which has the gain adjustment on the bottom.

If you're only using your computer as a source with USB to your DAC, try disconnecting the computer and use coax or optical to your DAC. Or try an rca or balanced connection from a cd or dvd player. I typically run rca from a dvd player so I can play the stereo track of my SACDs.

Yeah the issue with the IEMs is happening with the default medium gain with all input types.

I tried using them with IEMagni before I returned it with the sam source and it had no issues.

Perhaps my H16 has some kind of issue or my Aria's are too sensitive.

Not sure, I will have to do more testing.

Considering amazon shipped my H16 in a cardboard box with no padding or peanuts etc, it's entirely possible it was damaged internally in transit.

 

[Taz777]

I'm looking to get a bump up in sound quality from my current Arcam rHead. Is anyone driving Audeze planars with the Gustard H16? If so, how is the sound quality? I currently have a Gustard A18 DAC feeding my Arcam rHead over balanced XLR, so this would fit in quite well in terms of an upgrade.

 

[Archerious]

I'm looking to get a bump up in sound quality from my current Arcam rHead. Is anyone driving Audeze planars with the Gustard H16? If so, how is the sound quality? I currently have a Gustard A18 DAC feeding my Arcam rHead over balanced XLR, so this would fit in quite well in terms of an upgrade.

It’s a neutral detailed amp with a hair of warmth IMO. I think it would pair great with planar magnetic cans.

The H16 goes so well with my Eikon I basically decided against returning it and getting a SA-1. I’m satisfied.

 

[Taz777]

It’s a neutral detailed amp with a hair of warmth IMO. I think it would pair great with planar magnetic cans.

The H16 goes so well with my Eikon I basically decided against returning it and getting a SA-1. I’m satisfied.

That sounds good!

I'm curious about the 4.4mm balanced headphone output socket. Is this a Pentaconn TRRRS 4.4mm output? The websites selling it mention TRS which cannot be true! The reason I ask is that I've got a 4.4mm Pentaconn cable on the way for using my LCD-X headphones with my DAP and it would save me buying another cable if the H16 has a 4.4mm Pentaconn.