Thank you for your advice. I just did a research on the Singxer SA-1 and now very much interested in it. Will do more research though.
Gustard H16
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chaotic_angel
500+ Head-Fier
got rid of A90 and ended up with H16 for me. LCD XC and AEON Flow Closed and other iem.
comzee
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Does the H16 have analog volume control, or is it digital volume control ?
Digital.
Volume control is a stepped resistor array, controlled by electronically switched relays. The signal path is all analogue.
comzee
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Well, who to believe.... do either of you have documentation links?
The Gustard H16 manual does not specify: https://download.shenzhenaudio.com/download/5fa3cd860ff24.pdf
Ok, I found info:
https://wxalbum-10001658.image.myqc...8c0e.jpg?imageView2/2/w/1100/q/75/format/webp
As Sphere 57 said, it is a resistor array using switched relays.
Maybe Poganin meant the same thing, but colloquially when somebody mentions "digital" volume control, they mean dithering, lowing bits, all in the digital domain.
That's what I wanted to know (and now I do).
Even tho the relays are "digitally" controlled in the H16, that does not mean it is "digital volume control" It's still analog volume control.
Anyhoo, thanks for the replies guys.
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Well, you learn something every day. Sorry for misleading you.
Is this amp worth looking at?
I think so. I've only had mine since January, but I'm very pleased with it. I think it's great value for money.
The are a few minor issues you should be aware of. The pre out does not switch off when you plug in headphones. With sensitive IEMs I find I'm restricted to the first few steps on the volume control. The 6.35mm and 4.4mm jack sockets are stiff, it feels like I have inserted the plugs but I have no sound or sound on one channel only, until I really jam them in hard.
On the plus side- The case feels 'hewn from solid', very impressive for the price. It has a linear power supply and a resistor ladder volume control, two features with a lot of audiophile cred, which swayed my choice. That volume control means that there is no sound quality impediment for listening at low volume levels, which is an issue with the volume pots on most of the other amps I have used.
The sound is basically neutral, but leans to the side of easy-going. I can use Beyerdynamic DT1990s (single ended), which are quite bright, with the Gustard no problem. It can also drive my Audeze LCD2s easily (balanced). With the Hi-Fi Man 400i and Tin Hi-Fi P1 (balanced), I feel that the H16 sounds better than any other amp I have used these with.
comzee
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I ordered mine a few weeks ago, but I guess China is on Covid lockdown, so hasn't shipped yet.
Once I get it in I'll post some impressions here.
I'm a tube amp fanatic, but I wanted to take a stab on this, because I recently got an x26 a few months ago, and I adore Gustards house tuning.
Makes me think I'll rly like H16, we'll see...
Once I get it in I'll post some impressions here.
I'm a tube amp fanatic, but I wanted to take a stab on this, because I recently got an x26 a few months ago, and I adore Gustards house tuning.
Makes me think I'll rly like H16, we'll see...
carlcamper
100+ Head-Fier
Been using mine with the Topping D10 Balanced DAC. Sounds great!
Anyone have third party measurements of this amp ? Amir's measurements lackluster. Somehow he got 400mw with 300ohm bal load. Manufacturer states that it reaches 1100mw.
I wonder if someone measured the power output from 16 ohm to 600 ohm
I wonder if someone measured the power output from 16 ohm to 600 ohm
Marlowe
500+ Head-Fier
I've noted several times (without any response) that I suspected that either the power output of the H16 as stated by Gustard is inflated or my unit is defective. I use the amp primarily for Blu-rays and streaming TV (in a stack with the Gustard X16; the DAC is set at max volume and fed from my TV's optical output) and I need to use high gain (with volume generally somewhere between 30 and 50) to get sufficient volume. On the rare occasions that I use it to listen to music with Tidal, volume is usually set at about 40 on high gain. This surprised me since I anticipated using the amp on medium gain. Given that none of my headphones are particularly hard to drive, and even admitting that I like it loud, I find it hard to believe that the H16 is putting out more than one watt at 300 ohms. (For TV and movies I most often use the the Sennheiser HD700 but also use the Focal Elex and ZMF Aeolus, the latter is 300 ohms, but not hard to drive; all headphones are driven from the balanced XLR output).
FWIW, I'm not a fan of Amir or his objectivist ASR slant, but IIRC, his review of the H16 was quite good, though he found it a bit underpowered compared to the competition at its price point, though generally sufficient.
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This is probably because, to the best of my knowledge, optical cables don't carry any information about volume. I don't have my PS4 connected to my Gustard stack right now to check, but I seem to remember that I need to turn up the volume on the H16 to 35 (low gain) or so to get reasonable volume in headphones on that particular connection. But as we've already established, I don't listen at very high volumes.
Marlowe
500+ Head-Fier
When I listen to Tidal, I feed the X16 through the USB input from either an iPad or a Samsung Tab S7 tablet (not only does the Android TV Tidal app sound decidedly worse to me, the UI is unimaginably bad). I still have to turn the volume to at least 40 (or more) on high gain for sufficient volume (almost always with the ZMF Aeolus). This still seems inconsistent with over a watt at 300 ohms, but maybe I'm wrong.
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