GUSTARD DAC-X18 User manual

Gustard
DAC-X18
High Performance Audio DAC
User’s Manual

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Features
 Based on ES9038Pro, the Ultimate IC from ESS
 USB interface using XU216— the latest 16 cores processor from XMOS, support native DSD
and 32bit PCM
 Two crystals with jitter in fs level from ACCUSILICON
 Large scale DSP system based on CPLD from ALTERA @Intel
 MQA decoding & rendering support on USB/Coaxial/AES/Optical inputs
 HD OLED (white light), concise UI, full function remote
 Specific toroidal transformer for audio, independent regulators, ultra-low noise LDO in key
parts
 Analog circuit based on nine high performance DUAL Op-Amp—OPA1612
(one for RCA output)
 0.1% precision resistors in key circuits

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About MQA
MQA is an award-winning British technology that delivers the sound of
the original master recording. The master MQA file is fully authenticated and
is small enough to stream or download.
When the screen shows ‘MQA’ or ‘MQA . ’it indicates that the
product is decoding and playing an MQA stream or file, and denotes provenance
to ensure that the sound is identical to that of the source material.
‘MQA . ’ indicates that not only is it playing an MQA Studio file,
but the file has also either been approved in the studio by the artist/producer
or has been verified by the copyright owner.
‘OFS’ or ‘OrF’ confirms that the product is receiving an MQA stream
or file.
This delivers the final unfold of the MQA file and displays the original sample
rate.
MQA is a registered trade mark of MQA Limited © 2018

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Table of Contents
Front Panel···························································4
Back Panel····························································4
Display & Menu························································5
IR Remote·····························································7
Driver Installation···················································8
DSD hardware decoding on foobar2000··································11
DSD playback issues··················································16
Specifications·······················································20
Warranty Service·····················································21

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Front Panel
1. The Standby button is to switch between standby and working.
2. The screen shows current input type, stream format, sampling rate and volume.
3. Encoder can adjust the digital attenuator or change the values in menu.
4. Menu button can select the input channel in main page or options in menu by click,
enter/exit menu by long-press.
Back Panel

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Display
1. DAC-X18 uses a high-resolution OLED screen to display the working situation and
functions. The following figure is main page of the display.
2. Input
DAC-X18 has 6 types of input. In main page. Click the menu button can select the
input port by the order of COAX——AES——OPT——USB——IIS——BT
3. Volume
On the main page, the encoder can adjust the digital attenuator by rotating
clockwise to increase the volume and counterclockwise to decrease the volume. There
are 90 steps of digital volume from -90dB to 0dB.
4. Menu
Long-press the menu button can switch between main page and menu page. On the menu
page, click the menu button to choose the option and turn the encoder to change
the value.

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5. Setting Options
a. PCM FILTER:
There 7 types of PCM filters for DAC-X18, by clockwise order are: L-SLOW——L-
FAST——M-SLOW——M-FAST——APO-FAST——H-FAST——BRICK.
L-SLOW & L-FAST are linear-phase filters, which provides the most accurate sound.
M-SLOW & M-FAST are minimum-phase filters, with no pre-ringing but long post-
ringing, can simulate the lingering sound from true instruments.
H-FAST is hybrid, fast roll-off, minimum phase filter, which has short pre-ringing
and long post-ringing
APO is apodizing, fast roll-off, linear phase filter.
BRICK is brickwall filter
*DAC-X18’s default filter is L-FAST.
b. DSD Filter:
There 4 DSD cutoff frequency for DAC-X18, by clockwise order are: 47K——50K——
60K——70K, choose the levels by sampling rate.
(eg. 47k for DSD64)
c. NOS MODE：
Turn on to bypassing the internal interpolating FIR filter, sourcing data directly
into the IIR filter. This function requires data oversampled by 8x externally or
high-spec data.
d. BT POWER：
The power control for Bluetooth. SELECTED means the Bluetooth can only be noticed
in this input chosen. ALWAYS means the Bluetooth can always be noticed.
*Bluetooth name is GUSTARD BT.
e. PHASE INVERT：
DISABLE: RCA non-inverted phase
XLR 1-Ground 2-Hot 3-Cold
ENABLE : RCA inverted phase
XLR 1-Ground 2-Cold 3-Hot
f. DISPLAY：
ALWAYS : Screen will be always on.
AUTO OFF : Auto sleep after 10s.
*Any operation or display change will alarm the screen.
g. BRIGHTNESS：
Eight levels for adjustment.

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IR Remote
*DAC-X18 use the new model of remote, enter DAC mode by long-press the DAC key 3s.
① Standby：Switch between standby and working.
② Menu：Enter menu.
③ Pad with 4 direction keys：On menu page, use up/down to choose the option, left/right
to change the value, central key to save and exit.
④ Back：Back to the main page.
⑤ Vol-：On menu page, decrease the volume.
⑥ Vol+：On menu page, increase the volume.
Note：●Care about the distance and angle ● The remote may not work with obstacle in front ●Please take the
battery out if you will not use the remote for over one month ●If the battery leaked, please fully clean the
battery case and change new batteries ●The remote may not work correctly with other deviecs.

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Driver Installation on Windows
*The included CD contains Gustard’s USB driver.
*The driver supports Windows 7 with SP1, Windows 8 and Windows 10 or Higher
*The MAC OS integrates a driver, no need to install a driver
1. For tower PC usage, better to use the original USB 2.0 port on the back panel of
the tower. The port on front panel will introduce more loss and bugs.
2. Turn X18 on after connecting it to PC, a new hardware will be found. If not,
please try another port or turn U18 off on again.
3. Open the disk, double-click Gustard_UsbAudio_v4.82.0_2020-04-17_setup.exe
（or newer version）
When UAC alarming, click yes.

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4. Then keep clicking next or install.
5. When showing: Setup requires that the device is..., please reboot U18 or reconnect
the USB cable.

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6. Complete. Click Finish.

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DSD hardware decoding on foobar2000
● foobar2000 configuration
1. Open foobar2000_DSD_0.7.X, double-click ASIOProxyInstall-0.7.2.exe, then keep
clicking next or install to finish.
2. Run foobar2000, click File—>Preferences.

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3. Click ‘Components’ on left bar, then click ‘Install’ on bottom-right corner.
Select two files under foobar2000_DSD_0.7.X folder, and click ‘Open’.

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Two new components will appear in the list, click ‘Apply’.
Click yes in the message box, foobar2000 will relaunch.
4. Click File—>Preferences.

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5. Click ‘Playback’—> ‘Output’—> ‘ASIO’, then double-click ‘foo_dsd_asio’.
6. In the new window of ‘foo_dsd_asio’, select ‘Gustard USB Audio’ in ASIO Driver
Select ‘ASIO Native’ in DSD Playback Method, other options should be same as the
figure. Click X to exit.

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7. Click ‘Output’ on left bar, then select ‘ASIO:foo_dsd_asio’ under ‘Device’
8. Click ‘Tools’—> ‘SACD’, then select ‘DSD’ under ‘Output Mode’.
Click ‘OK’ to complete.

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DSD playback issues
● foobar2000
1. Q: Why there is no ‘ASIO’ option under ‘Playback’-> ‘Output’?
A: Because the ASIO components is not installed. Drag the ‘foo_out_asio.fb2k-
component’ under ‘foobar2000_DSD’into foobar2000’s ‘components’page. Then
click apply and yes to relaunch foobar2000. You can use ASIO now.

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2. Q: Why there is no ‘SACD’ option under ‘Tools’?
A: Because the SACD components is not installed. Drag the ‘foo_out_sacd.fb2k-
component’ under ‘foobar2000_DSD’into foobar2000’s ‘components’page. Then
click apply and yes to relaunch foobar2000. You can use SACD now.

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3. Q: Finished all settings, I got such a bug when playing DSD file.
A: It is caused by version conflicts of ASIOProxy and SACD component. They should
all be 0.7.x. If you are using an old version of foobar2000 whose SACD component is
0.6.x. The ASIOProxyInstall-0.7.2 will cause the conflicts.

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There are two solutions. The first is to upgrade the SACD component[following Q&A2].
But some versions of foobar2000’s components is locked, it would work to reinstall
the official version. If you do not want to reinstall your foobar2000, you can choose
the old version of ASIOProxy like ASIOProxyInstall-0.6.5.exe.