GustardX-12usedGustard X-12 ES9018 USB DACGustard has garnered a reputation among head-fi'ers as a company that has produced many good performance headphone products at excellent prices. I purchased this DAC about a year and half ago base...299.00

Gustard X-12 ES9018 USB DAC

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Condition
9/10
Payment methods
Ships fromCerritos, CA, 90703
Ships toUnited States
Package dimensionsunspecified
Shipping carrierUPS
Shipping cost$15.00
AverageResearch Pricing


Gustard
has garnered a reputation among head-fi'ers as a company that has
produced many good performance headphone products at excellent
prices. I purchased this DAC about a year and half ago based on its
reputation. Prior to this purchase, I owned two cheaper DACs based on
the ESS 9016 and 9018 chips and they both exhibited high frequency
glare. However, this DAC seems to have largely tamed the glare issue.
It plays most of my music smoothly and I was very happy with it as my
go to DAC for over a year. But recently, I was offered a used
Berkeley Alpha DAC in good condition at an excellent price and I
jumped for it. Compared to the Alpha DAC, which had a retail price 10
times that of the X-12, it was not shamed at all. Although in
comparison, the Alpha DAC has smoother highs and better spatial
resolution, the difference in sound quality is really quite small.
This confirms the excellent price performance ratio of this DAC.


Unlike
the Alpha DAC, the X-12 is very future proof. It has basically every
input that one would ever need – usb, coax, optical, AES, and I2S.
It supports inputs up to 384KHz and 32bits, as well as DSD64 and
DSD128. Support for 192/24 is universal on all inputs, but there are
some restrictions at the highest resolutions. For output, it provides
both balanced and unbalanced outputs which are active at the same
time. It also supports the excellent digital volume control feature
of the ESS9018 chip. So it can drive an amplifier directly without
the need for a preamp. Unfortunately, there is no remote control.


This
DAC supports asynchronous USB. On a MAC, no driver is needed. But on
Windows, it requires a driver. The driver can be downloaded from
Gustard's store front on taobao.com. Cosmetically, it is in excellent
condition except for a minor scratch on the bottom of the unit (see
picture), which is only visible when you turn the unit over.


I
have a 100% rating on ebay (peterye116). You can buy with confidence.





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