The future of the QB-9?
 

My dealer told me the QB-9 may no longer receive chip upgrades in the future given the introduction of the QX-5 Twenty. Have any of you heard anything one way or the other?

That's one way to get you to move to the QX-5.

Meh.

It seems like they are focusing on the 5 series and then the ref series. The 7 isn't getting upgrades that I know of, so I would doubt the 9 would either. The Codex is as good as the 9 in a few ways and not quite in others, but it's so much less and hits a different audience. That said, the Codex gives you all of those inputs and a balanced headphone amp that is very good.

I"ll ask Alex to see if he's willing to share anything on Saturday at the QX5 event at Audio Connections in NJ.

Yes, please do and report back when you can. I love the QB-9 and would like to use it for the foreseeable future. It's already a terrific DAC, but this area of audio technology is continuing to evolve fast.

Yes, ti's evolving so quickly. Just amazing as to how quickly. I'm hoping that by using the newest ESS chip that not even fully available, that the QX5 can last for more than a couple of years, lol....I'm sure their Ref DAC that will come will beat it, but not sure by how much. they do such a great job with digital.

The QB-9DSD is officially retired, it has been moved to the Ayre archives. Upgrades are not likely to be offered anymore.

The 9-series as a whole as well as the 7-series have been archived...

I'm really hoping for a all new 7 series including a DAC that sits between the QX-5 and the Codex, and a integrated but think Ayre will instead expand the Codex range.

One way or the other I guess Ayre will present new components at RMAF.

Keeping my fingers crossed...

They are working on a ton of new gear and making their new products the best they can be. It's a growth company right now. The product life cycles are around 7 years or so. The nice thing for us all is that they offer us the upgrades during the life cycle allowing us to enjoy current Ayre sound for years and years. I really respect that.

I'm not arguing with that, ctsooner. Looking forward to whatever is next.

Marc

I'll look forward to the next chapter of Ayre DAC technology.