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Ayre A new dimension of musical enjoyment

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  #1  
Old 09-20-2015, 12:06 AM
RebelMan RebelMan is offline
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Default CODEX vs QB-9 DSD

Has anyone compared the CODEX to the QB9-DSD?
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  #2  
Old 11-02-2015, 01:57 AM
thesaint519 thesaint519 is offline
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Originally Posted by RebelMan View Post
Has anyone compared the CODEX to the QB9-DSD?
I'd love to get some feedback on the QB9-DSD too. Anyone?
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  #3  
Old 11-02-2015, 01:34 PM
warrior-kid warrior-kid is offline
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Here is my feedback on Ayre QB-9 DSD.

One of the most 'perfect' music reproduction environments I've witnessed was at Jadis in Hong Kong (Wilson Audio, Transparent, Ayre, Aesthetix). The very knowledgeable top engineer there, Allan Yee, said that the main principle in looking for perfection in this business is that music must sound true to life. I would even amend that to simply say that it must sound 'true'. A somewhat difficult to achieve ideal for me would be that the composer(s), equipment's choice and engineering, the musicians' performance, the recording, the delivery and reproduction system--all of those should combine in a way that 'sounds true'. I trust my ears to pick when a sound is not as it 'should be', does not carry the correct overtones, does not really sound right combined with another instrument, is distorted or shifted etc. Many things in this list can go wrong. Any component in the music system that is a limiting factor standing in the way of this ideal would be something I would try to avoid, replace or upgrade.

My current system is a modest Mac mini->Ayre QB-9 DSD->Ayre KX-R->Ayre MX-R->Monitor Audio Platinum PL300 with new Shunyata and some remaining Chord cabling. I buy music from Acoustic Sounds, HD Tracks, Qobuz or extract from CD's. I am finding myself listening more and more to orchestral music although I love many different genres from Progressive to latin Rock to some Jazz. I'll give you three examples: first movement from Sir John Rattle's Berlin Philharmonic recording of Schumann's 3rd, also Berlin but older von Karajan's 3rd movement of Dvorak's 9th and 4th and 5th movement of Mahler's 5th.

I can reliably say that on my system, I am very happy with all of these three recordings. What QB-9 DSD and most other Ayre components do is that they sound very true, very 'right', as intended (which also helps to reduce the listening fatigue). If it is an electric guitar, I can feel it in my guts that it sounds not only real but as close as it should be to become a balanced musical piece and QB-9 DSD is never in the way of that.

Having said that, I can hear a number of things that are not 'true to life' or not 'true' in themselves. Most of them are centred around violins and handling of very high notes. I've recently started to replace the power cables by the middle and top range Shunyatas and this is having a really deep impact on both top high notes and bottom lows.

Bottom line, Ayre QB-9 DSD is a very competent component, utterly reliable (as all Ayre's kit is) and just sounds right and true to life with any really good music, and does not make bad music any worse or better.

One last point, as I said in another part of the forum, I use Audirvana+ 2.2.4 on Mac and find it vastly superior to JRiver that I also own. A new iPad app for A+ is also a great way to browse and control playback, especially if you have a sizeable music collection.

Last edited by warrior-kid; 11-02-2015 at 01:40 PM.
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  #4  
Old 11-02-2015, 02:58 PM
thesaint519 thesaint519 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by warrior-kid View Post
Here is my feedback on Ayre QB-9 DSD. One of the most 'perfect' music reproduction environments I've witnessed was at Jadis in Hong Kong (Wilson Audio, Transparent, Ayre, Aesthetix). The very knowledgeable top engineer there, Allan Yee, said that the main principle in looking for perfection in this business is that music must sound true to life. I would even amend that to simply say that it must sound 'true'. A somewhat difficult to achieve ideal for me would be that the composer(s), equipment's choice and engineering, the musicians' performance, the recording, the delivery and reproduction system--all of those should combine in a way that 'sounds true'. I trust my ears to pick when a sound is not as it 'should be', does not carry the correct overtones, does not really sound right combined with another instrument, is distorted or shifted etc. Many things in this list can go wrong. Any component in the music system that is a limiting factor standing in the way of this ideal would be something I would try to avoid, replace or upgrade. My current system is a modest Mac mini->Ayre QB-9 DSD->Ayre KX-R->Ayre MX-R->Monitor Audio Platinum PL300 with new Shunyata and some remaining Chord cabling. I buy music from Acoustic Sounds, HD Tracks, Qobuz or extract from CD's. I am finding myself listening more and more to orchestral music although I love many different genres from Progressive to latin Rock to some Jazz. I'll give you three examples: first movement from Sir John Rattle's Berlin Philharmonic recording of Schumann's 3rd, also Berlin but older von Karajan's 3rd movement of Dvorak's 9th and 4th and 5th movement of Mahler's 5th. I can reliably say that on my system, I am very happy with all of these three recordings. What QB-9 DSD and most other Ayre components do is that they sound very true, very 'right', as intended (which also helps to reduce the listening fatigue). If it is an electric guitar, I can feel it in my guts that it sounds not only real but as close as it should be to become a balanced musical piece and QB-9 DSD is never in the way of that. Having said that, I can hear a number of things that are not 'true to life' or not 'true' in themselves. Most of them are centred around violins and handling of very high notes. I've recently started to replace the power cables by the middle and top range Shunyatas and this is having a really deep impact on both top high notes and bottom lows. Bottom line, Ayre QB-9 DSD is a very competent component, utterly reliable (as all Ayre's kit is) and just sounds right and true to life with any really good music, and does not make bad music any worse or better. One last point, as I said in another part of the forum, I use Audirvana+ 2.2.4 on Mac and find it vastly superior to JRiver that I also own. A new iPad app for A+ is also a great way to browse and control playback, especially if you have a sizeable music collection.
warrior-kid,

I so appreciate the comments. You've saved me from a month's worth of research. Ayre it is.
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  #5  
Old 11-21-2015, 02:15 PM
ctsooner ctsooner is offline
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I've now auditioned the Codex and am quite familiar with the QB9.
If anyone wants more, just PM me. Personally I feel the Codex is a better DAC as well as value IMHO. The Codex offers multiple inputs unlike the QB9. The headphone amp is outstanding. Many of us have started listening to headphones in addition to our main systems. Ayre products continually get better and better. The above poster is dead on IRT how the Ayre sound is. You can't go wrong with either DAC's, however the Codex has newer technology. I assume that Ayre will eventually drop the 9 as the Codex is filling this gap and that they will come out with a newer, higher end DAC fairly soon. I've heard rumblings, so I think it could be within the next 8 months and I hope so. The Codex presents the music that is resolving and emotional, especially for digital. It's pace and rhythm is outstanding and I've listened to it with all types of music, including orchestral. The strings were so natural that you could hear the bows or fingering. It gives you the dynamic attack as well as the roll off of notes in a way that many DAC's just don't. That is the digital filtering I think (I could be dead wrong here). The bass goes deep and true. I haven't done an AB with the two yet though. I love the sound staging with the Codex. It really stands out as a very natural sounding DAC that gives you what it on the source you are sending it.

My system is Ayre AX5/Twenty, Vandersteen Treo's, Empirical Audio OSDE/SE with the latest upgrades with the hand made silver USB cable (doesn't sound like silver), Empirical Synchro Mesh clocker for non USB input devices, Marantz Blue Ray player, Mac Mini completely rebuilt by Steven Nugent including SSD, Paul Haynes linear power supply with the top caps etc.. filled with show quality high res music, Basis TT with Benz Glider, top AQ cables, Synergistic Power cell 10 mk 2 with upgraded SR power cable, Gingko platforms, Music Hall 25.3 headphone amp/dac, Basis power cord upgrades on source components into the SR Power Cell.
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  #6  
Old 11-22-2015, 03:32 AM
Charles Hansen Charles Hansen is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by warrior-kid View Post
My current system is a modest Mac mini->Ayre QB-9 DSD->Ayre KX-R->Ayre MX-R->Monitor Audio Platinum PL300 with new Shunyata and some remaining Chord cabling.
Hi Warrior Kid,

Thanks for the lovely post and kind words. I am glad you are enjoying music n your system! If I may make some random suggestions:

1) You have some insane sounding electronics! When you have a fully-balanced, zero-feedback system from start to finish, some very special things will start to happen.

2) The Monitor Audio speakers are outstanding value for the money! You would have to spend a LOT more to get better sound (eg, the Vivid Giyas).

3) At this level of performance, the system setup up will literally determine half of the system's performance capability. All of the small details can add up to make HUGE gains in musical enjoyment. One low-cost thing that I have found to be essential are to use wood blocks under EVERYTHING but the loudspeakers. (My favorite cones under loudspeakers are stainless steel, such as the ones I designed for Avalon over 20 years ago.) Each component should have three wood blocks underneath (between the chassis and the rack) so that feet are floating in the air.

It is very important to get ALL of the cables up off the floor - interconnect, power, and speaker - especially if you have carpeting. Ayre makes notched wooden blocks so that the cables are not constantly sliding off. The Ayre wooden blocks are very good and not too expensive. If you want to try them before spending a lot of money, there is a kid's game called Jenga that comes with 50 wooden blocks. This is under $25 in the US, so it is very low cost indeed. They don't sound quite as good as the Ayre blocks, but you will get the idea.

3) If you upgrade your R series component to the Twenty version, you will be shocked at the improvement. (I was.) Start with the preamp and then do the power amps as time and budget allows. There are reviews of both on the SoundStage Ultra website that are very accurate.

4) I would leave alll of the cabling to the end. My personal favorites are the Ayre (made by Cardas to Ayre's sepecifications) and Cardas. Start with the Cardas Clear USB cable. It is very inexpensive for the performance level and will be an easy way to determine if you find this to be a good match for your system.

5) For the computer source I've had good results with Decibel, Audirvana, and BitPerfect. But the best of all is the new Melco server. It has 4 TB of internal storage, can access all devices on your network (NAS and computers with server software), and is controlled by a tablet or smart phone. It sounds better than ANY computer I've heard and the price is very reasonable. There are no driver or upgrade issues. It has a USB output to drive the DAC and supports all sample rates plus DSD. I am curreently using Bubble UPnP control software from my tablet and Linn Kinsky from my other computers on the network.

It sounds best when using wired network connections rather than Wi-Fi and that is also likely healthier for you. I am experimenting with a Nexus 7 tablet and the new $15 Google USB-to-Ethernet adapter/charger for their Chromecast and will have a specific recommendation ready for that within a week or so.

Hope this helps!
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  #7  
Old 11-22-2015, 03:36 AM
Charles Hansen Charles Hansen is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ctsooner View Post
My system is Ayre AX5/Twenty, Vandersteen Treo's, Empirical Audio OSDE/SE with the latest upgrades with the hand made silver USB cable (doesn't sound like silver), Empirical Synchro Mesh clocker for non USB input devices, Marantz Blue Ray player, Mac Mini completely rebuilt by Steven Nugent including SSD, Paul Haynes linear power supply with the top caps etc.. filled with show quality high res music, Basis TT with Benz Glider, top AQ cables, Synergistic Power cell 10 mk 2 with upgraded SR power cable, Gingko platforms, Music Hall 25.3 headphone amp/dac, Basis power cord upgrades on source components into the SR Power Cell.
Awesome! The AX-5 Twenty with the Treo's is a killer combo. I love the Benz Glider also.

Have fun!
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  #8  
Old 12-01-2015, 09:54 AM
warrior-kid warrior-kid is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Hansen View Post
Hi Warrior Kid,

Thanks for the lovely post and kind words. I am glad you are enjoying music n your system! If I may make some random suggestions:

...

Hope this helps!
Wow, hi Charles, that was a very pleasant surprise. Many thanks for all your comments and suggestions. I'll try to pick off a few simple ones first. I'll see about the MX-R Twenty upgrade a bit later :-)

God bless
Alex
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  #9  
Old 12-01-2015, 09:59 AM
warrior-kid warrior-kid is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thesaint519 View Post
warrior-kid,

I so appreciate the comments. You've saved me from a month's worth of research. Ayre it is.
You are very welcome, good luck with your hi-fi improvements.
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  #10  
Old 12-11-2015, 07:53 PM
Tomictime Tomictime is offline
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Love the VX-R twenty !
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