I have the Ayre QX-5 Twenty up for sale now @shkong78 . That says a lot. Ayre was my favorite DAC for over a year, and I have tried many DACs.
The MSB does something to the music that I have a hard time to explain. It has a kind of "liquid" presentation, so musical, that I enjoy a lot. Without losing any of the "sparkle". Ayre is very detailed and high resolution, quite a good body, and dynamic, but for me, MSB is more enjoyable, with no "digital character" of any kind, that does not fatigue you, and yet, it does not lose any of the presentation.
Truth be told, when you get to that level, it's all a matter of personal preferences. I am pretty sure I could have been happy with QX-5 ever after, but again, the upgrade itch hit me pretty hard when I listened to the MSB at the dealer. I hope this helps, and I am sorry I cannot explain this better. It's hard for me to put words on how I hear
The MSB does something to the music that I have a hard time to explain. It has a kind of "liquid" presentation, so musical, that I enjoy a lot. Without losing any of the "sparkle". Ayre is very detailed and high resolution, quite a good body, and dynamic, but for me, MSB is more enjoyable, with no "digital character" of any kind, that does not fatigue you, and yet, it does not lose any of the presentation.
Truth be told, when you get to that level, it's all a matter of personal preferences. I am pretty sure I could have been happy with QX-5 ever after, but again, the upgrade itch hit me pretty hard when I listened to the MSB at the dealer. I hope this helps, and I am sorry I cannot explain this better. It's hard for me to put words on how I hear