Yes, I forgot to put that in, sorry. I have a great digital/analog volume control on my current DAC,however I don't use it. I personally have done a fair amount of A/B with this route and have found that if you have a great preamp, the sound is much better. To me (and anyone else I was doing this with, it wasn't close). That's just use though. Maybe this will be a game changer on that.
Ayre now has a new QX-5 all in one
box with DAC/Streamer (Tidal etc), Roon ready. It has nearly any input and a great headphone amp too. It can also be used as a preamp, although I personally have yet to hear any digital pre sound as good as a great preamp, but that's me. It's all balanced and has the Ayre power supply filters that all the Ayre products have. I can't wait to hear it. I personally am running a great sounding Empirical Audio OSDE/SE with all the upgrades from Steve and I also have a Mac Mini server that Empirical totally rebuilt with a separate Hynes linear power supply. It's full of only hi rez, well recorded music of all genres. I love it, but the new servers do sound a bit better, so I've been looking. I didn't want to set up a NAS, but since I run a Linn DS system in the bedroom I'm open to it. I love the Melco NAS and may just get that for my NAS and the Ayre for everything else. I want a simple, one box solution and I do use IEM's and cans on Sunday and Sat mornings so having a great amp solution in my main rig is enticing too.
I rn an Ayre AX-5 Twenty with Vandersteen Treo's (going to sell so I can upgrade to the Quatro's) and Basis/Aesthetix's for vinyl. Pretty exciting times in digital. I'm sure that Ayre will be a great value for all that it offers and it should sound incredible. Time will tell.
I rn an Ayre AX-5 Twenty with Vandersteen Treo's (going to sell so I can upgrade to the Quatro's) and Basis/Aesthetix's for vinyl. Pretty exciting times in digital. I'm sure that Ayre will be a great value for all that it offers and it should sound incredible. Time will tell.
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The North American debut of the QX-5 will be at Audio Consultants (I work there) in Evanston Illinois ( Chicago area ) on Saturday June 18 from 11 to 5. Alex Brinkman of Ayre will be there to demonstrate the unit and answer questions. The QX-5 will make it's next appearance the following Saturday at Music Lovers in Berkeley California. |
Agreed that this is a post on Ayre but I wouldn't jump on the MQA bandwagon just yet. Here's what Schiit thinks about MQA. And this is what Paul McGowan experienced with MQA as well as Archimago's take on the matter. I'm not smart enough to fully absorb what these gentleman think about MQA but it sounds to me like another PONO being pushed on the public. All the best, Nonoise |
Pono sounds great, especially for the price. They just packaged it wrong. The interface is something out of the 90's and you can't just put it in a pocket. IF they put it in a slim box with a great screen and easy interface that can stream Tidal in addition to their own store, you'd then have a great portable. That said, it's just like other failed devices and concepts I believe. I still think MQA will have it's place. I've heard it and liked it, but I still don't believe it sounds better than my high rez stuff with my own DAC. |
I understand the interest in MQA. Meridian has a lot of money and can advertise and make more money. We want better software....and are always interested in better sound. What MQA promises is that new titles and old titles will come out and we purchase them or download them and use a player that has the MQA playback software and we will have better sound in those titles than ever before.....maybe so, maybe not. But what if you could make all your current titles and every streaming title sound way better than you ever heard it. Ever hear of HQPlayer? Ever heard what using its sophisticated software to upsample ALL your files to high speed DSD sounds like? I have seen nothing but rave posts about HQplayer DSD upsampling. They say it sounds better than any other player including the players in $20,000 servers. It costs a whopping $150. You load it on a powerful PC or MAC and feed the upsampled info into a DAC that can do high speed DSD. From what I have read....this looks way, way more interesting than MQA. Why wait for MQA titles and DACs when you can make every thing you play (including DSD) sound way better right now using something you can buy in the next 10 minutes!!!!!!!!??????!!!!!!!!! You do need a powerful computer as HQPlayer is a serious user of juice. But, it does not cost much to make such a beast. I have a link off my Gustard mod page (tweakaudio.com) that shows you how to make your own dedicated computer PC for audio using both HQplayer and Roon. The person that wrote the article is getting better sound using this computer system into a level one modded Gustard ($1300 with mod) at DSD256 than his $20,000 turntable with a $5000 cartridge. Folks, it looks like the revolution is already here. Does the Ayre have DSD256 or DSD512 capability? Hansen was a non supporter of DSD for quite a while but has started to change his tune lately. Check out computer audiophile for their post on the Berlin Hifi show. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/699-high-end-munich-2016-words/ They heard the $4000 T+A DAC playing 512 upsampled via HQplayer and were quite taken....read the follow up comments. Mr. Lampizator was there and told someone "I could live with this sound".....and this was through a digital switching amp based on Ncore 500 modules ($4000 the pair). |
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