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Pono and the Ayre Codex

Hi everyone, a recent review over at Audio Science Review made me put a few things together.


The review from 4/11/2019 is here:


https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-ayre-codex-dac-amp.7282/

Couple of things I have to wonder about. First, what’s interesting to me is how close the distortion and output impedance measurements are to the Pono, measured by Stereophile here:


https://www.stereophile.com/content/pono-ponoplayer-portable-music-player-measurements

The ASR reviewer (amirm) unfortunately measured the Codex before listening to it. I say unfortunately because honestly to my ears the Pono was one of the best headphone amps / DACs I’ve ever heard. In particular, I’ve never heard my Shure E4s sound as good as they did with the Pono, so the Codex has always been kind of interesting to me, now that the Pono is gone. I never ended up buying a Pono for user interface and size issues, but I have always kind of wistfully remembered it. Instead I’ve gone with Fiio.


It is impossible to tell if Amirm would have come to the same conclusions about the quality of sound if he/she had listened first.

As it turns out I’ve kept my desktop setup cheap and used a Topping which is quite nice.. but I wonder now and then if my memory of the Pono was wrong, or whether Ayre would ever make another portable amp, like say a module for the Fiio portable.


Sorry, this is a bit of a ramble, especially since I’ve not heard the Codex, and my time with the Pono was years ago.


For those of you who have heard either or both, what are your thoughts??
erik_squires
beetlemania
834 posts
 
How close do you feel they are in sound quality??
I’ve only heard the Pono with headphones and my short demo of a Codex was with speakers.
But, if you like the SQ of the Pono it seems you would like the Codex at least as much. Supposed to be similar topology but with better power supply and parts quality. Ayre is not a company that will charge you more for the same or worse SQ as you move up the product line.

https://www.hifiplus.com/articles/ayre-codex-dacheadphone-amplifier/

https://darko.audio/2015/01/ayre-acoustics-build-on-ponoplayer-with-codex-1-dacamp-at-ces-2015/

https://www.audiostream.com/content/ayre-acoustics-codex-usb-dac-headphone-amp-digital-preamp

Also, Jim Smith has credible ears, IMO
https://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/15/152594.html
yage
400 posts
 
I think when I first listened to the Codex with a pair of HD 600's in balanced mode can be counted as a highlight. I certainly felt that the Pono didn't give up much ground vs. the Codex in overall enjoyment, though it's much more portable.
drew_k's avatar
drew_k
34 posts
 
I have an original "CSNY" edition Kickstarter Pono player.  I love the thing, and could never understand what all the haters were hearing (or not hearing, as it were).  It was something like $400 for a portable DAP engineered by Charlie Hanson at Ayre Acoustics for chrissake.  And people were bashing it against the A&Ks and Chinese competitors of the world.

I started off with using it with Beyer 990 Pros (great sounding combo) and a set of P5s for travel, and I loved it.  Later I added a pair of Massdrop 6XXs and a balanced cable and it was like...holy crap...more of everything.  More power, more bass, more detail, better everything.  For something like $650 all in, there is no better personal setup.

I've heard the Codex a handful of times at Audioconnection in Verona, NJ, and the digital always sounds great there.  I only recently learned that the Codex uses the same digital section of the Pono, and combine it with a great headphone amplifier and power supply.  Makes sense based on what I heard.
chesebert
67 posts
 
ASR is usable only as a general guideline. You will be in trouble if you blindly follow ASR's advice. I have Linn and Chord Dacs/DS which are among the best measured Dacs by ASR and Codex, which is one of the worst measured DACs by ASR. I can say from my experience the Codex sounds better (i.e., better weight, more mid range pureness, more analog sounding, more transparent, more dynamic, more of an ease) to me than the Chord and very competitive against Linn considering the price differential.

lukalu
1 posts
 
After reading rivers and oceans of different opinions about the codex, I could not let the 1700€ go with risk, so I was lucky enough to borrow a codex for a week to try it out.
Long story short, I BOUGHT IT. Even funnier, I bought it by trying it on the single-ended output, now when new cables arrived, on balanced is audibly a tad better and can drive 300ohms properly. I had many DACs and many amps, but this thing nails it. Whatever the guy measured, he can continue measuring, and I will continue to listen from the codex. Thank you very much have a nice day. 
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