Ayre QB-9 USB DAC

I listened to this dac for 3 straight days in my system and I like it, and respect what it does and how it sounds, but I personally find it lacks excitement and is too laid back for my tastes. Just listen to the Ayre in your system before you give up on the Monarchy. You can get some pretty cool USB adapters that would allow you to hook up the Monarchy to a computer.

Yep, good advice, I plan on taking it slow and learning more before I jump in. I am currently playing with the J-River Media Player and have already discovered that I cannot Rip my SACD's with my current computer (I don't have too many anyway) I also need a bigger hard drive although a firewire drive is cheap these days. It is important to use firewire so you don't overburden the USB bus.

Anyway, will definitely be experimenting and trying things before purchasing but I think it is in the not to far distant future.

I don't believe there is any way to rip SACDs.

"I also need a bigger hard drive although a firewire drive is cheap these days. It is important to use firewire so you don't overburden the USB bus."

I use an "older" Windoze XP based laptop with a 500GB FreeAgent USB drive with the QB-9. Works just fine. USB has plenty of bandwidth for this application. Also I believe with Firewire you'll need a drive that takes external power. Yet something else to plug in....

I'm extremely pleased with the QB-9. Setup instructions on Ayre site worked just fine.

larry

good to know, thanks Larry! I would prefer to have the drive powered by the USB port as well.