Ayre QB-9 USB DAC

Horacio, I understand where you're coming from. I have the Tranquility DAC, but I can't give you a meaningful comparison because I have not heard the QB-9 in my system. However, you can always audition the Tranquility in your home with money back guarantee from the manufacturer if you don't like it. Can't say the same for QB-9. As for dB Audio Labs not disclosing details on the DAC, I can see both sides of the fence. Many audiophiles are caught up on the latest DAC chip, asynchroneous USB, oversampling, high rez, etc, thinking the newer the better. I have heard the latest of the latest, but most of the time I'm disappointed with the new technologies. Many will not even consider a DAC if it doesn't have asynchoneous USB or latest DAC chip. I say let your ears be the judge and not the manufacturer's hype.

QB-9 is prettier looking than the Tranquility though...;-)

I have a Tranquility DAC and I am more than happy with it and the service provided by Eric. Spending 2 hours on a saturday helping me optimize my system is way beyond what ordinary customer service is. I've had no complaints with it whatsoever. I've heard the QB-9 several times and I wasn't blown away, maybe it was the other components in the systems that were off.

My understanding is that this DAC only plays at 16 bit resolution and downsamples 24 bit material to 16 bit. My experience with hi-res recordings is that the bit depth (24 bit) is more important than the sampling rate (48 vs 96). I also prefer balanced out since my system is balanced throughout.

Also, I don't think this is an asynchronous USB interface. Just too many technical shortcomings for me in this day and age. It would make more sense to look at a Wyred4Sound. Maybe it is the old-school sound that is appealing!

Yes the Tranquility is 16 bit, but it is not old school sounding. It sounds musically right to me. I play the classical guitar and it is one of the few DACs out there that gets the timbre of the different musical instruments correct. Also the sound staging and imaging is correct to these ears. As I have said before if you get caught up on the bit depth, ansynchroneous USB, etc you are really missing out on a very special DAC. I have heard USB DACs, most of which didn't do the things tranquility does. I'm on the look out for a high rez DAC that can surpass this and all of the ones ve like at are $8000+.