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Want to buy Ayre C-5xeMP but...

I have had the Ayre in my system for 4 days and at first I found it to be better than my CDP but after extended listening I am to the point where I don't want to let it go.

My only concern is should I go with a DAC and a server instead?

I do not want to hear a hard drive or the fan of a computer and my display is a DLP and has an annoying fan also, so I never have them on while critical listening. Even the faint noise coming out of the DVR is too much.

I know that music servers are the future of audio but I don't mind changing the CD's. If I want convenience I just burn discs with the songs that I am listening to most of the time and when my mood changes I can throw that one out and burn a new one.

I have thousands of songs on my computer and shuffling through them is great but in my system I am all about sound not convenience.

Are CD's dead and upgrading my CDP a waist of money?

2 channel part of the system consists of..

Krell Evo 707
Krell Evo 400 mono's
B&W 800D's
Meridian G08
Ps Audio PPP
Shunyata Python CX pc's
relentless
sarcher30
596 posts
 
I want to add that spidf, toslink, and synchronous usb conversion create more jitter than the other alternatives.
relentless OP
36 posts
 
After a lot of thought I am really considering the Ayre DAC because of the Ayre sound and the asynchronous USB.

But, I am concerned about what I have been reading about how different USB cables affect the sound. Now I will have to play the cable game again.

How big of an effect can USB cables make on the sound?
joeyboynj
621 posts
 
Check out the Synergistic Research Tricon USB cable. One on sale now here.
sarcher30
596 posts
 
Relentless did you get to listen to the Ayre dac? I was considering it before I bought the Linn but it was not out yet.

I had a usb converter from Empirical Audio with a benchmark dac1 before the Linn and tried a few different cheap usb cables and did not notice much difference. Steve from Empirical Audio says that you should also try all the different usb ports on your computer because they can sound different. I tried this also and if there was a difference it was very small. These are all small tweaks. The media player you use can make a small difference also.
relentless OP
36 posts
 
The dealer has a few people that wanted to demo the Ayre DAC and I had decided to go with the CDP so I let him give it to the others, but after more thought and research I am going to go with the server. The dealer said that the DAC and the CDP are very close but he is biased towards the server so I will get a chance to hear it soon and make my own decision.
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