Ayre SPDIF DAC

It has been reviewed in the Oct 2009 issue of STEREOPHILE.

Like all other Ayre equipment reviews in that magazine, it received a 'Thumbs Up.'

I heard the DX-5 at RMAF. The Ayre rep said that the DX-5 should beat the QB-9 due to an improved output stage.

it's also supposed to run $8K-$10K (pricing yet to be finalized)...Soundstage's reporting on RMAF singled it out as a product to watch out for...here is the link to their commentary: http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/avtour2009/rmaf_ss01.html

Interesting. Ayre has openly loathed spdif in the past. Probably just seeing all the sales opportunities they are missing. In any event, maybe they will now start offering a spdif input on their cdp's going forward.

Umm, where has it been announced that Ayre now has a spdif DAC? The QB-9 is, clearly, USB only and the newly announced DX-5 also has USB only input (per the Soundstage blurb). Reading the other forums, it's obvious that Charles Hansen thinks Gordon Rankin's asynchronous USB is "best" way to go.