Is anyone familiar with the Ayre Dac??

I have the QB9 and am very happy with it. I did'nt listen to many other DACs at all. I bought based on a review and audition. I liked it's simplicity, plug and play, so I am not paying for facilities I don't need. It is fed by a modified Mac Mini, using Audivarna and gives me a detailed and on the warm side of musical, sound. There are 2 filters, I have only used the listen one so far.

In the UK, I think it is overpriced, but I managed to get an ex demo model, £1000 off. So I am bvery pleased with the sound, compact size and builsd quality

I haven't heard it but have had their C-5xeMP for a short time. It was excellent but as with David I would also say the sound tended a little to the warm or polite side (maybe part of the Ayre house sound if there is one?), which may be good or bad depending on your system/tastes. I've also had a Bel Canto DAC3VB in my system that unearthed a lot more detail while also sounding very musical and not overly analytical. The Ayre had more of an upfront presentation with lots of flesh on the bone while the Bel Canto was more of a mid-hall perspective allowing me to "see" the whole of the performance venue more clearly. Again, personal preference obviously comes into play.

Apart from my personal experience, of the many reviews I've read the Ayre seems to fall a bit short of the DACs from Bel Canto, Berkeley, and Weiss, but in fairness I think all those are priced significanlty higher than the Ayre and may be out of your price range. On the cheaper end I'd be curious how the Ayre would hold up against something like the Metrum Octave that may have a similar kind of sound. Then again if you're looking for a little warmer yet still nicely detailed presentation the Ayre may be a relative bargain. The good news is DACs are obviously small and light so it should be easy for you to compare a few without too much effort relatively speaking. Hope this helps and best of luck.

I already have an all Ayre system - amp, pre, and c5xemp..... I love the support I get from Ayre, which made me think of that brand for the DAC. Thanks for the input

Interesting responses. I also have quite a bit of Ayre gear, but I certainly wouldn't consider it warm as others above have described. If I were asked if there gear had a house sound I would likely say a very slight bit thin. I use an ARC DAC8 between my KX-R and C5 with excellent results, I occasionally use an I-Mac as a server into the DAC as well.

I have tried the Ayre DX-5 which is their flagship. The dealer told me if I do not need the video part of it, the DAC part is similar to the QB-9 except that the DX-5 sports better components.

To me, the sound from the DAC section using USB link from a Mac Mini is very good indeed. Using 192K data rate, the sound can be described as dry with well focused soundstage, almost 3-dimensional.

I also compared it to my Bel Canto DAC3.5VB MkII using a REFLink as the USB input, optically coupled to the DAC on 192K data stream. The sound is sweeter but lacks the focus the Ayre has.

I am waiting for the Ayre DAC-R to be released, it would surely be a very interesting product.

I used Ayre KX-R and MX-R for amplification and Thiel 3.7 for my speakers. All interconnects and speakers cables are Silversmith Audio.

(Audio)