Ayre D to A

Its not as good as your 5 but still very good. I assume that you want to use it in some type of computer audio system. You can't go wrong with it but, with your equipment, you'll have to be careful to get it all right. What I mean by that is don't expect everything to be "plug and play". What type of computer you use, OS, type of HD, cables, power conditioner, playback software, ripping software, etc... is all going to factor in. Not only that, everyone seems to have a different opinion as to what sounds better. To get the best out of it, there will definitely be some experimenting.

Thanks Zd....isn't that true of this whole audio thing anyway? I know I'm setting myself up for a long and hard battle, but am becoming interested in playing digital files.

I got really frustrated with computer audio. Bought a mac, got amarra, a good USB cable, bought a bunch of 24/96 or 24/192 files, and felt like I wasn't going forward. Spinning discs just always won out for me...handily.

Your mileage may vary....but you may find stepping up to a better player is the best investment.

I know others will disagree with me...but it's my experience.

Jfrech, you're not the only one frustrated with computer audio. I'm kind of frustrated with computer audio too. Bought a Macbook Pro -- W4S DAC 2 using a decent usb cable and what I think are good transports and coax. Tried a trial of Pure Music; did not hear the improvement I expected. I have not bought an external drive yet. Been getting into everything slowly trying to get the basics down first. Many experts, manufacturers etc. say "get a quality usb to spdif converter", but I am not feeling much confidence in the extra expense of the quality ones, even the well-received lesser expensive Audiophilleo or the expensive Emprical Audio one is more than I am willing to gamble on yet. Getting a computer audio system sounding good is a convoluted process, and the philes out there who appear to really understand this audio niche contradict one another, use too many acronyms, and way too much technical terminology. They communicate like the audio world already understands computer audio. I go to computeraudiophile.com, AA and here to educate myself, but oh well... That's My rant. I haven't given up on it.

I use to own the Ayre QB-9 USB DAC. At first, I was impressed with the way it sounded. I used the MAC Book Pro computer with 4 GB RAM and the 120GB solid state drive. I used the Seaport Free Agent Go Pro 500GB external hard drive to store my music files (a 2nd one for backup). The Furman AC-215 power conditioner was needed so the MAC computer did not interfere with the audio components. It took several phone cals to my retailer to get the setup correct.

After many months of listening, I decided I did not like it the way it sounded in my system. In addition, there were too many boxes and too many wires in my living room. I sold everything and returned to my Ayre CX-7e CD player. I never looked back and like my CX-7e CD player very much.

For me, I liked the sound coming from the Ayre CX-7e better than the sound coming from the MAC computer and the Ayre QB-9 DAC. It felt more natural and clearer than the computer and DAC did. I suggest you audition the Ayre QB-9 in your system and then you can decide.