silvertone

Looking at the Ayre website it appears they haven't published any new firmware updates to address all the issues this unit has, kind of disappointing since we're almost in October. I had to return my unit a while back and get a refund from dealer due to all the issues I ran into while I had it. It's pointless to have a 'Digital Hub' that doesn't function as one. If and when Ayre fixes all the issues with this unit I'll give it another shot, however based on my experience with this DAC it appears to me that they rushed this product out the door without proper testing. -ST

If you use the McontrolHD App (which Ayre recommends) the USB stick will be discovered as an 'Ayre Server'. From the app you can select it and choose whatever you wish to play. Make sure the USB stick is formatted correctly per the documentation. ST

Blackstone, which inputs do you have it hooked up to?

Which ones are these?

Nah, Don't let the price points fool you Dealers will always tell you (with very few exceptions) that the much pricier product sounds better. That's not always the case. Here's a perfect example, in my humble opinion and to my ears, the Chord DAVE DAC absolutely trumps the pricey dCS Vivaldi Stack. That's no hyperbole, listen for yourself and see if you come to the same conclusion. That's at $13k DAC versus the $100K+ stack. I'm purchasing the Ayre because it's within my allocated budget, otherwise I would get the DAVE. Having said that, I look forward to a side by side comparison of the the two units. Happy listening

Blackstone, The dCS Debussy is old news, tons of DACs in the market for half the price completely destroy the Debussy on sound quality alone. The more fair comparison for the QX-5 will be against the dCS Rossini and Chord DAVE dacs.

I'm still waiting for my unit, I placed my order a month ago. I'm hoping to get it this week. Have all the dealers received their units? I checked with Music Lovers in Berkeley, CA and they still had not received their demo unit. BTW, I agree that the comparison of the QX-5 against the Chord DAVE will be a very informative one.

I think you meant QX-5, no such thing as an Ayre VX-5 dac

I think this is the same demo unit making its round among US dealers, certainly, by now that unit is fully broken in, and if it ran continuously for a dozen hours or so prior to the demo then all its components definitely reached thermal stability. You should have gotten a good conclusive indication of what the unit sounds like. I'm beginning to be concerned about this piece since I have read on a couple of posts that the initial indication was that the unit is on the cold side of neutral... Any feedback from those who have actually heard this unit would be greatly appreciated. I'm debating between this piece and the highly acclaimed Chord DAVE DAC Cheers

Thanks for the reply. You carry some good stuff. I'm not sure I agree the QX-5 should be compared exclusively in the sub $10k category, simply because Ayre has been known to punch above thei. price points relative to performance and more pricey items don't necessarily correlate to better performance. I think comparing this DAC to the Berkley RS2 would be an interesting excercise ST

Ciamarasound, What other DACs do you carry? I think it'd be more useful if you provide comparisons with other DACs in the $15+ range.. Thanks ! ST

Thanks for the first impressions, Scott. The imperative question, at least on my mind is, how does it compare to the dCS Rossini dac sitting right next to it? thanks and cheers !

Sunya, you're exactly right. Hi-Fi News reviewed this DAC last year. The measurements showed this DAC down-samples all its inputs to just above 96 kHz (including DSD128). So, this is not a High Resolution DAC, in fact, due to its down-sampling it literally throws away bits of resolution. The published measurement did show a low noise floor, and no, it wasn't 150 db's. They did like the sound and got a favorably review. But this is why in my opinion, reviews without measurements are only half the story. Measurements are truly indispensable if you want to be sure of what you're buying. -ST

Newbie question here. Can the Lumin be directly connected to my MAC Mini acting as my music server?

Charles, Thank you for taking the time to reply. Even considering the $7k price increase that a KX-R volume would add, I still think this would be a more cost effective alternative for us consumers. The other alternative being a KX-Rpreamp plus the DAC. You probably do your homework with the target audience for your products, but I'd think there are plenty customers like myself waiting on the sidelines for a great, no compromises, digital preamp. The analog inputs would be the cherry on top. As far as I know the only DACs in the market with a respectable analog volume control implementation are the MSB DACs, but I'm not willing to cough up $30k + on a DAC. They have a lower priced unit but it's singled ended, no fully balanced. DCS new Vivaldi DAC goes for $30K as well, but again, a digital volume control as well. At that price range, I'd expect more than that. In regards to adding at least one set balanced analog inputs, Classe was able to do this successfully in their CP-800 Preamp with a modest budget. So, it is doable to do this and retain excellent measured performance (see Stereophile's measurements of the CP-800 in their reviews). The only reason I wouldn't buy that unit (it sounds great by the way) is because I'm willing to pay more for a similar product with a more a transparent analog volume control implementation, and higher bit resolution. I think the Classe has only about 19 bits of resolution. I guess the question would be, is it feasible for Ayre to design such a product and sell it for about $15k to $17k MSRP?