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laurent

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  1. Hi to all, I am also very interested by this new async dac / phone amp. Do you know if it works with Foobar in Fw and Usb? Can you play Dsd file with Foobar using the plugin? Thanks, Laurent Ps : Chris, is this Dac on your testing list?
  2. Many thanks to one and a half for his feedbback. Very interesting advice concerning the Trs to Xlr cable. I thought that I couldn't use the balanced input of my amp with the M903... Using a Nas with a XP audio PC, I don't have any issue on stutter playback but will certainly use suggested adjustments when I will change to Win7. Being a Pc+Foobar user and looking for a quality playback Dac+headphone for my "late" office work, the M903 seems the way to go. Chris, sorry for stuttering, but your review is much expected.
  3. to Chris, Would you review this product? Since it is not easy to try (and find!) a demo unit (in France at least), your experienced and balanced opinion would be very helpful. Thanks again fot his great website, Laurent
  4. Many thanks to one and a half for his very interesting review of the much awaited M903. To Gordon, thanks for the explanation on U1 and U2. I would like to ask you if there is any explanation why U2 work so much better than U1 for standard cd quality? Would it also work better with Pc using your custom made driver,(since I am, for the moment, a PC guy)? Thanks in advance for your answer, Laurent
  5. Hi, I think I was at the same demo of Peter Mc Grath in Paris as Deho. I asked Peter why he was using the Int 202 rather than direct usb. He told me that using Aes Ebu the sound was more revealing and more "true" of the quality of the recording, something he valued very much as a recording engineer.With the Int202 the dac was not adding anything of its own. He thought that going through the usb the Dac was adding some "sweetness". He felt that the Qb9 shared in usb the same kind of sweetness as the Dac8 in usb. During the afternoon they did make some comparisons with direct usb (using wireworld starlight cable) but I was not there... Now what do we prefer a very revealing system forcing us to choose more carefully the records or a sweeter (and more forgiving) sounding one? The demo of Peter was indeed impressive. I had not been fully convinced by the Sophia 2 but the Sophia 3 are very much alike the sasha. They are great speakers. Laurent
  6. Hi James,<br /> <br /> I agree, in my mind the remark from Mr Hansen was a praise for the Qb9 since his top Cd player was two or three times more expensive than the Qb9. And it may not have been in his "financial" interest to say so since it might be more interesting to sell a Cd player than a Qb9.<br /> Now what I wanted to say is that, according to Ayre, the asynchronous part allows the Qb9 to sound as good as a their cd player, no less but no more. <br /> For the rest it shares many part with the cd player ie digital filter, dac chip...<br /> <br />
  7. To Claudius and to Beetlemania,<br /> <br /> I am travelling till the end of this week so I can't have a look at the review to be more precise.<br /> What I can tell you is that the review was not good nor bad. They had high expectations due to the asynchronous usb... and were disappointed. For the price and technology, they expected better bass and better coherence. On the high end side, they preferred the Msb technology Power Dac.<br /> They liked very much the Ps Audio digital link thinking that for the price it was a real bargain. <br /> As for the unit, it must have been a demo unit provided by the french dealer of Ayre. I think the dealer must have done his job (burn in) before sending this dac for test to a well known and read magazine in France.<br /> <br /> I have tested the Qb9 (demo unit) in my own set up with Mc Intosh 6600 amp and Focal 1037be speakers and compared it to the Dac7 from ARC. I also had high expectations and was nearly sure that I would sell my dac7 and buy a Qb9.<br /> Since the usb input could go not go above 44.1hz I had previously bought an M-Audio Transit usb card to go up to 24/96.<br /> The fact was that I preferred the sound of the Dac7 with the M audio transit to the Qb9. I thought it had more bass, the highs went higher, it was more precise ( one I could hear more distinctly each instrument) and that with a larger soundstage. <br /> But when both were compared in direct usb, the Dac7 had a certain harshness whereas Qb9 was much sweeter. <br /> I tested with PC(only 2GB) with XP SP3, Foobar and Asio4all, files in flac.<br /> <br /> The problem with the Qb9 is that there is such a buzz about the asynchronous usb that you expect this unit to be "mind blowing". When I thought and heard that it was "just" a very good dac then maybe my judgement was biased in the wrong direction.<br /> <br /> To put thing in perspective, you will find a link where Mr Hansen from Ayre states that in their set up the Qb9 sounds "neck to neck" to their top range cd player.<br /> <br /> http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/5/52545.html<br /> <br /> Laurent<br /> <br /> <br />
  8. Hi Claudius,<br /> <br /> They did not mention any burn in. I think it must have been a demo unit.<br /> They used WMP for PC in WAV and itunes with Mac in Aiff.<br /> They reviewed 9 Dacs including the Msb Power Dac, the Dac1 from Benchmark, the Ps audio digital link, the Dac Magic, the Advance acoustic Dac... <br /> What I like in their reviews it is that you always have the ratings and comments of two different reviewers. <br /> <br /> <br />
  9. <br /> The Ayre Qb9 has been reviewed by the french audiomagazine "revue du son" along with other Dacs.<br /> The review was not bad nor good. They did not give the Dac their best ratings due to the fact that they thought that the Qb9 was a little bass shy and that it lacked "coherence". It could sound sweet or harsh. <br /> They also thouht that it did not have a good ratio price vs quality. The Qb9 is worth 3000 € that is 4500$.<br /> <br />
  10. Naim is not taking the usb road for they claim that it would bring too much noise from the computer. And so they favor Toslink. They like the M Audio Transit with the latest Asio drivers. Sorry to say that my listening experience confirmed this. The three of us preferred the "legacy" Arc DAC7 with M Audio Transit and standard usb cable to direct Usb with a Ayre Qb9 with wireworld ultraviolet usb cable.The usb cable does have a strong impact on the Ayre Qb9. I don't think it has anything to do with data transfer. Is it due to the computer noise transferred to the Dac?
  11. The comments of barrows and Peter are very interesting. Most people agree that theoritically async should be better. But are there other issues? If I understand correctly , Peter and barrows suggest that computers and software may add intrinsic jitter or distorsion. Since async dacs do not use any jitter elimination, are they more "computer and software sensitive" if I may write so? Wavelength refused to take part in the Tas review because they were not to use a Mac with 4 or 8 Gb and ssd. Why does it matter especially with async usb where you do not rely on the clock of the computer? I think that some forumers also mentioned that the Dac2 or the Qb9 revealed their qualities only when coupled with Amarra. I may be totally wrong. But there are so many things I don't understand... so I trust my ears only. Laurent
  12. Hi to Coops and to Brian, Many thanks for the info. The hiface seems to be a very interesting product even though I don't understand much from the white paper. What I like is that it is a 24/192 usb spdif converter with an emphasis on low jitter. I currently use Foobar with an M audio Transit usb card and M audio Asio driver, so the setup with foobar should be no issue. What is the budget price for this product? Your feedback would be most welcome. I also read that a BNC version does exist. As for a good DAC reasonably priced, I can recommend the VDAC from Musical Fidelity. Price around 200€ and works well. Not as detailed or precise as higher budget Dac (like DAC7 from ARC or Ayre QB9) but very musical. Laurent
  13. Excellent review from Chris!<br /> As he mentioned, the Qb9 is very easy to use and sounds good without looking for further improvement.<br /> With my "legacy " ARC DAC7 I have to use an M Audio Transit (and glass optical cable) to make it sound to my liking.<br /> If I had just tested the Usb input I think I would have bought the Qb9 and sold the Dac7...<br /> At 2500$ the Qb9 is very well priced even though it has only one USB input.<br /> It is a pity that 2500 $ become 3 000 € in France...<br /> <br />
  14. To sunjitwhy, Your tests will be very interesting and you already have an impressive list of Dac. I would suggest you to test also a ladder dac like Dcs, Lavry Gold or Msb Technology power Dac. The Dac chips are proprietary chips rather than off the shelves chips found in the Dac2, Qb9, Dac7... It is said to be a world apart but I have nerver heard them... I should try to test a Power dac from Msb but haven't found the time yet.
  15. A question for Chris (and to Gordon),<br /> <br /> Did you compare the usb link to the standard usb input on some dac like the Bryston or the Bel Canto?<br /> On those Dacs does the combined usb link + dac sounds "better" than the dac alone with its standard usb input? <br /> I understand that the soundstage was thinner than with the Lynx Aes. <br /> Gordon mentioned once that Bnc was to be preferred to coaxial. Does using the Usb link with a coaxial adapter can have an influence?<br /> <br /> Thanks for your great input<br /> <br /> Laurent<br /> <br /> Ps : I would like to test one usb link but apart from ordering one I yet haven't found a way to test one in France.
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