Wes
Rick, on this forum, was kind enough to let me hear both the Ayre QB9 and the ARC DAC8 at his store with my Macbook and Harbeth C7 ES3 and (1) JL F110 combo. We were using an ARC VSi60 (6550 tubes) for amplification. So this Harbeth/JL Audio/ARC setup may be a reasonable approximation, though more modest, of your system.
Unfortunately, I had limited time and didn't have the DAC8 drivers on my Macbook, so the comparison was a bit of "apples to oranges". That is we listened to the Ayre QB9 thru my Macbook, a Transparent USB cable, on music stored in Apple Lossless format via iTunes with no 3rd party music player software. For the DAC8 we used Rick's computer with DAC8 drivers (not sure of his format for ripping the music, maybe AIFF?), an upgraded Audioquest USB cable ( I think it was the DBS Coffee model) and Amarra (not sure which version or software drop). We did try to normalize volume, music genre, etc to mitigate some of the differences in the hardware setup and make this as fair a comparison as possible given the constraints.
I could easily live with either DAC. The QB9 is simpler (USB only), cheaper and has no driver integration issues. It was very good and to my ears had a clean, resolving, light, non fatiguing sound. I could easily see why it is getting such good reviews. It is a compelling buy at its price point. Had I not listened to the DAC8, I would have been predisposed to buy it. However, listening to the 2 back to back, to my ears, the DAC8 was immediately and clearly more engaging and natural sounding - no straining to hear differences. It drew me in to listening more than the QB9. It portrayed, to me, a bit larger sound with more body, but with no loss of resolution, speed, etc. Vocals, acoustic strings, etc sounded extremely lifelike with no digital artifact that I could sense.
One of store staff, a very experienced audio guy and committed vinyl lover, described the QB9 as sounding very good for "digital". Coming from him, that was more than faint praise. However, he described the sound of the DAC8 as really, very good with no qualifiers. My perception was similar. I thought the DAC8, although a bit more expensive, and more complex (multiple inputs besides USB) with its mandatory software drivers and need for periodic updating as iTunes and other 3rd party vendors (e.g. Amarra, Pure Music, others) change their software, had a sound that was closer to what I hear listening, approx monthly, to live music (jazz, acoustic small group, symphony, choral, etc) and also more akin to vinyl, which I also prefer, than typical digital, but without the surface noise, mechanical variations and maintenance of vinyl discs.
My only concern in stating too strong a definitive preference is that I don't know the relative contributions between DAC8, Audioquest USB cable and Amarra to the sound I heard. Was it mostly the DAC8 or more a synergy between all 3- can't say for sure.
Based on that audition, despite the setup differences, I am considering purchasing the DAC8, as well as the VSi60 and Audioquest cabling. This seemed to me to provide a simple, high performing, natural sounding system in combination with Macbook, Harbeth and JL Audio at an attainable price compared with many of the stratospherically priced systems I have heard elsewhere.
Hope this helps - sorry for the "longish" post but thought the context was important.
BTW, Wes, I would be interested in your opinion of the synergy of the ARC LS27 and VS115 with Harbeth and dual JL Audio in your system profile, since I may consider that option, in addition to considering the VSi60.
Jim
