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New DAC at below £1000

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david12

pfm Member
I am very happy with my old DAC, an Ayre QB9. But it has a strange gremlin, where, when I turn on my Innuos Server, it will not trigger the Ayre out of standby. The only way to do this, is to unplug the USB cable and plug it in again, very strange. After 2+ years, it's getting a bit tiresome and putting pressure on the USB socket.

Believe me, I have searched for a way around the problem, other than switching the cable in and out.

My thoughts are, to look for a second hand Chord Qutest, which may be a long wait, or a Metrum Acoustics Octave Mk2, with USB socket. I am aware that they have a very different sound, but both have a strong following.

Your ideas guys? Thanks
 
david12 said:
I am very happy with my old DAC, an Ayre QB9. But it has a strange gremlin, where, when I turn on my Innuos Server, it will not trigger the Ayre out of standby. The only way to do this, is to unplug the USB cable and plug it in again, very strange. After 2+ years, it's getting a bit tiresome and putting pressure on the USB socket.

Believe me, I have searched for a way around the problem, other than switching the cable in and out.

My thoughts are, to look for a second hand Chord Qutest, which may be a long wait, or a Metrum Acoustics Octave Mk2, with USB socket. I am aware that they have a very different sound, but both have a strong following.

Your ideas guys? Thanks
Click to expand...

Have a look into the Mytek Liberty. Most of the sound quality of a Brooklyn DAC+ but without the bells and whistles.
 
Have you contacted Ayre about this issue? The Ayre QB9 is a very capable DAC which I once owned it in the 24/192 guise. I don't know if Ayre still do the DSD upgrade, perhaps worthwhile if you have an earlier version.

The hand-shake isuue is one I also have in my own set-up where I use a Nuforce USB/Spdif converter between my computer and a Line Magnetic Dac.
 
Thanks, I'll try and find a hub. I quite agree it's a handshake issue. I would still be interested in views about the Qutest and Octave.
 
I did contact Ayre and Innuos, unplugging the USB was what was suggested. The Ayre is the 24/192 version. As far as I know, Ayre still offer the DSD upgrade, I wouldn't have need of it.
 
Hi David.
Unless that would take care of your issue. The DAC should be quite a lot better after the upgrade. Also you could play back your files upsampled to DSD which some people prefer. My own Dac is limited to 24/192 so I would not know this for sure.
 
Have you checked out the Ciunas Dac tour thread on here? I have used a Ciunas USB converter then more recently John's ISO-SPDIF into my nDac/555ps and I've been delighted. Might be worth just looking at the Ciunas site to see if it'll do what you want, others have compared it favourably to the Hugo if I remember correctly, certainly the converter is better than a Schiit Eitr ( I know cos I compared them).
 
Have a look at Chi-fi; its really coming of age.

Recently purchased a SMSL D1, a dual 9038pro design for less than £850 inc delivery (they have stock in europe) as a stop-gap solution; but its ended up going toe to toe with my far more 'esteemed' DAC from T+A, but with the added bonus of being a XMOS u208 device which means seamless Linux streamer compatibility (once I'd patched the kernel for its PID/VID).

Then there's the SMSL M10 which is approx £450 and also winning a lot of fans.

It's difficult to take the usual mainstream competitors seriously after the D1 ...
 
Should mention I've sent a patch for the SMSL D1 to enable Native DSD support in Linux, should hopefully make its way into Linux kernel 4.20 (tiny change) which means future linux streamers etc just need latest upstream kernel and voila.
 
M2TECH Young MKIII is a very capable, small form factor DAC with XLR out and even Bluetooth APTX build in. Works very well with a 15VDC LPS and it's at about your price range. Native MQA as well.
 
I'll give another shout out for the Mytec Liberty, very happy with mine, lots of input/output options, native mqa + excellent sound quality with the option of upgrading further with an external PSU.
 
I would still vote in favour of an upgrade of the Ayre Dac to DSD unless the price of that is appaling, the sound signature offends or the hand-shake problem would remain unsolved.

A different DAC may sound like ... a different DAC and may take a little getting used to.
 
The price of the DSD upgrade for the QB9 was £450, several years ago, I'm not sure now.

I plan to keep the Ayre and follow the advice about a powered USB booster, but I bought a used Octave today anyway. The reports are universally favourable and HiFi Critic still have it as a top recommendation, after several years. That's about the only magazine I have a semblance of trust for. At £420, I thought it a good deal.

Bought it on Audio Markt, does everyone know about that site by the way. I find it very good for finding second hand kit.
 
Whatever DAC you get try to make sure it has a linear power supply and avoid any DAC that upsamples...
 
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