Ayre QB-9 and Audio Midi

[rayhil]

While I'm admittedly slow in getting full value from computer music, I entered the 21st century this weekend and downloaded several pieces of 24-96 music from HDTracks.

I reset the output to 24-96 in Audio Midi and everything worked like a charm. Display on QB-9 showed 96 and sound was notably better. Can't believe it took me this long.

Now my questions:

When I wanted to switch back to 16-44.1 music, I closed iTunes and went into Audio Midi. Changed the 96 back to 44.1 with no problem. However, the 2ch 24 bit pop up doesn't show the 16 bit choice. If I change from the QB-9 to internal then the pop up choices are there. Does anyone know how to fix this.

Also, I noticed that the Source Clock is Default and there is no other choice. Is this correctly using the QB-9 to control data flow.

Thanks for any help.

Ray

[Freann]

If you run Audirvana Plus together with iTunes, you do not have to worry about settings in Audio Midi. Audirvana takes care of that, it will even let you play DSD-files. What you also get is a very substantial increase in sound quality!

Download the demo and run it in iTunes integrated mode. This forum is full of threads on A+ (as we call it).

Audirvana | The Sound of Your Dreams

[rayhil]

And my compliments to Alex at Ayre!

I posted my question to Ayre's site and got a call back the same day with answers:

don't worry about the 24 bit setting - the DAC handles it;

The source clock should be Default.

 

THAT'S WHAT I CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE.

It makes the price of their products much more worthwhile.

Ray

[beetlemania]

At a minimum, I would use Decibel (which is actually suppose to be excellent).

Follow-Up: Decibel 1.2.3 & Pure Music 1.8 | Stereophile.com

 

It's only $33. When you own a QB-9, certainly you can spring for a music player that automatically changes the sample rate.

[Axiom05]

And my compliments to Alex at Ayre!

I posted my question to Ayre's site and got a call back the same day with answers:

don't worry about the 24 bit setting - the DAC handles it;

The source clock should be Default.

 

THAT'S WHAT I CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE.

It makes the price of their products much more worthwhile.

Ray

 

The bit rate setting can be left at 24, however it is the sample rate changes that are the problem in iTunes. The setting in Audio MIDI must match the sample rate of the audio file, otherwise iTunes will use sample rate conversion to make them the same which can result in degradation of sound quality. You need a music player that will automatically handle the sample rate changes.

[LBob]

Like Beetle said. Spring for a player. There are a number of fine players at very reasonable prices all of which offer improvements over iTunes alone in SQ and ease of use. The Ayre is quite capable of making differences readily apparent.