Ayre Codex

[bmoura]

I'm really surprised to hear that the Codex is gonna replace the QB-9. Disappointed, too, as I was hoping they would upgrade the QB-9 with the "double diamond circuit". Guess I need to listen to a Codex.

 

That is a surprise.

 

I guessed they would have a follow-on high end DAC to the QB-9.

Ayre may be finding the headphone + DAC market more lucrative than the high end DAC market.

 

They have mentioned work is underway on a new product.

Watching to see what that is all about.

[firedog]

Very hard to believe they won't come out with a super high end DAC to match the other very good and very expensive amps and preamps they sell.

[intermediatic]

Ariel Brown of Ayre stated in a short interview with Hifibuys (Ayre dealer) that the Codex actually sounds better than the QB-9 DSD. He would, I guess, so maybe we should take this with a grain of salt.

 

 

Why should we take it with a grain of salt? The QB-9 DSD is more money, so it'd be in their interest for say it's better.

 

For what it's worth, my own hi-fi dealer thinks the same thing. Ayre will be making a new generation DAC to succeed the QB-9, but these things take time. To their credit, they've decided to concentrate on making the Codex rather than making the QB-9 MK III.

 

I don't think this video with Alex Brinkman has bene posted yet. I haven't watched it again, but I think this is where Alex Brinkmann of Ayre says there will be another DAC in a couple of years.

[occamsrazor]

@intermediatic - I see you actually have a Codex. Can I ask what your setup is? I do see your signature, are you running it through the Ayre Preamp, or direct to power amp?

What are you using to control the volume of the system? I'm still trying to get a clear answer as to whether the Codex responds to USB HID volume control from Mac OSX, which for me is a fairly big deal as I'd want to run it direct to power amps.... Have you tried that?

Thanks...

[intermediatic]

I'm using the Ayre K-5XeMP preamp. The Codex does not respond to the USB volume control.

[occamsrazor]

I'm using the Ayre K-5XeMP preamp. The Codex does not respond to the USB volume control.

 

I appreciate the info and your confirmation of this. Unfortunately this limits its usefulness to me. It's a shame as it sounds like a nice device.....

[Kelly]

So I will throw my very premature opinion into the forum for consideration...

 

I just recently sold my QB-9DSD because I am trying to condense my headphone system. I was running the QB-9DSD into a SE tube-hybrid amp. I decided to try the codex in place of the QB-9 hoping the balanced headphone stage might be good enough to let me sell my dedicated headphone amp and reclaim some desktop. Well, I am still waiting on the adapter to plug my 4-pin XLR headphone into the pono-style balanced connectors, so I have been running the Codex purely as a dac into my headphone amp. The device is not fully broken (my dealer says 600 hours!) but my reaction is that the change is positive. I can't say it is higher resolution, but it feels more natural and more fun. The sound stage (on my headphones anyway) seems more spacious. However, this is all from memory so take it for what its worth (the Qb-9 went away 3 weeks ago, so no side-by-side for comparison.) At any rate, the change is one I feel good about so far. I am very anxious to try the balanced headphone cables. If it performs as well as I suspect it will then my headphone amp will be up for sale soon.

 

As an aside, when I purchased the Codex, the dealer asked what I had before. He said very emphatically he thought the Codex was quite a bit better than the Qb-9DSD.

 

Also, the Codex gets very warm! The linear power supply is crammed into a tiny box. Supposedly this is fine according to the FAQ, but it is nice and toasty on top.

[latitude94941]

So I will throw my very premature opinion into the forum for consideration...

 

I just recently sold my QB-9DSD because I am trying to condense my headphone system. I was running the QB-9DSD into a SE tube-hybrid amp. I decided to try the codex in place of the QB-9 hoping the balanced headphone stage might be good enough to let me sell my dedicated headphone amp and reclaim some desktop. Well, I am still waiting on the adapter to plug my 4-pin XLR headphone into the pono-style balanced connectors, so I have been running the Codex purely as a dac into my headphone amp. The device is not fully broken (my dealer says 600 hours!) but my reaction is that the change is positive. I can't say it is higher resolution, but it feels more natural and more fun. The sound stage (on my headphones anyway) seems more spacious. However, this is all from memory so take it for what its worth (the Qb-9 went away 3 weeks ago, so no side-by-side for comparison.) At any rate, the change is one I feel good about so far. I am very anxious to try the balanced headphone cables. If it performs as well as I suspect it will then my headphone amp will be up for sale soon.

 

As an aside, when I purchased the Codex, the dealer asked what I had before. He said very emphatically he thought the Codex was quite a bit better than the Qb-9DSD.

 

Also, the Codex gets very warm! The linear power supply is crammed into a tiny box. Supposedly this is fine according to the FAQ, but it is nice and toasty on top.

 

Hi, Kelly,

 

I don't want to raise your expectations too high, but I think you'll be pretty blown away when you can operate the Codex headphone amp in balanced mode.

 

I went into it thinking that it would be one of those "worth doing, but small and incremental" audiophile improvements. Thanks to the guidance of Josh at Ciamara (no affiliation) I purchased a balanced Cardas cable (to replace a SE Cardas cable). The difference with my headphones and my ears was dramatic--after hearing it there's no going back to single ended with the Codex.

[Kelly]

Hi, Kelly,

 

I don't want to raise your expectations too high, but I think you'll be pretty blown away when you can operate the Codex headphone amp in balanced mode.

 

I went into it thinking that it would be one of those "worth doing, but small and incremental" audiophile improvements. Thanks to the guidance of Josh at Ciamara (no affiliation) I purchased a balanced Cardas cable (to replace a SE Cardas cable). The difference with my headphones and my ears was dramatic--after hearing it there's no going back to single ended with the Codex.

 

That is what I am hoping. I have briefly listened to the 1/4" SE jack and it does not compare favorably to my dedicated headphone amp. It sounds pretty good, but a bit flat compared to the tube amp. I think in SE mode it may not really have to juice to run the LCD-3s properly. Balanced mode hopefully makes it a much closer contest.

[mink70]

Just bought a Codex and burning it in. Impressions soon. In the meantime, anyone care to share their experiences with the Codex?

[Johnseye]

My opinion after auditioning the Codex here. Not very impressed. In addition to comparing it to the DDP-1 I also compared it to an Oppo BDP-105D (Sabre DAC). The 105D is very similar to the DDP-1. The Codex lagging in detail and body.

[intermediatic]

Interesting.

 

It blew away my Oppo BDP-95, which some think is better than the 105.

 

My opinion after auditioning the Codex here. Not very impressed. In addition to comparing it to the DDP-1 I also compared it to an Oppo BDP-105D (Sabre DAC). The 105D is very similar to the DDP-1. The Codex lagging in detail and body.

[bluebeat]

Why should we take it with a grain of salt? The QB-9 DSD is more money, so it'd be in their interest for say it's better.

 

I get your point, intermediatic. Then again, if a company is introducing a brand new product in a new and very competitive market they're not likely to play it down. That was my thought.

 

For what it's worth, my own hi-fi dealer thinks the same thing. Ayre will be making a new generation DAC to succeed the QB-9, but these things take time.

 

The 5-series might see a new dac sooner than you think. Ayre ran out of the DX-5DSD at - I guess - the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014. So they would want a new dac line up out there asap - still guessing.

 

In fact, they were working on new digital products back then. Charles Hansen mentioned over at AVSforum new dac's and seperate transports (for audio an video) in January 2014 (his post 1-25-2014). They were (then) expected to hit the market in 2014. Pono and the Codex intervened, of course. So developement didn't start from scratch.

 

And there's this: Ayre What's Next? The link was advertised in the Stereophile issue of April 2016.

 

Ayre will be present at High End Munich in May...

 

 

Marc

[austinpop]

I'm seeing some weird issues with files at 24-bit/252.8kHz.

Last night I was listening to some free music files I downloaded from here: 2L High Resolution Music .:. free TEST BENCH. These files can be freely downloaded, as per the terms at the top of the page

I listened to various pieces of music at various encodings: DXD (24/352.8), as well as DSD64, DSD128 and MQA.

The Codex, while it will lock to and play the 24/352.8 files, the resulting audio out of the headphone jacks has a weird kind of static - almost like an input signal overload. I do not hear that with the other encodings.

I should also point out that these are not the dropouts or stuttering you hear when the upstream device - in my case, an Aries Mini streamer - encounters network bandwidth limitations. In fact, the network demands of both the DXD and DSD128 files are similar (~11Mb/s), and the DSD128 plays just fine.

Here are the specific files where I noticed this problem:

http://www.lindberg.no/hires/test/2L-109_stereo_352k_05.flac

http://www.lindberg.no/hires/test/2L-087_stereo-DXD_06.flac

http://www.lindberg.no/hires/test/2L-053_04_stereo-DXD.flac

Have any other Codex owners seen anything like this? Feel free to give it a try and report back on what you hear!

BTW - the samples on that 2L site are absolutely lovely! I don't know most of the pieces, and certainly not any of the performers, but the acoustics and sound quality are superb.

[Kelly]

I'm seeing some weird issues with files at 24-bit/252.8kHz.

Last night I was listening to some free music files I downloaded from here: 2L High Resolution Music .:. free TEST BENCH. These files can be freely downloaded, as per the terms at the top of the page

I listened to various pieces of music at various encodings: DXD (24/352.8), as well as DSD64, DSD128 and MQA.

The Codex, while it will lock to and play the 24/352.8 files, the resulting audio out of the headphone jacks has a weird kind of static - almost like an input signal overload. I do not hear that with the other encodings.

I should also point out that these are not the dropouts or stuttering you hear when the upstream device - in my case, an Aries Mini streamer - encounters network bandwidth limitations. In fact, the network demands of both the DXD and DSD128 files are similar (~11Mb/s), and the DSD128 plays just fine.

Here are the specific files where I noticed this problem:

http://www.lindberg.no/hires/test/2L-109_stereo_352k_05.flac

http://www.lindberg.no/hires/test/2L-087_stereo-DXD_06.flac

http://www.lindberg.no/hires/test/2L-053_04_stereo-DXD.flac

Have any other Codex owners seen anything like this? Feel free to give it a try and report back on what you hear!

BTW - the samples on that 2L site are absolutely lovely! I don't know most of the pieces, and certainly not any of the performers, but the acoustics and sound quality are superb.

 

Once since I've had the Codex it had a bit of trouble with a 88.2 and I ended up having to restart my music player and switch USB ports the codex was plugged into. This was only one time and I might add that I sleep my computer all the time and might not reboot it for weeks. So I attributed it to some miscellaneous windows/usb/driver management getting bogged down after weeks of use (this is also a general purpose computer.) I don't think it was the fault of the Codex. I don't own any 352 files so I haven't tried that before. I've run up to 192 and DSD128 with only that one hiccup.

[17629]

I'm really surprised to hear that the Codex is gonna replace the QB-9. Disappointed, too, as I was hoping they would upgrade the QB-9 with the "double diamond circuit". Guess I need to listen to a Codex.

 

 

Most likely it will be for a short time. Like bluebeat said, they'll probably release a new dac. The QB-9 has been out for a while, and during that time Ayre probably realized it was best to offer some new fundamental features like multiple inputs. The market has changed quite a bit. Also, give Ayre a call before you get rid of the QB-9. They're very good about upgrades and may still offer the diamond circuit.

[satbox]

I'm very disappointed. I bought the QB-9 DSD based on the word of Charles Hansen that the DAC will be upgraded to DSD 128. Now, with this new Codex, I think that the QB-9 will not be upgraded anymore. I shall never buy Ayre products.

[Freann]

Really? Where/when did he say that?

[satbox]

Really? Where/when did he say that?

Copy of an email received from Charles Hansen 25/03/2014:

 

Hello Didier,

 

DSD-128 is coming, but we don't have a timeline for it. It's pretty low on our priority list as there are so few titles available. We have the code and it is working, we just need to test it more. We're pretty busy with the Pono thing right now and have our hands full with other projects as well. I woiuld guess that it will be a couple of months before we do an official release. Thanks for your patience.

 

Best,

Charles Hansen

Ayre Acoustics, Inc.

[flatmap]

I'm very disappointed. I bought the QB-9 DSD based on the word of Charles Hansen that the DAC will be upgraded to DSD 128. Now, with this new Codex, I think that the QB-9 will not be upgraded anymore. I shall never buy Ayre products.

 

If Hansen says it will be updated, I'd think you're sitting pretty.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I like the product but can't get over its homely appearance :~|

[Kelly]

I like the product but can't get over its homely appearance :~|

 

You don't buy a dac to look at it! Do I remember reading you had hd800 headphones? Try those through the balanced connection if you can, it is a pretty remarkable match.

[Axiom05]

I was surprised by how small the Codex is, the photos make it look like a full size component. Seems pretty inoffensive to me, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[satbox]

If Hansen says it will be updated, I'd think you're sitting pretty.

Hope you are right... Email from Charles Hansen dates from 03-25-2014...

[bluebeat]

Satbox, just ask him or Ayre again. They're very responsive, in my experience.