Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty – The Digital Hub

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55 minutes ago, Mercman said:

The Net2 is worth the scratch. I found the sonic performance of the Net 2 sounded even better to me than the Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical feeding the USB2.

Hi, thanks for posting your impressions.  I just received the brand new Lumin U2 on Wednesday.  I too am utilizing fiber as I converted my LAN a few years back.  

I also placed an order for a QX-5 Twenty about two weeks ago and opted for the USB2 and NET2 options.  Although it will be shipped with the original Net card since the new Net cards are backordered for around 3 months.  Ayre will mail it out once available.  I only ordered the NET2 board for resale value, but after reading your post, it sounds like it's definitely worth comparing it to the Lumin.  I would be amazed if it could do better than the U2 but you have piqued my interest!  Fun stuff.

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46 minutes ago, Mercman said:

The Lumin looks gorgeous !

 

I’m using a Roon Nucleus +.

Thank you.  And it sounds far better than it looks!  Ironically, this is the first piece of gear in my rack from a non-US company and it is 100% staying.  Well, unless the QX-5 net bridge somehow betters it's performance :)

 

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I finally received my QX-5 after about 9 weeks. I have a KX and VX-5 as well. I have to admit though, on first listen last night and more listening this morning, I wasn't too thrilled with the sound quality. So I decided to switch the (USB) mode to Measurement and I much prefer it over music. So I'm curious what all of you guys prefer when listening to yours? 

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Just now, Axiom05 said:

I also prefer the Measure filter. I find the high frequency loss due to the early roll-off of the Music filter too noticeable on 44.1/48KHz sampling rates. With the Music filter it was always obvious when I was listening to a CD rip, High Res files sounded much "brighter" and less dull. Many of my best sounding classical CD rips lost their "sparkle" until I switched to the Measure filter.

Precisely. I was thinking the exact same thing but I have many dsf rips. They sounded worlds better than any 44.1kHz rips. Thank you very much for your feedback! And glad I'm not alone. 

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@CGthank you and well said. I know my QX-5 still has a long ways to go on break-in. But even with the measurement filter, I'm hearing a little less mid treble openness than I'm used to. I listen to some pretty heavy stuff at times, and the guitar distortion is a bit subdued in that area. It's also just a tad bloated... The highs extend beautifully, and the bass depth is noticeably deeper/better than my PC DAC (Codex) that I was using for the past few months while waiting. Hopefully, those frequency ranges will open up a bit with break-in. Think I'll loop some music in Roon and leave the QX on for several days. 

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1 minute ago, scottsol said:

Several days isn’t close to enough.

Yeah, I forgot to update that I really have no complaints now.   It took a good 3-4 days of continual use to really open up that frequency range.  Sounding great now!  Thanks for the post.

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Having a bit of an issue with the implementation of the trigger via my KX-5/QX-5.  I have tried to 'program' the input in the KX-5 telling it that a QX-5 is on that input, but it will not power it on when I select that input.  If I shut down the system, it powers down my VX-5/QX-5 fine though.  Is there a trick to getting my KX-5 to power on the QX-5 when the proper input is selected and then power it down when I select a different input (ie. record player)?  I have used a daisy chain approach with the phone cable as well as the 2nd output of the KX-5 (one lead to my VX and the other to my QX) and it was no different.  One thing I have not tried is a KX -> QX -> VX daisy chain.  I guess I can try that but it seems the issue lies somewhere else.  Thanks.

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On 7/5/2023 at 11:41 PM, GrubTheHedgehog said:

Has anyone tried an optical ethernet isolator/filter with QX-5? Asking for a friend looking for an inexpensive tweak to his network. He has audiophile grade ethernet from his modem but no other network optimizations. 

When I was experimenting, just about any FMC and generic optical cable improved my system. So much so that I converted my entire LAN to fiber optics a few years back. I only utilize Finisar transceivers and Corning SMF-28 cabling. It's a very large rabbit hole that he's about to dive into. But the ride was and still is fun. 

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Just now, GrubTheHedgehog said:

The Finistar is an upcharge on the Sonore I’m looking at. Is it worth it?

Well thats a tough question to answer. But for me, yes. But I bought 1471 modules instead of the over-priced 1475s. You can find 1471s used But be sure you buy from an IT company with tons of feedback if you go the used route. 

 

Also, in order to get 10G transceivers to work, there are some tricks involved. With a Lumin streamer, they won't work at all either. So I use a 1G transceiver in it with a 1471 on the sending end (switch).

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I run Finisar FTLX1471D3BCL and FTLX1471BCV.  My A/V equipment seem to like the BCV better and the audio only, switches, router, etc like the BCL fine.

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7 minutes ago, GrubTheHedgehog said:

Do you know precisely which Finisar Sonore uses/sells? Can’t make it out on their site.

 

Thanks!

I would have to look again but last I saw it was the 1475 modules. Same as AfterDark sells (you can get more info from their website). I could be wrong though. It was 2+ years ago. 

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I've been having an issue and I'm not sure if it's my server (Intel NUC i10 w/16GB RAM) or the QX-5.  I'm using a Lumin U2 streamer feeding my QX-5 via USB.  I seriously doubt it's the Lumin causing the issue though.  I can play anywhere from 5(?) to 50(?) songs via Roon and all of a sudden, I'll get very loud static over the music.  The only way to fix it is to toggle off O/S and then toggle it back on again.  I O/S to 705.6, 768 and 8x DSD. 

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@Csabaexactly correct. I have my Roon library on constant shuffle. The majority of files are CD (44.1) but I have a fair amount of 96 and 192. It seems to happen when switching from one rate to the other. DSD seems fine at max over sampling rate though.