Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty – The Digital Hub

[Blackstone]

Do you think the Quattro is better than the 803D3?

[Blackstone]

There is no Chicago area dealer for Vandersteen, unfortunately.

[Blackstone]

They look so angular wife would kill me. New family room is going to be 25 x 15 I don't see her signing off on those since she nixed all Wilsons. She thinks the 802 is cool though.

 

Have you heard Focal?

[Blackstone]

Fine. Do you think the QX-5 is going to vote for Trump or Clinton? Discuss.

[Blackstone]

I'm out until my QX-5 comes in. I'll report back then. Cheers!

[Blackstone]

I have it! It came in today. It is hooked up every which way. Less than a half hour on it and it blows QB-9 away. Roon works flawlessly. It has that not warmed up or broken in vibe but is still better than QB-9 right out of the box. Dealer says it approaches Rossini's performance but perhaps not quite. Great out of the box, not even warm. I might just break in by listening instead of running it during the day like I normally do because it is good. I can tell it is going to fill out. It is a touch sharp but damn good for an ice cold unit.

[Blackstone]

Ethernet for Roon. Async USB not tested yet. Dealer said ethernet is preferable since my source PC is a bit of a beast (custom gaming pc). I also have the optical out of my TV Panasonic VT60 into QX-5 and it works flawlessly for cable and netflix.

[Blackstone]

Not sure. I think perhaps that is controlled from an iphone app.

[Blackstone]

I ran glide tones and noise tracks overnight. It is a touch less sharp today. Very good with my balanced Grado's (PS1000) but it probably is not even fully warmed up yet and probably only about 2% broken in. I ran break-in tracks overnight. Starting my day with coffee and some Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, I'm starting to hear it fill out and soften up and it is hard to take the headphones off even at this early stage. Oh well off to the office. I'll let it run today while I'm out.

[Blackstone]

Holy cow I can't move! Still listening to Jazz Messengers. I never got up, lol. QB-9 and the Bryston never sounded like this. This is in another league for sure. Ugh gotta get up!

[Blackstone]

I make no claims about how much better QX-5 is than Codex. I can only speak regarding the QB-9 DSD, which is discontinued. My dealer told me the Codex is more than just a little bit better than the QB-9 DSD and that when Codex launched they were told that they probably would not be selling many QB-9s after that. It supposedly is quite a bit better than QB-9 DSD but perhaps not so much better that it makes sense to go from QB-9 DSD to Codex, unless you need the digital volume control and the optical input and the headphone amplifier.

 

I did not give the Codex a serious audition because it did not have all of the features and content I was looking for to replace QB-9.

 

Also there are a few things to remember when I rave about QX-5. My source PC is a beast, so there may be an immediate benefit from switching from async USB on QB-9 to ethernet right out of the gate. So QX-5 may have an inherent advantage just because of the additional isolation. Second, I now have extremely convenient access to the QX-5s volume control by remote control. Which means for every recording I can dial in exactly the volume I want effortlessly. With the QB-9 DSD I would need to get up and tweak the headphone amp dial or use JRiver's software volume control. So just being able to make that adjustment as needed is going to change how I perceive the quality of the playback. If a recording has too much sizzle it could just be one or two tweaks of the volume that tames it. So the whole user experience is better.

 

Frankly toward the end of my QB-9 DSD's run I was not liking what I was hearing. I did not like what I was hearing when I balanced my Grado's and started using the balanced out of my Bryston BHA-1. It was just too bright and grainy. But the BHA-1 was being fed single ended from QB-9, not balanced. With QX-5, because the QX-5 is the headphone amp as well as the DAC, I cut out a set of single ended interconnect (Transparent Reference) and now my headphone setup is fully balanced. So there is that advantage as well.

 

So there are a lot of factors coming together which make QX-5 a treat to use beyond just the raw dac performance. Codex is an $1,800 dac that out guns much more expensive dacs, apparently. QX-5 is a $9k dac that is nipping at the heels of $25k dacs! The Codex is going to make the most sense for most people. If it had a remote volume control I would have seriously considered it.

 

I had no expectation that QX-5 would compete with $20k dacs when I purchased - I needed more inputs and more buttons and a good bump in performance, but that apparently that is the general consensus.

[Blackstone]

So last night's listening session did not disappoint. After just 24 hours the headphone amp sounds primed to go and now it has softened to the point where my more edgy rock recordings sound good. Not as liquid smooth as the demo but for a unit with only 24 hours on it I'm damn impressed. Every aspect of playback is better. This unit has a FULL sound. The Bryston headphone amp was thin and brittle by comparison. The sound here has weight and body. Lots of punch and slam. It really deconstructs complex passages incredibly well.

 

The wide soundstage we talked about is definitely there, as dictated by the source material. On jazz recordings horns seem to come from much further hard left or right of my headphones whereas with the QB/Bryston the instruments were not as pinpoint. There is also a sense of not just left and right sound stage, but also depth and elevation. It was something I did not expect from any headphone, let alone a Grado.

 

The headphone amplifier is absolutely first rate I have never heard a better one. I typically max out volume at 70-74 out of 100. Plenty of gain but I suspect balanced operation is a must with harder to drive cans.

 

I can't evaluate the mains at all until I get my listening room. I suspect my amp and speakers are just outclassed by this unit and will bottleneck it, but it should give me a general sense of its preamp capability.

 

There are some bugs with switching inputs that hopefully can be addressed with firmware. It does not like toggling between ethernet and usb.

 

Also if you feed it optical from TV, source must be stereo. A 5.1 signal creates a nasty hiss. If cable box is set right, and netflix defaults to stereo, no problem.

 

Oh and I ran a few video games last night on PC with the async usb--that same soundstage and imaging gave me a better sense of where my team mates and enemies were in "Team Fortress 2" such that I could find them and dispatch them easier. And the sonic benefits carried over to the sound effects and soundtrack for a more immersive experience.

 

That's all. Looking forward to a long weekend of wine, coffee and jazz with QX. My wife has a night shift at the hospital tonight so after work I can settle in for some audio goodness!

[Blackstone]

May I asK what you mean by "It does not like toggling between ethernet and usb.". What happend exactly when you toggle ? ( my music will be on the NAS but also on a USB stick for new music to test )

 

My dealer is addressing it with Ayre. Probably needs a firmware update or something. There is an issue where it disappears off the network and sometimes it disappears as a USB device and requires a hard reboot of the QX-5 Twenty to get it back when you toggle from one source to the other. I am not sure to what extent you can switch from a live USB stream to a live ethernet stream. In one case I had to reinstall Streamlength to get USB back. It is easy to reproduce which is good because it will be easy for them to fix. I honestly would rather have the unit now and let them work out the kinks through firmware or whatever. I am going to let Audio Consultants talk to them about it and Audio Consultants is going to tinker with their unit on Saturday to see if they can sort it out. Par for the course if you are an early adopter of anything electronic, or if you are into cars, German.

 

Dealer also told me to remind everyone that the dCS Puccini had its own bugs and popping sounds when it hit the market and they nailed it with a software update. So I am not overly concerned. It could be a few lines of code and per the manual, the process for updating firmware is very streamlined. You can argue at this price it should be perfect but go try arguing that to a Mercedes Benz dealer and see where that gets you!

[Blackstone]

lol my cousin came over for a few beers and we fired up Grand Theft Auto V on PC and to the chagrin of neighbors fired up the mains on QX-5 to feed the B&W N804s. At one point it sounded so real I could not tell the police siren in the game from one in the real city here. Normally I am not overly impressed with game sound from the main speakers but this was enveloping. Async USB. Had to reboot QX-5 to get it to work, which was a little embarrassing though.

[Blackstone]

Loving it except the loss of usb recognition in Windows after using ethernet. I should be able to just switch from ethernet to usb without getting up to power cycle QX-5. Not even rebooting my PC works, so its not my system.

 

It is sort of hard to believe they missed it since it is such a basic function. Meh.

[Blackstone]

It came with a wifi adapter too, but not recommended.

[Blackstone]

It seemed to be working more reliably today but I did have to reset it once. I was able to switch mid stream between the two inputs, but I was careful and deliberate about it.

[Blackstone]

My dealer is on the case. I am absolutely confident it will get resolved. Also, my experience over the weekend was excellent. I am not sure what the precise set of conditions are that trigger the issue. It might have something to do with switching inputs before the QX can lock. I was able to toggle from ethernet to usb and back mid stream this weekend, very deliberately and carefully on Saturday. That was fantastic. I did not play with it much over the weekend because I have sort of set it aside to let it run continuously and burn in with a rather eclectic playlist of both music and noise tracks. I am guessing I have about 130 hours on the headphone amp. I will listen again this weekend. Too much work to do this week for toys!

[Blackstone]

It might be a moot point because async USB sounds so much better than ethernet to my ears on both Roon and JRiver. The ethernet is just anemic and harsh to the point where I was wondering if something was wrong with my system. Switching back to USB brought the goodness and musicality back. You can't play it loud on ethernet it tears my ears out. Async USB is lush and enveloping.

 

I really don't have have never needed the ethernet input. It could be my comcast router is not as good a source as my pc for whatever reason.

 

I still think JRiver via async is the best sounding solution. I hear more music and you can crank it without fatigue. At one point on ethernet I could not hear a guitar riff I knew was there.

 

I think the idea that ethernet is better async usb is highly case specific. In my setup it sounds like a clock radio. I think it is unlistenable. I say stick with USB if you can.

 

NOW the comparisons with 20k dacs don't seem so far fetched after all but with ethernet I wasn't feeling it AT ALL. Not even close.

[Blackstone]

USB and headphone performance is so good I'm less concerned. I am the exception to the rule because I game on my pc while I listen sometimes and being able to toggle from the game sound in usb to another audiophile grade input for music is nice because wasapi tends to hijack the computer's audio and if I play it in the background and then want to get the game sound back, I have to stop play and reboot the game. Same with the web or any application really. I thought if I could toggle over to ethernet and roon (which does kinda work) , this was a workaround. What I am asking it to do is a little unusual. But usb playback sound quality is so much better i doubt the ethernet connection will get much serious use at all. But there is $9,000 worth of dac here regardless. I could accomplish the same thing by using the optical out for all computer sounds and then set Jriver and roon to use async usb.

 

My understanding is that async usb is supposed to be the best sounding connection. Ethernet is theoretically better but not in my system.

 

Also, I would never use a thumb drive and I have no interest in streaming.

 

Even Brinkman told me at the demo that usb was the best input. I dunno when anyone decided async usb was out of style because it sounds absolutely wicked. At some point you have to be empirical and pragmatic if you want to be an audiophile. I always felt the Roon endpoint and other inputs were just a cherry on top. I was excited about the endpoint, but frankly, it was never clear or represented to me that it was going to match async usb, and I don't think it does.The dac, volume control, headphone amp, preamp and usb performance with is so good it distinguishes itself on those core features alone.

 

I am not saying ethernet can't be better with the right nas, but the idea that ethernet is better than a straight async usb connection from your pc because the pc is not a good source is nonsense based on my experience.

 

Also, Jriver continues to be a demonstrably better sounding app than Roon. I think the DSP volume control in JRiver may match what is in QX-5. Roon, no way. I am not entirely sold on Roon's sound, although the interface is beyond charming. I am more than sold on QX-5 which sounds so good when set up optimally I almost don't believe it.

[Blackstone]

I guess it depends on how Tidal works. Is it an app? Can you send it by async usb? If you can send tidal to the dac via async usb (I've never used it) then probably yes.

 

Keep in mind ethernet is totally new territory for me. It could be I'm not set up optimally. Lots of devices hook to my router.

[Blackstone]

The Melco we used at the demo sounded GREAT as a NAS with ethernet. It could be that my network here is just not good (Comcast router!). I don't think anything about this dac is standard. I am only saying, don't expect to just plug into your cable router and get results like async usb because that is not my experience.

[Blackstone]

Oh I did not see Scottsols last post until just now. I think we are on the same page. Actually on my way back from breakfast I thought about grabbing some cat7 cable at microcenter but dismissed it since I am set until I move and am not sure about length. I do think ethernet performance here is inconsistent with what I heard at the demo. Yes my ethernet cables are total garbage from microcenter and not even shielded cat7. It is cat unknown from my closet. It is not at all optimized for audio playback. It is entirely possible a superior network could be created, of course. I heard it myself. I'm not condemning the ethernet input, only my network. But I would hate to think people are auditioning this fabulous unit with their Comcast router as a source and missing out on what I am hearing now. If you are going to do ethernet it obviously takes some planning.

[Blackstone]

Scott, so just out of curiosity, how did we feed the QX-5 at the demo? Was there a router for the ethernet or was the melco connected directly to the QX-5 via ethernet cable?

[Blackstone]

Not a bad price, if it performs. Yes. The demo had all of the hallmarks of a Transparent system. It was of course first rate. Of course I am a big fan of Transparent for decades and they always deliver. If I were going ethernet seriously I would use their cables, but I am reluctant to try them with my home router.

 

Enough banter from me guys. Check this gadget at out your earliest convenience. I want to hear what others think.