Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty – The Digital Hub

Ayre DACs use ESS DAC chips, which are totally capable of DSD playback without any special considerations, so of course they allow for DSD playback, as the market demands it.

This does not have anything to do with Charlie Hansen's disdain for DSD in general.

 

There are a lot of things to dislike about the path digital audio has taken in the marketplace. I consider the fact that we have to have two different base frequencies, requiring two different clock frequencies abhorrent, for example. And the wars between DSD/DVDA, and Sony's subsequent mind blowingly poor marketing of SACD and desire for strong copy protection are just some examples of such. The history of music distribution and recording formats is not one which serves audiophiles/music lovers.

Mighty nice summary. +1.

Nice thread, glad I found it. Great info and thanks. The DAC is 8950 as was reported. Allegedly Ayre will send out one DAC per dealer to start with. It will be a very tight release. That's probably due to the availably of the chip for now. As was stated, Alex would never let this thing fly until they KNEW when they would have the chips to install. I know during the Twenty upgrades of the AX-5 Twenty, they had a problem sourcing one component and had to slow down their conventions. I was lucky as I had one of the first ones since it was through the dealer's demo, but there was a long wait on getting those done. They and Vandersteen are two of the top companies going in regards to only releasing things when they know they can deliver. I assume that full production will most probably be in July or so, but that's only a guess based on conversations with folks.

I've decided to sell my Empirical Audio OSDE/SE fully loaded to get this DAC as I know Ayre products and I feel strongly it will beat the sound of my DAC (which to many of us sounds a bit better than the Berkley Ref DAC). I have a rebuilt Mac Mini server with a ton of well recorded high rez music that was built by Steven Nuggent of Empirical (with a separate Hynes power supply) that I will sell also. I've been looking at the Melco N1ZH (their TOL NAS/server, streamer) as I want something easier to use than the Mac. I was almost ready to pull the trigger months ago until I was told to hold off for this Ayre. I'm glad I did as I love the integration of everything that I personally will use. I do wish it had an SSD hard drive built in also as I hate extra components in the system.

The Codex is a huge winner in it's price range and this QX-5 Twenty will kick ass in it's own right I"m sure. As an IEM user (weekend mornings or late at night), I'm so glad they have added a top of the line headphone amp too. From the look on the panel, it doesn't look balanced though. AS for MQA, they will add it later on only if it takes off at the root level. They will need to see studio's pick it up as that's the only way it's viable. Warner is the first, but it will be interesting to see if they do their whole catalog or just selected parts of. Will they do all their new stuff in MQA? Topic for another thread, but this is Ayre's stance and it probably makes sense. Also, MQA isn't high rez and even though I've heard it, it wasn't in my system obviously, but I'm not sure it sounded better than my high rez stuff. I do stream Tidal like many of you, so MQA would be nice, but not a deal breaker for me at this time.

Hope I haven't offended anyone with my post. Thanks.

Front and Back of the QX-5 at High End Munich, pictures from Phileweb.com

Thanks for the pics. So it is balanced headphones. Even better buy, lol. I assumed they would as they are all about balanced, but I didn't ask when I spoke to them about it. appreciate the pics.

Thanks for the pics. So it is balanced headphones. Even better buy, lol. I assumed they would as they are all about balanced, but I didn't ask when I spoke to them about it. appreciate the pics.

Yes, it's hard to imagine Ayre would NOT offer balanced operation - all the more so given that the Codex has that feature. I would like to hear the QX-5 but am saving my allowance for an AX-5.

I have the AX-5 Twenty. Once of the best integrated's I've ever heard. Just an amazing amp. You will not regret it at all.

I have the AX-5 Twenty. Once of the best integrated's I've ever heard. Just an amazing amp. You will not regret it at all.

Yes, that's why it's my next purchase. The AX-5 is one of the top 3 amps I've heard, integrated or separate (the others are the Ayre MX-R -I haven't heard the Twenty version - and the ARC Ref 250).

But to get back on topic, I find it curious that the QX-5 has wi-fi given Charles Hansen's disdain for RFI. I imagine some folks sharpening their knives ala Ayre products that support DSD. LOL!

But to get back on topic, I find it curious that the QX-5 has wi-fi given Charles Hansen's disdain for RFI. I imagine some folks sharpening their knives ala Ayre products that support DSD. LOL!

The WiFi isn't built-in. It's a USB "dongle" that can be used if desired by the customer.

Can it function as a preamp?

Can it function as a preamp?

Yes. It has digital volume control.

The WiFi isn't built-in. It's a USB "dongle" that can be used if desired by the customer.

Oh, nice. Owners can decide for themselves whether wi-fi degrades SQ. Thanks for the info.

My Empirical OSDE/SE has a digital/analog volume control and I won't use it. I've A/B'd going the direct route on may occasions and I've never heard it sound better than if you use a really good pre. This one will be interesting to test as it's an Ayre. I'd be open minded and if I liked it as much, I'd sell the AX-5 Twenty and get a used MX-R and do the Twenty upgrade, lol..... or maybe the VX-5 Twenty as that's a KILLER amp too.

Digital Audio Review has a bit more info, including video from Munich and an interview with the Ayre rep.

Can someone please tell me what "Roon Ready" means? Don't you still need a PC to run Roon? Why would a DAC need to be "Roon Ready"?

Digital Audio Review has a bit more info, including video from Munich and an interview with the Ayre rep.

 

Can someone please tell me what "Roon Ready" means? Don't you still need a PC to run Roon? Why would a DAC need to be "Roon Ready"?

RoonReady means it can be a Roon audio endpoint. You can stream from a Roon PC or NAS to RoonReady audio devices.

RoonReady means it can be a Roon audio endpoint. You can stream from a Roon PC or NAS to RoonReady audio devices.

Hmmm, I'm slow on the uptake here. You still have "a Roon PC or NAS", what does it help to have "RoonReady audio devices"? If I have Roon on my PC, I can use Roon with any DAC, right? What advantage do I gain if my DAC is "Roon Ready"?

All of this technology is quickly leaving me and my flip phone behind. I'm still unclear on how I would configure a system with the microRendu . . .

Hmmm, I'm slow on the uptake here. You still have "a Roon PC or NAS", what does it help to have "RoonReady audio devices"? If I have Roon on my PC, I can use Roon with any DAC, right? What advantage do I gain if my DAC is "Roon Ready"?

 

All of this technology is quickly leaving me and my flip phone behind. I'm still unclear on how I would configure a system with the microRendu . . .

No worries. Some of us are so into this, it's easy to forget that most people have real lives outside of CA.

RoonReady means the device has an Ethernet input and the device will appear within Roon as an audio device capable of receiving audio over the network. You simply select the RoonReady endpoint just like you would select a USB DAC.

The beauty of this for some people, not all, is that you can run Roon on a NAS in some other room of the house, control and browse music with an iPad, and stream it to you audio system. NAS > Audio component.

Or, you can run Roon on a PC and place that PC in any room of the house. There's no need for an ugly or noisy PC in the audio room. In addition, the PC can be any PC. I have yet to hear a sonic difference when streaming from a Roon server to a RoonReady endpoint. In my experience the PC doesn't matter.

There are many other cool things and benefits, but again, it's not for everybody.

Yes, it's hard to imagine Ayre would NOT offer balanced operation - all the more so given that the Codex has that feature. I would like to hear the QX-5 but am saving my allowance for an AX-5.

Great to see balanced headphone capacity. What kind of jacks are on the front, quarter inch? Wonder why they didn't use a standard four pin style single jack for the headphones?

Great to see balanced headphone capacity. What kind of jacks are on the front, quarter inch? Wonder why they didn't use a standard four pin style single jack for the headphones?

don't know the answer, but it's the same on their Codex too. Many of us like to use the 2.5mm connections as we do on our portable units, lol. Just means another cable to buy. My IEM's have the two pin connection and it's a bear to change out.

Your questions may all be answered soon.

The North American debut of the QX-5 will be at Audio Consultants (I work there) in Evanston Illinois ( Chicago area ) on Saturday June 18 from 11 to 5. Alex Brinkman of Ayre will be there to demonstrate the unit and answer questions.

Alex will then take the QX-5 to California the following Saturday for a showing at Music Lovers in Berkeley.

Your questions may all be answered soon.

 

The North American debut of the QX-5 will be at Audio Consultants (I work there) in Evanston Illinois ( Chicago area ) on Saturday June 18 from 11 to 5. Alex Brinkman of Ayre will be there to demonstrate the unit and answer questions.

 

Alex will then take the QX-5 to California the following Saturday for a showing at Music Lovers in Berkeley.

Thanks Scott. Awesome stuff. Really looking forward to hearing it. Alex has been excited about it for a while now and I'm sure it won't disappoint. I spoke with someone who has heard it a few times and felt it was as good digital as he's heard. he also likes the Brinkmann Nyqvist. CAn't wait until the new chips are released and they can go into full production mode.

Your questions may all be answered soon.

 

The North American debut of the QX-5 will be at Audio Consultants (I work there) in Evanston Illinois ( Chicago area ) on Saturday June 18 from 11 to 5. Alex Brinkman of Ayre will be there to demonstrate the unit and answer questions.

 

Alex will then take the QX-5 to California the following Saturday for a showing at Music Lovers in Berkeley.

I'll also be demoing it in a few weeks in Cali, so feel free to reach out to us with any questions.

Thanks Scott. Awesome stuff. Really looking forward to hearing it. Alex has been excited about it for a while now and I'm sure it won't disappoint. I spoke with someone who has heard it a few times and felt it was as good digital as he's heard. he also likes the Brinkmann Nyqvist. CAn't wait until the new chips are released and they can go into full production mode.

Looking forward to hearing how it went Scott. Time to get my Empirical OSDE/SE and Synchro Mesh on the market, lol.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hearing the new Ayre QX-5 Twenty "digital hub" at Audio Consultants in Evanston, Illinois. Alex Brinkman, Ayre's North American Sales Manager was on hand to demonstrate the unit and explain its unique feature set. What a feature set it is!

First let's talk about the associated equipment. The digital front end was a unit called the "Melco" and athough I am not sure precisely which model was used, it was a very well made purpose built device for the storage and delivery of digital music files. The source material was a mix of 192KHz and redbook CD material, along with some Tidal based material. I provided much of my own 192KHz material. The material was played from the Meclo and fed into the QX-5 Twenty via Ethernet connection. Due to a glitch we could not get the Melco to feed the QX-5 Twenty by asynchronous USB connection, which I understand would have been the best way to connect, so we stuck with the network based connection. The results were still fabulous. From the QX-5 Twenty the signal was sent via some extremely high end Transparent interconnect to an Ayre AX-5 Twenty integrated amplifier, and then via Transparent Opus speaker cable into, at my request, a pair of B&W 803 D3 speakers. There were better speaker options available, but I requested the 803 D3 because I was interested in hearing that particular model. Power conditioning was also provided by Transparent Audio.

In addition, I brought my own Grado PS1000 headphones which, during the course of the demo, I had the store convert to balanced operation and mated to a Transparent Audio adapter converting the stereo XLR on the headphone to the type of dual mini pin balanced output found on the Pono, Codex, and now the QX-5 Twenty.

First, I practically lept into the "Ayre" to discover a feature that I hoped would make it into the product that had in fact been implemented. Alex was a little surprised I found this so important but I was ecstatic. Not only does the QX-5 Twenty allow you switch from the headphone output to the rear outputs with a push of a button on the unit itself, you can also do this by remote control via the remote that comes with the unit. That means you can leave you headphones plugged in, set them aside, grab the remote, press a button on the remote and fire up your speakers from your favorite listening chair. The transition from headphone amplifier to DAC/preamplifier is absolutely seamless.

I have heard a lot of equipment in this room over the years and I have a good feel for the room and its acoustic properties. Once my files were accessible I grabbed the ipad controller and fired up a few tried and true 192KHz files and settled into the sweet spot. I can say what I heard was probably about as good if not better than any configuration I have heard. The horns on the 192KHz versions of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" were incredibly, three dimensional, detailed and nuanced and even at VERY high volume levels there was not so much as a hint of noise, grain or anything fatiguing. This system was simultaneously detailed and smooth, which is something in my experience is not easily obtainable. The word that comes to mind is "musical" and engaging. It was just undeniably good. I thought it bested some more clinical sounding offerings from more expensive companies.

The soundstage was MASSIVELY WIDE, with instruments occupying their own space in an almost startling way, coming from locations no where near the speaker drivers. At one point John Coltrane's sax emerged from such a clearly defined space and with such convincing authority that I was a little star struck. They did not seem to emanate from the speakers, but rather from other parts of the room itself, out of thin air. Bass was tight, powerful and well defined.

There was no aspect of the performance as a DAC that I thought was lacking in any way. I was pretty impressed. It was the best I have heard an 800 D3 series speaker sound so far and there is absolutely no doubt in mind that the QX-5 Twenty is ready for a first rate system. I am told the async usb connection from the Melco would have been even better, but this was pretty terrific as is.

Switching over to headphones, I was pleased to find that the performance of the headphone amplifier was every bit as good as with the AX-5 Twenty. Again, not a hint of grain or unpleasantness to be found. It was an order of magnitude less fatiguing than my Bryston BHA-1, which can be a bit hard on the ears. Shockingly, switching to the Grado, I found the experience just as engaging as with the speaker setup. It was like the performance I had just heard had just been shrunk down for my own little session. There did not seem to be any compromise. The remote digital volume control was a joy and using it to optimize the volume in no way degraded the sound.

Having the ability to precisely dial in the correct volume using the unit itself did not create a perceptive degradation in sound. All of the characteristics described above with respect to the speakers were every bit as present with the headphone amplifier, which easily drove my the PS1000s with volume to spare. Again, the level of detail was uncanny considering how smooth the performance was. The transition to headphones is seamless with the unit remembering the appropriate volume level depending on whether you are using cans or speakers. Performance with the QX-5 Twenty seemed to me to be a step up from my QB9-DSD and Bryston BHA-1 combo, which can sound grainy and hard on the ears at times.

I can't possibly describe all of what I experienced and heard but if you are in the market for a DAC in this range, this unit has performance in spades. There is also a lot more functionality that I haven't even gotten to. I am absolutely thrilled with the level of functionality this unit brings to the table and the performance I heard was as good as anything I have ever heard. :thumbsup: I will have mine by August I hope! Kudos to Ayre and Audio Consultants for a great demo!!

@Blackstone, can you comment on DSD capabilities?

All of Jordan's ( Blackstone) files were Flacs so he can't comment on DSD.

The QX-5 was set up Friday evening and , being dead cold, sounding thin and bright. We kept it playing overnight, and while much better in the morning, wasn't really right until late Saturday afternoon. By 5:30 Alex had to leave with it so I never had a chance to do anything like a proper evaluation. Nothing I heard on DSD tracks lead me to believe the QX-5 wouldn't handle all formats with equal aplomb, but this is a highly preliminary conclusion. Jordan is one of the few people who got to hear the setup sounding at its best. It should be noted that while the QX-5 was playing at a high level by the end of the day, it probably needs a few hundred more hours to reach full potential.

BTW The QX-5 is currently limited to DSD128 but this is a limitation of the current firmware,,not the hardware.