QB-9 USB Upgrade

[R@F]

I dig up this old thread. As I was wondering either, in one hand, to upgrade my QB9 Converter from "24-192" to DSD, or, in the other hand, to try to see for another one... I've exchanged a few emails with Ayre, and the French importer. It seems there is a new, the "last one" upgrade, called Double DSD. Have you heard about that?

... What"s the meaning of cluster (tiltle of this thread) --->Community ??

See you.
R@F

[bluebeat]

I've got the double dsd upgrade. It's available since january 2017 or so. Ayre doesn't really advertise it. You can read a bit more about it here: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/f...es-double-dsd/

[80B]

Hi R@F, "cluster" is American slang from cluster bomb, which then led to cluster f*ck, or a real mess. Not exactly the meaning in your dictionary!

[R@F]

Thank you for these answers.
I think that Double DSD is almost not available in France, I currently try to check it.
And then, i now know what is "cluster" (in this way), i knew "in a mess", and it seems to be much more powerfull!
Thank's.
R@F

[skyblue]

Anyone tried this?

https://www.ayre.com/2019/10/11/ayre...twenty-update/

[hifivoice]

Yes, I did. I bought a second hand QB-9 Twenty (for a price less than an upgrade), and could compare it next to my QB-9 DSD. The Twenty has a much broader and deeper sound stage, reveals more texture, reverbs isolate and decay into a darker silence, and has a more silky treble. Overall, the sound is embracing you more. The DSD is a very good DAC on its own, the Twenty is an order of magnitude better. To me it is definitely worth the investment.

My cousin, who also owns the QB9 DSD, wasn't willing to spend the money for an update ("other priorities"). But after listening to the DSD, and subsequently to the Twenty with the same song for half a minute, his response was "shit, this is going to cost me money". So he has ordered the update.

I recently acquired an Ayre EX-8, which has an internal DAC that is similar to the QB9 Twenty, with one exception; the USB input section which is like the QB-9 DSD. This setup sounds closer to the QB-9 DSD. So it seems the new USB input section is crucial for better jitter reduction. There is an USB 2.0 upgrade development planned for the EX-8 (just like the QX-5), which should bring it closer to or surpass the QB9 Twenty. I will also order that one when it becomes available.

For completeness, I use an Aurender N100H as input source.

[Masterlu]

hifivoice… Welcome to AA!

[mg87]

Originally Posted by skyblue

Anyone tried this?

https://www.ayre.com/2019/10/11/ayre...twenty-update/

Yes! I have. This will be my third QB-9. Several, DAC changes over the years I had the original QB-9 sold it. Bought a QB-9 DSD sold it. Currently have a QB-9 twenty. I only sold the original and DSD for multi-input DAC's (Ayre QX-5, Berkeley Alpha DAC 2 and 3). The QB-9's were/are great DAC's at each point in time they were released. The Twenty upgrade on all of their products is well worth the investment. Highly recommend the QB-9/20 and if you only need USB DAC, I feel the QB-9/20 will give a very close experience of the QX-8. I really appreciate the Ayre upgrade philosophy. They advance the performance as technology advances but don't cause us to buy chassis after chassis to get the latest performance. Thank you Ayre!