QB-9 USB Upgrade

[imprezap2]

It's a small company that sold a lot of these DAC's, only a couple of people working on the upgrades, I think Ayre underestimated the amount of DAC's that would come back for the upgrade.

I agree it's long wait, waited also around 8 months before the DSD upgrade (DX-5) arrived in Netherlands, but now I enjoy the feeling of having a new player again

[Blackstone]

Originally Posted by imprezap2

It's a small company that sold a lot of these DAC's, only a couple of people working on the upgrades, I think Ayre underestimated the amount of DAC's that would come back for the upgrade. I agree it's long wait, waited also around 8 months before the DSD upgrade (DX-5) arrived in Netherlands, but now I enjoy the feeling of having a new player again

I agree the wait was agonizing but once you get it installed it is pure joy. It was logistically difficult for them for a number of reasons. Ayre leads in this industry however. They make magical stuff.

[easystreet21]

I am happy to report that the sonic quality of the upgrade is outstanding. Here's what I said on computeraudiophile.com:

With a grand total of 5 hours of burn-in, I sat down to listen to very familiar music last night and the difference between the old dac and the new dac was . . . . . startling. Wow. There is significant new detail and clarity on every track. Vocals are more intelligible. The noise floor appears to be lower. Instruments and voices are more separated in space. The whole presentation is more musical and gives me more insight into the intent of the musicians -- the real touchstone of what I am looking for in a component upgrade.

Ayre gets a D- for the length of time this upgrade took. They get a solid A for sonic performance and value for the money.

[Omerta]

Everyone seems to feel the upgrade was a noticeable improvement. I bailed and sold my QB-9 and went in another direction because I played the waiting game with the first round of upgrades and knew what was in store. Now I'm reading the reviews I would like to compare to what I have now for piece of mind.

[Masterlu]

easystreet21... Welcome to AA!

[skyblue]

Originally Posted by Omerta

Everyone seems to feel the upgrade was a noticeable improvement. I bailed and sold my QB-9 and went in another direction because I played the waiting game with the first round of upgrades and knew what was in store. Now I'm reading the reviews I would like to compare to what I have now for piece of mind.

Its really awesome. A noticable improvement on all accounts. Especially bass.

The ComputerAudiophile highly recommended it.

However, if the dac you went with, is the Berkeley Alpha dac 2, Im sure you are in good hands. Berkeley dac1 was as I understood it, just a notch above the QB9 and so if you really want to up the ante, go with the Berkeley alpha reference series or maybe a dcs stack? The sky is the limit, if you can pay

[Omerta]

Originally Posted by skyblue

Its really awesome. A noticable improvement on all accounts. Especially bass.

The ComputerAudiophile highly recommended it.

However, if the dac you went with, is the Berkeley Alpha dac 2, Im sure you are in good hands. Berkeley dac1 was as I understood it, just a notch above the QB9 and so if you really want to up the ante, go with the Berkeley alpha reference series or maybe a dcs stack? The sky is the limit, if you can pay

I have read the reference is a step up from the the alpha2 I have but at this point I can't find anything I would want to improve. Definitely getting to the point of diminishing returns.

[skyblue]

Originally Posted by Omerta

I have read the reference is a step up from the the alpha2 I have but at this point I can't find anything I would want to improve. Definitely getting to the point of diminishing returns.

From experience, I would disagree with the statement. With the QB9, I thought it was as good as it got. The QB9 dsd kills it though. And from reading reviews the Alpha dac reference, kills the QB9 dsd.

I was at a presentation with Dave Nauber of Classe, and he called being an audiophile a disease (not his exact words though). As soon as you have heard something better its hard to go back. I believe this.

So never ever listen to something more better, just stay at home. But oth. its hard to imagine that the diminishing returns are just that. Sometimes, yes, but when you are an audiophile, isn't it the very very small details that people nitpick about? Otherwise, my computer speakers from Logitech sounds pretty nice

[Omerta]

Originally Posted by skyblue

I was at a presentation with Dave Nauber of Classe, and he called being an audiophile a disease (not his exact words though). As soon as you have heard something better its hard to go back. I believe this.

i totally agree with this. This is why the cable company borrowing policy can be dangerously expensive. Once you hear a better cable in your mind, you can't listen to what you have without obsessing about the slightly better sound you are missing.

[ylee]

Interesting to read of people's experience in getting the QB-9 upgraded. My dealer Tom Unger at Gifted Listener Audio in Centreville, VA told me back in late 2013 to wait a while before having my unit sent in due to the backlog that existed at the time. I gave my QB-9 to Tom to ship it into Ayre last September finally and the unit came back in less than a month.

The upgrade to the chipset plus DSD status was a noticeable improvement. I also at the same time upgraded the DAC card in my Classe CP-800, which I did myself (took about a half hour to do it with care). I've enjoyed comparing the two DACs since then. I would give the Ayre a slight edge overall in musicality. The CP-800 has to do a lot of other things in addition to converting digital to analog, so this is understandable.