Ayre QB-9/ARC DAC-7 comparison
hikejohn -- Mon, 08/17/2009 - 22:18
Local dealer kindly loaned me these two DACs as I explore using DAC/mac mini versus a CD Player. I had thought that there would be similar characeristics between the units...my assumption. Interestingly enough complex orchestra/classic performances brought things into sharp focus. But I also want to solicit the opinions of folks who might be familar with these units...using a computer/USB as the source...any help is appreciated.
John
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Well got no responses, which might have been helpful, but from my own listening the Ayre QB-9, for me, is significantly better. Part of the dramatic difference is related to the limit usb abilities of the ARC DAC-7...but none the less....particularly given the lower price...provides a much more musical presentation...more open, vastly wider/ more open sound staging/image....guess I will buy it.
Thanks for your input. I will be getting an Ayre dac to review for the weekend shortly. I am disappointed about the absolute lack of reviews on the web regarding this unit considering its now widely available. The Berkeley Bryston etc. etc. are ALL OVER THE PLACE. Very very little real world testing & listening by people like Robert Harley that I can find. Am I missing something? This unit should be groundbreaking. I continue to think that the digital filters and the analog output portions of dacs may be the most important parts of the equation though. WHY NO REVIEWS? AM I JUST MISSING THEM???
Paul Hinson
Thanks for your input. I will be getting an Ayre dac to review for the weekend shortly. I am disappointed about the absolute lack of reviews on the web regarding this unit considering its now widely available. The Berkeley Bryston etc. etc. are ALL OVER THE PLACE. Very very little real world testing & listening by people like Robert Harley that I can find. Am I missing something? This unit should be groundbreaking. I continue to think that the digital filters and the analog output portions of dacs may be the most important parts of the equation though. WHY NO REVIEWS? AM I JUST MISSING THEM???
Paul Hinson
No you are not missing anything. There is bad blood between Ayre and TAS. You will not see any
reviews of Ayre gear in TAS.
Remember that the Ayre QB-9 uses the USB interface in asynchronous mode which slaves the computer to the DAC's clock and this theoretically reduces jitter vs. the bulk of USB interfaces in current DACs, which is "adaptive" mode. I believe the USB interface in the ARC DAC 7 is an afterthought and operates in "adaptive" interface mode. The question to compare is how does ARC's DAC 7 through S/PDIF interface compare to Ayre's QB-9 through USB interface? then you will be comparing apples-to-apples. You can see the following article in Computer Audiophile on different USB interface formats and the companies that provide them.
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Asynchronicity-USB-Audio-Primer
I believe, Wavelength Audio was one of the first to come up with USB "asynchronous" mode interface and they licensed the technology out to Ayre, which is using it in the QB-9. You can also see the following forum:
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/State-USB-Audio-Alan-Taffel
You will find in the forums at CA, many entries about the Ayre QB-9 and comparisons with other units. Enjoy.
In comparing those two units I was following the dealer's instruction. I was told to use the USB on the Ayre and ARC...it was driven from a mac mini. In retrospect I now understand that the ARC's USB capability isn't SOTA but that was ARC's design decision and they don't point out that limitation...they called it their SOTA effort particularly aimed at the mac/mini user. They state that they worked hard to provide the best possible performance...It seems to me that this product is more marketing driven rather than performance driven.
I agree that the computeraudiophile site is a great resource and I have read many articles there and have learned alot...at least I hope so. According to many the Alan Taffel article wasn't particularly well thought of....he ignored the entire asyc trend begun by Wavelength...and being followed along by Ayre and PS Audio.
In responding to the prior comment about TAS...it is sad to note that they seemingly won't review good products for personality reasons. I like Harley as a reviewer...I enjoyed an article by Harry Pearson about how product quality has improved to the point that perhaps the real challenge is to get better source material/recordings.
Well I guess I'm not tied into the "politics" of these mags. I stopped subscribing to either TAB or Stereophile years ago but my brother (along with the evolution of computer based music libraries as a way to extract something at least remotely similar to everyone's beloved vinyl; I must say I love the convenience of my itunes library but its since been routed through a theater processor dac. I'd like something for really serious listening). I can't resist. Robert Harley - any comments?
Well I guess I'm not tied into the "politics" of these mags. I stopped subscribing to either TAB or Stereophile years ago but my brother (along with the evolution of computer based music libraries as a way to extract something at least remotely similar to everyone's beloved vinyl; I must say I love the convenience of my itunes library but its since been routed through a theater processor dac. I'd like something for really serious listening). I can't resist. Robert Harley - any comments?