Want to buy Ayre C-5xeMP but...

I could ask: "What is your gut telling you?". But you plainly said that you don't want to let it go.

So my suggestion is to look in the mirror and ask yourself why you want the Ayre, and then keep it.

I heard Charles Hanson saying on the Audio Asylum forum that the new Ayre QB-9 USB DAC is neck and neck with the CX-5 in sound quality.

I have a mac mini and western digital 2TB hard drive and it's really quiet. You can hear it when it's ripping music but for playback it's really quiet. I wouldn't say that it makes absolutely no noise but it's really low. I know what you are talking about on the DVR noise, I can't stand it either. Unless you are listening to the quietest music and are making a point of trying to listen for it and let it bug you it seems unlikely that it would be a problem. At that you could just put the computer in another location if needed.

Personally I would not choose a CD player over the server. I have 5000 CDs and it's just to many to keep track of and dig out when I want to hear them, plus it's pretty fun to let it all shuffle sometimes and you get to randomly hear something that you might not have.

If you wanted you can always listen to the music on the server and look at the CD while you play it if you like doing that sort of thing.

I stated I didn't want to let it go because I was happy with the G08 but while the other CDP's I tried were better in some respects there was something about them always telling me to stay with the Meridian. I initially felt that way about the Ayre but after leaving it going for 24hours and listening all day I started hearing what I loved about the G08 but better. The Ayre ended up having more extended highs, the mids are fuller with a more natural tone and bass is tighter. The pace and timing has improved.

I am giving the C5 back today and will listen to the G08 again to make sure I was hearing what I come to believe I am with the Ayre.

Thanks for the responses and there is still time if someone has any other opinions on the subject.

I was excited about the Ayre DAC but it only has a USB input and I have read that USB has a limited bandwidth and that is what has me scared about that piece.

You're getting a lot of bad and/or incomplete info. One guy says he likes his CDP better than his server but doesn't tell us what DAC he's using, what software, or anything else about it so that is basically one man's opinion about one system that we can't tell anything about.

I've never heard anybody ever say anything about "distortion in the time domain" with servers. Care to clarify?

USB will easily do 24/96 which is a lot higher bandwidth than a CD so I don't see that as a limiting factor. There are many. many options when it comes to computers and DACs including pro audio firewire units that will do multichannel 24/192. You have barely scratched the surface so don't base your decision on this limited input or dismiss USB audio based on one comparison. Go hang out at the PC audio forum at Audio Asylum for awhile and you will learn a lot.