As good as Ayre QB-9 DSD but with SPDIF input?

Kkbg, Interesting comment on the soundstage of the Ayre....I haven't heard the BADA. I have heard the Ayre on some big systems and the soundstage to me was natural. I don't know the BADA, but I know others out there have large stages regardless of what the producer wanted. I personally love soundstage (used to have Proacs and now Vandys) but I don't like everything to sound big if you know what I mean. I just like to hear the intimacy of a small jazz club if that's what was put down on the recording. Not saying the BADA or anything else for that matter doesn't do a realistic stage. Just something to keep in mind when you listen to everything.

NKBG,

No issues with L4 long term, plus its under 5 year warranty. 2 service guys in the US and return to Poland in extreme case takes 2 days via DHL.

Trial? You have a 7 day return policy from the guys running LampizatorNorth America.

You can also try the Amber Dac with its cheaper price and great feedback at Headfi.org forum:


00lunar

offline
228 Posts. Joined 12/2008
Location: Poland, Warsaw
Just dropping in to say that I had a listen to Amber. I've compared it to Essence III and TeddyDAC. Amber was king of the hill all the way. He represents much higher level than those two, at some point me and my buddy felt that this comparison was unfair. From devices known to me, I'd start comparing Amber to products like at least Vega.

Quick sum up:
Amber - transparent, excellent dynamics, enormous soundstage, spot on texture, organics and smooth
EIII - muddy, warm, cosy, not really detailed in comparison, intimate
TeddyDAC - something between those two above

00L.

Having said that, taste does matter, so do have a listen to a few leading contenders and see what you think.

well put Wisnon

Update on my ongoing comparison between the Ayre and Berkeley.

On a Mac you can create a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI utilities which outputs the same stream to two or more audio devices and compensates for drifting clocks as well. This allows one to play the same piece of music to two USB devices at the same time and A/B between them.

I finally setup both DACs, level matched, same power cords and interconnects to the best A/B comparison I can. The result is that there are some differences in the vocals but for the most part the Ayre QB-9 DSD and Berkeley + AP1 sound very very very close to my ears.

So this solves my problem of finding something that sounds as good but has more inputs.