New Ayre QX-5 Twenty DAC? Any updates?

joeinid

joeinid

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I know there was a QX-5 demo at Audio Consultants in Evanston, Illinois. Did anyone attend? Any updates? Looks like it will be a spectacular DAC.
 
Ayre_QX5.jpg
 
Joe - There's a lengthy thread about this DAC on Computer Audiophile including comments from the Audio Consultants demo here. There are additional details about the DAC earlier in the thread and followup comments after the linked post, including comments from 'scottsol' who works at AC. Hope that you find this helpful!
 
Thanks! I've been scouring the various forums and hope there's someone here who can give their personal opinion of the QX-5. All reviews seem great so far.
 
I have another question about "ROON Ready" : From what I understand, to use ROON with the QX-5, you need to have on the same network a PC (or a modern powerful NAS) running ROON Server. So, what "ROON Ready" means ? Why a DAC needs to be "ROON Ready" if ROON run on a server, we just need the DAC to be a "STREAMING" DAC that has an Ethernet port ?

So, this "ROON Ready" designation has nothing to do with ROON itself, it is just that the DAC can stream & read files from a NAS through Ethernet ? correct ?
 
bmichels said:
I have another question about "ROON Ready" : From what I understand, to use ROON with the QX-5, you need to have on the same network a PC (or a modern powerful NAS) running ROON Server. So, what "ROON Ready" means ? Why a DAC needs to be "ROON Ready" if ROON run on a server, we just need the DAC to be a "STREAMING" DAC that has an Ethernet port ?

So, this "ROON Ready" designation has nothing to do with ROON itself, it is just that the DAC can stream & read files from a NAS through Ethernet ? correct ?
Click to expand...

You can find the short answer on the ROON website:

"ROON Ready network players have Roon’s high-resolution streaming technology built in.

Roon will discover them on your network, deliver the highest possible quality audio, and even allow volume control right from the Roon user interface!"

https://roonlabs.com/partners.html
 
Hyperion said:
Adding to that, you do need ROON Core installed on a NAS or computer on your local network.
Click to expand...

Yes I understand this :-( I wish they installed enough processing power in this DAC to run ROON Server on it directly ...
 
bmichels said:
Yes I understand this :-( I wish they installed enough processing power in this DAC to run ROON Server on it directly ...
Click to expand...

I believe it's much more complicated than that unfortunately. You would need a specific OS for the hardware (the Ayre QX-5 in this case) to make this a reality. The most simple and cost effective solution is to get a NAS which can run the ROON core, from where you can stream directly to the QX-5 over Ethernet.
 
Hyperion said:
I believe it's much more complicated than that unfortunately. You would need a specific OS for the hardware (the Ayre QX-5 in this case) to make this a reality. The most simple and cost effective solution is to get a NAS which can run the ROON core, from where you can stream directly to the QX-5 over Ethernet.
Click to expand...

I guess a SonicTransporter (with 2Tb SSD or 8 Tb HD and ROON server Pre-installed ) will be the simplest solution...

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reading the manual, I see that on the QX-5, the ethernet port and the 2 USB port all 3 use the same input N°10, so... I wonder if it is possible to have the QX-5 connected to the network (where I have a NAS attached) and also at the same time with a USB Stick in the USB port, and then for music playing, being able to switch between local music (USB) using mconnect and the music stored on the NAS (using ROON) ?
 
Yes, you can have multiple sources attached via input 10.

The correct app for the QX-5 is MConnect Control which is a version specifically designed for the QX-5.

On the computer audiophile thread you can now follow Blackstone's QX-5 adventure as he picked his up last night.
 
Scottsol said:
Yes, you can have multiple sources attached via input 10.

The correct app for the QX-5 is MConnect Control which is a version specifically designed for the QX-5.

On the computer audiophile thread you can now follow Blackstone's QX-5 adventure as he picked his up last night.
Click to expand...

thanks a lot
 
Anymore feedbacks about the qx5?
How does it perform via USB (fed with a PC/Mac or streamer) vs the ethernet connection?
And the other digital inputs to a transport? SPDIF vs AES/EBU?
 
bluedoor said:
Anymore feedbacks about the qx5?
How does it perform via USB (fed with a PC/Mac or streamer) vs the ethernet connection?
And the other digital inputs to a transport? SPDIF vs AES/EBU?
Click to expand...

It's really a top performer and holds its own against the competition in the store and I find the connection type is not overly important sonically. I guess if pushed, the Ethernet sounds a tiny bit better, but I like the Aurender app, so USB for me.

One word of caution: long break in. 800-1000 hours is not unreasonable.
 
Thanks for your insight.
Who does the Ethernet connection works? We simple connect it to a router and the device can see the library (stored on a NAS for instance) with the ROON server on a MacBook?
If so, why do you need an Aurender (or any other streaming device)?
800 to 1000h is just insane...
 
bluedoor said:
Thanks for your insight.
Who does the Ethernet connection works? We simple connect it to a router and the device can see the library (stored on a NAS for instance) with the ROON server on a MacBook?
If so, why do you need an Aurender (or any other streaming device)?
800 to 1000h is just insane...
Click to expand...

The Ayre app isn't as complete as the Aurender app.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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