Ayre QX-5 Twenty best settings?

Audio Gear Talk
1

hi all
i just got a nucleus+ and will be using it with an Ayre QX-5 Twenty. can anyone comment on what are the best PCM settings on the Nucleus+. i have this vague recollection that Ayre recommends native bit rate but i cant find where i heard that. what PCM settings are ayre dac users using, native, max pcm or 2x max pcm?
thanks

1 Like
2

No idea, but I think your DAC is fantastic! …as is most Ayre gear. I had a KX preamp for awhile and was sorry I let it go.

I would suggest you try the different settings to settle on what sounds best.

3

For the past 4 years since I have the Qx-5 its native pcm rate for me, tried a little with the dsp settings but didn’t like it. I’ll let the dac do its magic.

2 Likes
4

I’m a former QX-5 Twenty owner and I always used the native rate. It’s a superb DAC.

5

Native rate.

6

As far as I know I use the native setting. I had forgotten it had such options, but I’m sure I would have left it at the “cleanest” setting.

7

As far as I know this selection is not available on Ayre DACs and is probably an option of the Nucleus+.

The Ayre DACs have a 16x oversampling anyway so that an oversampling of the source is not necessary and in case of doubt rather worse than the one from Ayre.

I would certainly choose Native PCM.

8

Native it is, sounds great!

For qx-5 twenty owners: Ayre has upgrades in the works… me thinks there will be new Ethernet and usb implementations.

9

I have the same set-up, native works very well. The QX-5 is amazing, especially with 24 bit streaming.

10

I use HQPlayer to upsample everything to DSD128. Then send that to an opticalRendu connected to the QX-5’s USB input. I’ll reevaluate if and when Ayre provides an update, but for now it’s the best sounding.

11

I installed the USB2 upgrade myself, which was easy, but ran into issues with the Sonore opticalRendu, which required a coordinated response from Sonore and Ayre. That came quickly and the system works great, sounds great.
Based on this experience, I purchased the Net2 upgrade, but have yet to receive the card from Ayre. They report having issues between this updated ethernet card and Roon. Hoping these issues get resolved quickly.

12

What issue did you have with the opticalRendu and what did Sonore/Ayre suggest? The reason I ask is that I still get occasional dropouts when using HQPlayer, which I’ve isolated to the opticalRendu and/or Ayre.

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I do not use HQPlayer, so my issues and the eventual solution may be of limited value to you, but I’ll provide a summary anyway.
My issue related to the Sonore/Ayre combo not being able to play dsf files natively after installing the Ayre USB2 module. Investigation showed that I was running outdated software on the opticalRendu, which I updated, but that did not resolve the issue. The resolution came after Sonore issued a further update to accommodate the coding changes made by Ayre for the USB2.