PsiPhi

I think music should swing and not skip...

Over the years I have made made many power cords, but started dabbling with the DIY 'audio grade' products (Sonarquest, iego, Furutech, Oyaide) in 2020.

These things make an audible difference, and to my logic it *shouldn't*

Well, personally I go by the logic on such things. But I'm just a deaf old guy. It's true that I *once* thought I heard a power cable make a difference.

Indeed, I'm eating some crow here because I have laughed at 'audio jewelry' for decades.

Most recently, I went from unshielded to a shielded cable (FP-S022N) powering my DAC. Was careful to keep all plugs the same... Surprising result for me!

The Klippel speaker stuff is cool, but Eat from the DAC tree of SINADS and your life will be forever tainted...

oops

Haha, yup. First world problems...

Life is good!

I heard tell of alchemists who have invented a curious method of communicating with each other through the ether

At this point, I fear legends hold more promise than do White Papers.

What is a trip to Wonderland without tasting the delicacies..?

https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/25/chip_shortage_report/

That is a good point to consider, for sure. Any other streamer alternatives? Metrum Ambre looks decent

I’ve been wanting to get my hands on the pi2aes, but have been using two Allo DigiOne for years and like them a lot.

Looks like a high end box with some ESS parts inside.

...that comes from Hong Kong.

I wrote Sabres off for a long time, but IME they *can* sound good with careful FPGA

Been a while since I've listened to Burr Brown (DAC) chips, im curious about the ifi iDSD as well.

...we miss CODEX

And wonder what lies beyond...

I am open to audio prescriptions!

Our DAC has not been functioning for a couple of weeks, so I'm crying the 'upgrade and/or repair' blues.

Our Ayre QB-9, acquired as a temporary replacement, is not cutting it.

Upgrade?
Yggdrasil A2 gen 5?
Ditch USB and try I2S?

Get rid of USB @PsiPhi. QB-9 was good for its time but time to move on.

Thanks for the encouragement!

After 25 years on technical side of the recording industry, I have a fair amount of experience with optical/spdif/AES, (as well as various clocking schemes).

Generally speaking, my feelings are that

Implementation > Architecture

But it's fun to try new things! I have very little experience with the 1986 I2S protocol.

I had the Codex, very good DAC but I hated the USB Audio and Toslink inputs after a while.

Indeed. Sonically I am really impressed with that little box. I would be happy to live with it, but after making some cabling upgrades, I can't help but feel we are leaving some performance on the table.

We like the Codex a lot though, and with synergy in mind, moving up the Ayre chain to a QB-9 'twenty' seems to be the obvious choice. But USB in only... Might be a deal breaker!

Ayre isn’t going to change with their focus on USB. Their pricing also sucks.

Think about what you aim to achieve and then hit up the general advice thread here. It may save you some time, money and heartbreak. Non portable chi-fi can be a mine field.

Thanks for the suggestions. Minefields are to be avoided, my life is exciting enough!

Our Ayre Codex lost USB functionality a couple of days ago, so considering repair vs upgrade;

Holo Spring L2 is well reviewed here

Exasound E62 is a contender

Rockna Wavelight

Ayre QB9-twenty

Leaning toward the Ayre QB-9-twenty for more of a 'good thing'. Haven't found any reviews for that piece here though...

A lot of times we simply just haven't heard everything as a community, so no one has had ears on it here. There's also another reason why we might refrain from reviewing something, but that's for you to figure out if you don't know already