Ayre NET2 Streaming Module for Ayre QX-5 Twenty

The Ayre QX-5 Twenty has been on the market for six years now, but the Californian company Ayre Acoustics Inc. can now offer a new extension for this D/A converter, namely the Ayre NET2 Streaming Module. According to the US high-end hi-fi manufacturer, this module offers better performance and higher sound quality than the previous generation of the streaming module. The electronics specialist from Boulder in Colorado is convinced that the new Ayre NET2 Streaming Module for Ayre QX-5 Twenty is a prime example of the cost-efficient upgradeability of many Ayre Acoustics Inc. products and its customer-oriented model policy.

Ayre QX-5 Twenty – The top model from Ayre Acoustics Inc.

The Ayre QX-5 Twenty from the Ayre 5 Series is the top model from Ayre Acoustics Inc., a fully balanced D/A converter that uses ESS ES9038PRO DACs from the specialist ESS Technology Inc. and has outstanding features such as two digital filters developed by Ayre Acoustics Inc. itself – Ayre Minimum Phase Digital Filter – and an SC-cut oscillator from Morion Inc.

The D/A converter also features a digital volume control that makes it suitable for use as a preamplifier, but can also be deactivated if desired. It also has an integrated headphone amplifier.

Modular construction

Another key feature of the Ayre QX-5 Twenty is that, like many other products from Ayre Acoustics Inc, it is modular.

Customers can add a USB port and a streaming module to the basic version, which already has a large number of optical and coaxial S/PDIF interfaces as well as AES/EBU inputs, as the manufacturer explicitly states. The new Ayre NET2 Streaming Module is a particularly exciting option.

Ayre NET2 Streaming Module

The new Ayre NET2 Streaming Module is intended to turn the Ayre QX-5 Twenty into a fully-fledged streaming client, as already briefly mentioned in the introduction, whereby it differs from the first-generation module available so far by a newly designed circuit. This is designed to ensure that the new Ayre NET2 Streaming Module for the Ayre QX-5 Twenty delivers an even clearer and more precise performance through significantly improved voltage regulation.

The new Ayre NET2 Streaming Module allows direct access to major streaming services such as TIDAL and Qobuz, but also ensures that the Ayre QX-5 Twenty can be used directly with Roon, the media management and multi-room hi-res audio streaming software from Roon Labs LLC, making it Roon-ready.

Prices and availability

The new Ayre NET2 Streaming Module for the Ayre QX-5 Twenty will be available immediately from authorised dealers. The price for customers who own the Ayre QX-5 Twenty with a first-generation streaming module is listed at € 1.650,-.

Getting to the point

It is quite remarkable that a manufacturer offers an upgrade for a solution that has already been on the market for six years, even in the high-end hi-fi segment. Ayre Acoustics Inc. is doing just that, with the new Ayre NET2 Streaming Module for the Ayre 5 Series D/A converter, the Ayre QX-5 Twenty.