Ayre QB-9 problem

[slowGEEZR]

I've lived happily with my QB-9 for around five years, or so. I use it with a last generation Mac Mini, loaded with Amarra software. I have a four terabyte external drive hooked up also. Lately, over the last month or so, I've sometimes had to restart the computer, in order for the DAC to receive the signal. It didn't happen always, just every now and then. I figured it was that Amarra or iTunes needed more time to synch up. Yesterday, it wouldn't sync up, even after rebooting three or four times. I've unplugged the cables and replugged them back in. Any thoughts on what might be happening?

 

[slowGEEZR]

Problem resolved. Whew!

 

[MiTT]

So what was the root cause of the problem Steve?

Did you have it upgraded to work with DSD? Just curious.

 

[slowGEEZR]

Tim, I'm still on the wait list for that upgrade. I have to laugh, as I have been on the wait list for months! Oh well, it's not like the sound is bad now.

I'm not sure exactly what the problem was, but I did notice that my other Mac was running also when I had the issue and the music folder on that computer has the same name as the music folder on my MacMini. Maybe there was a time related issue while Amarra was trying to sync up? Anyway, I have had no further issues since I turned off the other Mac. What new DAC do you have incoming?

 

[MiTT]

I've the AURALiC Vega coming any day now. Very excited to hear it in my system.

 

[slowGEEZR]

Very nice! Congrats!

 

[merrillaudio]

I've lived happily with my QB-9 for around five years, or so. I use it with a last generation Mac Mini, loaded with Amarra software. I have a four terabyte external drive hooked up also. Lately, over the last month or so, I've sometimes had to restart the computer, in order for the DAC to receive the signal. It didn't happen always, just every now and then. I figured it was that Amarra or iTunes needed more time to synch up. Yesterday, it wouldn't sync up, even after rebooting three or four times. I've unplugged the cables and replugged them back in. Any thoughts on what might be happening?

I am curious, have you tried any other software on the Mac mini? I have not done any software comparison but am curious if different software programs sound different.

From a different thread and some other sources, I am hearing that distant NAS power supplies, ethernet cables, mac mini power supplies etc all make a difference.

 

[slowGEEZR]

I am curious, have you tried any other software on the Mac mini? I have not done any software comparison but am curious if different software programs sound different.

From a different thread and some other sources, I am hearing that distant NAS power supplies, ethernet cables, mac mini power supplies etc all make a difference.

Merrill, I purchased the Amarra software under the advice of my audio dealer and after reading reviews in audio magazines. I have been very happy with the quality of sound so I haven't bothered to try any of the other software out there. I am sure that there are ways to extract even better sound from a Mac Mini based server, as just placing the music in RAM cache seems to improve the sound. Shutting down non-needed applications is also said to help the sound, as well as using an external power supply or adding RAM. I don't understand why, but the USB cable makes a detectable difference. I tried the top audioquest, another $500 cable from a friend (sorry, can't remember the brand), Belkin Gold, a $2 cable I ordered, a couple of cheap cables that came with various computer accessories and a Pangea silver. Some sounded the same, but to my ears and psychological self convincing, the Pangea sounded the best on my system.