Those reviews seem a bit harsh haha, to be honest what I'm suggesting in terms of equipment will be so far the opposite of what you're currently using it will make your head spin. The DAC you are using is going for the ultimate HiFi approach, extreme bass slam, high extension, detail retrieval, and frequency response. It is over-engineered to achieve jaw dropping specs, not natural sound. What I'm suggesting is a completely reversed approach, and I'd implore you to just give it a try, if you don't like it sell the DAC and try something else as this is what the hobby is all about anyway. What you've got yourself is a world class HiFi machine, four stars in most reviews, critics raving....I abhor that equipment. I want things with less than perfect reviews, rolled off highs, less bass slam, and just ok detail retrieval. From owning over twenty DACs (that's just DACs not the equipment that surrounds it) I've come to realize that I just want things to sound normal. Bryston, Northstar, Boulder, MBL, etc - they want specs. I want things to sound like music, nothing more nothing less. You don't need off the charts specs to achieve this. The AN DAC 5 uses a DAC chip that's been out of production for years and only computes about 18bits to boot. But it produces music, not sound. I want emotion, soul, something that will move me and make my feet tap, something that will make me forget I'm listening to my stereo. Critical listening is for the birds, get lost in your music.
Now, as I said I really feel that it would be in your best interest to just try what I'm suggesting before you jump in head first. The 563 will certainly give you a taste of the other side of the spectrum, the bel canto 3.5 much more so and the matrix is diving in head first. What you are going to get by moving up the line is weight. Even the highest of notes should carry weight, you should be able to feel them physically as even the smallest of things have presence. That's what your Cyrus is not giving you, you hear the notes, but they've lost presence; they don't have any weight. This weight is at the very heart of sound, it carries impact, 3D space, motion, emotion. You don't get bass by diving into 20hz you get bass by portraying the thick physical impact of a kick drum and that has little to do with 20hz. So the reviews you are reading won't really like the Matrix or AN DACs and rightfully so, they don't match today's audiophile sound signature. They are heavy and rich, weighty and soulful, warm and non fatiguing. My first all out system was top of the line Krell amps with Wilson watt puppies, backed by a Boulder DAC, and its associated transport. I would sit and listen to it for a couple hours playing each song in search for bass impact, sparkling highs, crisp midrange, details I'd never heard before and after a while I started to notice that I would emit a sigh of relief after I turned it off. It was great sounding but it took so much effort to listen to and my ears thanked me for turning it off. My system now is completely different but exponentially more enjoyable. I don't think I've turned it off all day and in fact I'm listening to it as I write this. The Matrix will not force you to listen to it, it will not extract every last painful detail, it will play music as the artist intended it with all its flaws and all its beauty; it's represents a sonic immersion of the soul not a hearing test.
