Here some first impressions comparing Wandla and Cyan 2.
Setup: Wandla fed by DMP-A6 USB, Cyan 2 with Ropieee USB, both going into HM1. Everything on an PQ 707 conditioner. Grouped together in Roon for direct A/B on HM1. Wandla running internal HQ Apod OS, Cyan 2 running Roon OS precise linear 705/768kHz + HQ Player 1.5MHz. Listening with Tungsten DS.
I can't shake off the feeling that I hear very similar things like back when I was comparing Wandla with my Spring 3 KTE I had back then
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Wandla is a bit quicker and more transient forward and detailed, Cyan 2 a bit smoother in the treble with a bit fuller and natural sounding mids (beautiful vocals esp.) But both beautiful in their own way and it comes down to preference/music. Really splitting hairs. They perform both in very similar technical territory imo. Especially with full HQP OS on Cyan 2 they are very close from each other. One song I might prefer on Wandla, the other on Cyan 2.
One thing I noticed in the bass is that Wandla seems to pronounce more the initial bass impact and Cyan 2 sounds a bit fuller with more emphasis on the bass body.
Overall HQP helps Cyan 2 to catch up on Wandla - especially concerning placement precision and layering.
So in sonic performance alone they are on very similar levels for me. Only that Cyan 2 needs some external help from HQP to get there - Still sounding good in NOS/Roon OS but then the delta to Wandla is more obvious - and NOS is a pretty special sound on it's own, I think, so hard to compare directly. Very similar of what I felt with Spring 3. Only that that costs quite a bit more.
Cyan 2 is as barebones of a DAC as you can get. Only control is the power switch. I think not including an input selector is the biggest flaw I can see people having issues with. For me it's a non issue because it will only play on one source in my 2ch setup. But on a setup where you want to combine streamer and PC for example I can see this quickly being a deal killer. Who wants to always turn off or unplug one source to play the other one? But maybe also a concious decision to have some separation to Spring 3.
Of course talking from memory but to my ears, in my setup, I'd say for sound alone Spring 3 isn't really worth it over Cyan 2 - if you don't need the features or option for pre of course.
Honestly I didn't expect Cyan 2 to do this good in my comparison. But it seems to confirm my positive initial impressions using it in my 2ch system in the first days of use. So if you need a DAC for one source with no other gimmicks/controls - setup once and never touch again - then I think Cyan 2 is an excellent option. Especially at its price.