Cyrus SoundKey portable DAC
Jan 25, 2017 at 7:44 AM Post #16 of 185
Wow that's a surprise. I'll be interested in your impressions
 
Jan 25, 2017 at 10:55 AM Post #17 of 185
Still waiting for mine...:expressionless:
 
Jan 25, 2017 at 11:15 AM Post #18 of 185
Wow that's a surprise. I'll be interested in your impressions

 
I do not have too many other DACs for comparison, but I can give my impressions versus the Dragonfly Black and the Fiio E10k.
 
Firstly if I did not know the prices of these 3 DACs I would have guessed that the Cyrus was the most expensive (which is true if you don't get the Kickstarter price). It has more clarity in the sound and is more neutral than the DF and the Fiio which tends to be true of more high end gear. I have never owned any Cyrus kit before, so I don't know if this is their house sound but it is very transparent and you forget that it is there (in a good way). I thought the DF was much clearer than the Fiio, but the Soundkey seems to be another step up. A/B-ing between the Cyrus and the DF I notice the DF is much darker in presentation, almost a little grunge at times. Not a criticism of the DF, in fact quite pleasant on certain tracks, just a different sound.
 
It is a brutal reminder of how poor the built-in DAC in my MacBook Pro is though.
 
Anyway, hopefully someone with much better hearing than me can post their thoughts too.
 
Jan 25, 2017 at 11:50 AM Post #19 of 185
Thanks. Sounds good as you would expect being Cyrus

Looking forward to receiving mine based on what you have described
 
Jan 30, 2017 at 3:05 PM Post #20 of 185
Mine arrived today - must admit I had totally forgotten about it ... so much so that I am somewhat unprepared and haven't yet forked out the additional £29 to buy the iPhone camera connection kit required to make it work. From what I've read a lightning to USB-C cable (which would've removed one interconnect) won't work and a camera connection kit is a requirement. All this means there's 2 cables required (one supplied) to get from phone to soundkey ... cumbersome to say the least. Hopefully the sound will make up for the inconvenience as at the moment I'm regretting buying as it all feels a bit messy.
 
Jan 30, 2017 at 4:51 PM Post #21 of 185
Mine arrived this morning but moved to iPhone with oppo ha2se so will be selling this untried as I can't be bothered with all that cabling
 
Jan 31, 2017 at 8:42 AM Post #22 of 185
Received mine yesterday
 
I wont be able to do a review as I'm just not very good at putting things into words. Just some initial observations
 
I believe the soundKey is true to the Cyrus brand sound signature in that it is more about precision and timing than romantic coloured warmth. This is no Chord Mojo. This device will need careful matching just as Cyrus HiFi needs matching to speakers. It will sound a bit overbearing with bright headphones such as my MF100s (ouch) and no doubt (although I don't currently own a pair) Grados) but really opens up darker headphones. The Yamaha HPH200 and Sony MDR10RC sound great. Wonderful clarity and sense of space.
 
Issues are.
 
The level of gain is crazy. Anything more than 10-15% volume using Windows or UAPP on android is deafening at least with my phones all sub 70ohm and sensitive. May suit high impedence warm headphones nicely
 
 
The supplied OTG cable is poor quality. Continually coming disconnected from both my mobiles.
 
I wish id gone for a more colourful one as the soundKey is tiny. It makes a Dragonfly look and feel like a brick and I'll no doubt keep mislaying it !
 
All in all impressive and if there's any justice should be a real alternative to the Dragonfly for those who value clarity above warmth (as I do generally)
 
Astonishing bargain for £60. Made in UK for a fraction of Mojo.
 
Jan 31, 2017 at 10:28 AM Post #24 of 185
Side by side with a Dragonfly, you can see the Cyrus is a little wider, but considerably thinner. All in all it is a nice sized unit.






Well sorry I could have sworn the Cyrus was smaller. My memory must be getting worse (I'm now 50 and its all down hill from here and that goes for hearing too)!

Looks nice in blue by the way.
 
Jan 31, 2017 at 11:27 AM Post #25 of 185
So ... iPhone camera adapter obtained ... and my view on first listens is that I've now decided I can live with the cables and adapters ... as the sound improvement is nothing short of astounding. I've been a fan of "the Cyrus sound" for more years (and £'s) than I care to remember so my ears clearly may be somewhat bias ... but I REALLY love the output from this little thing. Sound is very bright, open and flat but crystal in terms of overall soundstaging. Would be hard to go back for me once having heard it. At the price (I paid about £50 plus £29 for the adapter) it's an absolute steal.
 
Feb 4, 2017 at 6:29 AM Post #26 of 185
Got mine in post today, worked with a Micro USB to Lightening adapter I got for my Mojo, so no need for Apple camera kit wire, sound is great so far, and quite a lot more powerful than normal output, was capable of driving my over ears (Nighthawks) at decent volume, and can take my Shure SE 846s to limit. 
 
Sound wise, I need to do more listening, but better than normal output, clearer soundstage, was able to play with equaliser settings in Flac player to get serious bass if wanted. sounds better than the Dragonfly red I had as well. but need to test with more music. 
 
Be interested to know other peoples opinions now these seem to be getting delivered.
 
Feb 4, 2017 at 8:31 AM Post #27 of 185
http://imageshack.com/a/img923/2208/i1KQvU.jpg
 
After a hour with the soundkey, Ive hit a problem, but good to know if anyone else has had this, but build quality is terrible, I pushed the headphones in and the micro usb cover and whole mother board just popped out the bottom....
 
oh dear, been a great Cyrus fan for years, but this is some bad engineering.
 
Feb 5, 2017 at 3:00 AM Post #28 of 185
How does this compare to the FiiO K1.
And what are the actual specs? I went to the website and didn't find anything, same with the kickstarter... they just say "quality components" over and over again without mentioning any technical details.
 
Feb 5, 2017 at 7:03 AM Post #29 of 185

Mine came yesterday (2 months later than I was told) and won't work on iPhone without a £30 cable. Have gone through all the Kickstarter material and this is not made clear anywhere. I do not intend to wander around with handfuls of cables in my pocket.  Written to Cyrus and I will be requesting a refund as it is not fit for purpose as supplied. 
 
Feb 5, 2017 at 9:00 AM Post #30 of 185
Mine came yesterday (2 months later than I was told) and won't work on iPhone without a £30 cable. Have gone through all the Kickstarter material and this is not made clear anywhere. I do not intend to wander around with handfuls of cables in my pocket.  Written to Cyrus and I will be requesting a refund as it is not fit for purpose as supplied. 


Sadly this is a limitation of Apple not Cyrus. The same is true of the Dragonfly as well as any other DAC.
 

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