Cyrus soundkey

The prevalence of digital music, and the enormous storage capacity of some portable music players and smartphones, means we can access all our favourite music no matter where we are. But what’s the point if it sounds unsatisfactory?

The idea of the dedicated portable Dac/headphone amp isn’t that new and Cyrus was a little late to the party. But the soundkey has been worth the wait.

Excellent portability

It originally cost £100, but can now be had for £79 or less if you look around. The soundkey is small and weighs just 18g, which is excellent from a portability point of view. There’s a choice of four finishes and, in fairness, it’s difficult to know what else Cyrus could have done to make it seem more upmarket.

At one end of the soundkey there’s a 3.5mm socket for plugging in headphones (or connecting to a system). At the other there’s a micro-usb socket. In the box Cyrus provides a cable terminated with a micro-usb at both ends (for use with Android devices) and a micro-usb/full-size USB cable (for use with laptop or desktop computers). Those wishing to use an Apple phone or tablet will need the Apple camera kit.

The soundkey handles a range of digital file types, including MP3, AAC and FLAC, and files up to 24-bit/96khz.

The first thing that strikes us about the soundkey is the remarkable amount of space it gives to the presentation of a song. This is especially pronounced when listening to quieter, sparser material. It opens the recording wide, allowing the tiny details space to reveal themselves and giving the tune a widescreen aspect some lesser portable DACS are simply not capable of.

This winning quality is even more obvious when we play a 24-bit/96khz file of Aretha Franklin’s I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You). The Cyrus establishes a big, well-described stage for the players to inhabit and reveals all the character and technique of Aretha’s inimitable vocal in the most natural way.

Comparison with our current favourite at around this price, Audioquest’s Dragonfly Black, highlights the soundkey’s relative shortage of dynamic heft – but the Cyrus also makes the Black sound like a blunt instrument. It’s significantly more revealing, more open and more detailed than the Audioquest.

There are few downsides to the soundkey. It’s affordable, compact and high-performance – even Apple users, with its convoluted means of attachment, will be thrilled by the difference it can make to mobile listening pleasure.