Cyrus soundkey

The prevalence of digital music, and the 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 new and Cyrus was late to the party, but it has been worth the wait. Now available for around £70, the soundkey weighs just 18g, which is excellent from a portability point of view. There’s a choice of four finishes and it’s difficult to see what else Cyrus could have done to make it 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. Cyrus provides a cable with a micro-usb at both ends for use with Android devices, and a micro-usb/full-size USB cable for laptop or desktop computers. For Apple phones or tablets, you 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 amount of space it gives to the presentation of a song, especially with 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 Cyrus establishes a stage for the players to inhabit and reveals all the character and technique of her inimitable vocal in the most natural way.

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.