Cyrus Stream

[michael hoy]

Hi,

I need some advice as to which Cyrus Streamer to purchase.

Currently have a Cyrus 8 XPd QX amp and a PSX-R power supply, but not sure which streamer will best match.

 

[Gusboll]

Do you need one??

 

[John Duncan]

No he doesn't, IMO. But the way to find out is to find a friendly Cyrus dealer who'll lend you one and compare it to the SBT plugged into your XPd's optical in, and see whether it's worth the money.

 

[Zubkabera]

Don't waste your money on Cyrus Stream buy yourself either Squeezebox Touch or sonos much better and flexible option then Cyrus wihtout any compromise on SQ, I am saying this as Cyrus owner.

 

[John Duncan]

buy yourself either Squeezebox Touch

Got one already...

 

[Gusboll]

buy yourself either Squeezebox Touch

Got one already...

And the rest!

 

[John Duncan]

Yes, 'inter alia' doesn't quite cover it really does it 🙂

 

[BronC]

I think the best choice for you would be the Stream X V2. Make sure its the V2 as its the only one to handle 24 bit 192khz files.

You have the XPd QX which is Cyrus's 2nd best DAC. The DAC X is better.

If you use the coax digiital connections you should have the best SQ.

I would recomend saving the difference between the Stream X and the Stream XP and use it to fund an upgrade to a DAC XP sometime in the future. Mind you there are some good deals around at the moment for ex-demp DAC XP's

 

[Crossie]

+1 Stream X2 to answer the OP's question

 

[BigColz]

The sound quality difference from the integrated top the pre/power is massive in my opinion.. I'd agree with others get the New stream xp2 qx or whatever it's called.. I already had pre/power and although it was very nice sound I LOVED the extra mid/low end punch from the Naim streamer for some of my music.. I liked the Cyrus streamer tho and would be a perfect step for you to go pre/power

 

[michael hoy]

Thanks for the recommendations, I have only recently aquired the Cyrus and squeezebox equipment.

I am not a big fan of the squeezebox and would prefer to add a Cyrus streamer to the system.

 

[BigColz]

If you wanted to keep the amp and source sections seperate as i did then try the new stream x2.. I'd also recommend tryin the naim ND5 XS as i was blown away by it.. They are both extremely well made and high sound quality pices of kit for the money. It will just come down to personal taste..

 

[philipjohnwright]

Lateral thinking, but how about a Mac Mini feeding the XPd? About half the price of the X2, maybe a bit more if you get Pure Music or Amarra on it as well. Or go for a dedicated Windows machine (to save any anti-Apple comments)

I use a dedicated Mac Mini / Pure into an Arcam rDac (and then Ayre AX7e and Harbeth 7/2's). I haven't tried a dedicated streamer so don't know how it would compare sound quality wise. But I do know the front end beats the Meridian 508 that I used to use, which itself was no slouch.

How about WHF do a shootout between dedicated streamers and the PC/Dac option? After all the streamer is essentially a computer with the extraneous bits stripped out; how much of a difference does it really make? I suspect not much, if any at all, but the truth would be in listening. I've suggested this before and had a few people agreeing; are the hi-fi manufacturers confident enough in the superiority of streamers to submit to the test?! And who mentioned advertising revenues (waits for clip round the ear from moderator:roll: )

 

[BigColz]

I've got a mac mini now and that was my setup.. Optical into xpd qx. There's been endless arguments on here about how can it be different if it's bit perfect etc.. I was stunned by the difference.. I can't tell you what causes it etc pre DAC but the difference is extremly noticable.. For me anyway.. Maybe try a home dem and see what you think.. It certainly would be a cheap/free solution if you already have a computer for the time being if nothing else.. Plus mac mini's are awesome 😀

 

[michael hoy]

I already have a server with all my music ripped to it, the idea is not to require a computer anywhere near the system, but to stream the music to it.

My Server is in the loft area running headless and I use my PC (office area) to rip the music direct to the server.

The system is in an entirely different room and currently runs wirelessly. I have a very strong wireless setup and do not have any issues with it.

 

[JamesOK]

Lateral thinking, but how about a Mac Mini feeding the XPd? About half the price of the X2, maybe a bit more if you get Pure Music or Amarra on it as well. Or go for a dedicated Windows machine (to save any anti-Apple comments)

I use a dedicated Mac Mini / Pure into an Arcam rDac (and then Ayre AX7e and Harbeth 7/2's). I haven't tried a dedicated streamer so don't know how it would compare sound quality wise. But I do know the front end beats the Meridian 508 that I used to use, which itself was no slouch.

How about WHF do a shootout between dedicated streamers and the PC/Dac option? After all the streamer is essentially a computer with the extraneous bits stripped out; how much of a difference does it really make? I suspect not much, if any at all, but the truth would be in listening. I've suggested this before and had a few people agreeing; are the hi-fi manufacturers confident enough in the superiority of streamers to submit to the test?! And who mentioned advertising revenues (waits for clip round the ear from moderator:roll: )

Yet more lateral thinking.

What about Sonos? May be worth trialling the Cyrus streamer and sonos against each other? I have a Cyrus ans Sonos combination and it's fantastic.

 

[michael hoy]

Yet more lateral thinking.

What about Sonos? May be worth trialling the Cyrus streamer and sonos against each other? I have a Cyrus ans Sonos combination and it's fantastic.

I already have a Sonos System, it is all in my Sig.

I want to be able to play HiRes music tracks as well as the standard rips, Sonos do not currently support this option.

 

[eternaloptimist]

For what its worth...

I have a mostly Cyrus system (see sig) and have found a MacMini 2011 (into Wyred-4-sound DAC2) to be a fantastic source for hir-res music.

Use Audirvana Plus which is a software player which integrates withiTunes and replaces the "engine" but uses the iTunes database managment. Simple then to use Apple's Remote app on iPhone / iPad to control. (I also have a RealVNC server running on the MacMini so I can control it from any of the Windows computers in the house via RealVNC client - very straightforward but not absolutely necessary!)

The sound is beautiful.

I have tried just about every software player on both Mac OS and Win 7 (Macmini is dualbooted) including: Amara, Pure music, Fidelia, J River MC, JPLAY.... Although I wanted J River MC to sound the best as it has the best database management, I keep coming back to Audirvana Plus. On my system, sounds the best.

So I can highly recommend this as a solution. The "streamers" are just glorified computers IMHO.

 

[JamesOK]

:bounce:

Yet more lateral thinking.

What about Sonos? May be worth trialling the Cyrus streamer and sonos against each other? I have a Cyrus ans Sonos combination and it's fantastic.

I already have a Sonos System, it is all in my Sig.

I want to be able to play HiRes music tracks as well as the standard rips, Sonos do not currently support this option.

Oops sorry. It's quite a big sig!

What about a second hand mac mini?

 

[Andrew Everard]

And who mentioned advertising revenues (waits for clip round the ear from moderator:roll: )

And you were doing so well...