Cyrus SoundKey Mobile DAC (Red)

First of all, for those who don't know what this does, it's basically a device that changes the signal that runs through your player/phone to music - each device that is able to play music has one of these inside, however, most likely a lower quality one which results in lower quality music coming out of your device.Price is very important here and depending on what devices you use with your soundkey it could be a total waste of money or an absolute gold.There are 3 factors to take into consideration:1. If you're using older generation phone (2016 or earlier, that's not an LG phone) or a cheap music player (>£50) to listen to your music, there is a good chance that this will do wonders for you and transform your listening experience, HOWEVER, this will depend on the next two things..2. Your Earphones / IEMs / Headphones / Speakers - this is your output device and if it's not of a good enough quality, will not be able to output good enough sound to make the quality of signal from soundkey worthwhile. We're talking probably around £150-400 range for IEMs/Headphones - if you're using cheap ones, you will not be able to notice much of a difference if any and it will most likely be a better idea for you to spend more money on your output device instead of this.3. Your source - which is your music files. Nowadays the most common file is MP3 or equivalent sources such as Spotify / Google Music. If this is what you're using and basically listen to low quality, compressed source, there isn't much to work from for your Soundkey and output device, again rendering it either useless or of low value for money.I will be returning mine for two reasons, and here is why.First of all, the lack of USB C connection makes it a bit of a hassle to use - I wanted to use one with my Samsung S8 (which in itself has a decent DAC anyway), I have purchased the required adapter, however, this makes it extremely bulky and impractical as you have your Soundkey, conntecter to a cable, connected to another bulky adapter cable which results in additional 2 feet of cables trailing between your phone and your earphones/headphones.Secondly, the earphones I wanted to use it with are Sennheisers Momentum in Ear - which are decent, however, at £80 they're nothing in comparison to £200-400 pairs such as Sennheiser IE80, Shure 325, Shure 435, Grado's and other high end models.The result of this is that, even if not for the USB C issue, in my situation it will be better to use the money, adding a bit of extra on top and instead purchasing better IEMs such as the models mentioned above, which can be had for £200-400. This will result in much better musical experience.The perfect scenario for this device is when you have good quality earphones/headphones/speakers as well as decent quality source (CD / FLAC/ TIDAL STREAM or highest quality MP3 at the very least) but a poor quality player/phone - if this is you then BUY IT NOW as it will transform your music and add another dimension to it.On the DAC itself, it comes well packed, is very lightweight, small and of great quality finish with no loose parts unnecessary gaps, considering you don't need to use USB C adapter you won't even notice it. The performance of the device is very good as well but again this depends on your current playback device.

So I can say this DAC definitely boosts the volume up.I've tried it to on mini ITX PC and yes the volume went up.I tried it on my Nexus 9 and yes the volume went up.Then... I tried it on my phone the OnePlus 2, and sadly it didn't work. I couldn't work out why, but I checked the USB and my usb Mouse on that device and they both work fine. So I find it strange that the SoundKey didn't work on my phone. Not a deal breaker because I bought it intentionally for my PC.Now for the sound quality, now I cannot say I am audiophile but I tried with and without the DAC and I can say the DAC sounds better - it just boosts the volume without loss I suppose... I was using IEM - XTZ Earphone -12 tested with and without the DAC and also tested 1More Earphone Triple Driver with and without the DAC.I'd say the major sound quality difference lies within the IEM from a non-audiophile perspective.I'd say the DAC does work overall though - it's subtly more clear and louder.The presentation of the box is a bit cheap but the stuff you're getting inside is pretty good quality.It's a plug and play - tested on Windows 7/10. The sound automatically switches to the USB.Same with the Nexus 9, but note you can cause the android to crash similarly you can cause youtube on windows to crash. However, this is perfectly normal and no the device's fault. It's a software issue when you're suddenly changing the hardware. For windows, you just restart the youtube webpage and for android you'll have to reboot the device. However, it doesn't happen all the time.Is it worth buying? - if you got a decent IEM then it does the job, but it's quite priceyWould I buy it again having knew what it is now? - Yes because I use it all the timeIs it a significant game changer? - Just makes it louder without loss of quality

I've get a variety of headphones and I don't notice much difference when plugged in through this DAC. Listening with spotifies highest steaming quality. Some people might say that's the problem but it's 320kbps so I don't think many people would be able to discern it from lossless. Tried it with in ears (>£300), my meze 99 classics and grado sr80s... Perhaps there's marginally better resolution and separation but it could just be cognitive bias.

Really good unit, tested mojo as well but it requires charging volume buttons need to be operated on device not as easy to live with either, so I returned it, soundkey ticks all the boxes for me adds more volume to iPhone and sounds richer great device

Bang for the buck but not as good as the Audioquest Red Dragonfly

Found it to be easy to use, and sound quality is very good.