The DAC XP+ from Cyrus - one of our most favourite and flexible products. Coupled with the Cyrus CDXT SE+ CD Transport and a pair of Cyrus Mono X Power Amplifiers results in a seriously high performance system and one that takes up very little space as well! Bolt on a couple of Cyrus PSX-R Power Supply as and when funds permits and you'll take performance to the next level.

The DAC XP+......we approve!

Based on the DAC X+ the XP model is a preamp equipped version of the Cyrus DAC X+ adding two analogue inputs to the six digital inputs. Our most accomplished preamp is a dual mono, fully balanced, design providing outstanding audio quality. Used in conjunction with the DAC’s digital inputs the DAC XP+ is the ultimate system control component.

The new preamp design operates in twin mono fully balanced mode and uses twin high-performance analogue volume controls and is the most accomplished Cyrus preamp design so far. The matching twin mono topologies of DAC and preamp provide outstanding performance when linked to the balanced input of the Cyrus Mono X Power Amplifiers. Cyrus designed solid core balanced interconnects are available to complete the balanced installation. RCA single ended outputs are also provided to ensure compatibility with Cyrus’ more affordable power amp options.

In marked contrast to rival ordinary audio components, this unit offers remarkable ease of use. A clear green display screen shows user selected input names, from a built-in library, and shown on a clear green display. The integrated system command bus allows slave/automated control of a wide number of matching Cyrus components ranging from power amps to Tuners. It would be understandable for this compact and apparently simple component to be under estimated, however this is a world-class DAC and preamp, developed using the very latest audio technology.

D/A conversion – At the heart of a quality D/A converter is the circuit that converts the digital source signals to analogue. Careful design of this circuit is essential to retrieve the true dynamics of the source signal and to minimise undesirable artefacts such as noise and distortion. The DAC XP+ achieves this with a two stage upsampling design where all sources are initially upsampled to 192k before analogue conversion by quad high-precision 24-bit converters operating in a fully balanced configuration. The technical specifications endorse the quality of this stage with class-leading performance for THD and noise. The elevated 192k sample rate permits our designers to use far less aggressive analogue filtering techniques to remove undesirable out-of-band digital noise.

Jitter reduction - All audiophiles understand that low jitter is an essential requirement for the clocks and data signals passed within a D/A converter. In the DAC XP+ the sophisticated re-clocking circuit measures the precision of incoming digital signals to determine the quality of the input source. High accuracy sources such as the CD8SE CD player are digitally re-clocked by a close tolerance circuit with triple quartz references. For signals from low accuracy sources such as personal computers the circuit automatically relaxes the re-clocking precision to ensure reliable signal recovery.

Sample rate handling – The DAC XP+ is prepared for the wide range of sample rates available from today’s digital sources and beyond. Group 1 close tolerance performance is available for 32k, 44.1 k, 48k, 64k, 88.2k, 96k, 128k, 176.4k, 192k source material. For sources outside of Group 1 requirements, any sample rate in the range 32k – 192k is accepted. Non-stereo waveforms (surround sound etc.) are identified and suppressed to avoid undesirable digital noise.

Digital output An optical digital output provides a useful digital feed to send the signal from the selected source to digital recording devices or to a multi-channel surround sound decoder.

Pre-amplifier circuit The chassis of the DAC XP+ is divided into two entirely separate sections a DAC X+ digital D/A converter and a fully balanced analogue preamplifier. The preamplifier stage complements the balanced topology of the digital stages perfectly with a balanced input from the internal DAC, balanced volume control and balanced output buffers. The twin analogue inputs of the preamplifier stage enable the DAC XP+ to completely replace the system preamplifier in most systems.

Power supplies The DAC XP+ power supplies are traditionally built linear designs, with an oversize toroidal power transformer dedicated to each section and entirely separate power regulation for the DAC and preamplifier sections. Two-stage regulation is used for critical stages with remote shunt regulators located within the heart of the audio circuitry.

Cyrus PSX-R Power Supply upgrade In keeping with Cyrus philosophy, the DAC XP+ features connection for the PSX-R off-board power supply to further upgrade the audio performance of the power supply section of the DAC stage.