STREAM XA

The Stream Xa brings your digital music library, and streaming services like TIDAL and internet radio together through our proprietary engine to provide limitless hours of listening pleasure. State-of-the-art performance is served up through our unique understanding of converting data into sublime analogue signals – and how to handle each format for optimum results. You just sit back and control it all with our ‘Cadence’ app.   

Wi-Fi or Ethernet, integration into your home network is effortless and reliable. Additional sources? No problem, there are 5 digital inputs and fixed analogue outputs. Finally a PSX R₂ port allows instant upgrade to the sonic performance of the Stream Xa.

STREAM XA - PHILOSOPHY

Streaming services such as Tidal provide a convenient way of accessing vast catalogues of superb quality recordings. Far from being just for listening on the go through your mobile phone, these streaming services are more than good enough to be considered audiophile sources. They are now leading the way in delivering the next generation of audio experiences.

The Stream Xa serves two functions, that of translating the multitude of file formats into the purest possible form of digital audio, Linear PCM. As part of this translation, it retimes that data to all but eliminate ‘jitter’ and temporal distortion. The second function is the conversion of that digital data into analogue form, so that it can be passed directly to a traditional amplifier system. With both digital and analogue output options as well as built in wi-fi and ethernet connectivity options, and asynchronous USB input, the Stream Xa is our most versatile streaming solution.

The circuit of the Stream Xa has been designed in 2 discrete sections, allowing the product to be upgradeable through the addition of our separate power supply (the PSX R2). This addition completely isolates the DAC section of the product, improving timing and eliminating any intermodulation which can impact the delicate analogue signals output. Whilst not necessary for outstanding performance, this addition is a valuable upgrade for the serious audiophile.

Stream Xa 數位串流音樂處理器 兼 24bit/192kHz 數位類比轉換器

現今高解析度的音樂通常是消費者自網路購買/下載、或是與同好分享，將之儲存於NAS(網路硬碟)的音樂檔案，然後再以串流方式，播放到閣下的Hi-Fi音響器材。令人驚訝的是，一張CD如果轉檔得宜，聲音品質可以如多數下載音樂檔案一樣的好。

Cyrus設計了自己的高解析音樂檔案串流“引擎心臟”，這個設計能夠在下載音樂時，充分掌握運用網際網路上所有最高數據率的音樂。以同樣的方式，Cyrus創造了世界的最好的CD“引擎心臟”來解析CD上大多數的數據，我們的串流“引擎心臟”可與之相容並且利用至高解析度的數位音樂檔案。Cyrus生產了一組系列的串流產品，皆以我們高解析(HD)串流“引擎心臟”為製造之根據。雖然我們的客戶可能已經預料到Cyrus會製造出最好的串流產品，那對於些才剛開始接觸串流產品的消費者將很快發現，這種新的訊源類型可以改變閣下使用Hi-Fi音響系統以及聆聽音樂的方式。

使用平板電腦來操控和搜尋已儲存的音樂檔案將會改變您選擇和聆聽您所收藏的音樂的方式。播放黑膠唱盤或CD雷射唱盤，是聆賞一系列由藝術家刻意所排序的曲目，而這樣的安排通常是非常重要的。然而，串流播放增加了一個有趣的新可能性，讓閣下得以預先選擇或隨機播放閣下所收藏的音樂中的每一個專輯或單曲。它會讓人上癮；渴望建立閣下專屬的專輯選項，當夜幕低垂時，可恣意增加自己所要的曲目。至關重要的是，對於我們這些渴望高音質的人而言，因為閣下已經建立了自己的高解析度的音樂庫，其聲音品質就能如同在家播放的CD一樣優質。關於如何建立一個轉檔的音樂庫、建構閣下的音樂圖書館以及如何設置高品質的串流系統，請造訪我們的網站，以獲取更清楚的指引。

所有Cyrus串流播放可達最高品質為24bit/192 kHz的音樂檔案，閣下可以充分從網際網路之線上商店下載並享受未壓縮、高解析度的音樂訊源。

Stream Xa 是一個帶有數位類比轉換器(DAC)的數位串流音樂處理器，能與現有的無DAC配置的類比系統連結，為其帶來更大價值的解決方案。Stream Xa 除了類比輸出功能外，亦增加數位輸入和先進的串流功能。

OUTPUTS

SPDIF coaxial – 1
Stereo RCA analogue – 2 pairs fixed
PSX-R upgrade port – Yes
MC-BUS – Yes

INPUTS

Optical SPDIF – 2
Coaxial SPDIF – 3
USB A – 1
Ethernet – 1

FILE/SIGNAL COMPATIBILITY

WAV – Yes
FLAC – Yes
ALAC – Yes
AAC – Yes
MP3 – Yes
WMA – Yes
AIFF – Yes
Maximum signal resolution – 24-bit/192kHz

DIMENSIONS (MM)

Height 73
Width 215
Depth 360
Weight (kg) 4.7

REVIEW By What Hi Fi

Cyrus Stream Xa review

Best streamer £1000-£1500, Awards 2015. If you're looking for a premium streaming option, the Stream Xa is a fantastic proposition...

Tested at  £1,250

Our Verdict 

Best streamer £1000-£1500, Awards 2015. A fantastic performer that sets the benchmark for sound quality in streaming

For 

Precise, organised, agile

Transparent, musical delivery

Controlled bass

Clear, sparkly treble

Expressive

Seamless app and handy ‘n-remote’

Against 

Design won’t be for everyone

We are part of The Trust ProjectWhat is it?

JUMP TO

Reviewed on 5th May 2015

Cyrus has long pitched itself as the brand to beat when it comes to premium streaming. And the Cyrus Stream Xa continues that winning trend.

Ever since music streamers became a What Hi-Fi? Awards category in 2011, a Cyrus product has occupied a spot or two.

Performance

The Stream Xa, sits between preamp-packing Stream XP2 and DAC-less Stream X Signature.

It’s a Cyrus product through-and-through, not just because of its half-width aluminium casing and agricultural black-on-green display, but in its sound, too: precise, controlled and agile with an effortless musicality that can bring any genre of music to life.

Engaging and transparent, the Stream Xa has a rare knack for drawing you into a song and keeping you there.

Its honest delivery of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 in B Flat Minor Op.23 is awash with perfectly placed instruments loaded with texture and subtlety.

The Cyrus’s dynamic know-how makes the most of the varying orchestration, capturing the intensity of the explosive start before picking out the subtle variations in the leading strings. Its gift for dynamics and astute accuracy make a complex track like this hard to skip.

You’ll need an existing system – this needs attaching to an amp and speakers

Its presentation may be close to sanitary, but precision and organisation aren’t trades off for energy and liveliness. Feed the Stream Xa Supertramp’s Breakfast In America and the song’s giddy rhythms brim with pep and pizzazz.

The streamer launches into the intro’s catchy keyboard – each crisp note exact and punctual – and you can tell the joining instruments are being played enthusiastically.

Open and expansive, the Stream Xa’s soundstage has good spatial awareness, so the jumble of piano, trombones and brass that make up the anarchic chorus never feel cramped together.

Tonally, the Cyrus takes the middle path: the midrange is lucid and detailed between a sparkly treble that’s clear and controlled, and a tuneful, agile bass. Sounds have more body and warmth through the richer Pioneer N-70A,  perhaps, but the leaner-sounding Cyrus has more solidity.

Vocals are clear and rich in insight, the streamer really getting under the layers of the backing vocals.

More after the break

Design

You can add an external DAC or power supply if you want to upgrade

Away from sound and, as the rest goes, the Stream Xa is an easy machine to figure out. It can stream files up to 24-bit/192kHz over a wi-fi network, though we’d always go down the more stable wired route.

Access to TuneIn Radio puts 100,000 internet radio stations on the map, while digital connections (three coaxial, two optical and a single Apple-friendly USB) and an internal 24-bit DAC expand compatibility to computers, USB drives and portable devices.

In true Cyrus style, there are slots to facilitate upgrades, should you wish to add the company’s PSX-R power supply for more power, clarity and detail, or an external DAC. There are also the usual MC Bus connections for universal control of a multi-machine Cyrus set-up.

Remote & app

Control is via the included ‘n-remote’ or Cyrus’s Cadence app (iOS and Android)

The unit’s small, three-line display is less than ideal for browsing folders manually, so we’re glad the streamer has two decent alternatives: the Cadence app and ‘n-remote’.

Logical and intuitive, the app has a neat layout with helpful shortcuts (such as a pop-up window to flick between inputs) to make your life easier. We like how the background image is the familiar top of a Cyrus unit: nice touch.

For those who prefer the more tactile feel of a remote, the ‘n-remote’ is a thoughtfully designed, do-it-all tool with a small screen providing visual aid for navigating servers. The button layout is easy to get along with, and browsing is surprisingly speedy thanks to alphabetical shortcuts on the number keys.

We are equally happy using either control method, though you can’t use both at the same time.

Verdict

The Cyrus Stream Xa’s compact design won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But its truly entrancing sound undoubtedly will.

At the end of last year it proved the best-performing streamer at this price, bagging a well-deserved Award. In a fast-moving category, that it’s in with a good shout again this year should be all you need to know.