Cyrus Audio is launching its first Kickstarter campaign on 1st July, with the aim of raising £50,000 to develop the SoundKey, a micro-sized DAC designed to get the very best musical performance out of mobile phones. Aimed firmly at the new generation of music lovers who use their mobile phones as the primary source, the SoundKey bypasses the low quality internal circuits of the phone and takes the digital music signal directly to high quality DACs and amps to improve the sound. Where SoundKey scores over other products that aim to achieve the same result is in its ultra low power consumption, achieved while still maintaining exceptional sound quality. With just 50mA current draw from the phone – “around half that of rival products” – it won’t run the batteries down anywhere near as the alternatives.
The SoundKey microsite will be running a competition to enable one lucky person to win the very first SoundKey that rolls off the production line. Potential backers are encouraged to use the hashtag #soundkey on twitter (twitter.com/Cyrus_Audio). Simon Freethy, managing director of Cyrus, says, “There’s a whole new generation of music lovers who just don’t know how good the music on their phones can sound, as it’s let down by the low quality DACs and amplifiers employed in the phone. The Cyrus engineers, using their 30 years experience building products that provide a better music experience, have come up with a world-beating solution in the diminutive SoundKey.” Kickstarter pledge levels will be announced shortly and Early Bird and VIP packages will be available that reward the first people who get behind the product.