Cyberdrive smartphone-fi

[m1ts0s]

'Similarly at the Fujiya Avic headphone show in Tokyo, American/Chinese company Cyberdrive could be seen touting something similar. Their Clarity IEM extracts audio digitally from a connected smartphone before feeding ones and zeroes to an in-line DAC and amplifier. An XMOS chip handles USB transactions whilst an unspecified Cirrus Logic chip keeps PCM up to 24bit/192kHz and DSD256 in the picture. An ESS chipped version is also in the works.

Price? US$50. Wallop.

At time of writing, only a microUSB-terminated version for Android smartphones was available. Cyberdrive have yet to ink the Apple MFI certification required for all peripherals talking turkey with an iPhone or iPad over its Lightning port. A prototype Lightning-connecting version of the Clarity IEM was on show in Tokyo.

With audiophile-grade D/A conversion and headphone amplification slipstreamed into the headphone cable itself, the transition to a high end portable audio is non-intrusive.

Whilst I’m unable to speak to the quality of Cyberdrive’s IEMs, their in-line solution, along with Audeze’s, shows us that it’s possible to do away with strap-on bulk when upping a smartphone’s SQ. Wave Sayonara to the Lightning USB cable loop too. With this comes far greater mainstream potential: a sonic smartphone upgrade minus the bulk. Bravo on the concept (and price) even if this jury remains out on the execution.'

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2015/10/fujiya-avic-2015-bulk-free-smartphone-fi-from-cyberdrive/