What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
11 SEP 2007
Cyrus Discmaster 8.0Qx
Given the excitement surrounding high-definition video, this might seem an odd time for a premium-priced DVD player. But then Cyrus has always gone its own sweet way – you only have to look at the inverted half-size chassis on which its entire range is built.
The Discmaster is available in two versions: £800 buys you the Discmaster 8.0, but we’re testing the Discmaster 8.0Qx – the extra £200 buys Burr-Brown digital-to-analogue conversion intended to give optimum music quality.
Impressive with DVDs and CDs
Connected to our reference screen, and delivering 720p or 1080i images via HDMI, the Cyrus makes Training Day look fresh and bright, with subtle, natural colours, tremendous detail and well-judged contrast. Whites are clean and vibrant, blacks lustrous, and rapid motion is handled with utter confidence.
Add in taut, burly movie sound and the Discmaster should have the class-leaders glancing nervously over their shoulders.
As a CD player, it impresses even more: fast, communicative and detailed, it’s able to bring order and attack to material as unruly as Julian Cope’s Double Vegetation.
The remote control could be better
Our only major criticisms concern perceived value: the remote control is more appropriate for a £50 supermarket player, and the disc tray is made of the kind of plastic more commonly associated with the divider in a box of Milk Tray.
However, where picture and sound quality are concerned, the Cyrus is right on the money.
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