Cyrus Stream XP2-QX

I actually have the Stream X2 connected by coax into an 8 series QX card, so not quite the same product ... but I'll waffle on anyway.

The results are better than when my unit was originally just the Stream X. The Cadence app is fine but has dropped out a few times on my old first model I-pad

I think the upgraded circuitry is a marked sonic improvement. To my ears ALAC was brighter than FLAC. No idea why.

My fault for not checking but meta data in ALAC files has separate album art, so not like FLAC which is built into the music. Bit of a bum deal really but not the fault of Cyrus. I'll probably have to stick to the FLAC files as I like the album art on display. For anyone looking to network their MAC and I-Tunes, Apple products are not UPnP.

Another bum deal but this is the Apple way, so I don't blame Cyrus.

But it is actually worth noting that if you have a quality USB DAC, the Apple Remote app will pick up your I-Tunes with Album art on your I-pad. To my ears, the Cyrus QX card is better with coax connections than with USB connections, so NAS drive into the Stream X2 will continue to be my connection of choice.

I have my eye on the Chord QuteHD. What Hifi says it's best on coax connections but also excellent on USB. Potentially, the Remote app controlling I-Tunes and connecting via USB to this DAC could be as good if not better than the Cadence app / Stream X2 + QX DAC picking up the same files via streaming.