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The same meatarian rather than vegetarian attributes also surfaced in a kitchen showdown against the Sabre DAC in the iDecco. The conventionally powered Sabre was airier and spatially more expansive and illuminated. The battery-powered Wolfson was darker and heavier. On raw resolution and sophistication I'd have to give the Sabre the nod particularly since we have the very bass-endowed Michael Kelly of Aerial designed era design Sat5 speakers set up very close to the wall. This makes for maximal boundary reinforcement—this obviously is a fun social rather than furry-browed audiophile setup—and thus a heavier tonal balance with a surprisingly gutsy impact. Guests around the kitchen table are always amazed and well entertained which is the whole point.

This comparison seemed a good bracketing point against the NuForce to keep things real. At $999 the iDecco is the Swiss army knife of integrated amplifiers and its Chinese rather than US manufacture only further heightens its intrinsic value proposition. Here the Solo as DAC was outclassed. Once we lower our sights to desktop integrated amps with USB inputs in the up-to-$600 range, I'm quite confident that the Solo would not only compete but in many cases be the victor. With its fixed standing now determined, let's go mobile and assess exactly how the iPod/RxMkII twin-layer brick is outclassed by the iPod/Solo/RxMkII triple-layer variant.

Micro: While I don't see even hardcore headfiers roam the streets with the Audez'e LCD-2 on their noggin, it is the best headphone in my collection. Plus the ALO amp drives it just fine. That's what I went with first to magnify the differences. To keep it real again I then moved to my Ortofon e-Q7 IEMs to stand in for the type of 'ear buds' which are typically worn on the street.

Starting off with a mellow track—the opener for Dhafer Youssef's Abu Nawas Rhapsody—the Solo clearly raised visibility on reverb and hall sound. This rather increased the appreciation for surrounding space that enrich singer and pianist. It also made for more saturated tone textures. The iPod's analog output dried those out. It stripped back space by focusing on the sounds per se. It undermined interactions with the recording venue. In hifi jargon the Solo revealed more and longer decays. It expanded the soundstage from the inside out and offered the harmonically bigger envelope.


Next up was very slick superior Pop compliments of Lebanese crooner Fadl Shaker with the hit "Ensa Ella Rah" from Allah We'Allam. Typical for music of this region are the massed strings intertwining with the rhythm groove. The Solo again resolved more and richer textures on the violins. Fundamentally though the far bigger difference was the much improved grippiness, slam and snap. This is well-produced Pop with fully maximized ingredients. Think Asian cooking where sweet, sour, salty and bitter flavors coexist in the same meal. Here it's pounding springy bass, soaring sweet violins, jubilant reedy clarinet, creamy seductive vocals, sharp shakers and vigorous drums. Eliminating the Solo also eliminated this simultaneity of opposing flavors. Their heightened contrast was homogenized not dissimilar to dumbing down an AIFF file to 256kps MP3.


At the hands of the iPod's analog outputs the sensational German guitarist Joscho Stephan on his Acoustic Live album underwent the same sad dejuvenation treatment. He grew overtly softer, less distinct and articulate, dynamically compressed and tonally bleached. This is simple trio fare of lead guitar, la pompe rhythm guitar and upright bass. Its star has the most astonishing technique of any 'Gypsy Jazz' guitarist alive. But Joscho isn't just about blinding speed, immaculate intonation and spotless cleanliness. His wealth of tone modulations is at least as impressive. The Solo expanded that scale. It added blister and piquant spice to the lightningy arpeggios, whoa factor to the fat vibratos, weight to the upright bass and swagger to the shrum-shrum of the second guitar. Even the audience applause was more real.

Shifting magnifying power from the mighty Audez'e LCD-2 with luxurious 8-conductor silver/copper round-weave leash to the Japanese in-ear monitor reduced dynamic range, bass power and width of tonal palette. This naturally played down the delta of difference. It was less dramatic. Particularly in the high end however where the Ortofon is extra keen the rather finer more varied resolution of the Solo was quite noticeable. In short moving D/A conversion offboard to reduce the iPod's role to battery-powered streamer of digital—lossless!—data reaps significant dividends. Anyone with a Wadia, Onkyo, Cambridge or Pure dock already knows this. With them the sky's always been the limit on what fancy D/A converter to run. The Solo takes the same concept on the road. It unplugs it from the wall and shrinks the form factor to a cigarette pack. Where most digital-direct desktop docks just pass on the digital stream, the Solo does us one better. It includes quality battery-powered D/A conversion.


Meanwhile its full-size S/PDIF output facilitates evangelical stunts. Bring your iPod/Solo duo and a good digital cable like Black Cat's $123 Veloce to a store, hifi show or friend's home. You'll not only enjoy your own music, you'll demonstrate it in bona fide CD quality. (If your friend doesn't have a standalone DAC, use the Solo's analog output and bring a stereo-mini/2xRCA cable.) Unlike a computer tasked with music duties—or an iPhone or iPad with their cellphone/Internet access for that matter—a classic iPod is a functionally far simpler more focused (yes audiophile) device. Battery power also avoids the sonic compromises of computer switch-mode supplies. The Solo's asynchronous USB port then embraces the same proven transfer protocol which dCS, Resolution Audio, High Resolution Technologies, Wavelength, Ayre and many other high-end companies have.

The Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo really is a forward-thinking beautifully executed product. Its rebellious revolutionary attitude might currently seem nothing but a teapot tempest noticed only by the seriously nerdy. Given the constant proliferation of non-portable digital-direct iDevice product however, it should in a few years' time be remembered as the one that started the mobile conversion to better sound. As such an award is in order*. This one isn't just for sonics. It's also for audiophile politics. That's because Corey Greenberg's infamous old goats are alive and well. Today they're at it dissing the iPod as an evil device created solely to have lossy compressed codecs take over the world. It's high time that false gospel was rewritten. The Solo is the perfect magic marker for it. Take that show on the road now. Get the bumper sticker. That's the political dimension. It's not only about personal sonic satisfaction. It's also about educating the iPod nation what their chosen sound carrier is really capable of; and get reluctant audiophiles to acknowledge the iPod's true potential.


Solo for president? You bet. It'll be a short candidacy. It's certain to be usurped by challengers with far broader market share, bigger ad budgets and as such broader more far-reaching impact. But having gotten there first is something Ken Ball & Cypher Lab's CEO Dave Maudlin should always be proud of. Bravo!
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* ALO Audio's RXmkII retains its original Realsization award for slightly improved performance, enhanced features and better build.

Quality of packing: Very good.
Reusability of packing: Many times.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect.
Website comments: Recently remodeled and very good.
Human interactions: Ken Ball has always been very responsive and helpful.
Pricing: Right on the money.
Final comments & suggestions: Upward of 8-hour battery use. 3-hour recharge time for fully depleted battery. Perfectly matched with ALO Audio RxMkII amplifier. Custom carrying bag for both plus iDevice is available. When used as digital transport with an outboard DAC there seems to be a potential for milli-second signal loss and concomitant reconnection noise between tracks. Of four such DACs tried, only two exhibited this behavior and only one of them loud enough to be unacceptable.
ALO Audio Cypher Labs page
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