Have had the i5 one week now, here is my impression.
You know the drill, this is only my own opinion, IMMV.
Look and feel:
- i5 itself looks gorgeous, on hand, it feels very smooth and comortable, its build
quality is one of the top among all mobile devices.
- leather jacket fit perfectly, and very easy to put on and off to player body.
the high quality of the leather is a plus on i5's look.
Operating Software/Human Interface:
- I updated to new formware 2.0 when I got it.
During my music playing, I got a frozen screen when I am browsing display information.
I guess this is the OS issue not the firmware, but I am not 100% sure aboout it.
I was using digital coaxial output at the time, not sure if it is related.
In other playing mode, it has never happened again.
- took me some times to play aorund with it to get familiar with all the operation.
I didn't bother to look into manual come with it, it is not difficulty to figure out.
Most people are using mobile device all the time, this should be easy for anyone to
get used to it in no time.
connection Interface:
- DLNA interface:
I have a personal cloud which support DLNA streaming, and while setting it, Cayin found
the server almost immediately after pressing search button.
Then, I just player the selected music by browsing through those folders on my server.
Everthyhing is smooth.
- digital output (coaxial):
Tour package includes a coaxial cable, which I connected to my Dr.DAC2 DX digital input.
I had not used this connection before, and it works smoothly without any issue.
To connect to portable amplifier with digital input, this will be a good feature.
Per my understanding the cable is sold separately though.
- USB to computer as a external DAC.
To use in this mode, user needs to download USB driver for Windows, which I did.
After installed, the driver is showed in the output list of my foobar2000.
I set and play, and it just works like my other DACs, no issue at all.
- Line out:
I connected its line out to my Dr.DAC DX line in using 3.5mm to RCA, again, it works fine.
- external SD card.
I inserted a SD card, which I used to install the new firmware as instruction.
And I played music on the SD card as well.
This is a good feature for user when going mobile.
Supporting up to 200GB is a great deal of space to store music.
- external USB drive
I don't have proper cable to connect it, but I see someone posted a successful connection
to a desktop external drive provided with external power connection of the drive.
It is said that Cayin i5 cannot provide sufficient power to a high speed external drive, but
possible for a SSD. I have not tried this.
- All connection has a correspponding icon showing in main window.
i5 interface designs are complete and smooth, eveything works as it should be.
Even it is expected, I still give Cayin applause for the smoothness of all functionalities.
Amplifier:
- The output 190mw/ch can drive my HE-1000 (V2) without problem.
And it has more than enough power to drive my Beyerdynamic DT-770 80ohm headphone at office.
I am sure it can drive many other headphones.
Sound Quality:
- As a all in one unit like i5, its sound quality is pretty good to me.
- When using as DAC+amp, it sounds better than my iFi idsd nano, better impact of bass.
- With my Denon AH-D5000, it drives It in full potential that I have never heard before.
- With my HE-1000, it can be loud, but doesn't drive it well in my opinion, after all
HE-1000 requires more power to sound good.
Conclusion:
- Cayin i5 DAP is equiped almost all possible connection one may need, and its DAC capability cover
all popular music format, you can play everyhting you can get on hand with.
It is a better to go mobile than using cellphone+dac+amp combo.
- i5's variety connection offer a great dal of flexibility allowing you to easily plug into your
desktop configuration.
Use it as DAC or as pre-amp, it is up to your preference.
- all in all, Cayin i5 DAP is a great unit for all purposes in head-hi world.
Addendum:
(2nd user report in my household)
- The i5 was able to tell that the headphone out port was connected to the in-car AUX port, and will not output sound from the port when connected, it will only play through the dac out port.
- Comparing the Michael Jackson - Billie Jean with 320kbps MP3 vs the DSD track was night and day difference. There was much more detail in the instruments. It’s immediately clear in the intro drum and snare section of the track that DSD was indeed much higher definition in comparison. Also, the extra dynamic and the cleanness with Michael’s voice in the DSD version was just spectacular.
- The i5 drove the AKG702 amazingly well, the bass was extra meaty and punchy. It also highlights the amazing soundstage that the AKG702 delivers so well on.
- UI navigation was smooth, if you’ve ever used any android based devices before you’ll feel right at home.
- Pairing with bluetooth earphone was easy, although the i5 did not react to the pause and start button on the Brainwavz BLU-200 when my iPhone does, hopefully it’ll get address in a future firmware update.
- Transferring file to the i5 was easy as well, simple drag and drop operation. After you’re done use the search for music function to get it to show up on the device UI. Although it does add their own meta data to your existing folder structure. Also there are probably important system folder and files that are easily modifiable if you’re not careful, since it basically acts as a usb drive.
