[twister6]

 

Ok, here is my quick impression after testing N5 fw 2.0 for about 10min.

1) There is a delay when you press Play after the pause.  Almost like N5 goes to sleep and you wake it up; delay is noticeable and not exactly pleasant.


2) Hissing is still there with sensitive low impedance IEMs, just not when N5 is idle (paused), but you can hear it when fast-forwarding (noticeable with 8 ohm DN2000J).  But in general you won't hear it with typical common impedance IEMs.  This also proves my theory that when you hit Pause, N5 goes into some deep sleep with output stage being disabled.

3) Sound is a touch warmer, a little smoother, more organic, and feels like bass is a bit deeper, but the retrieval of details still remains the same.  I actually like this, brings it more into A&K and L&P territory of natural/organic tones.

4) In balanced 2.5mm output, soundstage is a little wider now.

Can you verify that 2.5mm is still quite bright, while 3.5mm is a good bit warmer than before?

I just want to make sure I'm not losing my mind.

Of course, I am testing those outputs with two different IEMs. Angie on balanced, IM03 on single-ended. But their profiles are close enough, I think I'm hearing it right.

 
I have Whiplash Audio modular TWag v3 pure silver cable with interchangeable 3.5mm (SE) and 2.5mm (balanced wired) connectors.  Using the same IEMs and CIEMs and going between 2.5mm and 3.5mm yields NO difference in sound signature, but I do hear slight improvement in soundstage expansion (particularly in width).

 

[PinkyPowers]

I have Whiplash Audio modular TWag v3 pure silver cable with interchangeable 3.5mm (SE) and 2.5mm (balanced wired) connectors.  Using the same IEMs and CIEMs and going between 2.5mm and 3.5mm yields NO difference in sound signature, but I do hear slight improvement in soundstage expansion (particularly in width).

You person. You're going to make me pull out my 3.5mm SE Angie cable and test this for myself, aren't you?

I really hate switching cables.

 

[hakushondaimao]

  "no one in the music frequently pause / play, this is not a common use, so we determined this change."
 

 
You're right, Thomas. I think the main people who frequently pause and play their music are reviewers... and almost nobody else.

 

[x RELIC x]

You're right, Thomas. I think the main people who frequently pause and play their music are reviewers... and almost nobody else.

Or users who are repeatedly interrupted by co-workers, wives, children, etc. :wink_face:

 

[Carlsan]

   
I have Whiplash Audio modular TWag v3 pure silver cable with interchangeable 3.5mm (SE) and 2.5mm (balanced wired) connectors.  Using the same IEMs and CIEMs and going between 2.5mm and 3.5mm yields NO difference in sound signature, but I do hear slight improvement in soundstage expansion (particularly in width).

 
I'm also finding no difference with balanced. Nice to have, for those cables that are balanced, but not a noticeable difference to my ears. I have the ak120II and with that unit the difference is very noticeable.
The difference in sound stage is slight at best, as I didn't notice it myself.

 

[Andykong]

I can confirm that the firmware v2.0 that the Tour reviewers mentioned were indeed official firmware upgrade from Cayin. The v2.0 were officially online on Friday evening around 9:30pm (Beijing time), as Thomas has explained, we can only prepared the Chinese download site by Friday night, the International download page will be ready on next working day which is Monday, we apology for the delays to oversee N5 users and I'll make an official announcement in this thread as soon as the International download page is ready.

I have aware of the new firmware development and expected release day, and I don't want the Tour reviewers to skip this important update by a few day only, so I have wrote to all four current Tour reviewers and all four second-in-line reviewers about this new firmware release and have extended the review period of the current reviewers till they can tried out the new firmware. When the new firmware is officially available, I have sent the new firmware to the current Tour Reviewer on 11:00pm by email. They have this special treat because they need to send out their N5 to next reviewer by Monday and I have their email address readily available because of the tour arrangement.

The reviewers has been reminded to "keep this firmware for your personal use before we make this available to the public", so all users please be patient and do not contact the reviewers to ask for a copy of the v2.0 firmware, please stay tuned and I'll post the link here as soon as it is available.

 

[Andykong]

I wonder if that's intentional. I'm guessing it's added to make the battery last longer but it is annoying especially if you forget that such a feature exists and press the play button multiple times.
I can't really find anything in the new firmware instructions that explains this new feature so @Andykong
, can you please clarify or explain this feature for us?

Jeff, I assume you are referring to the following point that Twister6 has mentioned:

1) There is a delay when you press Play after the pause. Almost like N5 goes to sleep and you wake it up; delay is noticeable and not exactly pleasant.

if you are referring to the deep sleep, or hibernation feature, this is indeed a new power saving design and the firmware announcement has mentioned this as follows:

3. Add hibernation or “deep standby” feature and extend the standby time to 180 hours. Hibernation will activate when the player does not involve any operation for 1 minute with the exception of the following condition:
a. When the Player is connected to another device and involves either charging or data transfer through an USB connection
b. During formatting of a TF card
c. When backlight is on
d. When music is playing
e. When charging by a charger
f. During Music Library renew
g. When the player is paused (if the player paused for 30 minutes, system will go into a complete stop status and return to Home menu, if the player is idled for one more minute, the hibernation function will kick in)
You can wake up the Player from hibernation by short click at the Power button on the top (similar to reactivate the screen), insert or eject a TF card, plug in a charger or connected to another USB device.

I used the word hibernation because I want to distinguished this from the "Sleep" feature.

2. Add new feature to improve power management, when the player paused from playback for 30 minutes, system will go into a complete stop status and return to Home menu

 

[zenpunk]

Does that mean the official new firmware on the Chinese site shouldn't be used by international users? Is Chinese the only language available in that firmware?

 

[Jeff Y]

  Does that mean the official new firmware on the Chinese site shouldn't be used by international users? Is Chinese the only language available in that firmware?

No. There is English but atm I think it's simply work in progress to get everything organized.

 

[Andykong]

Ok, here is my quick impression after testing N5 fw 2.0 for about 10min.

1) There is a delay when you press Play after the pause.  Almost like N5 goes to sleep and you wake it up; delay is noticeable and not exactly pleasant.


2) Hissing is still there with sensitive low impedance IEMs, just not when N5 is idle (paused), but you can hear it when fast-forwarding (noticeable with 8 ohm DN2000J).  But in general you won't hear it with typical common impedance IEMs.  This also proves my theory that when you hit Pause, N5 goes into some deep sleep with output stage being disabled.

3) Sound is a touch warmer, a little smoother, more organic, and feels like bass is a bit deeper, but the retrieval of details still remains the same.  I actually like this, brings it more into A&K and L&P territory of natural/organic tones.

4) In balanced 2.5mm output, soundstage is a little wider now.

Your guess on the Play/Pause situation is fairly close to the implementation. The N5 will mute the output stage when the player pause in the middle of playback, so there is a short delay when we un-mute the output stage. We didn't optimize the N5 background noise control on fast-forwarding, so yes, you can still hear the background noise when you FF or Rewind.

I think Twiser6 has put it very nicely and close to what we wanted to achieve. The fact is, we pushed the extreme to make the N5 sound good by putting in two AD712J and four BUF634 into a very compact chassis. With this amplification design, we can drive most, if not all, IEMs to satisfactory performance, including the more demanding samples. The sound signature might subject to personal preference, but in terms of technical competence, we are fairly confident we have achieved this already.

We have aware of the background noise issue and understand this is an issue we need to deal with if we aim to match well with both sensitive and demanding IEM at the same time. While we are not dead silent in all situations and with all IEMs, we want to make sure the hissing sound is not going to interference with "normal listening" with most, if not all, IEMs. So if you are looking for it, yes, you can find the hissing background noise with some IEM at certain operation condition (likely not during music playback), but if you are still having background noise problem with N5 during regular playback, drop us a line and tell us the details of your IEMs, we'll try out best to optimize the player for the best benefit of our users.

Last but not least, when you are using a 3.5mm non-balanced IEM with N5, only two out of four headphone amplifier chips (BUF634) are loaded, that explain why background noise tends to be more audible with 2.5mm balanced headphone.

 

[Andykong]

Does that mean the official new firmware on the Chinese site shouldn't be used by international users? Is Chinese the only language available in that firmware?

The firmwares in both Chinese and English site is identical, we do not have different firmware version for domestic or international market. The only different is the firmware description and upgrade instruction.

 

[Light - Man]

I have Whiplash Audio modular TWag v3 pure silver cable with interchangeable 3.5mm (SE) and 2.5mm (balanced wired) connectors.  Using the same IEMs and CIEMs and going between 2.5mm and 3.5mm yields NO difference in sound signature, but I do hear slight improvement in soundstage expansion (particularly in width).

 

You person. You're going to make me pull out my 3.5mm SE Angie cable and test this for myself, aren't you?

I really hate switching cables.

Guys, this thread is turning out to be more interesting than I first thought  -  now I really want one!

 

[Uncle E1]

balanced!
 
have a small but irritating problem with the seriously lack of grip while using the scroll wheel. 
 
Cayin seriously need to look into a quick fix to the an otherwise really stellar player at this price point.  maybe a little round rubber disc to attach to the wheel giving it much more grip.
 
 

 

[Jeff Y]

  balanced!
 
have a small but irritating problem with the seriously lack of grip while using the scroll wheel. 
 
Cayin seriously need to look into a quick fix to the an otherwise really stellar player at this price point.  maybe a little round rubber disc to attach to the wheel giving it much more grip.
 
 

Nice DITAs! 2.5mm!!!
I seriously like the scroll wheel although I would guess there is a difference in ease of turning the wheel between players.
IMO N5's have a better scroll wheel than FiiO's but I guess it also comes down to personal preference.

 

[Uncle E1]

  Nice DITAs! 2.5mm!!!
I seriously like the scroll wheel although I would guess there is a difference in ease of turning the wheel between players.
IMO N5's have a better scroll wheel than FiiO's but I guess it also comes down to personal preference.

 
frankly, already have several customers on the verge of jumping into the N5 for the stellar sound but are holding back because of the seriously lack of grip with the scroll wheel.