I received a test Caying N5 as a part of the tour, used it for a week.
I will not be posting a pictures because there are plenty of them already but will try to compare Cayin to my phone and other DAPs, describe what I heard and try to rate it.
Of course all my opinions and rating here are subjective and you may choose to dissagree.
I used low gain setting on the N5 as the presentation was "less in the face" which is something I generally prefer.
Other equipment / settings used:
- 1964 Ears Adel A12 CIEMs (TOTL)
- Denon AH-D5000 closed headphones (easy to drive, bassy, quite wide scene for closed cans)
- Samsung Galaxy S3 (i9300, Wolfson DAC) with Boeffla sound enabled in kernel
- HiFiMan HM-901: low gain
- iBasso: DX100: mid gain
A12 / Allan Taylor - Colour to the moon
vs i9300 much wider and a bit deeper scene, more organic and lively, more smooth, bit brighter
vs DX100 less crisp highs, less organic, narrower scene, not so lively, equaly smooth
vs HM-901 less crisp highs, less organic, a bit narrower scene, not so lively, equaly smooth
ratings:
- i9300: 1/10
- N5: 5/10
- DX100 9/10
- HM-901 8/10
A12 / Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Please Baby
vs i9300, N5 had: scene more consistent left-to-right, wider, tonality: a bit brighter, exposed / a bit tiring higher mids / lower highs
vs DX100, N5 had: shallower scene, less differentiation of instruments tone, was much brighter, was a bit artificial
vs HM-901,N5 had: a bit shallower scene, less diffrentiation of instruments tone, was much brighter, didn't hit so tightly
ratings:
- i9300 1/10
- N5: 3/10
- DX100: 9/10
- HM-901 7/10
D5000 / Allan Taylor - Colour to the moon
vs i9300: scene more centralized but wide, more 3D, a bit too bassy, mids seem loosing in favour of highs and lows (V shape?), highlights left channel which is brighter than right on this recording
vs DX100, N5 was: less 3D, a bit too bassy, less balanced left-to right (DX100 doesn’t highlight brighter left channel any more), feels less relaxed
vs HM-901, N5 was: less 3D, less 3D, a bit too bassy, a bit less balanced left-to right (901 does highlight the brighter left channel less then N5 and more than DX100)
ratings:
- i9300: 1/10
- N5: 3/10
- DX100: 8/10
- HM-901 9/10
D5000 / Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Please Baby
vs i9300, N5 was: more lively, hits harder, feels much more in control, has wider scene, better tone of instruments, has higher scene (up/down)
vs Dx100, N5 was: a bit less bassy (positive) , less relaxed, has narrower scene, has taller (up/down) scene, more “in the face” which is something I usually don’t like, but I liked it with N5 on this piece of music, brighter, a bit less veil clearer
ratings:
- i9300: 1/10
- N5: 6/10
- DX100: 7/10
- HM-901: 8/10
Software/UI stability ratings:
- i9300 10/10
- N5 10/10
- DX100: 6/10,
- HM-901: 4/10
UI features/usability ratings:
- i9300: 10/10 (Tidal, Spotify, music ratings, great display, long batter life)
- N5: 5/10 (I missed music rating / playcount features I love on i9300 and DX100)
- DX100 8/10,
- HM-901: 5/10
Other remarks:
- places accent on highs
- highs are revealing on harsh tracks, edge of harshness
- the rest smooth and buttery
- mids may be a bit recessed / foggy
- nice subbass
- shines on well mastered tracks
- soundstage is wide and tall but not very deep,
- plays a bit "in the face" but still pleasant,
- is musical,
- serious improvement over i9300,
- more direct and crisper than DX100,
- pause/play switch takes up to 4 seconds
- one of SD slots didn't work at one occasion, the same card worked fine in the other slot; no problem with first slot on the second day
- wasn't albe to test it as PC USB DAC due to driver installtion problem
- control wheel needs some patience (a bit like on HM-901)
In generall I find the N5 to be an enjoyable DAP which is not at the TOTL level however is definitelly a step up from a good sounding phone and has a very good price/value ratio.
I will not be posting a pictures because there are plenty of them already but will try to compare Cayin to my phone and other DAPs, describe what I heard and try to rate it.
Of course all my opinions and rating here are subjective and you may choose to dissagree.
I used low gain setting on the N5 as the presentation was "less in the face" which is something I generally prefer.
Other equipment / settings used:
- 1964 Ears Adel A12 CIEMs (TOTL)
- Denon AH-D5000 closed headphones (easy to drive, bassy, quite wide scene for closed cans)
- Samsung Galaxy S3 (i9300, Wolfson DAC) with Boeffla sound enabled in kernel
- HiFiMan HM-901: low gain
- iBasso: DX100: mid gain
A12 / Allan Taylor - Colour to the moon
vs i9300 much wider and a bit deeper scene, more organic and lively, more smooth, bit brighter
vs DX100 less crisp highs, less organic, narrower scene, not so lively, equaly smooth
vs HM-901 less crisp highs, less organic, a bit narrower scene, not so lively, equaly smooth
ratings:
- i9300: 1/10
- N5: 5/10
- DX100 9/10
- HM-901 8/10
A12 / Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Please Baby
vs i9300, N5 had: scene more consistent left-to-right, wider, tonality: a bit brighter, exposed / a bit tiring higher mids / lower highs
vs DX100, N5 had: shallower scene, less differentiation of instruments tone, was much brighter, was a bit artificial
vs HM-901,N5 had: a bit shallower scene, less diffrentiation of instruments tone, was much brighter, didn't hit so tightly
ratings:
- i9300 1/10
- N5: 3/10
- DX100: 9/10
- HM-901 7/10
D5000 / Allan Taylor - Colour to the moon
vs i9300: scene more centralized but wide, more 3D, a bit too bassy, mids seem loosing in favour of highs and lows (V shape?), highlights left channel which is brighter than right on this recording
vs DX100, N5 was: less 3D, a bit too bassy, less balanced left-to right (DX100 doesn’t highlight brighter left channel any more), feels less relaxed
vs HM-901, N5 was: less 3D, less 3D, a bit too bassy, a bit less balanced left-to right (901 does highlight the brighter left channel less then N5 and more than DX100)
ratings:
- i9300: 1/10
- N5: 3/10
- DX100: 8/10
- HM-901 9/10
D5000 / Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Please Baby
vs i9300, N5 was: more lively, hits harder, feels much more in control, has wider scene, better tone of instruments, has higher scene (up/down)
vs Dx100, N5 was: a bit less bassy (positive) , less relaxed, has narrower scene, has taller (up/down) scene, more “in the face” which is something I usually don’t like, but I liked it with N5 on this piece of music, brighter, a bit less veil clearer
ratings:
- i9300: 1/10
- N5: 6/10
- DX100: 7/10
- HM-901: 8/10
Software/UI stability ratings:
- i9300 10/10
- N5 10/10
- DX100: 6/10,
- HM-901: 4/10
UI features/usability ratings:
- i9300: 10/10 (Tidal, Spotify, music ratings, great display, long batter life)
- N5: 5/10 (I missed music rating / playcount features I love on i9300 and DX100)
- DX100 8/10,
- HM-901: 5/10
Other remarks:
- places accent on highs
- highs are revealing on harsh tracks, edge of harshness
- the rest smooth and buttery
- mids may be a bit recessed / foggy
- nice subbass
- shines on well mastered tracks
- soundstage is wide and tall but not very deep,
- plays a bit "in the face" but still pleasant,
- is musical,
- serious improvement over i9300,
- more direct and crisper than DX100,
- pause/play switch takes up to 4 seconds
- one of SD slots didn't work at one occasion, the same card worked fine in the other slot; no problem with first slot on the second day
- wasn't albe to test it as PC USB DAC due to driver installtion problem
- control wheel needs some patience (a bit like on HM-901)
In generall I find the N5 to be an enjoyable DAP which is not at the TOTL level however is definitelly a step up from a good sounding phone and has a very good price/value ratio.