First, I need to thank @Rockwell75 for his effort to organize this tour among so many others so that I can have this opportunity to demonstrate this beautiful IEM.



I have Oriolus Isabellae, which is one dynamic driver IEM, so I am not a stranger to the house sound of Oriolus, who made the legendary “bird”, Oriolus Traillii, one of the hallmark TOTL IEMs for a long time. Therefore, I am very interested in Monachaa, which is a 4 DD IEM and has the reputation of improved Isabellae.



Oriolus Monachaa won’t immediately wow you once you put it on, but it will quickly take your attention and will gradually grow on you as you spent more time listening with it.

Most of my listening is from Sony NW-WM1AM2, and from Cayin RU6 from my laptop. Here is my sound impression:

Bass:

Monachaa reach very deep in sub-bass and has exactly the enough quantity of bass to satisfy most people with probably the exception of some extreme bass-head listeners. When the bass is called for, it is very impressive to deliver in both quantity and quality.

Midrange:

I called Monachaa a singing bird because it indeed has some of the most impressive midrange performances, sweet and energetic. Relatively speaking, the midrange of the Monachaa is slightly tilting towards the top, which brings more resolution and energy to the vocal and instrumental.

Treble:

Personally, I am not a big fan of treble and I prefer a warm and even dark sound signature. To me, Monachaa has a treble that is wonderful played with non-fatiguing but very high-quality treble. However, I personally would like to tune down the treble just slightly, of course, that is a very personal preference.

Technical Performance:

Monachaa has the TOTL technique in term of sound stage (though you won’t be wowed by its sound stage), imaging, and resolution. It handles all music genres with ease. The timbre of Monachaa is also top notch, and I always love DD timbre so that is also my bias.

Let me use some soundtracks to illustrate my points as follows:



Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera · A.R. Rahman · A.R. Rahman · Javed Akhtar



You can hear the very deep reach sub-bass from the very beginning, fantastic Mids with both male vocal and male choir.

FKJ & Masego – Tadow



Very simple music, but very engaging with high contrasting dynamic performance.



Big Boi - Kill Jill ft. Killer Mike, Jeezy



Classic track to test bass performance. Monachaa hits really hard, performs stellar both in sub-bass and mid-bass. Many IEMs I have tested failed in the mid-bass part in this track, but not this one. Female vocal and male vocal in this track demonstrated the power of Monachaa and the Oriolus house tuning is simply amazing: great bass but equally fantastic Mids (not recess as in many V shaped tuning, and not too forward), treble is just enough to give you details and enough energy on the top without fatiguing or sibilant.

Cory Wong & Dirty Loops // TURBO



It’s an exciting and busy track. Monachaa gives you the full potential of this track with all the details, contrast, dynamics, make you feel like you are in the live performance.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - S.O.B. (Official)



One of my favorite tracks. Male vocal and male choir with simple music. Monachaa just gives you a more vivid and musical enjoyment without too much coloration. The sheer emotion Monachaa can deliver in this track is simply wonderful, Good job!

Yello - The Race (Live In Berlin / 2016)



Soundstage and imaging are amazing in this live performance track, grand with depth. You will soon have Goosebump listening to this track with Monachaa.

Dirty Loops - Rock You



Funky music with some interesting language used. You can listen to this music forever without feeling bored.



To find out if how Monachaa work with electronic music, check this out. Usually, electronic music will reach much far in both ends than traditional music, you will feel the sub-bass indeed will reach very low.

Tips rolling

Wide bore of the stem makes Monachaa a bit challenging to fit earphone tips, you must struggle with it at first.

Pentaconn COREIR Brass Silicone brought me some magic before, but not this time, too much loss of bass due to the brass portion protruding too much and failing to make a good seal.

AZLA SednaEarfit Xelastic is also not a good fit, too bright.

AZLA SednaEarfit MAX standard is pretty good, but sometimes MAX tips stay in my ears when I took Monachaa out of my ears.

Tri Clarion is extremely good (so far, my favorite pairing).

Cables rolling:

I only tried the Effect Audio Code 24, but it is such a match made in heaven! You should absolutely try this combo. The stock cable is pretty good, but when I switch to Code 24, man, the good becomes better and the great becomes amazing, let alone the perfect color matching between this two. Oriolus should seriously reconsider its stock cable choice and make Code 24 an upgrade choice.





Comparison:

Compared to Oriolus Isabellae, Monachaa is an upgrade in almost every single aspect. If you like Isabellae, please seriously consider this upgrade.

Compared to Z1R, Monachaa’s treble is more exciting (could be too hot for someone). Monachaa’s Mids is more forward and much better than Z1R. Compared to Monachaa, Z1R is warmer and darker (though by no mean Z1R is in absolute sense). For the same track, I found Monachaa gives you more energy and higher contrast, mostly due to the treble performance. Monachaa has significantly less bass in quantity than Z1R, both in sub and mid bass.

Compared to Quattro (also a 4 DD IEM), Quattro is even warmer or darker than Z1R, so the difference between these two 4 DD IEMs are simply not competing with each other.

I have been a happy customer of Sony IER-Z1R for many years, but I always complain about the ergonomics of the IEM package, including the stock cable hook, which makes the fitting a bit challenging.

Over the years, I bought five different upgrade cables, with many tiny gadgets that were supposed to improve the fitting, nothing turned out to be any better than the stock cable. I heard of Brise Audio BSEP before, but I was hesitant to spend that much for an upgrade cable until recently. Partly due to the Japanese Yen’s depreciation, partly due to my changed perception of the premium cable, the price is no longer that shocking to me.

I finally pulled the trigger and bought the “best” upgrade cable for Z1R, the price (including $32.79 shipping) is $647.64.



I placed the order on Feb 11 this year, and I finally received the cable from Brise Audio on May 1st. I know, that’s a long wait for a cable, so bear in mind if you want to order yours.

Now a little bit about me, I am a relatively new audiophile and started this journey about 4 years ago. I bought this cable from Brise Audio without any promotion or discount, and I am writing this review simply to reflect my own impressions and help the fellow head-fiers.

Now a quick impression:

Ergonomics
I bought and tested some premium cables before, therefore giving the price point, I am quite surprised that the BSEP cable is so thin and so lightweight. As a result, the cable is very flexible and fits easily around my ears without a plastic hook to bend the shape near IEM connection.



Build Quality
I trust Brise Audio’s quality, but you can see the tightly shaped cable and overall looks show higher craftmanship. I hope the durability of this cable will be very good. Since this cable is customized for Sony IER-Z1R, the termination is uniquely recessed MMCX, which connects like a glove just like the stock cable. My choice of the cable equipped with an L shaped 4.4mm balanced termination on the other end.



Sound Impression
This is the most important part of the review since we are all interested in the sound quality. Before my purchase of BSEP cable, I tried my Effect Audio Code 24 on Z1R. My finding is that IER-Z1R unlike most of the other IEMs, cable rolling does not bring dramatic change of the sound signature. Even though Code 24 brought huge changes to some of my other IEMs, such as Quattro, the change to Z1R is very subtle.
With BSEP cable, you won’t feel like Z1R being transformed into another IEM. The change is also nuance and subtle, but you do hear the difference, mostly on bass, midrange, and sound stage.
First, the bass performance is always one of the cornerstones of Z1R’s legendary reputation in the IEM world. I have heard most of the TOTL IEMs that excel in bass, and I have to say that so far none of them can claim a clear leading edge in that regard compared to Z1R. BSEP has improved the bass, not by increasing the bass quantity, but by tightening the bass.
Midrange of Z1R is always the most criticized area, for its recessed mids, and lack of TOTL quality, especially male vocal. BSEP again seems to work some magic here. It of course does not fundamentally change that, but at least for many tracks, I can clearly hear the improvement. Z1R won’t be transformed into a singing bird, with forward mids, but at least for me, it is much more enjoyable.
I also perceive some improvements in the sound stage, which is already grand and huge for IEM. However, it is not as clear as the bass and midrange improvements.
For treble and imaging, I really cannot tell any difference from the stock cable.

Now A few sound track to illustrate my points. Norah Jones - Don't Know Why



Female vocal, you won’t feel any midrange recess, and the vocal is as sweet and as detailed as any other IEMs I heard before. The only quibble some may raise is not having very high energy at the top, but that is exactly what I love about the performance here: no fatiguing without being dark.

LP - Lost On You (Live)


LP’s unique female voice is again up front in the track as it should be. I could enjoy this track with Z1R as much as I do with Oriolus Monachaa.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - S.O.B. (Official)

The fists banging on the table, and the feet stomping on the ground, you can hear the very detailed bass, the sub-bass rumbling and hard hitting mid-bass have enough quantity and with great clearness.

Dil Se - Jiya Jale | AIFF | A.R Rahman

I am not Indian, and I cannot understand any lyric in this sound, but this movie soundtrack is so wonderfully produced with very satisfying bass rhythm and beautiful vocal. Listening to this soundtrack with Z1R and BSEP cable is such a treat.

FATfrequency is a small boutique IEM company from Singapore that has gained quite a popularity during the last two years, mostly due to their secret weapon to make IEMs with huge bass without bleeding into the Mids.

I have the chance to demo Maestro SE and Maestro Mini from FatFreq for a week, and I demoed Grand Maestro during the SoCal CanJam from FatFreq’s booth, so I am familiar with their products.

Thanks for @Sebastien Chiu and FatFreq for organizing this tour so that I have this opportunity to demo the hard to find Scarlet Mini, many headfiers wait for weeks if not months for theirs to arrive after order.




Scarlet Mini is a BASS CANNON™, which is patent pending technology for its magic that having the highest bass shelf without ever bleeding into the midrange. Many technologies are used to create the Scarlet Mini; readers can refer to the official website below for details:

https://fatfreq.com/products/scarlet-mini

You can order directly from their website for $635, or $794 with upgraded silver red cable, which is the version I am reviewing with. US customers can also order from the well-loved Musicteck for the best service. However, due to the recent backlog, the waiting time will be long.

Now let me directly go to the sound impressions. Most of my listed YouTube music below were used from my laptop to Schiit Multibit Modi2 to Flux FA-10, or Tuba tube amplifier, some are directly from Cayin RU6 from laptop. I also used Sony NW-WM1AM2 and Hiby RS2 with Scarlet Mini to listen to lossless local files. I will talk about the sources in the end.

Bass

As expected, the bass of the Scarlet Mini is huge and powerful, but not bloated in most cases. Depending on your taste, the bass of Scarlet Mini is more on the sub-bass, and you will feel more rumbling than hard-hitting punches.

The quantity of the bass is more than enough for most of the people, potentially there are few who may want to have more mid-bass in proportion in terms of the overall bass performance.

The quality of the bass is pretty good, in terms of details and texture. However, I would say that because of the huge bass volume, Scarlet Mini is still not the best compared to TOTL IEMs in terms of the bass quality. However, it is expected given the huge price difference.

Midrange

The midrange of Scarlet Mini is surprisingly good for a bass-head IEM. Vocal is pushed behind the instruments when bass is strong in the music as expected. The midrange is so good that Scarlet Mini is very close to being an all-rounder.

Treble

The treble of Scarlet Mini is well extended, not rolled off. It is also not offensive, non-fatiguing. Compared to the bass and midrange, the treble of Scarlet Mini is de-emphasized in some way and therefore you won’t find class-leading details.

Overall Sound Impression

Even though the performance of midrange and treble of Scarlet Mini are very decent, I eventually categorize Scarlet Mini as a specialist, instead of all-rounder. The best music genres for Scarlet Mini are Hip Hop, and electronic.

Technical Performance

The soundstage of the Scarlet Mini is good, but not the star of the show. As I mentioned above, the detail-retrieval is also not the TOTL level. However, both sound stage and detail-retrieval are very good in the price range.

Cable Rolling

I unfortunately don’t have the basic stock cable to compare, but for the upgraded red cable, I would suggest go for a better cable if you want to achieve the most potential of Scarlet Mini. I tried Effect Audio code 24 and most of my listening is done with the code 24 cable. It significantly improved the performance of the Scarlet Mini, I know this is a cable that is more expensive than Scarlet Mini but readers can check out the FatFreq thread, there are some much less expensive cable suggestions posted there.

Tip Rolling

Okay, I did not do too much in this department, but for most of the bass heavy IEMs, good sealing is essential. I find TRI Clarion tips a very good match for Scarlet Mini.

Music Examples

Jazz Variants La Bamba:



This is purely guilty pleasure for bass demonstration, especially the ending part.



Childish Gambino – This is America:



This classic Hip Hop is such a pleasure to listen to with Scarlet Mini.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Downtown:



Another classic Hip Hop shoot in one of my favorite cities.

Big Boi – Kill Jill ft. Killer Mike, Jeezy:



This is a classic music to use for Bass test, especially for the proportion of sub-bass and mid-bass. Compared to another IEM: CFA Bonneville, you can hear the difference very clearly that Bonneville has a higher mid-bass emphasis while Scarlet Mini is more on the sub-bass side.

FKJ & Masego – Tadow:



This is very interesting simple music that Scarlet Mini performs also very well.

Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why:



Female vocal focused music but Scarlet Mini is doing not bad at all.

Final Thoughts

Scarlet Mini is not very picky in terms of sources, but sometimes sources do make a huge difference. For example, there are some music played from RU6 or RS2, both R2R based, that I found the bass too overwhelming on Scarlet Mini. However, when I shifted to my Sony 1AM2, the bloated bass was no longer there. As matter of fact, Sony NW-WM1AM2 is a very good match with Scarlet Mini, it can almost be used as an all-rounder IEM.

(Originally post on the Effect Audio Cable thread)
Thanks to Effect Audio and @Sebastien Chiu, I got a chance to demo two mystery prototype cables from EA. Though soon after the tour started, we soon learned what those two cables are, and I will directly use the official names for those two prototype cables.

Before I start my impression of those two cables, a little background for myself. I am relatively new to the cable rolling business and as matter of fact, this is my first time to demo high-end cables (with the recent inflation, cables are becoming much more expensive and people may argue that at this price, they are not technically “high-end”. However, I would say that they are a steal at this price point given their high-end performance. I am not just saying that, but I will soon order one of those cables as my first “high-end” upgrade cable). In the past I have purchased more than 10 upgrade cables for my IEMs, but they are mostly for the purpose of ergonomic improvements, and none of them are over $250. I did have chance to use more expensive cables, mostly PWAudio cables as stock cables from UM Mentor, Merst Mk2, etc. Frankly, I did not find any of those cables make significant impact on the sound quality of the IEMs.

Therefore, even though I am not in the camp of cable non-believers, I am also not a strong believer of cable as well, well, until recently.

The two cables from Effect Audio are code 24 in beautiful deep ocean blue, and its little sister code 24c limited in purple. Most of my impression, however, will be on the big sister code 24 since I spent most of my time on it and I just can’t take it off my ears, sorry.

When I took out the cables from the small package, I happened to take the blue one out first without any knowledge of which is which and what are those cables. When I switched the stock cable to the blue code 24, I had been listening to music with the stock cable for hours since the time I picked up the FedEx package in the evening.

Even though I did expect some sound signature change, I was totally unprepared for what was about to come, and my jaw dropped the moment the music started.

I must tell you that if I were doing this as part of a blind test, I would believe I were listening to a much, much more expensive IEM since everything changes, I mean EVERYTHING!



Okay, let’s start with the first thing I noticed: the bass, yes, that BASS. The first IEM I happened to use is Oriolus Isabellae, which has good bass but mostly renowned for its sweet midrange. Instantly, the bass performance was brought to the next level, sweet Isa immediately exhibited Sony IER-Z1R level of bass. Not only I could hear deeper, more impactful bass, but also higher quality more textured bass. The sub-bass reached deeper, and the mid-bass was more prominent.

The second thing I immediately noticed is the clarity: the resolution suddenly increased, more information was there, just like magic happened. I have no idea why this is happening, but it may have something to do with the “super-tweeter effect” after I did some research on code 24 from Effect Audio website.

The next thing I noticed was the sound stage: Isa is not renowned for its sound stage, but with code 24, I did feel a much-opened sound stage, almost to the level of grand. With a grander sound stage, I also noticed that code 24 brought better instrument separation and you will notice the music becomes more layered.

Later, I found out what those two magic cables are. Code 24 is a silver-plated copper cable with 16.5 AWG, 13 multiple size core bundles. The cable is thick, visually much thicker than its little sister 24c. I haven’t used EA’s code 23 before, but it has been mentioned numerous times in the watercooler thread I hung out. To some fellow coolers with code 23, code 24 is 23 on steroid. I can testify for the excitement code 24 can bring to your IEMs.



Both code 24 and 24c comes with EA’s ConX Basic Set, which comes with both 2pin and MMCX connections. I must emphasize it again, the fact that you don’t have to buy a separate cable for IEMs with a different connection is another huge saving in your cable investment.

Unfortunately, the prototype cables we received for this tour do not have the entire ConX basic set, they only have 2pin connection. Because of that, I did not have the chance to try it on IEMs with MMCX connection.

I did a short demo of code 24c, which initially I thought could have another flavor. But I was wrong. Code 24c is a pure copper cable, which is thinner than code 24 and much easier and flexible to handle. But the pro stops here. Code 24c has very good bass but with less bass impact than code 24, that will be the first and foremost impression you will notice. Even though both cables have the same deep reach in sub bass, the bass quantity decreases in code 24c, some people may like this if they put more emphasis on vocal and midrange. But for me, I strictly prefer code 24 even though 24c is much cheaper. As matter of fact, I don’t have to think for another second to decide which one I will buy, it is code 24. To put it in a simple way, code 24c limited is the little sister with a similar sound signature.

Here are some of the music I used during my demo using my desktop gears. Unfortunately, I am in a process of re-organizing my gears, I don’t have a chance to use tube amp. All listening below is from solid state desktop amp, R2R little RU6 dongle. I did spend several hours outdoors with the cable using my Sony WM1A with local music library, but since I was listening with shuffle mode, I did not remember the music I was listening to.



Mark Lettieri - "Pulsar" (Deep: The Baritone Sessions, Vol. 2) Official Video

The bass guitar and the string strokes are heaven from code 24 (they are wonderful with stock cable, but man, I have to say code 24 just rendered it much, much, more lively​

​

Caro Emerald Live - A Night Like This​

Live performance in a small concert, code 24 just gave its performance in a grander scale sound stage.

Cory Wong Call Me Wild (feat. dodie)​

Cory Wong’s performance is always great, but the vocal from dodie in this collaboration brought some interesting flavor to the music and with code 24, I enjoyed it even more.

Santana - While My Guitar Gently Weeps​

What can I say, the master guitar performance and the vocal is one of the best covers beside the original for this classical song. Again, code 24 brought the string stroke in a much vivid way.

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms​

One of favor songs from Dire Straits, you may notice much more details coming from the beginning of the song with code 24.

Cayin N7 ($1995) is your best all-rounder DAP for IEMs and most of the headphones. If I had to pick only one DAP and leave the hobby, right now, the choice would be Cayin N7.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional reviewer and I received and demoed a loaner Cayin N7 as part of the North American N7 tour. However, I did not and will not receive any incentive or discount because of this review. I am here to provide my honest and truthful impression of this wonder DAP.

Background and Technology

I owned Cayin’s excellent RU6 R2R USB dac/amp. The little dongle is amazingly powerful and sometimes makes me wonder if RU6’s performance rivals or even exceeds my R2R DAP Hiby RS2? I immediately jumped to the opportunity once I heard about the N7 tour since I am particularly interested in N7 because of Cayin’s pioneering work in 1-bit fully discrete design.

Unlike continuous-time Delta Sigma DAC, there are different types of discrete DAC technology: R2R DAC, such as in Hiby RS8 or Luxury & Precision LP; 1 bit DSD is FPGA based and was usually used in desktop system until Cayin introduced N7.

Since I am not an expert in audio technology, I will let the website from Cayin do the job explaining the designing innovations in N7. But I can tell you that technology indeed brings something that is completely new to me in my listening experience.

Cayin N7 Official Description

Purposively designed micro-miniaturized 1-bit
DAC circuit from fully discrete components
• Discrete 1-Bit DAC: convert digital signal to
analogue signal through a resistor network
composed of 128 pcs (4 x32) high precision
Thin Film Resistors
• FPGA: Enhance digital audio signal and output
L+, L-, R+, R- digital bitstream for fully balanced
decoding.
• Audio Bridge: pass-through DSD unaltered,
convert PCM to 1 bit bitstream before transmits
to DAC circuit
• Power Supply: Sophisticated low-noise
highly-isolated supply circuit to support different
functions of digital and analog processing separately





What's Inside the Box:

Besides the N7 player, you will get a free case (as in picture below), 4.4mm to 2.5mm (F) Adapter, 3.5mm to 2.5mm (F) Adapter, USB-C Cable, Temper Glass Screen Protector, and User Manual in box. However, I wish one of the two adapters could be XLR to 4.4mm (F) adapter for full size headphones.



Interface and Control

There are tons of options for you to adjust the setting, mostly notably is the availability of both class AB and class A mode. Personally I don't find those two differs significantly enough for me to have a preference when listening to IEMs. You may want to choose AB mode to conserve battery life if like me you don't find the small differences are worthwhile.



For default music players, N7 includes both Cayin and Hiby music. For me, I find Hiby music to be much, much better, both in term of sound quality and the level of control you may have. It is interesting to notice that Hiby actually starts its business as a software developer for other music player manufacturers while Cayin is more focusing on hardware and has much widely range of products, such as Cayin's impressive Tube amplifiers.



Sound Impression

Before I got my hands on Cayin N7, I was expecting a similar sound signature as from R2R DACs, such as Hiby RS8. I was completely wrong. Not only the technology is not that similar, but also the sound signature is very different, in a unique way.

Bass: After days of intensive listening, I must say the bass is one of the most impressive parts of the N7. In the beginning, I immediately found out that the bass from N7 is very clean and high quality but not as impactful as RS2 or some other DAPs. However, this initial impression gradually changed as I found out that the bass from N7 is more correct instead of being artificially boosted. When the bass is called for, N7’s bass is visceral and extremely impactful, and it makes a bass-head like me smile like a baby. What differentiates the bass from N7 from other DAPs is the texture and the details of the bass, N7 simply won’t just boost bass to satisfy the listeners with quantity.

Mids: If bass is the foundation of the music, then Mids is the heart and the body of the music. The Mids from N7 simply demonstrates the true quality of what N7 can do: clean, correct, and with very natural timbre. I will use Sony IER-Z1R as an example to let you know what N7 can do to the Mids since most people will agree that Z1R’s only weakness is its recessed Mids. However, I can tell you that when you pair Z1R with N7, magic will happen and Z1R becomes an impeccable TOTL IEM with no weakness.

Treble: All I can say is that N7 has very nice control of treble with no fatiguing while still gives you all the details.

Sound Stage and Imaging: N7 reminds me of the first time I used HQPlayer 4 desktop software on my PC to listen to music. For every IEM I tried, the sound stage is extended in all directions. The imaging is also precise and sharp. For my overall listening experience, the improvement in sound stage and imaging is one of the most important factors that I fall in love with Cayin N7.

Resolution and separation: I now can clearly hear many details that I was not previously noticed before (compared to my WM1A or RS2). Instrument separation is also improved with N7 with more layers and layer separation.

While I dislike any IEM or DAP that is being purely referenced, that is, being analytical but without any character, Cayin N7 is the first DAP that I feel like what I heard is just so correct but still so enjoyable.

Compared to Sony NW-WM1A, N7 is very clearly one cut above WM1A in almost every single category, from more balanced tonality, better bass quality and control, much better Mids (in some way lift some V shaped IEMs such as Z1R to next level), higher resolution, much larger sound stage, better instrument/vocal separation, sharper imaging, to more natural timbre.

When compared to R2R DAPs, such as RS2 and RS8, while RS8 is slightly more musical and has thicker note weights, N7 has an edge that just being more precise and cleaner.

Compared to DAPs with Delta Sigma DAC chips (which are most of all DAPs), N7 is just more musical (not R2R type of analogue, but a different type of natural timbre that is different from cold and metallic digital sounding).

I know many people described the sound signature of N7 as a child from the marriage of Delta Sigma and R2R. But I just don’t find this best describe N7’s characteristic since N7 is not exactly the middle ground between cold analytic and warm/rounded analogous. Lack of better words, I would use pleasantly correct to describe what I am hearing from N7.

Pairing:

I spent most of my listening time pairing Cayin N7 with Sony IER-Z1R and I found this paring is magic. I also tried different other IEMs and I can tell you that without excpetion N7 lift the performance of every single IEM I tried up to another level.

For full-size headphones, I usually never tried any DAP as I used my desktop gears exclusively for them. This is in part that my collection of full-size headphones are all either very power thirsty, such as Hifiman HE6SE v2, or with high impedance, such as ZMF Atrium open. This time, I tried my ZMF Atrium open with Cayin N7 with class A mode. I was surprised that N7 can drive Atrium with ease. However, even though the volume is there and I really enjoyed listening to Atrium from N7, I still just found something is missing compared to my desktop setup with a tube amp. Hifiman HE6SE v2 is one of the most hard to drive headphones around, especially in term of the current it needs. I tried HE6SE on class A mode and I have to turn volume all the way to 100% to achieve the volume I like. Again, N7 can drive HE6SE, just barely, and you can definitely enjoy the music in that way. However, if you return to desktop setup suitable for HE6SE, you will notice that N7 cannot deliver the full potential, especially in term of bass. But I can safely say that if you have more regular headphones that do not require huge amount of power to drive and with low impedance, Cayin N7 will be a great source as well.



For pairing with IEMs, I cannot think any DAP that would beat N7 if you only want one DAP for all types of IEMs. Some pairing of DAPs and IEMs may have special magic but may not work for other IEMs. In the case of N7, it is not only a safe bet if you are not sure about the synergy given its uncolored sound signature, but also a pretty good one as N7 is musical enough.

Battery performance is very good but not stellar. I have noticed that the battery will drop from 95% to 70% after a two-hour non-stop listening session in class A mode. It is good since you are most likely to take N7 out for an entire day without worrying about battery life. However, if you forget to charge it by the end of the day, you may be in trouble the next day if you need long-term listening again.

Another potential issue is for those who will bring N7 out on a hot summer day. It will become warm, and after a long time, warm enough to feel uncomfortable in your pocket. Since I spent most of my time with N7 in pleasantly cold weather in California, it does not bother me at all.

To sum up: Cayin N7 is the only DAP I would recommend unconditionally to anyone who want to pick just one DAP that works for any IEMs with any genre of music. The reason is straightforward: Cayin N7 is one of the most resolving DAPs that also has one of the most uncolored natural soundings while still being very musical.