Cayin N3Pro

Up-front disclosure: There were features the Cayin N3Pro offers I didn’t try. I didn’t try the USB output to an outboard DAC. I believe bits-are-bits and frankly don’t want any proof to the contrary. I didn’t try it balanced (no Pentaconn cables), or wireless (no Bluetooth headphones) or for streaming. And I don’t have any MQA files.

Day 1: As much as I wanted to, I was unable to open the box delivered by the USPS and start listening to the Cayin N3 Pro. Too much grown-up stuff to do. However, the next morning it was packed up and accompanied me to work with one of my SD cards and my Meze Rai Penta IEMs.

First off, I like the look and physical feel of the N3 Pro. I like it’s long, narrow case: it fits in my hand comfortably. Over-all, the case is larger than my Astell&Kern AK70 Mk II, but a bit smaller than my Questyle QP2r: my two long-term DAPs.

Left-to-right: A&K Jr, A&K AK70 Mk II, Cayin N3 Pro, Aune M3, Questyle QP2r

I prefer the volume knob to volume buttons. I wish the outputs were on the top; being on the bottom is just backwards. To me. I like the shiny black finish and gold accents. I like the touch screen. I have an antique Aune M2 which uses buttons and weird combinations of button pushes to control things. My QP2r has a Steve Jobs scroll wheel. I don’t mind either. However, when I go back to a DAP with a touch screen I’m reminded about why they are popular. I like the tube shining through the front of the case. The little donut light on the front is cool, kind of like a mood ring with its different colors depending on what the DAP is doing. At this minute it’s slowly pulsing red as the N3 charges for tomorrow.

Today was get-to-know-you day. The user interface has that familiar Android feel, so I tried getting started without even looking at the quick start guide. The only thing I had even a bit of trouble with was exploring my way to the Scan Songs button. After than it was off to the races.

I spent nearly five hours just listening to the music on my SD card play in alphabetical order, by song title. I had an wide-ranging mix of music: chant, symphonic, small group jazz, R&B, classic rock, a bit of classic country, some pop. I didn’t mess around with any of the N3 Pro’s features except the volume knob. I stayed in Medium gain, ultra-linear tube output the whole morning.

My very first impression was the treble was sloppy. However, that impression was quickly banished when a song I know to have exquisite treble (“All Right Now” by Doc Powell) played. So my new impression is the N3 allows bad recordings to sound bad. Double edged sword, that, but I am enough of purist to want that. I was a fan of Cory Greenberg years ago when he wrote for Stereophile. I’ve come to agree with his assessment that contrary to popular wisdom at the time, most gear got the midrange right, but had trouble with bass. Bass has become important to my enjoyment of music. I don’t mean rap concert quantity of bass, but I do mean deep, energetic, detailed bass and probably a bit elevated in level compared to what “neutralists” would call flat. Some of my gear audition tracks which I have specifically for bass evaluation came up in the mix today. “Dirty (Junior’s Groove)” by Earth Wind and Fire was toe-tapping funky with a great, deep groove. Just what I wanted. Peter Gabriel’s “Digging in the Dirt” is a pretty muddy recording, but I like several of the songs, so I put up with it. It sounded quite fat with the N3. Most importantly, “Deeper Well” from Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball went low and sounded menacing, just like it should. This is one of the in my collection a piece of gear must get right. The electric bass in the afore mentioned “/All Right Now” by Doc Powell hasn’t sounded as strong as it did this morning since I had a subwoofer in my living room system.

Another of my audition songs, “Chitlins Con Carne” by Stevie Ray Vaughn made me think the midrange is a bit recessed in ultra-linear mode. A friend of mine got to listen to the N3 briefly today and he commented the big difference he heard when switching between ultra-linear and solid state was the latter brought guitar tone noticeably forward in the mix. I guess that’s what I’ll listen for tomorrow.

Day 2: Today was triode day. This time I spent a little bit of time switching back and forth between triode and ultra-linear. I’ve actually never had tube power before though I lived happily with a tube pre-amp for some years. I can’t say I heard a substantial difference between the two. Triode bass was a little softer, a little looser, a little warmer. Triode highs a bit rounder, not as sharp. I’ll revisit triode when I sit down to listen to each mode for its classic strengths.

Day 3: Today was solid state day. I didn’t spend much time switching back and forth between solid state and tube. It is easy with the Cayin, though. Simply swipe down and touch the SS/tube “button” at the top of the display. If you’re switching to tube output the N3 will display a note saying the tube is preheating and five seconds later you’ll hear a gap in the song as the output devices switch.

In solid state mode the Cayin N3 Pro exhibited the classic differences: rounder, softer sound overall with a fatter bottom end. The tubes may have plumbed deep that the transistors (maybe), but the transistors had better control. The tubes sounded a bit tubby (tubby, tubey, whichever). On much of my favorite rock tracks the tubes were too much of a good thing. Bass got slightly out of balance with the rest of the music and I missed the sharpness of the solid state output in the mids and highs. Now, where tubes typically shine: small group acoustic jazz and classical, they shone here, too. When listening to Paul Desmond’s Bossa Antigua, the added weight in the bass brought the upright bass pleasantly up in the mix. The rounder, sweeter mids and highs suited this recording as well as others (like Vince Guarldi, Miles Davis, etc., etc.). Back to today’s topic: the N3 Pro’s transistors gave “Three Wishes” from Roger Waters’ Amused to Death and “Sea Wall” from the Blade Runner 2049 Soundtrack huge, head-filling bass which was rhythmic and well controlled. The mids gave Robbie Krieger’s guitar tone to spare and good contrast to the bass line in my favorite effort from The Doors: “The WASP”. Treble sparkled, making the solo flute in Jimmy Lopez’s “Warped Symmetry” and cymbals and triangles in general treats to listen to.

Comparisons: Everything above relates my impressions of the N3 Pro with my Meze Rai Penta IEMs. I do have a couple of other pair, so:

With the 64Audio Trio: Bass is deeper than what I hear from my Rai Pentas, but in comparison tubby and a bit loose. That especially in triode. Midrange was full and clean whether transistor, ultra-linear or triode. I am in the camp with folks who do not consider the Trio treble hot. My middle-age ears hear it as sweet, smooth and wonderful. Always. So it was with the Cayin N3Pro. Transistors made the tia driver crisp and detailed, triode tube rolled the edges some softening the edges. Ultra-linear was in the middle.

With the Meze Rai Solo: in short, strong bass and slightly zingy highs. Bass comes across as strong and deep, but a bit one-notey. The treble had good extension but was a bit splashy. None of this affected how much I like these IEMs, these are characteristics I’ve heard with these when using my other DAPs. Midrangewas presented in a clean-and-clear manner that allowed my to simply listen and not pay attention to the gear.

It’s difficult for me to think of the N3Pro as scaling up or down with differing IEMs. Rather, I think the Cayin allows different transducers to sound like themselves.

In listening to the N3Pro, I found it similar (but not identical, of course) in sound to my Astell&Kern AK70 Mk II. That is the DAP I use most often with my Trio. The A&K is dark, lush, thick and has good treble extension with smooth presentation. The N3Pro is similar to that sound, with the variations I mention above. By contrast, my Questyle QP2r is tighter, drier, has stronger transient response. I don’t like to think about it being more dynamic, I prefer to think of it as faster. I like it very much with my Rai Pentas, it keeps them from sounding “sleepy”.

Summary:

I enjoyed my time with the N3Pro. It looks good, it’s a good size to carry with you, it was almost always on a desk top but it didn’t get too hot when in my shirt pocket. The screen is bright and detailed, the operating system is familiar.

Differences between the three output modes were interesting and along the lines of what I expected. The confirmation of what I’ve heard all these years was somehow comforting. The differences were subtle, non-hobbyists likely wouldn’t notice. Those of us who know will likely enjoy the warmth and roundness of triode for small-group acoustic music. The faster, drier and more analytical ultra-linear for larger scale pieces and the slam and control of solid state for electric and electronic music.

Cayin N3 Pro loaner tour review;



Gear used for review and comparison;

• Focal Eligia
• Hifiman Ananda
• Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless
• Astell&Kern Kann Cube
• Cowon Plenue R
• Monoprice Liquid Platinum
• Little Bear B4x

This is not going to be a technical review as I know there will be others that are better at that than me. I did not insert photos as there are great photos in the other reviews. I will focus on how it is to use the player and how it is able to deliver the little nuances of each song I play. I listen to a variety of music except country and western. Mostly jazz, soul, r&b, pop, reggae, and hip hop. The last is for when my daughters are around so I can embarrass them.

So, let’s get started. I was looking forward to reviewing this product because I am a fan of devices that use AKM DACs. I understand that it is the implementation of the DAC that is critical but I have found DAC’s that use AKM chips to be musical as opposed to the more analytical Saber DACs. So that would make me a little biased in my review.

I did not get into how it sounded in wireless mode because there was no difference with my other players. I would imagine the sound is determined by the headphones. No issues with connection.

I will start off by saying if you are looking for a portable dap that offers you a variety of listening flavors, this player fits that category. I will get into more detail if you read on but for those of you with a short attention span here is a quick explanation. When I listen with the balanced connection, I found the sound to be very precise and detailed. Switching to single mode I found it to be very close to the same just not as crisp in its definition. When I used tube mode, I noticed the sound to be slightly warmer which made longer listening sessions easier on my old ears. The Focal Eligia’s and the Beyer’s seemed less warm than the Ananda’s.

It was very close when I compared the N3 pro to the Cowon Little Bear combo but I would prefer the N3 pro for portable use. Just less bulky. When compared to the Kann Cube Monoprice combo there was a difference. The Kann Cube combo had the same warmth added but retained most of the detail in the songs. An example is during the song Somedays by Jacksoul, l can hear someone was snapping their fingers. You could tell clearly their fingers are snapping with the Kann combo but not as evident with the N3. Remember the Kann combo is 5 times the price of the N3 so I was glad to see the difference even though it was not earth shattering.

The Next song I listened to was Yulanga by Dead can Dance. You have to be patient with this tune because the introduction is about half way through. You hear the female vocals first but then the percussion comes in. It is very dramatic and more so when you hear the amazon wildlife sounds thrown in in spots. The N3 was able to provide good definition and almost equaled the Kann in balanced mode and again it was toned down a bit when I switched to tubes. Both players provided similar definition of instruments and wildlife as the music seemed to circle my head. At 4:10 some heavy percussion was introduced and it sounded like distortion with the N3 but less so with the Kann. When I compared it to the Cowon combo it was the same as the N3, so with similar priced devices it was comparable.

Kiss in Blue by Yellow. In balanced mode the vocals were very forward where you lost some of the instruments in the background even though the detail was there. When I switched to tube mode the volume decreased slightly and the vocals blended a little more with the instruments. The song has a good blend of vocals, bass guitar and percussion with a little sax thrown in. The vocals dominate the tune and slightly overpowered the instruments. When compared to the Kann Cube Monoprice combo there was better separation between the vocals and instruments but again the price difference.

Percussion Shuffle by Charlie Hunter. Listening in balanced mode the cymbals and cow bells were very dominant and vibrant while in tube mode the percussion seemed to dominate more but with less crispness. In balanced mode the bells had an echo when they played while with the tubes activated the echo seemed to disappear. The tube made the song less harsh and melodic. Basically, if you want to analyze the song listen in balanced mode but if you want to sit back and relax, turn on the tubes. It was not a big difference but it is evident.

For an old guy I was able to navigate through the user interface with no issues. I was able to find the different tube modes easily. Triode was a little crisper than the Ultra linear in the presentation so I did my review in Triode mode. I also found the player to be quite comfortable in the hand and as stated before more portable than my other players. There were times that the screen was not sensitive enough as I found myself tapping the screen several times to change tunes.

All my headphones are easy to drive so I can’t comment on its performance with hard to drive headphones. Hopefully one of the other reviewers can do that.

Sorry I have gone on too long so I will stop here. This was my first formal review so was not sure on how long it should be. If you are interested in my thoughts for the other tunes I compared, just send me an e-mail.

I also compared the following tunes, Right in the Middle by Luther Vandrose, Sun is Shinning by Bob Marley and Feeling of Jazz by Wynton Marsellis.

I did send two questions to Andy so perhaps he could post the answers here.

• Can you tube roll and does it have to be sent to an authorized dealer?
• As it has wi-fi, is there a plan to allow Tidal in a future upgrade or does the hardware limit that ability?

The bottom line is this is a very good sounding DAP and yes I would buy it for portable use. Thanks for the oppotunity to review this player. Joe

This review is part of the Cayin N3 Pro loaner tour and reflects my subjective and honest opinion of it.
Thanks Cayin and Andy for making it happen.

Introduction

The Cayin N3 Pro is a mid priced digital player that costs $479.
Full specifications are available here
https://en.cayin.cn/products_info?itemid=132



Technical specifications

Digital conversion is done by two AKM AK4493 chips in a fully balanced configuration.
This is the most affordable dap in the market to offer dual timbre solid state and vacuum tube analog output.

The solid state amplifier is a fully differential balanced circuit while the vacuum tube is available only from the single ended output.

A matched pair of JAN6418 tubes in mechanically suspended shock-absorption case is used for the vacuum tube output.
There are two modes available - the ultra linear and the triode operation.

The implemented differential amplifier stage is one of the most powerful available and can output a whole 800mW/32Ω from the 4.4mm jack.
Single ended power is considerably lower and for the tube mode is even lower.

The player is compatible with all the known music formats with resolution up to 384kHz/32bit PCM , DSD256 and full native MQA decoding.

Physical specifications and battery

The unit measures 115x63.5x18.9mm weighing 195gr.
It is quite a thick one but this was to be expected in order to accommodate the two vacuum tubes and the large 4100mAh battery.

Real Battery duration is about 9 hours from the single ended solid state output and 7 hours with the tube enabled.
The same 7 hours are available from the balanced output.
Bluetooth or WiFi use will deplete the battery much faster.

The front panel is split into two sections.
The ⅔ being the 3.2" IPS touch display and the other one the tube compartment which features a semi transparent small window to browse the glowing tube.
A small touch home button is located at the bottom of it.
The scroll volume wheel plus three function buttons are located at the right side of the unit.

The unit is a CNC machined aluminium case with full glass front panel coating and build quality is top notch.



Regarding I/O

We have two headphone outputs - one 4.4mm balanced and one 3.5mm single ended with three gain stages.

Two line outputs the one shared with the phone 4.4mm balanced out and the other one a dedicated 3.5mm single ended with three different voltage settings that max at 4 and 2 Volt respectively.
Switching from 4.4mm PO to LO and a very useful warning message will display.

The Cayin N3 Pro is the only dap at this price point - as far as we know - to offer a true balanced line out , a very useful feature as we can hook it to active speakers and amplifiers without loss of quality.
The Vacuum tube timbre is not available from the 3.5mm line output.

A digital s/pdif out is embedded and the USB type C port can have two way USB input and output making the N3 Pro an excellent digital transport.
We can also hook a USB drive through an OTG cable as long as the power is up to 300mA.
A micro SD card slot is available to store the music library with up to 1TB of available memory but do note that there is not an onboard memory.

Inside the box we will find a silicon protective case , two screen protectors and a gold plated 1m USB A to C cable.

Wireless

The Cayin N3 Pro features a bluetooth 5.0 wireless connection with AAC , LDAC and UAT support.
It is a duplex connection so we can use the Cayin N3 Pro as a transmitter with bluetooth headphones etc or as receiver to stream music from a smartphone.

WiFi connection is also available but to our great disappointment it is only useful for OTA firmware updates and for wireless file transfers.
The Cayin N3 Pro OS does not support streaming services but for a good reason.
As Cayin have pointed "Online streaming will involve WiFi during listening, but WiFi will introduce interference to vacuum tube, that's why we don't plan to add streaming to N3Pro once we decided to use vacuum tube based amplification."



Brief operation and user interface description

The Cayin N3 Pro runs under a custom developed user interface and OS that does not support any kind of streaming services although the device is WiFi enabled.
It is compatible with the HiBy link music app that can provide enhanced wireless functionality under bluetooth mode.

Since we don't use digital files in favor of streaming services the dap was mainly tested under USB DAC mode and bluetooth connection.
The latest firmware v2.1 was installed prior to testing.

A small music library was used with the micro SD card in order to have a taste of the user interface.
So we cannot comment about database reading speed or provide in depth user interface experience while browsing local media.

In general the UI is quite polished and user friendly with all the regular browsing and search functions , cover art display and the usual stuff.
There is a drop down menu with shortcuts on the main operations like selection between vacuum tube modes or gain settings.
Two comprehensive menus are available for the rest in depth settings like low pass filter selection and equalizer or other settings that allow a great deal of personal customization.

Despite the touchscreen , navigating the N3 Pro and using the search menus isn't a very straightforward experience because the keyboard is the old style 3 letter layout and the search bar is very small at all size settings.

Listening tests

Our main portion of the listening tests was done under USB dac mode or with LDAC bluetooth connection without encountering any functional problems.

You have to install the available drivers in order to get ASIO and high resolution support and Android USB mode is unfortunately not supported.

Bluetooth sound quality under LDAC mode is very good and while there is a certain lack of fidelity it is the best and easiest way to enjoy streaming services from our phone.

We have used various headphones like the Meze Empyrean , the Sennheiser HD660S , the HiFiMan Ananda and Drop HE5XX and iems like the FiiO FD5 / FA9 or the Meze Rai Penta.

Noise floor is very low and the N3 Pro is dead silent from both the solid state outputs while a certain hiss was audible at vacuum tube mode with more sensitive earphones.

The balanced output is powerful and can drive most of the normal headphones with ease and authority.
Single ended solid state is almost three times lower and vacuum tube mode is even lower so careful matching should be done or the amplifier can easily clip and sound harsh.



Solid state mode

In our opinion this is one of the best implementations of the balanced AK4493 configuration available in a portable device and Cayin have successfully managed to squeeze out every last drop of performance.

The 4.4mn output sounds open and spacious with an even and well balanced presentation.

Bass is greatly extended with a fair amount of body but not overly done just a touch before sounding lean.
It is tight and controlled with great layering and definition while slam and macro dynamics are excellent for a dap.

Mids are linear , clear and spacious with enough space for voices and instruments to shine aided here by the natural timbre.

Higher frequencies are nicely extended with great energy in a vivid presentation without a hint of sharpness.
Tonality is still good but there is a certain lack of body compared to the lower registers and a touch of a digital flavor at the leading edges.

Stage width and separation are very good especially from the balanced out without lacking in depth.
As that the recording venue is nicely portrayed with sufficient echo and reverberation.

As a whole the solid state mode is quite natural and enjoyable without sounding sterile or fake.
Switching to solid state single ended out the basic character is still there but sound is more compressed and there is a noticeable loss of spaciousness and driving authority.

Vacuum tube mode

In order to engage the vacuum tube mode we need to have our headphone plugged into the 3.5mm output and select the tube mode from the drop down menu.
After a five seconds warming notification we are good to go and start listening but our tests dictated that about fifteen minutes are necessarily to reach optimal performance.

From the drop down menu we can also choose whether the tube timbre is the Ultra linear or the Triode.
Switching to tube mode or choosing between timbres and there is an audible high pitched sound that fades away after a while.

The device never gets too hot but we must be leaving it in a stable position because small moves and taps to the body result in microphonic noise.

Ultra linear mode

In this mode the overall sound signature is still retained but we get some extra tube warmness and a more pleasing presentation.
The sound becomes more natural and full bodied - especially at the higher registers without much coloration.
It is more like harmonics get accentuated so as a result we gain the tube effect without sacrificing in overall technicalities or the sound becoming too loose.
Timbre and tonality are greatly improved leaning towards a more natural and life like presentation with better overall decay.
The stage is a touch narrower but we find it more cohesive and three dimensional so more persuasive in the long run.
This is our most preferred mode and the greatest achievement of the Cayin N3 Pro that differentiates it from the competition.
A very pleasing and engaging sound but still technically competent although lacking in power and overall dynamics/slam compared to the balanced out.



Triode mode

In this mode we get some extra warmness and wetness in exchange of higher register extension and linearity.
The sound and especially the bass becomes more loose and less controlled while the mids get a touch of emphasis.
An old school like tubey sound that is more about an overly relaxed and bloomy presentation sacrificing technicalities.
It is a nice extra option to have and can be useful depending on mood and material or to tame an overly aggressive headphone

At the end

The Cayin N3 Pro is an excellent sounding mid priced dap with four different types of sound signature and the only one at this price point to offer a unique tube implementation and a very powerful balanced output.
The only deal breakers for us is the lack of embedded streaming services and the somewhat outdated user interface that are not up to 2021 market demands.
But this is the penalty to pay in order to get a good tube implementation without distortion.
If you don't care much about this and the best tube and not only sound is all you need then the Cayin N3 Pro is truly exceptional and very highly recommended.

Qobuz test playlist - http://open.qobuz.com/playlist/5669033

Copyright - Laskis Petros 2021.