Cayin N6III Modular Digital Player

Update: I have bumped this player to 5 stars. Thanks to @HarlanDraka for pointing out that it does in fact come with a factory screen protector. It is so flawlessly installed; I had to examine it with a high-powered flashlight to see it. I appreciate you letting me know. Also, I have been comparing this player to other players and the soundstage depth of the C201 is stunning. I like a deep soundstage and this player delivers.

Intro and disclaimer

The Cayin N6iii is the second Cayin product that I have gotten a chance to review. I was a big fan of Cayin N7 for its super smooth operating system and stellar sound. I was excited at the opportunity to try Cayin’s latest offering, the N6iii.

The Cayin can be purchased with either the C201 module or the E203 module in the box. I think this a great idea. You can read reviews like this and figure out what sound signature works best for you and buy the version that you want versus potentially needing to not only purchase the player but another module on top of it if the module you want is not included.

The N6iii was offered to me at a discounted price in exchange for my honest option. At no time did MusicTeck or Cayin influence my review. My thoughts on the N6iii are my own.

The N6iii can be purchased from MusicTeck. I would like to add that I have purchased several items from MusicTeck and have always been impressed by the super responsive support. I have had nothing but good experiences with Andrew and the rest of the folks at MusicTeck.

Unaffiliated purchase links:
N6iii with E203
N6iii with C201
N6iii with E203 and C201



Gear Used
Cayin N6ii (DAC/AMP module C201 and E203)
Fiio M15S
Chord Mojo 2 (no eq)
Schiit Stack (Modius E, Jotunheim 2)
Dan Clark Audio E3
Audeze EL-8
Sennheiser IE900
Sennheiser HD620S



Test Tracks Used:

Emancipator – Afterglow

Lindsey Stirling – Elements (Orchestral Version)

Angus and Julia Stone – Yellow Brick Road

Grateful Dead – Touch of Grey



Build

The N6iii strikes that nice balance between being relatively light but no sacrificing on build or a premium feel. The buttons have a nice uniform click to them. The volume knob has a nice click for each step in the volume. All the seams are tight and even. This is true even around the removable DAC/AMP module. The PO/LO jacks are nice and solid.

The screen has good colors and brightness and at 5” is a good size as well. I can easily navigate the screen with my thumb making for a very easy one-handed operation.

The volume knob is a little hard to turn with the case on, but you get used to using the bottom of the dial which is exposed a bit more due to the angular nature of the player’s body. There is an LED light surrounding the knob that indicates the bit rate of the file that you are currently playing. It’s very subtle and looks great in my opinion.



Accessories

The accessories that come with the N6iii are basic. You get the player itself, leather case, USB-C to C cable, and envelope that contains Hi-Res stickers, basic User Guild and a glass screen protector. To me, it looks like the N6iii does not come with a screen protector preinstalled.

The leather case is very nice. Unlike a lot of the players coming out these days, the case is a black. I prefer this over some of the brighter/flashier cases that you see on other devices. There is a nice dep grain to the leather with gold stitching. There is also a clever flap that is magnetically held together but comes apart to allow for the player to more easily slide into the case. It helps to open this flap up while removing to player from the case due to the volume knob catching on the case.



OS/UI

The N6iii uses a customized version of Android 12 with 6GB of memory and 128GB of storage and will take an SD card up to 2TB.

I did have some issue scanning my SD card. 485GB/8,000 tracks took about an hour to scan with the stock Cayin music player. I formatted another card and uploaded my music collection again and that solved the issue. I put the original card in another DAP and had the same issue. The only reason that I mention this is that you know how to solve it. The issue was with my card and the way the files were loaded onto the card and not the player.

I was able to use the OTA update feature to update the firmware with zero issues. It was a very simple process. The download was very fast, and the install was quick as well. After the device reset, I was up and running again.

The C201 module comes with a shared 4.4 balanced headphone output/line out, as well as separate 3.5mm SE output and 3.5 line output.

The E203 module only 3.5 headphone output as well as 4.4mm balanced headphone output. There is no lineout for this module. Cayin’s rationale for this was to optimize the topology to focus on the best possible headphone output versus trying to also incorporate a line out as well. This works for me. I rarely use line output from a DAP and would rather have the focus be headphone sound quality. If you need line out, you can always swap to the C203.

At that top of the player, you have the USB Audio In/Out

The screen has good colors and brightness and at 5” is a good size as well. I can easily navigate the screen with my thumb making for a very easy one-handed operation.

At the bottom of the player contains the removable DAC/AMP module. Press two buttons on both sides of the module and it slides out and a different module slides right in. It takes a little wiggle to get the module to fully seat and lock it in place. Easy! I did notice that the module swapping got smoother over time. The nice thing is (especially for A/B testing) that the modules can be hot swapped without turning the player off. I just paused the music and swapped. The N6iii will automatically recognize what module you inserted and display information about the newly installed module. This is nice the first time but just adds time between listening and comparison. My suggestion to Cayin would be to remove as much time as possible to allow for fast comparison. I do like the info displayed about the module however, maybe it would be good to limit this information to the first time the player sees the new card. Minor quibble and shouldn’t be an issue for most people.

Battery Life

Impressive! I’ve had the player for over three weeks and have only charged it twice. Cayin claims about 14 hours from its 9000mAH battery with the C201 module (stock on my player) which I feel is accurate. I had several extended listening sessions with modules swaps, lots of screen time going through my test tracks, moving through different gain settings, as well asl moving between efficient IEMs and hard to drive planar over ears.



Overall signature

This part of the review is a bit tough due to the unique signatures of each module. I’ll skip this for now and go into more detail for each module.



Amp Modules

The N6iii is the first platform that I have had with modules that not only swaps the amplification but also the DAC side of the player. The more I use it, the more I like the idea. The shelf life of a DAP these days is short given how fast things change. The core player itself is well done and should give the player a bit more life as Cayin is able to make significant updates by developing and releasing now modules over time. Another aspect is that should something go wrong with the module itself, you can just swap it out. In a player without this feature, it would brick the whole player.

As of right now, there are two amp Modules. The C201 and E203. As far as I know, there are plans for more down the road. Personally, I’d like to see one based on the N7 1-bit architecture.

Before diving in, I will say that I personally do not like one module over the other. They both have traits that fit different preferences, genres, and headphones. I’ve seen a few comments that the E203 is better. Better is subjective. It’s like saying that digital is better than vinyl. I know my vinyl Schiit Asgard 2 rig doesn’t measure well but is hard to beat in my option.




C201

DAC Chip Chip: Eight CS43198 (specs)

Amp: TI OPA 1622

Rates output:

SE: 260 mW @32ohm SE

Bal: 700mW @32ohm Bal

Compete Specs on Cayin’s Website: LINK




E203

DAC Chip: Single ESS ES9039SPRO (specs)

Amp: OPA1612

Rates output:

SE: 300 mW @32 (400mW @32ohm with Hyper on)

Bal: 700 mW @32 (900mW @32ohm with Hyper on)

Compete Specs on Cayin’s Website: LINK

Comparison

Here I will compare the C203 and the E201 to each other but also each amp against other sources that that I have. I will use the same three tracks for each comparison and use different headphones to see if the type of headphone makes a difference.

Comparisons

C201 (high gain versus E203 (high gain with the E203 with Hyper On)

There is a bit more sub bass with the E203 and it reaches a bit lower versus the C201. The C201 has more mid bass presence resulting in a noticeably warmer signature verses the more neutral E203 With Hyper mode on, the sound is a bit wider, layered, and deeper with the E203. I notice a touch more treble with the C201. Vocals are a bit more forward on the E203 except for Yellow Brick Road where I felt vocals were a bit more pronounced due to the stage being a bit shallower. Again, not a huge difference. Kick drums hit a bit hard on the C201 due to the higher levels of mid-bass. The C201 is bit smoother and the E203 has a bit more detail/clarity.

C201 Versus Fiio M15S (The M15S was in Desktop Mode)

These two were close. I prefer the N6iii a bit more due to its slightly more immersive sound. Staging was a bit wider on the M15S but deeper with the N6iii. The C201 is also a touch smoother. With the E3/M15S combo, there was a bit more rumble in the bass. The significantly higher power output of M15S might help here. When not in desktop mode, it’s a bit closer.

It was close until I tried the comparison with the Sennheiser IE900. The N6iii is MUCH smoother, and the sound is more layered. The synergy with the IE900 is stunning. The M15S sounds good with the IE900… Until you try is against the N6iii.

C201 Versus Schiit Stack

Staging was a bit better in all directions with the Schiit Stack, but I was a bit surprised how close these two were with full sized headphones. With the IE900, the gap widened a bit. The staging got bigger and deeper. There was less bass on the Schiit Stack but a bit more control. There was more mid bass with the Cayin.

C201 Versus Chord Mojo 2

The Mojo is a bit more neutral and the N6iii is a bit more V shaped. There is more mid bass and a bit more treble energy. Staging is similar in width, and height but a bit deeper with the Cayin. The treble is bit more natural on the Mojo on Elements but the gap shrank with Touch of Grey.

E203 Versus Fiio M15S

The treble with the M15S and IE900 got a bit harsh at times with Touch of Grey. The E203 sounds very similar with the IE900 but tames the treble a bit. I do prefer the IE900 with the C201 by a wide margin. I just think the synergy is a lot better.

E203 Versus Schiit Stack

The IE900 treble was a bit spicy with the Schiit stack on some tracks with both rigs. Blind, I don’t think I could tell the Schiit stack against the E203. It’s very impressive. The vocals were a bit more forward on the Schiit stack but not by much.

Same with the HD620S. I would not be able to tell these apart from memory. Staging was slightly deeper but it took a few different tracks and a several times back and forth to notice.

E203 Versus Chord Mojo 2

IE900 treble harshness disappears with the Mojo. Sounds great. Otherwise, very similar presentation. I tried a few more tracks and more often than not, the treble wasn’t too harsh with most track but it does creep in once in a while. I swapped to the HD620S and they were very similar. The Mojo 2 was a touch smoother but very similar otherwise.


Conclusion

The N6iii is a great DAP. It is hard to beat when you look at price, operating system, size, power, looks, build, and the ability to essentially own several daps at the same time due to the interchangeable DAC/AMP modules.

I have heard a few combinations that have great synergy. The top three that come to mind are the Hugo 2 paired with an Empire Ears Legend X, a Blue Hawaii paired with a Stax headphones (I don’t remember the exact model), and the Cayin N6iii and the IE900. If you have the IE900 and are looking for a DAP, the N6iii with the C201 is hard to beat in my opinion.