[HiFiHawaii808]

Already got desktop, but I want something that I can bring around with me and not have to sit still stationary lol!!!

If you are going to carry around an M30, you may as well carrying around a TT2.

 

[Whitigir]

If you are going to carry around an M30, you may as well carrying around a TT2.

Thought about it, but the M30 has so much more features , especially it being modular with true balanced architecture. The main thing is that I love shanling house sound even more than Sony, and between Chord/Sony I would pick Sony lol

 

[utdeep]

Friends - what's the best small DAP or USB Dongle that can act as a decent source for the Cayin C9? I have the L&P W2 but I don't think it has a line out mode. I have been eying the Hiby R5 Saber and the Shanling M3X.

I had a Hiby R8, but I didn't love the combination with the Cayin C9.

 

[RTodd]

Friends - what's the best small DAP or USB Dongle that can act as a decent source for the Cayin C9? I have the L&P W2 but I don't think it has a line out mode. I have been eying the Hiby R5 Saber and the Shanling M3X.

I had a Hiby R8, but I didn't love the combination with the Cayin C9.

I like the PAW6000 with the C9. True line out, screen inverts as an option, lifts the P6K to 3K$ plus sound quality in my opinion.

If you want streaming than not the best choice, as you would have to USB or Bluetooth for that into the PAW.

 

[bigbeans]

If you want to use a DAP with greater flexibility in placement, I'm selling a Gravedigger 1.5m interconnect (https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/4-4mm-interconnect-corpse-grave-digger-1-5m.9179/).

You can mount a DAP on a stand like this (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CXGQ57S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and interact with easily. I've attached an example, it's like your own private listening station!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Friends - what's the best small DAP or USB Dongle that can act as a decent source for the Cayin C9? I have the L&P W2 but I don't think it has a line out mode. I have been eying the Hiby R5 Saber and the Shanling M3X.

I had a Hiby R8, but I didn't love the combination with the Cayin C9.

I would get a good Dac or Dap. My experience is the C9 performs better with better Dacs. Get something with a true line out too

 

[bluestorm1992]

I would get a good Dac or Dap. My experience is the C9 performs better with better Dacs. Get something with a true line out too

I would second this suggestion. You get totally different experience with different levels of DAPs. In my own experience, M8+C9=M30 level of sound, while P6 Pro +C9 is a much improvement from that.

 

[Auricon]

Special delivery arrived from Japan post today. Was looking for a DAP + C9 carrying case and read that Van Nuys Japan made a custom one for the C9. Having collected G-Shocks from Japan over the years made this relatively easy, or so I thought. Van Nuys made it challenging ordering from them directly even with a Tenso/FromJP forwarding service and Rakuten JP accounts. Decided to hit Amazon Japan and order from there, used my Tenso info and checkout was a breeze.

Received a note back from Van Nuys saying there a delay in delivery due to demand - order Jul 18, expected stock Aug 3-12. Got a charge notice on the Aug 3, delivery from Van Nuys to Tenso, then overseas trip to WDC.

Overall quality is quite nice, padded, meshed, great detailing - expensive but worth $120. Able to fit my DX312 and C9 in their respective cases - snug fit with some room. The handle strap makes it nice to lug the stack around the house. I'll probably use it for more portable carrying case than use it for playback, case it's a bit of work to remove the DAP and adjust music selection.

 

[Whitigir]

I would second this suggestion. You get totally different experience with different levels of DAPs. In my own experience, M8+C9=M30 level of sound, while P6 Pro +C9 is a much improvement from that.

Agreed that the C9 will scale tremendously with the sources!!!

 

[bigbeans]

Nice Iliad Interconnect, my Iliad 6W GND version is available (https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/eletech-iliad-6w-gnd.9189/)

Although I am quite impressed with the stock IC, Cayin didn't skimp the one in the box!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Special delivery arrived from Japan post today. Was looking for a DAP + C9 carrying case and read that Van Nuys Japan made a custom one for the C9. Having collected G-Shocks from Japan over the years made this relatively easy, or so I thought. Van Nuys made it challenging ordering from them directly even with a Tenso/FromJP forwarding service and Rakuten JP accounts. Decided to hit Amazon Japan and order from there, used my Tenso info and checkout was a breeze.

Received a note back from Van Nuys saying there a delay in delivery due to demand - order Jul 18, expected stock Aug 3-12. Got a charge notice on the Aug 3, delivery from Van Nuys to Tenso, then overseas trip to WDC.

Overall quality is quite nice, padded, meshed, great detailing - expensive but worth $120. Able to fit my DX312 and C9 in their respective cases - snug fit with some room. The handle strap makes it nice to lug the stack around the house. I'll probably use it for more portable carrying case than use it for playback, case it's a bit of work to remove the DAP and adjust music selection.

Awesome. I just got mine this week too. It's at home though. I won't meet up with it until the end of the month.

 

[Whitigir]

I have done a bit of comparisons and shared it Here, including C9! Enjoy it guys

 

[Andykong]

To @Andykong, and also @Whitigir and @DarginMahkum: You have been discussing the ”one of the L/R Nutube channels failed completely“ issue. This reminded me of a fact with my C9:

Right out of the box on day one, the brightness of the Nutube greenish-blueish illuminations has been different for L and R. The enclosed photograph tries to capture this, but the brightness difference is larger to the eye than the image shows. The Nutube on the right hand size of the image glows less than the l.h.s.

I cannot hear differences between L and R. A mono signal is dead center, and there are no audible L/R differences e.g. in dynamics or perceived tonality.

I didn‘t worry at all until I read about @FooFighter ‘s channel failure. And I want to keep on without worries.

Anybody out there with an illumination difference?

My C9 is 3.5 months old, purchased new directly from the German importer.

As an experienced vacuum tube amplifier manufacturer, we have developed a list of test to examine the condition of a vacuum tube before we used it in our amplifier. We are quite sure our QA list is very effective given we are using hundred thousands of tubes per year, but brightness of a vacuum tube is not one of the test items. The filament must be light up and visually recognisable, but we don't need to evaluate the brightness of filament even with matched pair design.

Likewise, we have a list of tests to examine the condition of a Nutube 6P1 before we install it into N8 or C9, but brightness of LED (filament) is not one of our test items. The Nutube will perform exactly as designed even when the LED intensity are varied. On the other hand, the LED technologies are significantly more uniform than the filament of traditional vacuum tube, so inbalanced LED intensity between left and right Nutube in C9 is not common.

 

[Andykong]

I have been reading through threads about the dangers of not carefully using 18650 batteries.

I have few questions and hope folks in this thread could educate me on this (baby steps)

I am assuming I have a C9 fully charged and then run through worst case battery loading (Class A, Tubes. 4.4 mm) for about 4 hours and my battery indicator comes to 25%

1. By this time, it would be quite hot being ran at worst case load. Should I wait for an hour or so for it to cool down before charging back to full ?

2. Lets say, I have a spare battery module with 4 batteries. Can I charge the spare module separately without keeping it inserted in C9 during charging ?

3. Considering the situation as presented in #1, where the C9 frame/chassis is hot from usage, could I just remove the existing module and replace it fully charged spare module, without C9 need to be cooled down. Would the chassis heat affect the spare module batteries if I hot swap ?

4. If I buy say 8-12 orbtronic batteries, will it be ok to fully charge 4 of them using battery module and then keep them in their protective case until I need to swap batteries ? Will it be safe to leave a fully charged 3500 mAh battery in the protective case ?

I would like to receive kind feedback from members on this thread. Thank you !

1. No, you don't need to wait for the amplifier to cool down, you can charge the C9 immediately after you stop playback.

2. Yes, the battery module is a power supply and QC3.0 18650 charger 2in1. you can charge your second set of battery in the battery module seperately.

3. Yes, and that's the whole point of allowing users to buy second battery module: facilitate non-stop (almost) playback. You don't need to cool down the amplifier, just plug in a fully charge module and continue your music session immediately.

4. Yes, you can have several set of 4x18650 batteries and swap them out anytime, the only requirements is to replace all 4 battery at the same time. Don't replace one or two batteries. You can do that with a torch but you must not do that with C9 because the battery are connect in series, not parallel. In fact, you can do this with any 18650 charger. I use three sets of 4x18650 batteries before the spare battery module are available separately. You can get a decent 4-slot 18650 charger at around $30, which is a lot cheaper if you don't want to swap the battery instantly like (3)

Be reminded when the chassis of C9 reached 50 degree C, it become uncomfortably hot to hold in your hand, but it is still a very safe operation temperature for the C9 circuitry. (and components).

 

[Whitigir]

50c will barely warm up when the winter reaches -20