Cayin C9ii: Dual Nutube Prtable Headphone Amplifier (Gen5 3x Timbre, Anode, NFB, Pre/Line)

[MrNailhead]

New owner checking in! Just took delivery last week - i've probably got less than 10 hours on it, but I love it so far - it is an awesome device - I don't go out of my way to do burn in, I just start using my devices, if they get better over time with burn in thats cool, but I don't get overly concerned with it. Already, the sound that comes out of my ZMF Eikon is noticeably higher quality than before, so that's a win.
Tragedy did strike and I thought I broke it before I even got a chance to use it - had got it off my front porch during lunch break and opened it up at work - was coming in the house end of day, was carrying too much, coat snagged on the door handle, yanked my arm - dropped the dang Cayin box - it slides down the frickin stairs to the basement, hits the floor, opens and the unit pops out of its' holder and hits the concrete floor - you better believe i was screaming obscenities' at the top of my lungs - Luckily it seems like it's a sturdy unit - also luckily, by the time it popped out, most of the kinetic energy was gone and it basically slid on the concrete more than HIT it - still put a small scratch in one of the mini-handles - you better believe I am still sick to my stomach thinking about it - but I cycled it through every function and it seems to be perfectly fine - good build quality Cayin! And yes, I have already ordered the case for it. But man, talk about the worst possible sequence of events that could have unfolded, felt like Final Destination - audio edition.

 

[EnigmaFotos]

New owner checking in! Just took delivery last week - i've probably got less than 10 hours on it, but I love it so far - it is an awesome device - I don't go out of my way to do burn in, I just start using my devices, if they get better over time with burn in thats cool, but I don't get overly concerned with it. Already, the sound that comes out of my ZMF Eikon is noticeably higher quality than before, so that's a win.
Tragedy did strike and I thought I broke it before I even got a chance to use it - had got it off my front porch during lunch break and opened it up at work - was coming in the house end of day, was carrying too much, coat snagged on the door handle, yanked my arm - dropped the dang Cayin box - it slides down the frickin stairs to the basement, hits the floor, opens and the unit pops out of its' holder and hits the concrete floor - you better believe i was screaming obscenities' at the top of my lungs - Luckily it seems like it's a sturdy unit - also luckily, by the time it popped out, most of the kinetic energy was gone and it basically slid on the concrete more than HIT it - still put a small scratch in one of the mini-handles - you better believe I am still sick to my stomach thinking about it - but I cycled it through every function and it seems to be perfectly fine - good build quality Cayin! And yes, I have already ordered the case for it. But man, talk about the worst possible sequence of events that could have unfolded, felt like Final Destination - audio edition.

Yikes!

Glad it works man. You should have bought a lottery ticket after that happened.

 

[Spawn300Z]

I only tried this since the question was asked about portable amps that could drive the Susvara OG. I wasn’t expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. The Cayin C9II is a true beast of a transportable amp. This actually sounded good. Not as amazing as on my main Susvara chain. But really good.

 

[damascato]

I only tried this since the question was asked about portable amps that could drive the Susvara OG. I wasn’t expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. The Cayin C9II is a true beast of a transportable amp. This actually sounded good. Not as amazing as on my main Susvara chain. But really good.

Hugo 2 into c9ii is amazing indeed. I use the same rig

 

[jjss]

The combo: AK SE200 + Cayin C9ii + IER-M9
I use the AKM DAC on SE200 as its a duo DAC and line out, and the C9ii setting is class A mode, classic timbre, high anode, low gain
Listened to Lhasa de Sela - Lhasa Live in Reykjavik
The sound and the music rendering is energetic, majestic and the vocal is sentimental
Bravo ..

 

[MrNailhead]

I find myself usually on Modern Tube, Class A, low gain, high anode - only just started messing with NFB on/off - has me really wanting the warmer weather so I can sit out under the backyard patio and jam. What a beast of a device - still no signs of any issues following my earlier post, just one scratched corner of a mini-handle to remind me to slow down and take more care - my case did arrive recently, i'll have to get a pic or two of my setup once i'm home from...eh, not work, definitely not farting around here during work, lol.

 

[Gold Fox]

I find myself usually on Modern Tube, Class A, low gain, high anode - only just started messing with NFB on/off - has me really wanting the warmer weather so I can sit out under the backyard patio and jam. What a beast of a device - still no signs of any issues following my earlier post, just one scratched corner of a mini-handle to remind me to slow down and take more care - my case did arrive recently, i'll have to get a pic or two of my setup once i'm home from...eh, not work, definitely not farting around here during work, lol.

Honestly, I’m pretty surprised your C9ii survived that! When I read your description—sliding down the stairs and crashing onto the basement floor—I had already pictured it shattering into pieces in my mind.

Maybe this is the perfect moment for a soft sell—something like ‘Hey Our C9ii Built Like a Tank’ blah blah

But jokes aside, I’m really glad it’s in one piece and working fine. Enjoy!

 

[zolom]

For such a great sounding amp, this thread is, quite sleepy.

 

[MrNailhead]

Honestly, I’m pretty surprised your C9ii survived that! When I read your description—sliding down the stairs and crashing onto the basement floor—I had already pictured it shattering into pieces in my mind.

Maybe this is the perfect moment for a soft sell—something like ‘Hey Our C9ii Built Like a Tank’ blah blah

But jokes aside, I’m really glad it’s in one piece and working fine. Enjoy!

Yeah i'm curious now what kind of drop testing Cayin did during development and if my drop was more or less harsh than theirs, lol - I am a little surprised myself that I have (so far) gotten away with it - and I have to remind myself to keep some perspective and if the worst thing that has happened to me lately is I dropped an expensive piece of audio equipment, well that's a sign of a pretty good life honestly - one of those first world problems.

 

[Trickness]

For such a great sounding amp, this thread is, quite sleepy.

Almost nothing on YouTube about it either. Maybe it’s the price point, or that the design doesn’t look that sexy. I’m really looking forward to hearing one at the NYC Canjam show

 

[gto88]

I guess that maybe many are like me buying C9 at lowered price, when C9ii is out?

 

[Gold Fox]

Yeah i'm curious now what kind of drop testing Cayin did during development and if my drop was more or less harsh than theirs, lol - I am a little surprised myself that I have (so far) gotten away with it - and I have to remind myself to keep some perspective and if the worst thing that has happened to me lately is I dropped an expensive piece of audio equipment, well that's a sign of a pretty good life honestly - one of those first world problems.

• Running over the C9ii with a tank
• Crash-testing at 90 km/h with C9ii tied up on car hood
• Testing its meteorite impact protection on the moon

——we haven’t done any of those

In reality, the protection level we designed for is more like "it won’t fall apart if drops from a tea table," kinda like daily use and (rarely occurred) drop scenario. But your experience nearly instantly reminds me one saying: “Don’t try this at home”

---
And regarding reviews, it’s a bit of an embarrassing topic...

Considering the niche nature of portable amp, especially something like the C9ii——it's got tens of buttons and tens of combinations, there aren’t many reviewers who can properly introduce it and highlight what it's got, especially in form of video. Among those, even fewer are willing to take it on considering that it involves transactional complexities——what'd you offer for a review——I can’t delve further here, but I’m sure you guys can understand.

Uh-huh, wanna get a free review?
——It's neither moral nor practical

And as you know, Cayin is a pragmatic company—yeah we could easily send out free units for reviews and flood the forum and youtube with ad. coverage, say, among every five videos on Youtube one of them is C9ii, wait——what about something more crazy, let's print it on Big Mac's wrapping paper——but ultimately, those are hidden costs that would eventually, be passed on to the price. Compared to that kind of marketing, we prefer to focus on making solid products.

Solid, yeah, say, drop to stair and slip to garbage yet still functional

That said, review is still a very important thing, it'd make you know more about it before hit the 'BUY' option, and we’ll definitely continue to look for suitable reviewers.

 

[zolom]

https://twister6.com/2024/12/09/cayin-c9ii/

 

[Trickness]

• Running over the C9ii with a tank
• Crash-testing at 90 km/h with C9ii tied up on car hood
• Testing its meteorite impact protection on the moon

——we haven’t done any of those

In reality, the protection level we designed for is more like "it won’t fall apart if drops from a tea table," kinda like daily use and (rarely occurred) drop scenario. But your experience nearly instantly reminds me one saying: “Don’t try this at home”

---
And regarding reviews, it’s a bit of an embarrassing topic...

Considering the niche nature of portable amp, especially something like the C9ii——it's got tens of buttons and tens of combinations, there aren’t many reviewers who can properly introduce it and highlight what it's got, especially in form of video. Among those, even fewer are willing to take it on considering that it involves transactional complexities——what'd you offer for a review——I can’t delve further here, but I’m sure you guys can understand.

Uh-huh, wanna get a free review?
——It's neither moral nor practical

And as you know, Cayin is a pragmatic company—yeah we could easily send out free units for reviews and flood the forum and youtube with ad. coverage, say, among every five videos on Youtube one of them is C9ii, wait——what about something more crazy, let's print it on Big Mac's wrapping paper——but ultimately, those are hidden costs that would eventually, be passed on to the price. Compared to that kind of marketing, we prefer to focus on making solid products.

Solid, yeah, say, drop to stair and slip to garbage yet still functional

That said, review is still a very important thing, it'd make you know more about it before hit the 'BUY' option, and we’ll definitely continue to look for suitable reviewers.

I’m surprised to find myself saying this, but almost none of what you wrote above makes any sense.

Firstly, given the saga with DCS last year, the last phrase that should come out of any audio manufacturer’s mouth should be “suitable reviewers”.

This is a portable headphone amp, not a space shuttle. There are infinitely more complex products in audio that are reviewed by sources as diverse as YouTube hobbyists all the way up to traditional outlets like Stereophile. You’re suggesting that this device is somehow too complicated for them to figure out and review properly? If so, how in God’s name could any consumer be expected to understand it? Do you see the troubling contradiction in your assertion here?

A more logical explanation is that Cayin needs to have better PR outreach and marketing, which frankly has always been a bit of a problem with this company as much as I love their products. They put out lots of boxes and it’s not always clear how they are different from each other. They released a tube DAC a couple of years ago which might have been a good product - I was considering buying one, but the only information I could find out about it at all was ONE personal review on this forum. And it seemed almost like the product was treated like abandonwear, never mentioned again - which only plays into stereotypical criticisms that some people have about Chi-Fi products. And now a new Cayin DAC is out.

The launch videos Cayin put on YouTube for the C9ii are terrible and of very little value. The main marketing thrust behind this project seems to be “buy this little box 2K. It’s got tons and tons of options, hopefully you’ll be able to understand how it all works”. The C9ii looks like a really good device, but the lack of reviews by all the usual suspects that most of us look at before deciding to buy such products is puzzling and has to be limiting the sales potential of the product. Almost every product I’ve bought in this hobby has been purchased after watching numerous videos on YouTube and reading multiple reviews online, especially given that many of these products are not available for in person review because they are somewhat esoteric and don’t have an extensive dealer network. Most of us are quite capable of determining whether a reviewer’s insights are valuable. Or suitable.

Cayin should put the kind of thought into their marketing and publicity that they do into their product engineering. This post is a positively glaring example of that, if you are in fact, speaking for Cayin/this product in any official capacity.

Big Mac wrapping paper? Huh?

 

[jjss]

@Gold Fox
Do you know if Cayin has plan to sell a C9ii power module as an accessory, similar to the C9's??

I believe that this is something that many C9ii owners would welcome ..

Thanks

Gold Fox​

Any update ?
Thanks