Cayin CS100 with HqPlayer

[jh88]

Hi All,

I wanted to see if this DAC would be recognized by HQPlayer. Right now I'm using a RasPi4 as an NAA with my ifi Gryphon, but I'm looking to upgrade my setup. I know the Holo Audio Spring 3 is compatible and in the same price bracket. The Cayin is on sale for $2,700.

I was thinking the CS100 might be a better fit with my Cayin Ha-3a tube amp. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[shwnwllms]

It's certainly compatible, most modern DACs that support DSD are...even if you won't find it in the suggest hardware section on the HQP homepage. (Chord DACs for example can be used but you would only want to utilize highest available PCM rate as they convert DSD back to PCM before playback)

Looking at the specs of the CS100 it uses ES9038PRO (x2). So you can get DSD512 rates over I2S and USB. It's only capable of 768 PCM so DSD is the way to go with this DAC. I would shoot for DSD512 or DSD256 if you don't have enough processing power. If there is a DSD bypass mode in the settings menu use it (most ESS DACs have this option). If there isn't one then using the highest DSD rates ensures there is no additional oversampling done at the DAC level and it is just passing through the signal bit perfect from HQP.

With that being said, I would suggest the Spring over the Cayin if your intention is for use with HQP, you will get a better result and the Cayin will perform on par with other ESS DACs that cost a fraction of the price of the Cayin.

 

[thecrow]

Will this thread help?

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cay...table-tube-output-stage.965227/#post-17186786

 

[jh88]

It's certainly compatible, most modern DACs that support DSD are...even if you won't find it in the suggest hardware section on the HQP homepage. (Chord DACs for example can be used but you would only want to utilize highest available PCM rate as they convert DSD back to PCM before playback)

Looking at the specs of the CS100 it uses ES9038PRO (x2). So you can get DSD512 rates over I2S and USB. It's only capable of 768 PCM so DSD is the way to go with this DAC. I would shoot for DSD512 or DSD256 if you don't have enough processing power. If there is a DSD bypass mode in the settings menu use it (most ESS DACs have this option). If there isn't one then using the highest DSD rates ensures there is no additional oversampling done at the DAC level and it is just passing through the signal bit perfect from HQP.

With that being said, I would suggest the Spring over the Cayin if your intention is for use with HQP, you will get a better result and the Cayin will perform on par with other ESS DACs that cost a fraction of the price of the Cayin.

Cool and thanks for your advice!

 

[HeadphonesProReview]

If you're particularly interested in synergy with your Cayin Ha-3a tube amp, I would lean towards getting the CS100. Tube amps and their matching DACs from the same manufacturer often have a certain synergy, which is hard to get with mismatched gear.

 

[jh88]

If you're particularly interested in synergy with your Cayin Ha-3a tube amp, I would lean towards getting the CS100. Tube amps and their matching DACs from the same manufacturer often have a certain synergy, which is hard to get with mismatched gear.

This is what I was thinking, but I am new to tube amps. This setup is going to be for my headphones that don't require a ton of power. Do you think it would cleanly power an LCD-5? I've read some planars do well on these amps.