[hellfire8888]

arghhh why andoird 4.4??? why?? cant they use a newer android version?

 

[Andykong]

arghhh why andoird 4.4??? why?? cant they use a newer android version?

Once you go into Android 5 or above, the system will enforce SRC and it is a lot more difficult to bypass this constraint. I won't say this is impossible but require a lot more resource. This might allow a wider choice of third party application, but as far as the core function of i5 concerned (playback interface, D to D conversion before DAC, WiFI/BT/DLNA, ...), we believe Android 4.4 is the correct choice.

 

[fumoffuXx]

Hi, are you guys gonna offer any pre-order specials via your distros? or for previous cayin users?

 

[Rozenberg]

Cayin will attend Munich High End Show (Halle 4 S10/T09) on 5-8 May 2016, the new i5 will be available for demonstration at the show, along side with full range of Cayin personal audio product and selected traditional HiFi products.

Hey @Andykong this is a really great news.
Finally I have something to look forward to at the Munich HES2016!
 
How big is Cayin's stand gonna be btw? I didn't see Cayin at HES last year so can't guess.
I do hope that I could take my time sitting and testing it with my own SD card and comparing it to the N5.
I'm really in the market for a new DAP and seeing the i5 is gonna be released soon, it got my attention immediately.

 

[Andykong]

Hi, are you guys gonna offer any pre-order specials via your distros? or for previous cayin users?

Yes and no. We didn't have pre-order or special discount to previous Cayin users. First five hundreds i5 will have the ¥198 (RMB) custom leather case for free, but I guess these are limited to Mainland China/Hong Kong/Macua and nearby district, distributors/dealers from North America, Europe and Australia tends to place their order later to play safe, so it is unlikely that introductory offers will be benefited to oversea customers.

 

[Andykong]

Hey @Andykong
 this is a really great news.
Finally I have something to look forward to at the Munich HES2016!

How big is Cayin's stand gonna be btw? I didn't see Cayin at HES last year so can't guess.
I do hope that I could take my time sitting and testing it with my own SD card and comparing it to the N5.
I'm really in the market for a new DAP and seeing the i5 is gonna be released soon, it got my attention immediately.

Sure, bring your TF card and IEMs, you can have fund with our the i5 for sure. I have never been to Munich Show, so I have no idea about the size and location of our booth, will post some photo when I arrive on site .

 

[twister6]

Andy,
 
Is Google Play supported to install any app?  I understand it's Android based and you mentioned about trying Tidal and Spotify, so should I assume any 3rd party app can be installed?  Also, I assume FW updates will be OTA?

 

[twister6]

 

No protection for the volume knob in rest a mixture of iRiver Spinn and IHP series design.

Have tested this briefly, I need to use two fingers to turn the volume knob smoothly, so it is unlikely that the volume will suddenly turns all the way up unintentionally.

 
That's good.  For example, PAW Gold volume pot is loose enough to be adjusted with one finger, thus requires a protection.  If i5 knob has enough resistance to be adjusted with 2 fingers, I think we will be in good shape without protection

 

[Rozenberg]

Sure, bring your TF card and IEMs, you can have fund with our the i5 for sure. I have never been to Munich Show, so I have no idea about the size and location of our booth, will post some photo when I arrive on site .

Nice. I'll be looking forward to it
Experiencing it by myself would be thousand times better.

 

[nmatheis]

Andy,

Is Google Play supported to install any app?  I understand it's Android based and you mentioned about trying Tidal and Spotify, so should I assume any 3rd party app can be installed?  Also, I assume FW updates will be OTA?

Andy mentioned Google Play support but not at initial release.

"User can install third party applications through apk installation package or Google Play (probably not available in the initial version)"


Eager to see some impressions once this is out in people's hands. I just saw Lee from VE say that they're getting one soon. I'm more excited for this than I was for FiiO X7, to be honest. I'm also happy Cayin decided not to go with amp modules, too. I wasn't sold on that after trying X7.

 

[Andykong]

Andy,

Is Google Play supported to install any app?  I understand it's Android based and you mentioned about trying Tidal and Spotify, so should I assume any 3rd party app can be installed?  Also, I assume FW updates will be OTA?

Theoretically you can install anything once we make Google Play available in i5.

In reality i5 is a fully customized Android device and we have disable or excluded some of the "basic" service in Android, Just to name a few, i5 does not have "Camera", we disabled Contact List, and we don't support SMS or MMS. This might result in unsuccessful installation in some App when they probe into this service during installation, or the App cannot be functions (and introduced an lot of error message or background task to "look for" certain service) normally.

We have plan to make i5 FW update via OTA, but this is not a priority feature at this moment. This will involve a lot of test and supporting service (e.g., hosting for firmware file) before we make it available to users,

 

[hellfire8888]

problem with old android version is some apps require a newer android version like apple music apps..

 

[Andykong]

Andy mentioned Google Play support but not at initial release.

"User can install third party applications through apk installation package or Google Play (probably not available in the initial version)"


Eager to see some impressions once this is out in people's hands. I just saw Lee from VE say that they're getting one soon. I'm more excited for this than I was for FiiO X7, to be honest. I'm also happy Cayin decided not to go with amp modules, too. I wasn't sold on that after trying X7.

Cayin is kind of old school, we have been in this business for almost a quarter of a century, we have developed our own understand on sound presentation, and each product is a subset under this house sound umbrella. With this philosophy, we probably won't go into user-replaceable modular design in foreseeable future.

We definitely will offer a tour on the i5 "soon", will keep everyone informed when we are ready for that.

 

[Andykong]

problem with old android version is some apps require a newer android version like apple music apps..

Understand, flexibility in third party app is the only reason, but we cannot risk the audio performance of the native player because we need to accommodate more third party app, the logic didn't add up. In the worst case scenario, we'll not hesitate to stop the third part app option completely or to go by White list approach as the audio performance of the native player always has top priority.

Please understand that flexibility in third party app is a bonus on a fully customized Android DAP. The customization might become unfavorable factor to third party app and we are hardly optimized for them. You will quite certain bypassing all the DSP functions we developed, and there is no guarantee that the app will utilize the AK4490 and subsequent audio component effectively.

 

[musicday]

So the only codec that won't play is DSD256, 11.5 Mhz right? The other two are done natively?