[jmills8]

No audio shop has it in Hong Kong.

 

[Rozenberg]

lol, looks like we thought same things, i'm late by a minute though

Yeah.

But tbh I'm still kinda unsure. Even if I buy it quick, it wouldn't be in my hands this month anyway so maybe it's more worth it to wait for the international version, in my case...

No audio shop has it in Hong Kong.

Maybe because only in China Mainland?

 

[kaneman]

Just ordered from Shenzhen Audio. Unfortunately won't be home from a trip until early July; hopefully it'll be there waiting. 

 

[Andykong]

The Cayin i5 has rolled out in Mainland China as scheduled. It was an exciting morning.

Cayin i5 was exclusively available on JD.com from 10am 6th, and then available in all retail channels from 8th June onward. JD.com is China’s largest online direct sales company, they have warehouses in major cities and run their own logistic service, they can proudly guarantee same-day delivery at several metropolitan region.

Cayin i5 has received 361 reservations before open for sale, and as soon as JD.com enabled the sales transaction, customers can rush to confirm their order immediately. Base on the almost-real-time report we received, the Shanghai warehouse sold out at the first minute, and Guangdong sold out in second minute. Those who confirm their order after sold-out will have to wait for second batch already.



The first open-box report was online at around 5pm and by end of day, we have around a dozen happy i5 owners sharing their experience at various QQ discussion group and headfi related online forums.

I shall picked one open-box article and translate it into English for fellow Cayin friends in HeadFi, hopefully I can get this done by tomorrow. For the moment, please check out the finalized i5 specification.

 

[Andykong]

For those who plan to order Cayin i5 from Mainland China retail channels, I can offer the following advices:

(1) The units from mainland China will ship with domestic version firmware, it will support multi-language so you can set the player to English UI during system initialization, it should works straightforward.

(2) Google play and Dropbox are not available in the domestic version firmware, but you can install third party app. by download installation package (.apk) to the internal storage of i5

(3) You can update the i5 later when international firmware is available, but please be reminded that Android device that supports third party applications is not backward compatible on firmware version. In other word, if you were using firmware v1.1 (domestic) version right now, you cannot flash back to v1.0 (domestic) or v1.0 (international), but you can fresh your player into v1.1 (international) or v1.2 (domestic or international).

(4) The current firmware does not provide digital input or output features. If you want to use i5 as an USB DAC or digital transport, you need to wait for next firmware update, which is scheduled by end of June.

(5) If you buy from China, your warranty service remains in China. If anything happens, you have to send your i5 back to your seller and claim your warranty service through them.

 

[Rozenberg]

For those who plan to order Cayin i5 from Mainland China retail channels, I can offer the following advices:

(1) The units from mainland China will ship with domestic version firmware, it will support multi-language so you can set the player to English UI during system initialization, it should works straightforward.

(2) Google play and Dropbox are not available in the domestic version firmware, but you can install third party app. by download installation package (.apk) to the internal storage of i5

(3) You can update the i5 later when international firmware is available, but please be reminded that Android device that supports third party applications is not backward compatible on firmware version. In other word, if you were using firmware v1.1 (domestic) version right now, you cannot flash back to v1.0 (domestic) or v1.0 (international), but you can fresh your player into v1.1 (international) or v1.2 (domestic or international).

(4) The current firmware does not provide digital input or output features. If you want to use i5 as an USB DAC or digital transport, you need to wait for next firmware update, which is scheduled by end of June.

(5) If you buy from China, your warranty service remains in China. If anything happens, you have to send your i5 back to your seller and claim your warranty service through them.

Thanks for the advices @Andykong 

 and congrats for the release.
 
Well, I guess it's safe for me to order it this early... Either way, buying immediately or waiting for international firmware version would make no differences to me since I won't be in SEA until July... bummer, and I'm really looking forward to it too...
 
 
By the way, someone else in local FB group mentioned that the 1.0V output of the line out is too weak. Personally I won't stack it with anything but I want to know if it's important.

 

[UnknownPlan]

Congrats on the launch. Really looking forward for reviews and of course getting my hand on one.

 

[nmatheis]

Yes, congratulations on what sounds like a highly successful launch Andykong!

 

[Andykong]

Thanks for the advices @Andykong
   and congrats for the release.

Well, I guess it's safe for me to order it this early... Either way, buying immediately or waiting for international firmware version would make no differences to me since I won't be in SEA until July... bummer, and I'm really looking forward to it too...


By the way, someone else in local FB group mentioned that the 1.0V output of the line out is too weak. Personally I won't stack it with anything but I want to know if it's important.

If you are not in a rush, buy later, this a honest general to all electronic products and appliance. :tongue_smile:

The 1.0V line out rating might introduce matching problem if you connect i5 to traditional HiFi system, you need a pre-amp with higher gain to compensate. But if you were to connect i5 to portable amplifiers, the 1.0V output can turn out as a blessing. I have noticed that the portable amplifier tends to have a higher gain then required for modern IEMs (including our own C5), resulting you can't turn up the volume to the effective range (especially when some of the volume knob will have channel unbalance issue at low volume level). In addition, most portable amp will have gain control and if you need more gain when using i5 as source, I'll suggest you try the high gain setting which should work very well with a 1.0V line out.

 

[Rozenberg]

If you are not in a rush, buy later, this a honest general to all electronic products and appliance.

The 1.0V line out rating might introduce matching problem if you connect i5 to traditional HiFi system, you need a pre-amp with higher gain to compensate. But if you were to connect i5 to portable amplifiers, the 1.0V output can turn out as a blessing. I have noticed that the portable amplifier tends to have a higher gain then required for modern IEMs (including our own C5), resulting you can't turn up the volume to the effective range (especially when some of the volume knob will have channel unbalance issue at low volume level). In addition, most portable amp will have gain control and if you need more gain when using i5 as source, I'll suggest you try the high gain setting which should work very well with a 1.0V line out.

In the end, I decided to buy now because I could get it for a bit less than $499 including shipping and other fees 

If I were to buy later, the price is estimated to be a bit more than $499 after conversion.
 
Hmm I see. The C5 was my only portable amp and it sure was really powerful. I never even used the high gain or got the volume past 5.
Thanks for the explanation Andy.
Now the wait begins.

 

[Andykong]

The writer of this open-box article, Kevin, is an Engineer from a reputable Communication appliance brand in Mainland China. I have received permission from Kevin to translate his article and post in HeadFi. While I try to translate the content as honest as possible, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of translation at professional level.

I have skipped some of the content that is related to online music service which is only relevant to Mainland China users. Kevin provided the photos to me and I attached them as-is. Unfortunately the UI displayed in these photo are in Chinese, for obvious reason.

[COLOR=FF00AA]Open Box Article: A new Chinese DAP: Cayin N5, never be the same again.
[/COLOR]

Have been using N6 “the washing machine” for over a year already, when find out Cayin will release an Android based DAP that looks really attractive (this is important to me) and the price is OK, I make a reservation on the new DAP immediately. I was hoping that I can get the 001 unit but that have been reserved by another lady audiophile, so I get the 002 instead.

Finally collected the reserved DAP, this is the Pseudo Open-Box sharing.



Open Box:

First of all, lets open the box (this is pseudo open box because I have rip it open immediately when I receive the package at office)

The packaging is fairly plain and simple, it’s a black box after you remove the cover, and i5 is laying there quietly inside the black box. There is a plastic protection sheet describing the basic IO control, but I removed immediately in order to take these photo.





Take the player out and you’ll find the accessories bag which included two screen protector (plus one is applied on the player already) and a back cover sheet. Because i5 uses USB Type C as the data interface, so they have included a micro USB to Type C USB convertor on top of a Type C USB cable.



This is the first promotion batch and it come with a genuine leather case. The case is high quality but it does get into the way when I need to operate at the edge of the screen. I was skeptical on the heat dispersion issue with the leather case initially, but glad to know that i5 is not as hot as expected, it is significantly better when compare to the N6 that I have.



Appearance:

As a member of Beauty Priority Club, I consider good looking as an important issue, and the i5 surely is one of the best among Chinese DAPs. CNC single-pieced design, fine sandblasting on aerospace aluminum alloy. Size is about right for single hand operation. For those who are concern about the last minute revision, i5 was delayed for about 1 week in order to solve WiFi interference problem. With new PCB and revised op-amp in circuit, the final version has a black plastic bottom. I was a reluctant at first, but concern the importance of online support in i5, solving the WiFi interference is a priority issue.



Power button on left, and engraved lines on both side, kind of make it less boring to look at.



Playback control on right, with TF card slot.




Phone out and Line out at top, together with Volume control. Unfortunately no balanced output.




The volume konb act like a continuous turn potentiometer, feel good when you turn it, and I don’t mind to increase the damping of the volume konb slightly.




Front view



The small circle at the bottom is a Home Key, it is also an “breathing” LED when the DAP is charging.



The back panel is a carbon fiber sheet, can we have a wood back plate instead?




A classic look when put into the leather case



Replication only, I didn’t have two set of i5.



User Interface

Overall UI is effective and easy to use, and the screen are self-explained (if you are familiar with Android UI). From the i5 main page attached below, you can notice the i5 supports internal memory, TF card, Baidu cloud (will be replaced by Dropbox in International version), DLNA/SMB, USB OTG (roll down the screen), this is a very versatile choice to start with.
The classification of media are fairly consistent with other players.



The UI of the default music player is very good, you can display album art, lyrics and UV meter. I stay at the UV meter most of the time as I find it really interesting. Since i5 is an Android Player and it allow users to install third party applications, I have installed TTPod as my alternative player and I believe NetEase Cloud Music will be a popular choice. However I do advices users to avoid apps that will introduce background task in the system.



System provide the all the basic setting, such as WiFi, Bluetooth and EQ.



Checked out playback via LAN at home, there are some format limitation with DLNA, fortunately i5 support SMB as well, I can play any song from my DS213j NAS, very convenient.



A pose with my pretty wooden cups



Impression

• Speaking as a Beauty Priority addict, I am very happy with i5, and I am glad that Chinese DAP finally looks “normal” and I can hang out with my DAP finally. I basically left N6 for home use completely, but I’ll take i5 with me all the time now.
• Thanks to the fully customized Android system, operation is fairly straightforward. Unfortunately there is another side of the coin. With Android system, a lot of the applications will introduce background tasks in the system and this will slow down the DAP. I have installed several app with i5, but finally only TTPod stays for long.
• The general operation is smooth but not outstanding, there are 1~2 sec delay when I switch song, but the other operation are very reflective. The Android browser is actually hidden in the system, you can activate it through the ES Explorer. If you need a browser in i5, I’ll suggest you put the Android browser into your third party App collections because it will not introduce unnecessarily online activities at the background. Overloaded background tasks will not only affect the smoothness of routine operation. Especially when you listen to music for hours at locked screen mode, when you unlock the system, the player will lag noticeably. It is important to keep the system as clean as possible, so that resources can be deployed correctly, and the Chinese DAP probably should spend more effort to optimize the software components.
• There is insufficient time to conclude a detail sound impression right now, I have tested it with ESW9LTD (Audio Technica) with my favorite female vocal tracks, mainly 80s with simple background music, nothing complicated. The overall presentation is kind of gentle, high frequency range is well tamed, non-ear-piercing, background noise is also well controlled, I really can’t hear any hissing at all. I believe if you like what you hear, that’s all that matters, so I rather don’t go into detail for now.

Final photo: this is how I take my photo at my windowsill. I DIYed the lighting myself, and it is indeed much better than my previous photo shots. I started off with the Cayin base (from a Cayin mini-system) but the result is not as good, so I didn’t use it in subsequent photo.

 

[Kundi]

Thanks for posting the review

 

[vilasn]

Nice review, thanks.

 

[jonmbarlow]

Where can we buy this from....if somebody could link to sites it would be appreciated

 

[jonmbarlow]

  Where can we buy this from....if somebody could link to sites it would be appreciated

Don't worry....spotted the link