[rossiaa33]

no dap is enough for the z5, it needs an amp.

I have connected Ibasso D2 Boa (amp) to the I5 and got the same situation with bass. I think it is issue with new FW 1.81. 

 

[Andykong]

My i5 arrived today. It make me falling in love.

Except from Tidal, are there any other 3rd party app you guys use?
I have no android experience.  

Glad you like your i5, the DAP will get better down the road, so keep using it and get familiar with it, I am sure you'll like it even more.

Other audio related app that you can consider:

Streaming/Cloud music: Google Play Music, Apple Music, ...

Alternative Music Players: Poweramp, Neutron, JetAudio, Rocket Player, ...

Search for Internet Radio on Google play to find out if there is anything interesting to you.

 

[Andykong]

i use my htc 10 phone as a DAP but i also have the cayin i5 for a few weeks now, but after much A/B i think the SQ on my phone is better. nice build on the i5 but the UI is pretty choppy, i had no issues w/ tidal stutter though.

Very interesting observation and actually this might work out better for you. I have friends who honestly prefer his iphone or LG V10 (upgraded to V20 recently) and he is a very happy man after trying out my DAPs.

Can you tell us what headphone/In ears are you using?

 

[Andykong]

Who else has experienced this? I had my i5 just newly charged in a bit extended time. I started playing music and there were times that the song will get this repeated jumping like a faulty CD. This was regardless of the format. I've tried FLAC, WAV & MP3.


I turned off the i5. Tried listening again and it's okay now. Weird. 

Unfortunately my i5 stop working, freezing!

After I update to 1.81 firmware and installed a couple of 3rd party apps, i5 freeze after 2-3 touches so I perform [COLOR=2D2C2C]wipe cache partition and Factory Reset but it still not work.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=2D2C2C]Has anyone experience this situation?  Since Andy'll be back to his office at OCT, 20th please help?[/COLOR]

Catradio(Thai streaming radio), Roon, Speedtest, Tidal

T__T

Mine worked perfectly for 2 days before I install Catradio.

While we have Google Play pre-installed and you have the freedom to install a lot of app. on the i5, please be reminded once again that i5 is a FULLY CUSTOMIZED Android music player, being able to install an app doesn't necessary means the app will function 100% as intended. Occasionally the compatibility problem were raised when the app. required certain function or service that is not provided (or has been sealed) by i5. For example, any app that require Your Location will bond to have error sooner or later because i5 does not have hardware or software support to GPS/APGS. Other commonly requested but not supported services are Camera, Microphone, SMS/MMS, Contact, Calendar, ...

The memory management system of Android 4.4 is far from perfect, and the problem will get worse if the app installed introduced hidden background task for whatever reasons. We run into a lot of bad experience in Mainland China as the local applications are horrible on this aspect, lots of spam activities once you installed the app and it will stay in the system as long as they could, slow down the system response, and occasionally causing system to crash and halt, iOS users probably didn't aware of these consequence but experienced Android users should be familiar with these problems.

The difficult part is, i5 is customized and has a different memory management system. All too often, some app are supposed to release their memory when they are idled but in reality they can't do that completely or they don't do that intentionally. If you read the package box carefully, you'll notice i5, in the attempt to minimize the interference of music data utilization from system function, has a uncommon dual internal memory system: 4GB for system and 32GB for data. Theoretically all Application data should reside on the 4GB System memory and left the 32GB Data memory alone, but I do notice some app has built an App Data folder on the 32GB Data Memory and these app will have a higher tendency to introduce problem down the road.

For pr0b3r's case, if this is an one off instance and the player resume normal operation after power off and power on again, I believe there were a memory crash, possibly between the native HiBy Music Player and a third party application. On top of turning off the player (to reset internal memory), you can try the Advanced Task Killer function under the Third Party Application menu. This function will kill off a lot of non-system tasks and resume the efficient of the system.



I just give it a try on my i5, I do not have a lot of third party app installed, and the Advanced Task Killer has managed to reduce the memory usage from 345MB to 247MB.

For Beamharit's case, since he noticed that the player is functioning alright until he installed some third party applications, it is quite possible that they problems he encountered are not system bud from v1.81 but due to incompatable third party applications. I'll advice Beamharit to uninstall all the app. he installed after v1.81 upgrade to confirm whether the i5 is performing satisfactory, and then install the apps again one by one, making sure the app is compatible before adding another to the library, and leave the Catradio till the last minute.

 

[Andykong]

yeah. i think new fw 1.81 have alot problems
from lag, restart, freeze when play HQ file... is hot when i touch back cover
andy must fix this !!!

Andy is not going to fix this because Andy is a marketing staff, not a software Engineer

But Andy will certainly report the case to the software team for further improvement IF you can provide more information on the problem you encountered. I am a regular v1.81 users and I do not encounter the lag, restart, freeze with playing HQ file problem after I upgraded my i5 to v1.81. I do agree that it get a bit hotter and battery run slightly faster (pending for battery test result after I finished the RMAF)

Maybe other uses who are using the i5 with v1.81 regularly can also comment on the reliability of your i5. If there is a problem, I certainly want to know about it as early as possible.

 

[Andykong]

I told Andykong in the case of critical errors in the firmware desired option return to the previous firmware version . In the factory no function recovery backup (nandroid) , then we need to allow the user to return to a working version of the firmware . And what happens , Cayin has released raw firmware with errors and the users do not have the ability set back , and sit outside with your bricks . So I ask why buy this raw product ? Guarantee from getting root ? My tablet has Nvidia 6 firmware versions , and I can at any time change without any restrictions , to choose the piercing that I like . And Nvidia won't make my warranty because of this . I wanted to buy i5 but now I have serious doubts to buy . You need to remove the limit , delete check the date of build !!!!!

Sorry to know that you have given up the i5 because i5 cannot roll back to previous firmware. I hope you'll have the opportunity to test the i5 in person, experience the performance of the player and make up an informed decision after that. Until then, I respect your decision that i5 is not a suitable choice for you as-is.

Regarding the roll back example you have suggested, lets stay with the fact that there are a lot of opened Android device (third party application is allowed) that imposed the firmware rollback restriction like i5, and I certainly can quote a lot of examples if I have to, so please don't blame everything to the rollback issue, its convenient, but not the effective way out.

 

[Andykong]

Not too many actually. Main concerns left are

- gapless
- 30:00 bug
- alphabetical sorting
- tag reading (esp. genre and years)

item 1 and 3 have been registered in our to-do list but they are under optimization category instead of bug category.

Item 4 is a bug entry and we are working on that.

Item 2 is a bug for sure, unfortunately we cannot replicate the bug in our factory, and therefore cannot test nor figure out the cause or solution at this problem, we shall keep our eyes open and as soon as we catch a machine with this problem, we'll probe into it immediately.

 

[Andykong]

Hi!


Check out our new german review with some RMAA measurements:

http://headflux.de/cayin-i5/

Thank you very much for taking the time to look into the i5 at detail. You effort is much appreciated. Not of lot of online review will do RMAA measurements nowadays, I am certainly impressed by your diligent and effort to pursue the truth.

The Measurements in your review agree with bartzky's numbers, I assume he is in your team as he is using the Headflux site logo as his head photo.

I have Google Translated your review and I would like to raise certain issues for your consideration. Since I am reading from an online translation only, I can't be sure if I understand your review correctly, so please take these as a kind reminder only, you always reserve the final editing to your review.

1. i5 has implemented ONE piece of AK4490 DAC chipset only, it is not a Dual DAC design.
2. i5 is rated at USB 3.0 Type-C, not USB 3.1
3. i5 support OTG all-the-time, you can extend the i5 storage further by adding an OTG thumb drive since the day we launch the player. We do not support audio output via OTG at the moment, we are developing this feature right now
4. i5 can output S/PDIF coaxial bitstream from the Type-C connector, this function is in place but users cannot access to this feature because they need a customized Type-C to RCA or 3.5mm coaxial cable (available by mid-Oct 2016). The line out connector on the top of the player does not doubled as coaxial output.

 

[Andykong]

Enjoying the California sunshine right now, I think this is the best part of the year, can run around in short sleeves without getting sweating.

Jet lag is not too bad in this flight, I can maintain roughly 70% efficient today, will travel to Denver tomorrow morning and hopefully will be in good shape by the time we start RMAF.

Just in case new comers might not be aware of, Cayin will be at the CanJam RMAF 2016 this weekend, we'll bring our complete line of portable/headfi products to the show. If you happen to be around Denver this weekend, please come at check out our demo at the CanJam tent. We'll love to meet up with customers and new friends, so bring your headphones and your TF cards along, we are waiting for you at the party.

i5 DAP
N5 DAP
N6 DAP
C5 Portable Amplifier
C5DAC Portable DAC/Amp
iDAC-6 Desktop DAC
iHA-6 Desktop Headphone Amplifier
iHA-1A mk2 Desktop Tube Headphone Amplifier

 

[Rozenberg]

Good luck at the event Andy! Hoping that I could meet you again but no way I'm going to RMAF

Meanwhile I'm enjoying my night music with i5 as source. This is only the 3rd time I'm using the LO.
FW1.81 really has made my unit stable and I'm still and will always enjoy it.

 

[twister6]

  ....
 
i5 can output S/PDIF coaxial bitstream from the Type-C connector, this function is in place but users cannot access to this feature because they need a customized Type-C to RCA or 3.5mm coaxial cable (available by mid-Oct 2016). The line out connector on the top of the player does not doubled as coaxial output.

 
Indeed, it can!!!  Came home tonight to a very special surprise.  After awhile you get used to Cayin being not only about the music but also having a very unique design with everything they have released from N6 to N5 and now i5.  I was aware of their upcoming coax adapter cable which outputs digital stream from usb-c to RCA connector for use with any external DAC/amp, and was expecting just that - a basic short customized cable.  What I actually received was a high quality 42" cable, easy to bend yet stiff enough to hold the shape, in a braided cloth sleeving with 2 quality connectors personalized with an etched company name.  But that wasn't the highlight of this package.  It was the wooden (real?) storage box it arrived in that made me go Wow!  What can I say, a PURE CLASS wooden (real?) gift box with an etched company name, audio waveform symbol, and their website reference.  Not printed, but actually etched.
 
I just tested it with iFi Micro iDSD, and it works like a charm streaming Spotify from i5.  Excellent pair up!
 
This is definitely one of those moments where pictures worth more than a thousand words.  Click on images to expand:
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

 

[Andykong]

Good luck at the event Andy! Hoping that I could meet you again but no way I'm going to RMAF

Meanwhile I'm enjoying my night music with i5 as source. This is only the 3rd time I'm using the LO.
FW1.81 really has made my unit stable and I'm still and will always enjoy it.

Maybe we can meet at Munich again.

I can't figure out the headphone you are using with i5, care to share with us a bit more about your setup?

I suppose adding a desktop amplifier to the chain will make a lot of different from driving the HD800 directly from i5.

 

[Andykong]

Indeed, it can!!!  Came home tonight to a very special surprise.  After awhile you get used to Cayin being not only about the music but also having a very unique design with everything they have released from N6 to N5 and now i5.  I was aware of their upcoming coax adapter cable which outputs digital stream from usb-c to RCA connector for use with any external DAC/amp, and was expecting just that - a basic short customized cable.  What I actually received was a high quality 42" cable, easy to bend yet stiff enough to hold the shape, in a braided cloth sleeving with 2 quality connectors personalized with an etched company name.  But that wasn't the highlight of this package.  It was the wooden storage box it arrived in that made me go Wow!  What can I say, a PURE CLASS wooden gift box with an etched company name, audio waveform symbol, and their website reference.  Not printed, but actually etched in wood!

I just tested it with iFi Micro iDSD, and it works like a charm streaming Spotify from i5.  Excellent pair up!

This is definitely one of those moments where pictures worth more than a thousand words.  Click on images to expand:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 


 


 


 


 

Wow, it arrived faster then I expected.

This is the first time I see the final package design, I should be able to see there thing tomorrow when I meet with the rest of the Cayin team in Denver. It looks a lot better then the previous version. Real wood box? not "compressed paper"?

We shall use i5 as a digital transport to a iDAC-6+iHA-6 setup at the CanJam RMAF using this cable, those who are interested in using the i5 as a source to a desktop system can come and check this out.

 

[Beamharit]

For Beamharit's case, since he noticed that the player is functioning alright until he installed some third party applications, it is quite possible that they problems he encountered are not system bud from v1.81 but due to incompatable third party applications. I'll advice Beamharit to uninstall all the app. he installed after v1.81 upgrade to confirm whether the i5 is performing satisfactory, and then install the apps again one by one, making sure the app is compatible before adding another to the library, and leave the Catradio till the last minute.

Hi Andy,

My i5 stop working after 2-3 click I can't uninstall the app, I've tried factory reset but still doesn't work. I can't use it for many days, please help?

 

[twister6]

@Andykong : Andy, hmm, can you find out for sure what material did they use? lol!!!  It looks wooden to me and but could be anything with a taped "wooden skin"

  Regardless, I'm still very impressed!
 
I edited my original post with a (real?) next to wooden, just in case; don't want to mislead people.