[nmatheis]

Here's a Dropbox mirror for 1.81 International firmware of anyone needs it: LINK.

 

[Andykong]

I have not updated my firmware. The process is just too irritating. OTA is out of the question because the server is either busy or so darn slow as to be useless.

I also tried the manual process but it is no better. I went to the Cayin site and downloaded the firmware file and the instructions. However the file folder a received did not match the file name in the instruction sheet. The download was painfully slow. It was a folder called "I-Update-1" and it had a number of files and subfolders. I copied it to the root directory of the unit and hit the down arrow button and the power button to go "install firmware upgrade". I found the firmware install command and pushed the powerebut it could not find the install file in the root directory of the unit. I tired doing the upgrade from the sd card and the same bs.

I have upgraded firmware on my iPod, Astell and Kern units, and sony units numerous times . . it's a piece of cake!!! Cayin has to get there ass in gear on this crap!!! This is bush league stuff!!!

The unit itself is good looking, has good sound and seems well-built!!!!

Now how about some decent firmware management???!!!

I just tried the download link again and it is starting to download a zipped file with what appears to be the correct title "1.81 International.zip" etc.

I will let you know what happens. 

This is weird it was from the same button on the same page as before . . . . 

The OTA upgrade service is indeed something we have to improve, and we are working on it right now. Our web server is located in China and the bandwidth of our service provider to certain countries are far from satisfactory. We have tried to twisted our server setup after v1.5 firmware upgrade trying to improve the service but the new setup still can't sustain the bandwidth pressure during the v1.81 upgrade, for this we apology again.

We have decided to move our English website out of China after v1.81, and have recently signed up with a new service provider in Hong Kong. The Sever has been relocated last week and I have asked several HeadFiers to test the performance of the website from US and Europe to confirm the performance of the new server setup. The improvement is obvious according to our assessment, but we shall review the new service after 2-3 months of operation, so if you run into some strange behavior with our website, feel free to PM me and these shall be our important input when we review our web service again.

The download link should always lead to a zip file. Downloading a folder with a number of files and subfolders are abnormal. If we go back to the posts during the v1.81 upgrade period, we should notice that while we have complaint on "incomplete download" during the first two days, all the cases were related to the file size of a ZIP file, this is the first case who has downloaded a folders instead of a zip file. The most likely explanation of that is either your system or browser has setup to decompress a zip file automatically, or when you copy the zip file from your computer to i5, you have select extract instead of copy in the shortcut menu after you drag and drop the file. I am just speculating here, we probably can't find out the real reason of the error again, but we glad that you have downloaded the zip file correctly this time and is looking forwards to your feedback on the v1.81 installation.

How about someone who already downloaded the file, upload the thing to dropbox or something. Could save some time for everyone else.

We have offered a Google Drive mirror connection link in our download link in our v1.81 firmware announcement. That was a temporary procedure after the crash of v1.5 firmware upgrade and we have learned the lesson and provided a Google drive link in our subsequent firmware announcement as standard practice.

 

[gonzfi]

As it was mentioned by others, this is a lock screen, just like in a smartphone.  Can't speak for iPhone (my household is iFree ), but it's just like with Android phones where you have lock screen and can still control playback.  The upper part of i5 lock-screen is where you can tap on that circle part under the time/date to Play/Pause the track and skip Next/Prev by clicking on those arrows.  If you want to unlock the screen you touch and slide the circle with a music note at the bottom.

Thanks. All good now.

 

[gonzfi]

Except for the number of times that it crashes... today it crashed and gave me a green screen, yesterday it was orange. Odd.

 

[Demard]

  Have you updated your firmware? FW1.8 International version is good already, now just gotta wait for 2.0 International.
 
Also what do you mean homepage? The circular button on the i5 is the home button but there's no homepage like usual Android phones.
Your homepage is the screen showing Memory, TF Card, Dropbox, LAN & USB Flash Drive.

---

Also battery calibration seems to be working. Almost 3 hours on standby without anything playing, battery hasn't decreased even 1%. Thanks Andy 

my unit come with 1.8 firmware

8 hours of offline standby, and it's still going strong, no decrease in battery %

 

 

[Andykong]

Has anyone tried to get lyrics on one of these yet?
It's not terribly important tbh, but would be nice on the odd track.

I did try earlier using mp3 tag, but the lyrics still don't show?

The lyric function of i5 requires a .lrc file with the same file name of the song.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LRC_%28file_format%29

 

[Andykong]

Another i5 review is online, from inearspace of UK.

http://inearspace.com/2016/10/30/cayin-i5-reinventing/

Extensive comparison with N5, so for those who are interested in comparing the two DAPs from Cayin, don't skip this review on i5.

Sonny has dedicated a section on how i5 works Roon Server, I have heard a lot of good things about the Roon but heard it briefly at my friend's setup, but didn't has the chance to give it try myself. I am a bit surprised that it blends into the Room environment pretty well.

 

[garryt]

The lyric function of i5 requires a .lrc file with the same file name of the song.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LRC_%28file_format%29

Thanks for the reply Andy,
 
However, I'm still none the wiser as to how to actually do it in reality.
I'm a bit of a newb when it comes to tags and the like. I can do the very basic stuff, but beyond that I'm clueless!!
 
Very pleased with the player indeed though, and would recommend it to anyone. Can't really find anything I don't like about it tbh.

 

[DBaldock9]

  Thanks for the reply Andy,
 
However, I'm still none the wiser as to how to actually do it in reality.
I'm a bit of a newb when it comes to tags and the like. I can do the very basic stuff, but beyond that I'm clueless!!
 
Very pleased with the player indeed though, and would recommend it to anyone. Can't really find anything I don't like about it tbh.

If you're listening to your own ripped CD tracks, the ripping program may be able to download lyrics from the Internet, and store the .lrc files along with the music files.
If you're listening to streamed tracks, then the music player would have to identify the song, and then find & display the lyrics.

 

[garryt]

  If you're listening to your own ripped CD tracks, the ripping program may be able to download lyrics from the Internet, and store the .lrc files along with the music files.
If you're listening to streamed tracks, then the music player would have to identify the song, and then find & display the lyrics.

Many thanks,
 
I'll have a look into it a bit further.

 

[rymnd6c28]

@DBaldock9 I see you have DP-X1, do you mind sharing with us your comparison with i5 sound-wise?
 
Or someone have an impression against AK70? Just out of curiosity

 

[Soundtrap]

  @DBaldock9 I see you have DP-X1, do you mind sharing with us your comparison with i5 sound-wise?
 
Or someone have an impression against AK70? Just out of curiosity

I have AK70  and I5 and to put it simply, I5 is in the higher league, I'd put at just half a notch bellow Cowon PM2. AK70 can't compare with them at least not until Astell & Kern make EQ functional. Still, to my ears has recessed highs and pretty flat bass, especially when compared to Cowon PM2. AK70 is just not worth it's price when compared to both PM2 and especially I5 that is even cheaper then both PM2 and AK70. Also, unlike the other 2 players AK70 is extremely picky with headphones.

 

[roofus]

Finally got it downloaded and installed.
 
Thanks to all that offered assistance!

 

[tienbasse]

Another i5 review is online, from inearspace of UK.

http://inearspace.com/2016/10/30/cayin-i5-reinventing/

Extensive comparison with N5, so for those who are interested in comparing the two DAPs from Cayin, don't skip this review on i5.

Thanks for the link.
 
Small remark to meditate while you prepare new DAPs, and I know, I always come back with this: storage space!!!
 
The only reason I bought the N5 was the 2 micro sd slots.
All your DAPs have really small internal storage (16-32Gb is like 2002 Cowon D storage for reference).
 
If you're so keen on promoting hi-res music (as every other DAP manufacturers), it's either 2 slots for memory slots, or at least 128Gb of internal + 1 slot (and 128Gb is a bare minimum).
I find this infuriating in 2016 that you have to spend 3000+$ to get 256Gb of internal storage.
The highest high-end smartphones in 256Gb version are sold barely half of this, and before I get the usual answer about mass-manufacturing of phones vs small batches of DAPs, the 256Gb versions are NOT entirely mass-produced since the demand is still low.
 
With the massive pricedrop on flash memory chips, you have to chose your camp: you go wild with internal memory (with a cost) or you propose 2 external slots as a standard.

 

[rymnd6c28]

I installed the Chinese 2.0 FW, took a little but effort to download, had to use a download manager (FDM in my case). I realize there's no MTP mode in this one or is it just the chinese version never had this to begin with?