[Andykong]

[COLOR=FF00AA]Merry Christmas[/COLOR]​

On behalf of Cayin, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. I know we are always busy this holiday season, especially when Christmas is not a public holiday in Mainland China , but I want to take the time to wish you and yours, happy holidays. This is a special day for family and friends, there isn't anything can't wait until tomorrow, so relax and hug your beloveds around you, play some music, and enjoy the moment together.

I just had a wonderful Christmas dinner with my family. We were a bit late this year as my niece just arrived from LA this morning, but family is always worth waiting for, and good music will make the dinner ever more involving and pleasant. This is one of the playlist that I appreciated during the holiday season and I want to share this with you.

NOTE: If you can't see the embedded video above, please CLICK HERE to see the video.​

 

[project86]

If anyone is interested, HERE is my review of the Cayin HA-1A MKII tube amp. I believe we have discussed it somewhat in this thread already. It's a very nice amp, pair it with the iDAC-6 for some tube-on-tube action! 

 

[Andykong]

Words just can't express how grateful we are with John Grandberg's continuous support, he has reviewed our N6 DAP and all our desktop HeadFi products, and I am glad to report that apparently John like each and every Cayin products that he has reviewed.

In the past two CanJam we have attended (SoCal 2016 and RMAF 2016), we have demo HA-1Amk2 along side iDAC-6 and iHA-6 combo, the attention of visitors will inevitably focused on the combo because they looks as-if they were a purposely designed system. I am glad that John has suggested the iDAC-6 + HA-1Amk2 combination at his report because they do sound fabulous when together.

Cayin will attend the CanJam NYC next week and we'll taking up the private room Uris, this is Cayin's first attempt to run a private room in CanJam, the ample space has enabled a lot of possibility.

Cayin @ Canjam NYC Preview and Sneak Peaks Starting at [COLOR=FF00AA]30m44s [/COLOR]

​

We shall setup THREE iDAC-6 at the demo room, one for the HA-1Amk2 tube rolling demo, and the other two will paired with TWO sets of iHA-6. We shall provide a wide spectrum of Headphone in our demo room covering very different design and sound signature: LCD-3, Dharma D1000, Kennerton Odin and Vali, HD800, Beyer T1, JVC SW01, Meze 99Classic, .... , and you are welcome to bring your own headphone and music (in TF card) for yoyur audition.

If you will attend Canjam NYC, please stop by our room and thoroughly check out the Cayin iDAC-6 and the rest of Cayin HeadFi lineup. We are looking forward to hear your immediate feedback.

 

[Galm]

Does this DAC now only come in the 220V version?  Was interested in getting one but now the Ebay seller (annie-audio?) claims it's 220V only...  Or at least the ones she was selling were.
 
I'm in the U.S. so that doesn't really fly.  Is it worth it to get a converter?  If so any in particular that are good?
 
@Andykong would love input on this...

 

[Andykong]

Does this DAC now only come in the 220V version?  Was interested in getting one but now the Ebay seller (annie-audio?) claims it's 220V only...  Or at least the ones she was selling were.

I'm in the U.S. so that doesn't really fly.  Is it worth it to get a converter?  If so any in particular that are good?

@Andykong
 would love input on this...

There are 110v version for North America and Japan market. You can contact MusicTeck if you want to buy in US region.

https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/cayin

I believe the eBay seller is getting their supply through our domestic (Mainland China) channel, they are not authorized to sell to US, so they won't be able to access 110v version of iDAC-6. On top of the voltage issue, Please be reminded that Cayin didn't offer international warranty to our product. Since they are unauthorized dealer for US market, the items they sold will not receive any warranty service in US, if the unit happens to require any repair service in due course, you need to send the item back to the seller, and ask them to submit the unit to our factory, and then you probably need to pay for the return shipping from China back to US.

 

[Galm]

There are 110v version for North America and Japan market. You can contact MusicTeck if you want to buy in US region.

https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/cayin

I believe the eBay seller is getting their supply through our domestic (Mainland China) channel, they are not authorized to sell to US, so they won't be able to access 110v version of iDAC-6. On top of the voltage issue, Please be reminded that Cayin didn't offer international warranty to our product. Since they are unauthorized dealer for US market, the items they sold will not receive any warranty service in US, if the unit happens to require any repair service in due course, you need to send the item back to the seller, and ask them to submit the unit to our factory, and then you probably need to pay for the return shipping from China back to US.

Thanks so much!  Final question is I think I'm going to get one, does it come with all the needed cables?  I want to hook it up to my WA7 Fireflies via RCA.  Will that be in the box or should I pick some up?  Thanks for the fast and helpful response (though dang the Chinese one was 670 U.S. one is 999...).

 

[Galm]

There are 110v version for North America and Japan market. You can contact MusicTeck if you want to buy in US region.

https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/cayin

I believe the eBay seller is getting their supply through our domestic (Mainland China) channel, they are not authorized to sell to US, so they won't be able to access 110v version of iDAC-6. On top of the voltage issue, Please be reminded that Cayin didn't offer international warranty to our product. Since they are unauthorized dealer for US market, the items they sold will not receive any warranty service in US, if the unit happens to require any repair service in due course, you need to send the item back to the seller, and ask them to submit the unit to our factory, and then you probably need to pay for the return shipping from China back to US.

It's here.  Man, it does like exactly what I was hoping for.
 
The sound is smoother than the WA7 DAC, and with noticeably more bass oomph.  My HD800SDRs now actually have like...  A lot of bass.  It's completely awesome!  
 
Not gonna lie was pretty scared ordering it because it's so expensive, but so far it's awesome.  Do the tubes need to burn in at all?  
 
So far pretty happy.  Any recommendations?  Current have my WA7 Fireflies on top of it.  

 

[Andykong]

It's here.  Man, it does like exactly what I was hoping for.

The sound is smoother than the WA7 DAC, and with noticeably more bass oomph.  My HD800SDRs now actually have like...  A lot of bass.  It's completely awesome!  

Not gonna lie was pretty scared ordering it because it's so expensive, but so far it's awesome.  Do the tubes need to burn in at all?  

So far pretty happy.  Any recommendations?  Current have my WA7 Fireflies on top of it.  

I am glad to know you have enjoyed your iDAC-6, they aren't cheap, but they delivered.

If you looking for a headphone amp to pair with the iDAC-6, please consider our iHA-6 headphone amplifier. The iHA-6 is very transparent and powerful enough to drive anything up to the HiFiman HE6. They are designed to work with each other and have been widely endorsed as a match made from heaven.

 

[Galm]

If you looking for a headphone amp to pair with the iDAC-6, please consider our iHA-6 headphone amplifier. The iHA-6 is very transparent and powerful enough to drive anything up to the HiFiman HE6. They are designed to work with each other and have been widely endorsed as a match made from heaven.

Thanks for the reply!  It wasn't really that, more was just general advice for the product I suppose.  I'm pretty happy with my WA7 Fireflies, they add some needed bass thump to the HD800s.  Do the tubes have a burn in period like most?  Not really sure how it works within a DAC.

 

[Andykong]

Thanks for the reply!  It wasn't really that, more was just general advice for the product I suppose.  I'm pretty happy with my WA7 Fireflies, they add some needed bass thump to the HD800s.  Do the tubes have a burn in period like most?  Not really sure how it works within a DAC.

Yes, the tubes will smooth out a bit after a short burn in, you probably can hear some different in the first 50 hours, and the change will become very subtle after that.

 

[Emospence]

If I'm reading this right, one MUST use the tube buffers for the balanced out?

 

[Andykong]

Marcus from Headfonics has reviewed the iDAC-6 and iHA-6 combo, he described them as a sum of the parts:

Apart they are impressive, competitively priced with good specs and well put together desktop components. I could happily use either with perhaps the iHA-6 being the more immediately impressive of the two. Together, however, they are outstanding as a system which is how Cayin really wanted these units to be used.

If you want to find out how he arrived at this conclusion, please check out the full review at the Headfonics site:http://headfonics.com/2017/08/the-idac-6-iha-6-by-cayin/

http://headfonics.com/2017/08/the-idac-6-iha-6-by-cayin/

Marcus gives 8.7 to the iDAC-6 and iHA-6, I think he likes what he hear this round.

 

[JMR77]

Today I picked up the iDAC-6 and iHA-6 combo. My local dealer had a very good discount offer running during August and I’m impressed with price/performance ration of this combo.

I’ve only been able to play with it for about a couple hours at work with a Beyerdynamic T5P 2nd Gen, and Cayin’s combo made them produce a very immersive and full sound. This is a fantastic combo, very “musical” (sound is on the warmth side of things) engaging and non fatiguing sounding, yet with good detail.

I connected the Hugo 2 to the iHA-6 and it provides “notable” added detail, clarity/transparency, but not a night and day difference compared to Cayin’s dac (especially given the price difference), you also get less warmth amd more brightness (but you can play a bit with Hugo’s filters and iHA-6’s current settings to make this combo sound warmer.

I paid much less for the Cayin combo than for the Hugo 2, and also a bit less than for an Ifi Ican Pro (all them at very discounted prices) and, portability aside, this is a killer and best value combo. This a combo I’m sure many people could settle with for a long time.

Now I’m looking forward to testing the iDAP-6, hopefully it will be available soon.

 

[Andykong]

Today I picked up the iDAC-6 and iHA-6 combo. My local dealer had a very good discount offer running during August and I’m impressed with price/performance ration of this combo.

I’ve only been able to play with it for about a couple hours at work with a Beyerdynamic T5P 2nd Gen, and Cayin’s combo made them produce a very immersive and full sound. This is a fantastic combo, very “musical” (sound is on the warmth side of things) engaging and non fatiguing sounding, yet with good detail.

I connected the Hugo 2 to the iHA-6 and it provides “notable” added detail, clarity/transparency, but not a night and day difference compared to Cayin’s dac (especially given the price difference), you also get less warmth amd more brightness (but you can play a bit with Hugo’s filters and iHA-6’s current settings to make this combo sound warmer.

I paid much less for the Cayin combo than for the Hugo 2, and also a bit less than for an Ifi Ican Pro (all them at very discounted prices) and, portability aside, this is a killer and best value combo. This a combo I’m sure many people could settle with for a long time.

Now I’m looking forward to testing the iDAP-6, hopefully it will be available soon.

Glad you like your iDAC-6 and IHA-6. You have received it today? If this is a brand new unit, you probably should hold your breath for a while, the system will sound even better after a short run in. Give it a week or so (around 100 hours) and we probably will hear another favorable update from you.

 

[JMR77]

I’ll comment again after the suggested period of time, thanks for the advise; although it will take a while, since I’m starting my vacation next week. Congratulations on these products.

I must also say this combo feels classy and top notch in terms of build quality; on the other I’m going to comment on some details that could be improved or which I didn’t like that much.

1.- You need to first push and then rotate the volume knob to change the filters, in doing so you note different steps on the volume control, that’s fine, but rotating 1 step does not correspond with changing one filter, you are to rotate the volume know irrespective of the steps you feel while rotating the knob, this feels very strange (at least until you get used to it), and it makes the DAC’s volume knob feels loose compared to the HA’s one (which feels great, tight and smooth).

2.- When you enter the filter change mode it will not stay active for long, it turns off pretty quickly. This is annoying and it does not help to play with filters, you need to change filters pretty quickly, otherwise you’ll need to push the volume knob again (and again, and again…), not funny.

3.- The sound cuts out after selecting filters, this is once again annoying and detracts from the fun of experimenting with the filters.

4.- Being picky now, led lights on the iHA-6 may not visible enough if you are in a well-lit room, because they are white (I get it's a good neutral color), and the body of the dac and amp is also quite shinny.