[simon740]

iDAP-6 should work with Nuprime DAC-9 via AES, coaxial and USB Audio.

If you are using this player as digital transport with SD card or USB storage (harddisk, thumbdrive, or card readers), the iDAP-6 will work and sound tremendously well, you can read the impression from John (Project86) on page 1 of this thread, he compared the iDAP-6 to other players and some of them are really expensive.

If you are using it as a wireless transport through BT, airplay etc, it won't sound as good as the local storage option but it is as good as you can expect.

Unfortunately if you want to use it as a Network or DLNA player, the quality of playback is well-received but the player suffers from some operation issues such as no manual WiFi Setup (unable to work with hidden network), fail to remember the password of NAS (re-enter repeatedly).

If you want to use Tidal or Spotify with iDAP-6, you can use a DLNA player with cloud/streaming gateway. BubbleUPnP seems to the most popular choice so far.

The player is not MQA or ROON ready, but someone use it with their ROON server and works fine

Thank you @Andykong ...for this info.
Yes, I have all music on HDD (FLAC and WAV) so this will be good combination with DAC-9.
And TIDAL via DLNA is also OK.

regards,
Simon

 

[CayinSupport]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We would like to express our sincerest appreciation to every comer in this thread for your patience and kind suggestion to Cayin during the whole year!

We are looking to continue the journey of sound with you in 2019!

 

[simon740]

Hello,

anybody compare Idap-6 with ZENmini MK3 from Innuos ?


regards,
Simon

 

[project86]

I've been waiting for a review unit of the latest mini for a while now, seems demand is through the roof and they don't have any to spare. So no direct comparisons (yet), but conceptually they are very different. iDap-6 is more of a self-contained unit (I would almost classify it as a "file player") with tons of outputs. The Zen mini is a true "server" and more focused on USB out, though it does have a couple other options. Using the Cayin involved dealing with the front panel directly, whilst the Zen uses a tablet for control. Zen does Roon, Cayin doesn't. So lots of differences between them.

 

[simon740]

I've been waiting for a review unit of the latest mini for a while now, seems demand is through the roof and they don't have any to spare. So no direct comparisons (yet), but conceptually they are very different. iDap-6 is more of a self-contained unit (I would almost classify it as a "file player") with tons of outputs. The Zen mini is a true "server" and more focused on USB out, though it does have a couple other options. Using the Cayin involved dealing with the front panel directly, whilst the Zen uses a tablet for control. Zen does Roon, Cayin doesn't. So lots of differences between them.

Thanks for that. Yes, I see a lots of differences between them.
Maybe my question not so appropriate...
I'm looking for something to play my FLAC and WAV files on HDD. My dac is Nuprime DAC-9
So a good trasport or source. And iDAP-6 is probably a very good transport.

 

[project86]

Both devices could do that, and would probably sound excellent in the process. Your choice comes down to how you want to interact with the device - tablet or front panel - as well as whether or not you care about things like Roon, streaming over network, etc (Zen) or if you just want to plug and play directly (Cayin).

 

[simon740]

But if I understand correctly, I can manage the Idap-6 with the app on the phone / tablet?

 

[gullivero]

But if I understand correctly, I can manage the Idap-6 with the app on the phone / tablet?

Hi...(my first post on Head Fi)...Yes there is app that work with Cayin Idap-6 or you could add some Bluetooth remote...In my case i use it with my metrum dac and as it stand far from me (between 2-4 meter) and i am little older (yap) i don't see that screen anyway so i have to come close and for that i don't need remote...but on side that sound is really great...sometime i have also some dropout playing from sd card but that is not often...i think i will buy some SSD for that purpose...as for comparison it easy leave in dust my Marantz 63 kiss (use like a transport) and my Micromega dedicated transport...as for playing music i anyway listen always like whole albums (other source is turntable) so i don't need remote and is good for body to stand up from a couch from time to time...i could also use that app with my phone but i don't like to drain battery fast (which Bluetooth do)...probably classic remote will be better but there is no one that could work except via Bluetooth...

 

[cosie]

What do you mean "dropout playing from sd"?

 

[gullivero]

What do you mean "dropout playing from sd"?

Well, it is what is "project86" already described in his review : " One complaint, albeit minor: I did run into a few situations where the SD card or USB stick I was using ended up being too slow for playing hi-res PCM or DSD material. It worked, but would occasionally have tiny dropouts within the first few seconds of playback. I speculate this to be when the player tries reading ahead for buffering, as well as loading the image file for album art. Slower cards or USB drives just don't have the speed, so the audio drops out momentarily, and then works flawlessly for the remainder of the track. Still, this is definitely something I couldn't live with, so I make sure to use fast Samsung storage which avoids the issue altogether. Portable SSD storage is great, and even spinning platter portable hard drives are fine - or at least the few I've tried did the job without issue." It is probably case depend of a SD card - i have some SD128 gb Samsung card but i notice same thing lke project86...what i also connected is some older portable Verbatim disk and there was not a problem at all...and with this Sd card i hear that like one-two time at one day during whole day session...

 

[Andykong]

Well, it is what is "project86" already described in his review : " One complaint, albeit minor: I did run into a few situations where the SD card or USB stick I was using ended up being too slow for playing hi-res PCM or DSD material. It worked, but would occasionally have tiny dropouts within the first few seconds of playback. I speculate this to be when the player tries reading ahead for buffering, as well as loading the image file for album art. Slower cards or USB drives just don't have the speed, so the audio drops out momentarily, and then works flawlessly for the remainder of the track. Still, this is definitely something I couldn't live with, so I make sure to use fast Samsung storage which avoids the issue altogether. Portable SSD storage is great, and even spinning platter portable hard drives are fine - or at least the few I've tried did the job without issue." It is probably case depend of a SD card - i have some SD128 gb Samsung card but i notice same thing lke project86...what i also connected is some older portable Verbatim disk and there was not a problem at all...and with this Sd card i hear that like one-two time at one day during whole day session...

Wonder if the 1TB SD card from Lexar has hit the market already, at $499 and 95 MB/s (Max Read Speed), I think this is a very good deal for iDAP-6 users.
https://bgr.com/2019/01/10/lexar-1tb-sd-card-release-date-specs-and-price-announced-at-ces/

 

[Andykong]

We would like to thank all our friends, customers and partners for your continuous support throughout the year. We shall take a short break to reunion with our family and celebrate the Chinese New Year. We shall resume office on 14th February 2019.

 

[rq1111]

I just bought the idap 6. I have a Chord Qutest and iHa-6 too. Which connection is the best, Optical or USB connection from idap-6 to Qutest?

 

[gullivero]

I just bought the idap 6. I have a Chord Qutest and iHa-6 too. Which connection is the best, Optical or USB connection from idap-6 to Qutest?

Probably from coax bnc to bnc on your dac.....

 

[rq1111]

Probably from coax bnc to bnc on your dac.....

Thanks for the reply! Currently, I just bought a glass optical QED and sounds very nice! Very 3 dimensional! Will try out the bnc coaxial.

From Rob, he always says optical is the best but the limit of the bandwidth from idap-6. Will try out the coaxial. Thanks a lot!