[beyerdude]

I definitely have no problem with the sound of the iDAP 6. Operationally the only problem I’m having is the unit losing connection with HiBymusic (Bluetooth) and Airplay (WIFI) Restarting solves the problem but like you said, PITA. I have no regrets though.

I find the bluetooth side frustrating - it's not easy to swap from Hibymusic to streaming bluetooth music from my phone, I tried the recommended NAS/Network streaming set up and gave up as it was not exactly elegant. If it weren't for the sheer quality of the playback and the aesthetics I would ditch it. I'm connsidering getting the N6ii as it also has i2s but reluctant to jump in case it has the same issues with connectivity. Hopefully will wait and see if there is some kind of response. I'd stick to the COAX, but I have noticed a definite increase in SQ through the I2s and also I use the COAX for the cd player.

 

[professor55]

I find the bluetooth side frustrating - it's not easy to swap from Hibymusic to streaming bluetooth music from my phone, I tried the recommended NAS/Network streaming set up and gave up as it was not exactly elegant. If it weren't for the sheer quality of the playback and the aesthetics I would ditch it. I'm connsidering getting the N6ii as it also has i2s but reluctant to jump in case it has the same issues with connectivity. Hopefully will wait and see if there is some kind of response. I'd stick to the COAX, but I have noticed a definite increase in SQ through the I2s and also I use the COAX for the cd player.

I’m doing Coax only as well, into PS Audio dac then to preamp. I looked at many other products, even bought and returned an Elac Discovery. but I still haven’t found anything that I like as well as the iDAP 6. Nothing is perfect I guess...

 

[project86]

I still use the iDAP-6 on a regular basis as well. No real issues here but I admit I've tailored my usage around the weaknesses it does have (losing login info to my NAS for example). Once I realized it demands fast SD cards/USB drives or else it stutters when starting up a new track, I switched out my slower cards/drives and was fine.

I definitely recommend trying to pin Andy again, he's really busy but certainly willing to help whenever he gets a moment.

 

[beyerdude]

I still use the iDAP-6 on a regular basis as well. No real issues here but I admit I've tailored my usage around the weaknesses it does have (losing login info to my NAS for example). Once I realized it demands fast SD cards/USB drives or else it stutters when starting up a new track, I switched out my slower cards/drives and was fine.

I definitely recommend trying to pin Andy again, he's really busy but certainly willing to help whenever he gets a moment.

I've got 2x fast samsung 256gb USB thumb drives and a decent 128gb SD card as well as a Samsung T5 1TB so no issues at all playing when HDMI is not connected/using the workaround - as you said no lag and a decent setup, works a treat with the phone app over bluetooth to control it. I could never get the device to log onto my NAS, just would never recognise the password - I read around the subject here prior to purchasing and decided that it would be far simpler to keep it local and 90% of my music is now on the usb and SD card. I need another device that is not a laptop for Amazon HD music but that's another story (and another purchase no doubt)

The USB issue is frustrating as it's obvious there is some sort of issue with the interaction between the 2 cayin devices. Both work okay in isolation, the IDAC does not even need to be connected to mains or on to stop the USB working on the IDAP, so its something in the circuit of the IDAC possibly that causes it. I need some way to prove that its the IDAP (or IDAC) that is the problem without sending devices back - frustratingly the IDAP would be out of warranty and I was not able to test the I2S until I had a device that it would work with.....

I hope Andy can shed some light as it would be good to get some guidance.

 

[project86]

Just an idea, have you tried different formats on those drives (FAT32 and exFAT)? I know I've experienced trouble with other devices not working with one or the other format despite what the instructions claim.

EDIT sorry I realize I'm speaking with 2 different people, each with their own problem. I have no idea what's up with the audio outputs not working... I seem to recall a time when my AES had no output but I always figured it was a cable issue, and it works fine now.

 

[gullivero]

hm ... i give up of hiby remote thing crap and just use the way i use my turntable - i go there and change album and i dont skip and jumps all over but listen whole album... that way i do all my life with records so possibility or not possibility to change that not bother me at all...i stream from SD card and also from outside hard drive and have some problems with playback from SD card but Not from hard drive at all....and i use these Cayin a lot ...probably every day even when i use just turntable i use IDAP 6 in begining of "session" because all tubes in phono amp and amp have to warm up....as for SD card i will probably try to buy some new but i dont know which and how big or some outside SSD disk...

 

[Andykong]

Is anyone still using the IDAP-6 on here - I have one, lovely playback from the SD card but nothing will play from the USB ports - Had a Sandisk 1tb SSD working briefly before it gave up (about 1 day) - Replaced with a Samsung t5 1tb drive which it does not recognise at all, have now just bought (and foolishly spent hours filling up) a Samsung Bar Plus 256gb USB thumb drive which it does not recognise at all - has anyone got any tips at all as otherwise this device is limited to the SD card and a quite complex NAS set up which is not ideal!

I've got 2x fast samsung 256gb USB thumb drives and a decent 128gb SD card as well as a Samsung T5 1TB so no issues at all playing when HDMI is not connected/using the workaround - as you said no lag and a decent setup, works a treat with the phone app over bluetooth to control it. I could never get the device to log onto my NAS, just would never recognise the password - I read around the subject here prior to purchasing and decided that it would be far simpler to keep it local and 90% of my music is now on the usb and SD card. I need another device that is not a laptop for Amazon HD music but that's another story (and another purchase no doubt)

The USB issue is frustrating as it's obvious there is some sort of issue with the interaction between the 2 cayin devices. Both work okay in isolation, the IDAC does not even need to be connected to mains or on to stop the USB working on the IDAP, so its something in the circuit of the IDAC possibly that causes it. I need some way to prove that its the IDAP (or IDAC) that is the problem without sending devices back - frustratingly the IDAP would be out of warranty and I was not able to test the I2S until I had a device that it would work with.....

I hope Andy can shed some light as it would be good to get some guidance.

Sorry for late response, I missed your post on April, and I have discussed your problem with our Engineering after I saw your recent update.

This is most likely a hardware problem. We have traced one similar case in our service history, it turned out that a protection diode for high speed data lines is faulty, we have replaced that diode and everything resumed normal. Please contact your dealer or email service@cayin.cn for service support of your iDAP-6.

Once again, sorry for all the inconvenience caused. I am working with three brands right now, so I can't attend to every discussion thread closely, if anyone need immediate support on Cayin products, please email info@cayin.cn directly.

 

[Andykong]

hm ... i give up of hiby remote thing crap and just use the way i use my turntable - i go there and change album and i dont skip and jumps all over but listen whole album... that way i do all my life with records so possibility or not possibility to change that not bother me at all...i stream from SD card and also from outside hard drive and have some problems with playback from SD card but Not from hard drive at all....and i use these Cayin a lot ...probably every day even when i use just turntable i use IDAP 6 in begining of "session" because all tubes in phono amp and amp have to warm up....as for SD card i will probably try to buy some new but i dont know which and how big or some outside SSD disk...

The biggest problem will be power supply required by the SSD, not the capacity or format of the SSD. If you go for low-powered SSD such as M.2, it should work with the iDAP-6. Be reminded the front USB port has doubled power rating when compare to the USB ports at the back panel of iDAP-6.

I used a 6TB 3.5mm harddisk packed with 50,000+ titles with iDAP-6 regularly, the external harddisk case comes with a 12V 2.5A low cost switching wall adapter and I have replaced that with a 12V 5A linear power supply. The system is fairly stable so far, lack of album art at preview stage makes it difficult to manipulate at album view, but not really a problem when I pick my songs at Folder view.

 

[gullivero]

The biggest problem will be power supply required by the SSD, not the capacity or format of the SSD. If you go for low-powered SSD such as M.2, it should work with the iDAP-6. Be reminded the front USB port has doubled power rating when compare to the USB ports at the back panel of iDAP-6.

I used a 6TB 3.5mm harddisk packed with 50,000+ titles with iDAP-6 regularly, the external harddisk case comes with a 12V 2.5A low cost switching wall adapter and I have replaced that with a 12V 5A linear power supply. The system is fairly stable so far, lack of album art at preview stage makes it difficult to manipulate at album view, but not really a problem when I pick my songs at Folder view.

Yes - because i never have any problem with "classical" hard drive that have external power supply...so probably a good idea is to use SSD drive with external power supply...probably i should check if something like that exist now....

 

[Andykong]

Yes - because i never have any problem with "classical" hard drive that have external power supply...so probably a good idea is to use SSD drive with external power supply...probably i should check if something like that exist now....

Maybe something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/USB-C-Extra-Power-Cable-Phone/dp/B01L91CCHC?language=en_US

 

[professor55]

Any idea why the USB out of iDAP 6 has no signal/doesn’t output @Andykong ?

 

[Andykong]

Any idea why the USB out of iDAP 6 has no signal/doesn’t output @Andykong ?

The USB Audio is preset as the priority output over S/PDIF and I2S, so theoretically if you have setup the system correctly, the USB Audio should always have output when the iDAP-6 starts to playback.

Can't figure out any problem based on your very simple description. Can you described your setup? When you said there is no output from iDAP-6 USB, can your DAC detect the iDAP-6 at all? Is there a LCD light displayed when your DAC locked up a USB Audio source correctly? or the DAC has stated there is no signal when you select USB in your DAC? Have you try to disconnect the USB cable and use other digital interface such as Coaxial or Optical? When you use iDAC-6 as source, did you connected to multiple DAC at the same time?

When you play a song on iDAP-6, the format is displayed correctly and the progress bar is moving as it should be?

 

[professor55]

The USB Audio is preset as the priority output over S/PDIF and I2S, so theoretically if you have setup the system correctly, the USB Audio should always have output when the iDAP-6 starts to playback.

Can't figure out any problem based on your very simple description. Can you described your setup? When you said there is no output from iDAP-6 USB, can your DAC detect the iDAP-6 at all? Is there a LCD light displayed when your DAC locked up a USB Audio source correctly? or the DAC has stated there is no signal when you select USB in your DAC? Have you try to disconnect the USB cable and use other digital interface such as Coaxial or Optical? When you use iDAC-6 as source, did you connected to multiple DAC at the same time?

When you play a song on iDAP-6, the format is displayed correctly and the progress bar is moving as it should be?

Thanks for the reply @Andykong. I am running USB out of iDAP-6 into a PS Audio Digital Link III DAC, but no signal. The DL III powers up when it gets the signal from SPIDIF, and works great. I have also tried running USB directly into my EMOTIVA PT-100 preamp’s DAC but still no signal. I tried running different cables also. I am running out of the USB outs (I tried both) on the back of IDAP under the network connection port.

 

[Patrica]

Hi friends, I'm using cayin idap6 for about an year. I'm upgrading my existing dac from bifrost multibit to denafrips Pontus. Will I be able to use i2s HDMI output from cayin idap6 to Pontus? Will there be any issue?

 

[No Disc]

I am in the market for a network player such as the Cayin IDAP-6. For those of you that own one, are you still seeing support and updates for the product? Are you reasonably happy? I am probably only going to use it for storing music on a SD card or usb hard drive, I rarely stream from any music services.