Cayin iHA-6 - US Tour and reviews

[grizzlybeast]

All of those settings dont make for an easy review lol
FWIW I love it balanced with the Omni

 

[project86]

All of those settings dont make for an easy review lol

Good thing I have some time with it. FWIW I love it balanced with the Omni

 
 
You're telling me! To be thorough, there's a LOT of listening to be done. Good for owner to have options but not so good for reviewers..... lots of fun though! 

 

[rigo]

Yes, that's correct.

When you connect the stack in both RCA and XLR, you should be able to hear the different.

So we can have both RCA and XLR cables connected at the same time and switching between Transistor and Vacuum Tube will work? Or do we have to disconnect one of the cables depending on which setting we want to use?

 

[Andykong]

So we can have both RCA and XLR cables connected at the same time and switching between Transistor and Vacuum Tube will work? Or do we have to disconnect one of the cables depending on which setting we want to use?

You don't need to turn off the DAC or the headphone amp or disconnect the cables when switching between output mode in DAC, they are readily available. after you connect all equipment correctly.

I have mazed up on the XLR default output of iDAC-6 in previous discussion. I have explained the Timbre settings in detail at the iDAC-6 thread, please check it out.

 

[project86]

More eye candy:
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Cayin stack, fed by HM901S in dock, driving Dharma or HE1000 with balanced cables from Effect Audio. The rest of the system wired with Cabledyne Silver Reference except a few AC cables as I ran out of Cabledynes since I use them in the main system extensively. So I subbed in some others which killed the matching silver look.... oh well. 

 

[grizzlybeast]

^Very purty!.. I am taking cable donations btw

 

 

 
So check it out. I have all three plugged in and though the volume isn't equal, there is far less difference than I thought there would be. 
 
all with high gain
The Omni - that is in the balanced socket and needs a lot more power than both of the others. 
The LCD2.2F - is almost at the same volume as the Omni and  is in the low impedance socket. 
The HD800S - is in the high impedance socket and actually is the lowest in volume of the three but when I switch cables from high to low impedance, clearly it's in the right socket. 
 
One thing is for sure, I am really impressed at Cayin's design, layout, and effort to try and be an all in one. That is partly because it is truly balanced. 
 
I used to own the Cayin HA3 and that sucker was powerful. Cayins portable amplifier that I have had twice was very powerful as well so when I asked cayin rep if they had something for desktop amplification in the works about 8 months ago and they said yes I knew it would be powerful. 
 
watchout schiit, cayin is coming for ya lol

 

[rigo]

Anyone using the Senn 650 with this stack? I'm wondering what settings people are using.

 

[project86]

Anyone using the Senn 650 with this stack? I'm wondering what settings people are using.

 
 
I've tried my HD650 but haven't spent a lot of time on the combo. I think I went with the RCA outs from DAC to amp, and used "transistor" as the output option, to get a little more transient attack (the sleepy HD650 sure needs it). Then I used balanced out from the amp, gain set to low, current set to high? Not quite sure on that last part. Sounded great though.

 

[grizzlybeast]

if the hd800 requires similar amping as the HD650 I use high gain for it and high current for the HD800S.
 
HD800S: tube timbre, sharp filter (some may like the slow better as I am currently enjoying the crisp sound when not relaxing), High current, High Gain, High Impedance
LCD2.2f: transistor, sharp filter, low impedance jack, low current setting, high gain setting
Omni: balanced jack, high gain, high current, s.d. sharp filter, transistor
Speculation of HD650 based on experience with it and its 300 ohm impedance: Balanced (or high impedance jack if SE), high gain, high current, transistor, s.d. sharp filter 

 

[rigo]

What about the filter settings?  Sharp, Slow etc.  What change does each one cause?  I've been listening a lot with the Sharp setting.  

 

[Rayzilla]

Subscribed. This combo sounds very interesting and now that I just picked up the HE6, even more so.
 
Can't wait to see project86's review. I really enjoy his reviews. Very thorough but also understandable to guys like me that are not up to speed on the technicalities.

 

[rigo]

What about the filter settings?  Sharp, Slow etc.  What change does each one cause?  I've been listening a lot with the Sharp setting.  

Sorry grizzlybeast I posted the question before seeing that you stated your filter settings. But I'm still wondering what each one specifically does.

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

What about the filter settings?  Sharp, Slow etc.  What change does each one cause?  I've been listening a lot with the Sharp setting.  

Sorry @grizzlybeast I posted the question before seeing that you stated your filter settings. But I'm still wondering what each one specifically does.

the sharp filter provides a more crisp take on the sound coming from the DAC. Slow can slightly help those headphones that may be a little fatiquing and sound unnaturally fast. This is the same concept as having a slower sounding headphone vs a sharp one. These filters are not as drastic as you would think and are tastefully done to more so invoke a feeling rather than totally change the recording. I think @Andykong should really chime in and break down all of these options but on the DAC thread as to even correct me and others where we are wrong. 
 
Sharp
Slow
Short Delay sharp
Short Delay slow
Super Slow. 
 
I have yet to really sit down and try to hear differences between  the short delay options. I have been messing mostly with the current settings, gain settings(iha-6) and phase settings on the Idac -6. 
 
While not nearly close to the caliber of reviewer(not really gonna call myself a reviewer) that @project86 is. I can really say that this gear is extremely well thought out and sounds like it.

 

[project86]

Digital filters are great to have for subtle tuning of the sound. But as mentioned they make a very small contribution.... some people expect big changes and that's not the case at all. This is the case for any DAC, not just Cayin. 

 

[rigo]

Yes the iDac6 thread. I consider my stack "one" so I forget to differentiate between the two threads.  Just for kicks I tried my PM-3s, which I usually only use for portable use and there rare times when sound leakage is an issue.  Holy c&*p, the bass was impressive.  Didn't know these phones had it in them.  I was actually okay with the bass before, but I'm not sure if I can listen to them straight from the phone any more.  May need a portable amp now...