[gLer]

it's because to my ears the N3 have a better DAC (compared to the E18), and the E18 amp has a more preferred sound that i like than the N3. it's not about driving power, but more of mixing their sound palette together.
the N3 has better bass and mids delivery and resolution, but the E18 has a larger soundstage and depth. it accentuate little details more than just using the N3 alone. also, it's more convenient having the physical bass boost switch and gain switch rather than going inside menus to set them

Thanks, thats interesting. I'll experiment connecting the N3 to my Sound Blaster E3 and E5 DAC/AMPs as well. I wonder if you can bypass the amp circuits of the N3 when connecting via line out - otherwise surely the sound will be colored by the N3 amp?

 

[crashbowman]

Welcome to Head-Fi! You'll probably find your DAC issue is cable-related. Many here (myself included) have had issues with the stock cable. Keep in mind your setup as described is actually using standard SBC bluetooth because the N3 doesn't receive aptX BT (it can only transmit aptX to compatible headphones). That said, the N3 must have a good BT chip because it does sound better than many other standard BT receivers/transmitters. Let us know if the cable swap sorts out your USB issues.

I was wondering if someone could explain how the "Duplex Bluetooth Service" works. I had assumed this whole time it was receiving an AptX signal until I read the quote above. If it can just receive a regular Bluetooth signal, I am having a hard time seeing a strong benefit from using this feature? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[chinmie]

I was wondering if someone could explain how the "Duplex Bluetooth Service" works. I had assumed this whole time it was receiving an AptX signal until I read the quote above. If it can just receive a regular Bluetooth signal, I am having a hard time seeing a strong benefit from using this feature? Any help would be appreciated.

is it really different sounding between regular Bluetooth to APTX?

 

[crashbowman]

is it really different sounding between regular Bluetooth to APTX?

I have not used an N3 yet...but in regards to something like headphones, it is a huge difference. From my understanding a regular Bluetooth stream is lossy compression (not sure the amount of compression) and Apt X is at 16/44.1.

 

[gLer]

I have not used an N3 yet...but in regards to something like headphones, it is a huge difference. From my understanding a regular Bluetooth stream is lossy compression (not sure the amount of compression) and Apt X is at 16/44.1.

Every current Bluetooth 'codec' (SBC, AAC, MP3, aptX, LDAC) uses some form of compression. Newer proprietary codecs like aptX, apt-HD and LDAC use less compression (and different algorithms) to achieve "better" sound quality than plain-vanilla SBC. Other codecs like AAC, when used with AAC files from iTunes or your iPhone, don't need to "recompress" the original files (although AAC files are already compressed). That's why headphones that support AAC (which at 256kbps is equivalent to CD-quality) can sound as good (or better, depending on the source files) than aptX, although aptX achieves CD-like quality with any CD-quality source file.

Back to the N3, Cayin gets it wrong showing an N3 wirelessly connected to a car stereo and claiming "lossless and wireless" (see below)**. aptX is still a lossy format, but it can sound much better than basic Bluetooth. This graphic also unfortunately hides the fact that while the N3 can receive Bluetooth (and therefore double as a "wireless" DAP), it can't receive aptX, so if you're streaming high-res Tidal, Spotify or Flac files to the N3 from your phone or computer (or even high-quality MP3/AAC files), they're going to first be "recompressed" over standard Bluetooth before they even get to the N3. How much of a difference you'll actually hear using a car stereo is debatable, especially since the N3 has great circuitry that will deliver decent sound even over standard Bluetooth. Will it sound as good as aptX-compressed Bluetooth? Probably not. It won't sound as good as lossless streaming over Wi-Fi (which you can't do with the N3), and definitely not as good as hardwired (line-out) from the N3 to the stereo (which is the best option if sound quality is your priority).

No doubt having bi-directional Bluetooth is a great feature, especially at this price point, and many (more expensive) DAPs don't have any sort of wireless features, let alone aptX support. Still, would have been nice to have bi-directional aptX, although I'm holding out some hope that Cayin can add AAC and/or MP3 codec support in firmware, which will at least improve the sound quality of AAC/MP3 files sent to the N3 from our phones.

**Well they got it half-right - it is wireless (just not lossless).

 

[Wiljen]

It isn't lossless but lets not lose sight of the fact that is light years ahead of where we were when Bluetooth started out. If you try some of the better headphones today it can be hard to tell they aren't wired. As little as 2 years ago, I couldn't have begun to make that statement without outright laughter erupting from this group.

 

[gLer]

It isn't lossless but lets not lose sight of the fact that is light years ahead of where we were when Bluetooth started out. If you try some of the better headphones today it can be hard to tell they aren't wired. As little as 2 years ago, I couldn't have begun to make that statement without outright laughter erupting from this group.

Agreed! But every bit (literally) helps...

 

[gLer]

@Andykong thank you for your response. what i wish to be able to do this (toggling between headphone out and line out) on this screen:

This would be a very useful feature indeed! I was just testing Bluetooth output from my phone to the N3 (tethered to powered speakers) and had to exit the BT screen, enable line out mode, then disable and reactivate BT. Could be done in one step with a line-out/headphone toggle switch from the BT screen. Alternatively, enable the Quick Menu from the BT screen so you can change modes without leaving BT mode.

 

[gLer]

@Andykong another useful feature suggestion (maybe): add the ability to delete folders from the N3 folder view. Currently can only delete individual songs, but if you're working in folder view it can sometimes be useful to remove entire folders (including sub-folders).

 

[Wiljen]

@Andykong another useful feature suggestion (maybe): add the ability to delete folders from the N3 folder view. Currently can only delete individual songs, but if you're working in folder view it can sometimes be useful to remove entire folders (including sub-folders).

I just tie mine to the computer for that, then I can do most file operations a whole lot easier than doing via the interface.

 

[gLer]

I just tie mine to the computer for that, then I can do most file operations a whole lot easier than doing via the interface.

Likewise I do the same. It's just a neat feature that will add to the functionality of the N3 if you use folder mode.

 

[michaelgordon]

hiby link is the best feature ever. put any notion i had in getting a chord poly to rest, i sold my mojo a while ago and haven't missed it bu so much easier using this with headphones, lot less messing about. Also works with Bluetooth headphones.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

Any opinions on using the N3 as a digital transport using Cayin's USB C to Coax cable?

 

[Wiljen]

Any opinions on using the N3 as a digital transport using Cayin's USB C to Coax cable?

I had to follow Andy's instructions to make a cable while I had the review sample and it worked superbly. (As a side note, buy the cable as it was tedious and took a couple of attempts to get right). As a transport, The N3 works as well as any other I have tried with my home system. I am actually tempted to see if I can rig a usb to micro SD so I can attach a N3 with a usb SSD HD to my home system and then use the hibylink to control it.

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

That's great news because I no longer have to purchase the Shanling M2s for this neat feature

It works like a charm and is totally badass.
The old Hiby was so white it was like putting a light on your face at night. Music app/flashlight

New design and colors is dope.