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Cayin N3 Hi-Res DAP with AKM4490 DAC, apt-X Bluetooth, and Line, USB & Coax Out for $150
Jul 5, 2017 at 10:56 AM Post #2,776 of 6,262
BroncoVA said:
someone made some pictures/video of that tweaked interface made by XVortex and gLer?
Click to expand...
V2 custom firmware is almost ready with all-new screens and a few added tweaks. As soon as it's done I'll post screenshots here. V1.2 custom was a bit risqué; V2 is more 'work friendly' :wink:
 
Jul 5, 2017 at 12:33 PM Post #2,780 of 6,262
gLer said:
V2 custom firmware is almost ready with all-new screens and a few added tweaks. As soon as it's done I'll post screenshots here. V1.2 custom was a bit risqué; V2 is more 'work friendly' :wink:
Click to expand...

Work friendly? NOOOOOOOOOO! Say it isn't so.

Crying-men.jpg
 
Jul 5, 2017 at 1:01 PM Post #2,782 of 6,262
Jul 5, 2017 at 4:09 PM Post #2,783 of 6,262
Really enjoying HiByLink. I did find an anomaly. In HiByLink if I browse by album the tracks are sorted in track number order. If I browse by artist, then choose an album, (my normal mode of selection) the tracks are sorted alphabetically. I cannot find a way to change this. The track sorting extended to the N3 as well. The album I selected had the tracks sorted alphabetically. Once I disconnected HiByLink the track sorting reverted back to track order on the N3.
 
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Jul 5, 2017 at 9:51 PM Post #2,785 of 6,262
BroncoVA said:
Like i said: it's not for everyone, and the fact that Rockbox exists for the N3 doesn't mean you'll have to use it.
It's good to have the possibility to test it (see if there are improvements since the Sansa Clip port, and we talk about 2 very different hardwares...when you see what you could do with a Sansa clip, with a Linux based N3 we could be very surprised) and discard it if you don't like it.
I understand that you wouldn't use it, but would you be annoyed if it existed as an alternative?
Click to expand...
I've seen what it could do with a Clip, iPod, and Zen. I wasn't impressed as it made them actually look less polished and more "hacky". The other issue is that it causes more problems for the OEM, as people then start demanding the manufacturer implement things they didn't intend on. It takes them away from their in-house roadmap in having to field questions from users that end with "But RB has done it..." and as a developer myself, it gets frustrating when users start killing your timeline.

I'd rather let the OEM maintain their roadmap, and have a cohesive userbase drive the innovation with requests and head counts. If there is a feature that is needed, and enough users demand it, the OEM will put it into their roadmap. That way, new users as well as those who aren't tech savvy get the features directly out of the box. In turn, that makes for a better user experience and drive good sales for Cayin, which in turn makes for more and better future products.

Once you get the third parties involved, the manufacturer gets pushed between a rock and a hard place. The customer base gets diluted and split between those who want to see it in the real firmware, and those who "Will just get the RB team to implement it". With less demand, the OEM's firmware ends up getting less attention, and the product usually suffers. Remember that the OEM has licensing and royalties for their platforms and firmwares. If they lose demand for this firmware and it gets "opened up", what's to keep them from making a "thin" firmware for future products because they know that it's just going to get hacked and not care anymore (or worse, can't afford to pay the full dev team). They'll still sell the hardware, but the out-of-box experience suffers. In the "old days", it was fine to push an OEM, because there was little competition so OEMs could just say "too bad". But in today's industry, there's a lot of other companies and I'd rather see one that makes good, solid stuff out-of-the-box and can afford to pay for a dev/support team to maintain it, not a bunch of hobbyists and part-timers.

The N3, *I feel*, is perfect where it as, for what it is intended for. People I've recommended it to (as a sound engineer for those who want something to audition mixes on; as a developer for those who want something nice to listen to while working; and as a photographer for those who want something to have a lot of music to listen to while on set) all love the N3 - straight out of the box. It becomes a lot harder when you start having by saying "well, buy it, then go here, download this, install this to the card, then do this...". Look at Magic Lantern for cameras. Yes, it opens up features, but I shoot all 1Dx and 1Dx-II cameras, which Canon has said they'd legally go after anybody who back-doors the firmware, so we get a very stable firmware directly from the OEM. I can go on a shoot knowing that the camera works perfect every time, without hacks, and with the full support of the manufacturer (that I can call right then and there if an issue arises). There hasn't been a single ML feature that I've found needing, as a lot of the features are for making the lower cameras do things that wasn't the primary feature of the camera - video. They are primarily still cameras, not video, as the C series cameras are designed for video with the capability to take stills. Yes, it's fine for the hobbyist to ML their 5D series to do video, but people who do nothing but video either 1) use the OEM firmware just fine with the included video functions or 2) get a camera design for video (C-x00, BlackMagic, Arri).

The Fiio X1-II (as well as the X5-III) has good hardware too and sounds nice, but the poorly written firmware and massive bugs (that still exist on the current release), have left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouth. If any platform (Linux based or otherwise) need some third-party hacking, that(those) would be a better candidate. I'm not suggesting that anyone stop from open-sourcing the N3. I wouldn't use it, but that's me. I just feel that the time would be better utilized forming a cohesive userbase that can give Cayin good, solid feedback on what they can implement into their timeline.
 
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Jul 5, 2017 at 11:13 PM Post #2,787 of 6,262
docholliday said:
I've seen what it could do with a Clip, iPod, and Zen. I wasn't impressed as it made them actually look less polished and more "hacky". The other issue is that it causes more problems for the OEM, as people then start demanding the manufacturer implement things they didn't intend on. It takes them away from their in-house roadmap in having to field questions from users that end with "But RB has done it..." and as a developer myself, it gets frustrating when users start killing your timeline.

I'd rather let the OEM maintain their roadmap, and have a cohesive userbase drive the innovation with requests and head counts. If there is a feature that is needed, and enough users demand it, the OEM will put it into their roadmap. That way, new users as well as those who aren't tech savvy get the features directly out of the box. In turn, that makes for a better user experience and drive good sales for Cayin, which in turn makes for more and better future products.

Once you get the third parties involved, the manufacturer gets pushed between a rock and a hard place. The customer base gets diluted and split between those who want to see it in the real firmware, and those who "Will just get the RB team to implement it". With less demand, the OEM's firmware ends up getting less attention, and the product usually suffers. Remember that the OEM has licensing and royalties for their platforms and firmwares. If they lose demand for this firmware and it gets "opened up", what's to keep them from making a "thin" firmware for future products because they know that it's just going to get hacked and not care anymore (or worse, can't afford to pay the full dev team). They'll still sell the hardware, but the out-of-box experience suffers. In the "old days", it was fine to push an OEM, because there was little competition so OEMs could just say "too bad". But in today's industry, there's a lot of other companies and I'd rather see one that makes good, solid stuff out-of-the-box and can afford to pay for a dev/support team to maintain it, not a bunch of hobbyists and part-timers.

The N3, *I feel*, is perfect where it as, for what it is intended for. People I've recommended it to (as a sound engineer for those who want something to audition mixes on; as a developer for those who want something nice to listen to while working; and as a photographer for those who want something to have a lot of music to listen to while on set) all love the N3 - straight out of the box. It becomes a lot harder when you start having by saying "well, buy it, then go here, download this, install this to the card, then do this...". Look at Magic Lantern for cameras. Yes, it opens up features, but I shoot all 1Dx and 1Dx-II cameras, which Canon has said they'd legally go after anybody who back-doors the firmware, so we get a very stable firmware directly from the OEM. I can go on a shoot knowing that the camera works perfect every time, without hacks, and with the full support of the manufacturer (that I can call right then and there if an issue arises). There hasn't been a single ML feature that I've found needing, as a lot of the features are for making the lower cameras do things that wasn't the primary feature of the camera - video. They are primarily still cameras, not video, as the C series cameras are designed for video with the capability to take stills. Yes, it's fine for the hobbyist to ML their 5D series to do video, but people who do nothing but video either 1) use the OEM firmware just fine with the included video functions or 2) get a camera design for video (C-x00, BlackMagic, Arri).

The Fiio X1-II (as well as the X5-III) has good hardware too and sounds nice, but the poorly written firmware and massive bugs (that still exist on the current release), have left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouth. If any platform (Linux based or otherwise) need some third-party hacking, that(those) would be a better candidate. I'm not suggesting that anyone stop from open-sourcing the N3. I wouldn't use it, but that's me. I just feel that the time would be better utilized forming a cohesive userbase that can give Cayin good, solid feedback on what they can implement into their timeline.
Click to expand...

Look, I get that you don't like RB - it's got a clunky interface, complicated menus, endless settings that can be overwhelming for some, etc. RB isn't for everyone. But I have no problem with choices. I think it's great for end users to have the ability to make decisions for themselves. In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled a number of times on these exact issues of hardware ownership and 'hacking' things like alternative firmware (their most recent ruling was mere days ago in fact).

The way I see it, if a manufacturer has great firmware and provides regular updates and fixes, then the vast majority of people will be perfectly happy using the stock firmware. But the reality is that you can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. There's nothing wrong with having choices. Goody two shoes to those perfectly happy with stock firmware of their devices. For those that aren't (for whatever reason, as was the case with RAW file support in Canons for example), then I applaud those who spend their own personal time developing alternatives that benefit others.

My comments aren't about Cayin or the N3 specifically - they apply to ANY product or manufacturer. Just like you pointed out with the FiiO X1, the xduoo X3's OEM firmware was also poorly written and had critical bugs that were never corrected. Xduoo abandoned firmware improvements, so owners were left high and dry. XVortex stepped in, ported RB to the X3, and X3 owners have greatly benefited as a result.
 
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Jul 5, 2017 at 11:21 PM Post #2,788 of 6,262
slaterlovesspam said:
Look, I get that you don't like RB - it's got a clunky interface, complicated menus, endless settings that can be overwhelming for some, etc. RB isn't for everyone. But I have no problem with choices. I think it's great for end users to have the ability to make decisions for themselves. In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled a number of times on these exact issues of hardware ownership and 'hacking' things like alternative firmware (their most recent ruling was mere days ago in fact).

The way I see it, if a manufacturer has great firmware and provides regular updates and fixes, then the vast majority of people will be perfectly happy using the stock firmware. But the reality is that you can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. There's nothing wrong with having choices. Goody two shoes to those perfectly happy with stock firmware of their devices. For those that aren't (for whatever reason, as was the case with RAW file support in Canons for example), then I applaud those who spend their own personal time developing alternatives that benefit others.

My comments aren't about Cayin or the N3 specifically - they apply to ANY product or manufacturer. Just like you pointed out with the FiiO X1, the xduoo X3's OEM firmware was also poorly written and had critical bugs that were never corrected. Xduoo abandoned firmware improvements, so owners were left high and dry. XVortex stepped in, ported RB to the X3, and X3 owners have greatly benefited as a result.
Click to expand...
I never said I had a problem with third-party when the manufacturer has ABANDONED the product or firmware...to each their own.
 
Jul 6, 2017 at 4:40 AM Post #2,789 of 6,262
Drop everything, N3 Custom Firmware V2.0 by XVortex and gLer is here!

DISCLAIMER: Cayin and its distributors do not warrant support for custom firmware at this stage. While we've tested V2.0 extensively and found it to work 100% on our players, should you experience any problems or need to send your N3 for any unrelated fix, please re-flash the device with the official Cayin V2.0 firmware.

It gives us great pleasure to present you with V2.0 of our custom firmware for the Cayin N3, the 'little DAP that can'. Many of you have already downloaded and use our previous release (V1.2). The latest version includes ALL the new features of Cayin's official V2.0 firmware, including HiBy Link support, PLUS:
  • All-new CALM look-and-feel, including wallpapers and visual elements in three different colors (blue, bronze, black)
  • All-new startup and shutdown animations
  • Consistent UI elements
  • Fixed and tweaked English, French and Russian messages and strings (spelling/grammar)
  • Stripped unnecessary resources improving speed and responsiveness
  • PLUS a hidden 'naughty' Easter egg (let's see who can find it first).
Sorry guys (and gals) but the visual 'theme' of V1.2 split opinions and made the N3 unsuitable for many work or family environments (yes, the famous 'nipple' wallpaper is no more), but we think you'll find V2.0 all the more appealing and 'calming', for want of a better word, with fewer distractions. That said, if you really, really need your nipple fix, go find the egg! :wink:

Screens below. You can download Custom Firmware V2.0 here: https://mega.nz/#!JsEwGRyR!fGrYh6SY07L-Mc0lO1CD-7uNd4VbDeuu-lFsuhCZgng

Thanks again to the genius behind the code, @XVortex!

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Jul 6, 2017 at 5:02 AM Post #2,790 of 6,262
I have just received Cayin N3 couple of days back. Can anyone tell how to flash this custom firmware over Official 2.0 version? Is it possible to restore to official firmware? If yes then how.

Thanks
 
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