[Joe Bloggs]

Following the steps to the letter was my first attempts, then i tried other methods to see if anythink worked.
About the app permissions on android, it has Storage, Localization, and Phone permissions, all turned on. Note that my smartphone defined language isnt english so these words i chose for permissions are a translation and may not be the same terms used by official english android.

Hi jms74,
I neglected to mention that there were 5 other permissions under the "Other permissions" menu item. Can you try setting them all to "allowed" (if not already) and try again?

Also,
Which exactly were the HiByMusic build versions you tried? Are they 3.0.0 build 5085 and 5178?

Best regards,
Joseph

 

[LuckyAce1974]

Firmware question

I am running v1.2 in my N3. Can I update directly to v2.1 or do I have to go to v2.0 first?

 

[Andykong]

Firmware question

I am running v1.2 in my N3. Can I update directly to v2.1 or do I have to go to v2.0 first?

You can upgrade to v2.1 directly.

 

[Makiah S]

Headphone Sound Quality

The HM 601 as the best for me, most natural timbre, excellent weight to the sound, most expansive imaging, great dynamics and macro detail. It glossed over some of the micro detail up top, the neat little background noises, though it did an amazing job with transients! Pretty good given the price, NOT on par with the Geek Out v2+ but for $125 pretty darn good!

The N3 on the Short Delay Filter was second best, brighter, more micro detail and less resolving of transients, amazing dynamics but it lacked impact and weight, often a little thin, but very fast, pulled out textures that the Hm601 often smooths, which some times against the N3 sometimes works with it

UCA 202's headphone out is terrible... very soft, REALLY deep but very cramped

Line Out Quality

The UCA 202 and HM 601 where excellent, the UCA 202 had a deeper wider more precise image overall but was still a little soft where as the 601 kept it's amazing timbre and weight with the sound stage opening up a little more, it lacked a little depth an precision compared to the UCA 202

N3 line out is a big improvement! Not as thin, better transient resolve, and better precision in imaging, but still thin sounding compared to the other 2 and not as expansive as either

Headphone Power Output

UCA 202 is appalling, hm601 isn't as impressive beside the N3, the N3 has 3 gain options and has the most power overall! I was surprised

User Interface

All HAIL ROCKBOX, seriously though I love it, it's faster than the N3 UI and has more options, The N3's button configuration is easy enough to figure out, but I still find my self accidentally hitting back when I want to scroll down, vs the more Caveman layout of the hm601

Function
N3 really surprised me here! The blutooth dac connectivity is a little noisy, but it's a good convenience. For what it's worth the N3 sounds better than the onBoard output of my LG V20... but I liked how many connectivity options the N3 offers, it's a Digital Jack of all Trades! The UCA 202 on the other hand is more of an analog jack of all, and the HM 601 has caveman level functionality... it play music, it not play music, it play music into amp, and that's it...

Battery Life
I charge my HM 601 like once every 2-3 weeks. An I get around 30 hours of playback time! The N3 I charged every 2 days and got maybe 8-9 hours tops...


Ultimately, for now the N3 and HM601 both have my recommendation, more so the Cayin N3 seeing as finding a Rock Boxed hm601 is going to be difficult, where as with Cayin we get amazing customer service and a warranty. The HM 601 isn't really a practical recommendation, though pair'd with Rockbox it's a tough combo to beat for just a super basic digital audio player, but I was really excited to have had a chance to listen to the N3! I love the digital filters, and all the awesome functionality it offers.

An it averaged an overall score of 92, vs the Hm601 at 91, so I'm really impressed with the N3. I'm looking forward to hopefully hearing some of Cayin's nicer offerings in the future

 

[velasfloyd]

Did you set the N3 to Line out mode when you connect the N3 to your XDuoo? If yes, you are connected in Line out. If not, you are Phone out mode. I can confirmed that you are not connected to digital output from N3, so you are using the XDUoo as a headphone amp. only.

In either case, you are not hearing the best of N3. The line out mode is N3's weak link when compare to phone out and digital out.





This is the functional framework of N3, you can consider the line out signal as a fixed 1.0V output from the headphone output, and the signal has gone through exactly the same stage of voltage amplification and current amplification stage as the headphone output, so I agree with you that its not as clean as a dedicated line out straight from the DAC output.

whats the point of the line out then?... if it pass through the same road than the phone out (and not directly from the dac, as it should be) whats the point of having a line out? I feel quite disappointed of this. I mean, I love my N3, but now I will never use the line out.

 

[Slater]

Headphone Sound Quality

The HM 601 as the best for me, most natural timbre, excellent weight to the sound, most expansive imaging, great dynamics and macro detail. It glossed over some of the micro detail up top, the neat little background noises, though it did an amazing job with transients! Pretty good given the price, NOT on par with the Geek Out v2+ but for $125 pretty darn good!

The N3 on the Short Delay Filter was second best, brighter, more micro detail and less resolving of transients, amazing dynamics but it lacked impact and weight, often a little thin, but very fast, pulled out textures that the Hm601 often smooths, which some times against the N3 sometimes works with it

UCA 202's headphone out is terrible... very soft, REALLY deep but very cramped

Line Out Quality

The UCA 202 and HM 601 where excellent, the UCA 202 had a deeper wider more precise image overall but was still a little soft where as the 601 kept it's amazing timbre and weight with the sound stage opening up a little more, it lacked a little depth an precision compared to the UCA 202

N3 line out is a big improvement! Not as thin, better transient resolve, and better precision in imaging, but still thin sounding compared to the other 2 and not as expansive as either

Headphone Power Output

UCA 202 is appalling, hm601 isn't as impressive beside the N3, the N3 has 3 gain options and has the most power overall! I was surprised

User Interface

All HAIL ROCKBOX, seriously though I love it, it's faster than the N3 UI and has more options, The N3's button configuration is easy enough to figure out, but I still find my self accidentally hitting back when I want to scroll down, vs the more Caveman layout of the hm601

Function
N3 really surprised me here! The blutooth dac connectivity is a little noisy, but it's a good convenience. For what it's worth the N3 sounds better than the onBoard output of my LG V20... but I liked how many connectivity options the N3 offers, it's a Digital Jack of all Trades! The UCA 202 on the other hand is more of an analog jack of all, and the HM 601 has caveman level functionality... it play music, it not play music, it play music into amp, and that's it...

Battery Life
I charge my HM 601 like once every 2-3 weeks. An I get around 30 hours of playback time! The N3 I charged every 2 days and got maybe 8-9 hours tops...


Ultimately, for now the N3 and HM601 both have my recommendation, more so the Cayin N3 seeing as finding a Rock Boxed hm601 is going to be difficult, where as with Cayin we get amazing customer service and a warranty. The HM 601 isn't really a practical recommendation, though pair'd with Rockbox it's a tough combo to beat for just a super basic digital audio player, but I was really excited to have had a chance to listen to the N3! I love the digital filters, and all the awesome functionality it offers.

An it averaged an overall score of 92, vs the Hm601 at 91, so I'm really impressed with the N3. I'm looking forward to hopefully hearing some of Cayin's nicer offerings in the future

Do you figure price in the weight of your scores?

 

[Makiah S]

Do you figure price in the weight of your scores?

Nope each are priced around the same bracket. The HM601 is $125 used if you can find it, the N3 is $150 New and the UCA 202 is only $30!

An the Scores are reflect on the price bracket! That's a good point! I may adjust the title to reflect that, my Geek Out v2+ out performs the N3 by a large margin for sound quality

 

[Detectit]

Received my N3 yesterday and what a nice little DAP. Really like the HiBy function to navigate on the telephone.

Downloaded some DSD demo files. Wow what a sound. If the singers stands next to you. Very nice.

I guess this question is unnecessary, but is the Bluetooth AptX or AptX HD?

Guess it's "just" AptX?

 

[DBaldock9]

Received my N3 yesterday and what a nice little DAP. Really like the HiBy function to navigate on the telephone.

Downloaded some DSD demo files. Wow what a sound. If the singers stands next to you. Very nice.

I guess this question is unnecessary, but is the Bluetooth AptX or AptX HD?

Guess it's "just" AptX?

There's a list (don't know if it's complete) of devices containing aptX HD, on the Qualcomm aptX website - https://www.aptx.com/products?field_aptx_type_tid=483
Looks like the only Digital Audio Players with aptX HD, are from Astell & Kern.

Note: The N3 only supports aptX for Transmitting, not for Receiving. This is apparently a H/W limitation - so a Firmware update won't be able to remedy this.

 

[elano68]

Hello guys, anybody can compare n3 with sony a35?Thank you.

 

[Detectit]

There's a list (don't know if it's complete) of devices containing aptX HD, on the Qualcomm aptX website - https://www.aptx.com/products?field_aptx_type_tid=483
Looks like the only Digital Audio Players with aptX HD, are from Astell & Kern.

Note: The N3 only supports aptX for Transmitting, not for Receiving. This is apparently a H/W limitation - so a Firmware update won't be able to remedy this.

Yes those lists are most of the time not accurate. In terms of updating.

And just transmitting AptX that's a bit of a bummer, when streaming music by the phone.

 

[Detectit]

Man o man

What a good dap and headphones can give you another level of listening experience. Listening to M.J. Thriller... SACD conversion to Flac. Listened a thousand times so a good reference...
But what a lot of instruments details and stereo separation i have missed.
And i have decent audio gear in the living room.

Bit OT but this an experience of a newbie...

 

[PapaThrust]

@Cayin
Enjoying the shorter charge time in v2.1 - that was a quick and effective fix. Thank you!

Questions and a suggestions: What happens to the frequencies below 30hz and above 16khz when the EQ is activated?
I understand that the output is lowered to avoid clipping, but what else is going on there, are those frequencies just chopped?

About the genre selection: would it ever be possible to add a tick box for choose artist or album here?
It makes little sense to me without this choice - unless only alphabetical or random is your thing.

What I would change if I could: tiny scrolling info at bottom of display would be replaced for something comparable to say an ipod.
Larger font, fixed info (artist, song and album).
= instant recognition

 

[alan_g]

my n3 has suddenly stop showing up as a drive on my mac and is only charging via usb.

 

[Francisk]

my n3 has suddenly stop showing up as a drive on my mac and is only charging via usb.

Did you switch the USB to DAC mode?