[Andykong]

Haha...comes in little blue boxes.
Yeah, my wife knows all too well.

That certainly is their common language.

 

[fish1050]

I start off as an user (audiophile) and then moving up the ladder as a reviewer in audio magazine, and finally developed my own Home Entertainment project, the 911 crashed everything and my investor pulled back almost immediately after the hit. So I didn't have the honor to work with customers at front-line like you, I come from an informed customer perspective when I learn about the real story behind the product specification.

I keep telling my friends that driving power is not the key of a good system (or a good amplifier to be more specific), we should pay more attention to the "control" which is a relative neglected concept that play a significant role in the speaker (or headphon) - amplifier relationship, and in my observation, the two key factors that affect the control capability are the current capacity and the damping factor, the latter is basically related to the output impedance of the DAP headphone jack in portable headfi applications.

With a deep history in traditional hifi product, Cayin sure understand the important of ample current supply in our amplification circuit, that's why we stick with the more old-school two stages voltage amp + current buffer approach in the headphone amp. section of our DAP. Our rated power output probably is not particularly impressive but I am pretty sure our current capacity is on the high side of the spectrum although we didn't provide the related figure in the specification table.

Certainly not a problem to prefer A35/45 over our N3 because of your personal requirements. The market is large enough to accommodate several good products at the same time. Budgeted equipment is full of compromises, so in many case its not a matter of better or best of its kind but rather best fit for certain customers.

Unfortunately we don't have any plan to produce an upgrade or revised version of C5. The C5 is aged but still well-received as a competitive workhorse. The power supply is almost one of a kind with battery at 11.1V (3x3.7V), old-school audiophile will appreciate the advantage to power an amplifier with a high voltage power source directly.

Andy thanks for the informative reply,

The damping factor is also very important for controlling the movement of the drivers. It was hard educating buyers on the importance of current and not just output power and It was significantly harder still to try and explain the damping factor. Back in the day we were inundated with every possible specification the manufacturers could produce on their products. Today it seems alot of the specs are not readily available so it is harder to judge one DAP against another without demoing them. Since not all DAP's are readily available everywhere demoing is not always possible so it would be nice to have access to more detailed information if possible.

Cayin's home audio products are actually more readily available in Toronto than your DAP's are and you have produced some pretty interesting products. I am hoping that your portable products will be easier to find locally in the near future.

 

[fish1050]

Well, someone called me a sexism because of that story.



I believe the color is inspired by one of the famous brand's theme color, I can't quote the brand directly but kind of like this:TXffXXX, if you can figure that out, you are very smart and trendy, but you don't have to tell me the answer.

If I had known the red N3 would help me meet women I would have bought one already. Although I don't think my wife would appreciate it to much

 

[rallyfan1986]

Hi, V2.1 FW has calibrated Power management setting to rectify low charging current problem.Please see it in this link :http://en.cayin.cn/download/show?id=13516. And I just charged my N3 with V2.1 FW and found that it could be charged 100%.While Lithium battery installed in N3 does not have memory effect, it does has what we called inaccurate gauge issue, and this problem is quite common when a battery has been idled and/or drained for a long time or your device is brand new. I suggest you do a gauge calibration to verify the problem. In fact this is something that we all should be doing occasionally. I normally do this after 15-20 charging cycle (2 times 50% charging is count as one cycle) An inaccurate gauge can lead to the fact that the the battery capacity values are are wrong. The battery may report that it still has reasonable capacity when in fact it has a much lower value, and this causes the computer to shutdown unexpectedly. You can google the terms "Calibrate Gauge" on Lithium Battery.

To calibrate the gauge of a lithium battery, you simply need to do a full discharge followed by a full charge, so this is what I advice:

(1) turn on the LED screen to maximum brightness and set the screen to "always on", keep it running until the player turn off itself.
(2) Charge the battery overnight, till you see 99% or 100% on the meter
(3) Set the screen to minimum brightness and 30sec duration only, set it to playback on any CD quality files (Wav or FLAC) continuously til the player power off again. Keep the screen off and check the battery reading every hour, and drop down the battery readings for record.

Hopefully the duration and accuracy of battery reading will go back to an acceptable level after the calibration.

Thank you for your detailed reply - one of the reasons I bought the player was due to reading through this thread and seeing your continuous support.

I did try the above method several times previous to posting here, however it was step 2 where the battery indicator/animation would never exceed 93%.

I'm quite happy with the custom 2.0 firmware at the moment, but sometime in the future I may try flashing the 2.1 firmware whilst the battery is at 100%

Thanks again,

 

[scott1]

I have the C5 and have found when I want a little bassier, fun sound, it sounds great connected to the N3. I should say that without the bass boost on the N3 sounds better alone.

 

[mbwilson111]

When I first got this N3 about two weeks ago I had a card loaded up and ready to put in so I had not tried until last night to have it recognized as a USB device on my PC. I just wanted to quickly add a couple of albums without bothering to take the card out. I cannot get my Windows 7 PC to recognize it. I installed and uninstalled and reinstalled the driver 3 times. Windows just keeps telling me that there is an unrecognized USB device. I tried it in different USB ports both directly on the PC and on a powered USB hub. I tried with the N3 switched off and with it switched off. I tried with the USB setting to USB and to DAC. I am pretty sure I tried all possible combinations. Rebooted the PC a couple of times. I do not have another cable here with the C connector to try. I am on the latest 2.1 firmware. What else is there to try?

 

[gLer]

Hey guys, quick question (and apologies if it's been covered before but I can't find an answer anywhere). Am I correct to assume the N3 supports digital out via USB, and therefore if I connect it via USB to my DAC's USB input I should get a clean digital out signal?

If so, why is the digital out volume from the N3 quite a bit lower than that from my MacBook running a bitperfect Audirvana stream?

Thx in advance!

 

[eaglesgift]

I got some TFZ Exclusive 5s delivered today and they work really well with the N3. Plenty of low end, nice strong treble with lots of detail but not fatiguing, and an immersive type of soundstage: not ultra wide but very satisfying. I've been using ZS5s up until now, and some full-size headphones occasionally, but I think the Exclusive 5s are going to be my new favourite pairing.

 

[eaglesgift]

When I first got this N3 about two weeks ago I had a card loaded up and ready to put in so I had not tried until last night to have it recognized as a USB device on my PC. I just wanted to quickly add a couple of albums without bothering to take the card out. I cannot get my Windows 7 PC to recognize it. I installed and uninstalled and reinstalled the driver 3 times. Windows just keeps telling me that there is an unrecognized USB device. I tried it in different USB ports both directly on the PC and on a powered USB hub. I tried with the N3 switched off and with it switched off. I tried with the USB setting to USB and to DAC. I am pretty sure I tried all possible combinations. Rebooted the PC a couple of times. I do not have another cable here with the C connector to try. I am on the latest 2.1 firmware. What else is there to try?

You shouldn't need drivers just to see the memory card I don't think. I have mine turned off (in USB mode not DAC mode), when I plug it in and it works fine (Windows 10). I'd just take the card out if I were you though, I do mostly anyway. It doesn't take more than a few seconds and it avoids all that hassle.

Have you tried just plugging it in without installing any drivers first?

 

[fourrobert13]

When I first got this N3 about two weeks ago I had a card loaded up and ready to put in so I had not tried until last night to have it recognized as a USB device on my PC. I just wanted to quickly add a couple of albums without bothering to take the card out. I cannot get my Windows 7 PC to recognize it. I installed and uninstalled and reinstalled the driver 3 times. Windows just keeps telling me that there is an unrecognized USB device. I tried it in different USB ports both directly on the PC and on a powered USB hub. I tried with the N3 switched off and with it switched off. I tried with the USB setting to USB and to DAC. I am pretty sure I tried all possible combinations. Rebooted the PC a couple of times. I do not have another cable here with the C connector to try. I am on the latest 2.1 firmware. What else is there to try?

Try a different cable. That's what I had to do. Anker makes good cables.

 

[mbwilson111]

Have you tried just plugging it in without installing any drivers first?

Yes I had tried that first. Actually tried it on my husbands PC before that because he was going to give me an album. I hate taking the cards out of any of my players... usually manage to break a fingernail or send the card flying across the room. Plus you have to take the case off (which on my Opus is a very tight fit). Of course I would take the card out if I was going to do a lot of transferring but for one album? I should be able to just plug it in. Earlier in this thread it did say we needed drivers from the Cayin site.

 

[mbwilson111]

Try a different cable. That's what I had to do. Anker makes good cables.

I don't think I should have to buy another cable. The provided cable should work for something so basic.

 

[gLer]

I don't think I should have to buy another cable. The provided cable should work for something so basic.

I'm afraid you probably do. It's been covered to death unfortunately - stock cable sucks (for many). Mine works on and off so I gave up and bought decent cables off Amazon.

 

[gLer]

I don't think I should have to buy another cable. The provided cable should work for something so basic.

Also check that it's in USB mode (not DAC mode).

 

[groucho69]

I'm sure I've seen ladies underwear in that colour

Lucky ones have seen all colors.