[DBaldock9]

What I'd really like to see is a DAP with AptX HD and LDAC both.

According to the Qualcomm aptX website, there's a fair number of products that already support aptX HD - https://www.aptx.com/products?field_aptx_type_tid=483

 

[FryOne]

Hi everyone! This is my first post here on Head-Fi. I've followed this thread for a long time and eventually I bought my N3 (preferring it to the M2s) to back up my venerable 9 years old Sony NWZ-A818. I like a lot N3/AKM “velvet” sound and (surprisingly?) I can appreciate hi-res files even with my modest TDK IE800 and Superlux hd681 evo... only the capacitative buttons drive me to despair. Now, I have few questions... can someone help me?

1) While N3 is connected to PC as USB DAC, there is no indication “in real time” – neither on PC nor on N3 – about the bit depth and sampling rate of the file I'm actually playing. I can only change the “Output” value on PC (Cayin Control Panel --> Format --> Output --> 2 channels,24 bits/2 channels,16 bits/ 2 channels,32 bits) and then this new value appears on N3 screen – remaining the same whatever the song is playing... is it normal?

2) Now a lot of my songs stored in the DAP do end with an annoying “click” – which did not occur with the Sony. If “Gapless” function is ON, playing songs of the same album one after the other doesn't cause clicks, while the click is still present in the other songs.

3) On the N3 screen a kind of “grid” is sometimes barely visible... what is it?

Thanks!

Rosario

 

[dantesan]

According to the Qualcomm aptX website, there's a fair number of products that already support aptX HD - https://www.aptx.com/products?field_aptx_type_tid=483

Yes, but not from Cayin or Shanling or any Hibylink capable DAP I am aware of. (The really REALLY expensive ones do. Out of my price range.)

 

[Suneerat]

Welcome music friend !

I do have a N3 too,but so far no problem have accured like you stated on yours..So that said,just wait and either Andy or someone else will try and sort your problems out..Until then,hope you will like the Board and members here.Have an god day..Greetings from Thailand..

 

[gLer]

3) On the N3 screen a kind of “grid” is sometimes barely visible... what is it?

Hi Rosario and welcome to N3 Land I can’t help you with the first two - I’m sure @Andykong or @CayinSupport or @DBaldock9 will be able to answer the technical stuff. As for the pattern, that’s just part of the stock background image, not a display fault. May I suggest you download and try the custom firmware I created - fixes all the incorrect Chinese English UI elements and freshens up the graphics with new ones. If you don’t like it you can always just switch back to stock firmware.

You can download the latest version (2.0) of the custom firmware here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/27t7sd0oiad8q9w/update.upt?dl=0

 

[CayinSupport]

Hi everyone! This is my first post here on Head-Fi. I've followed this thread for a long time and eventually I bought my N3 (preferring it to the M2s) to back up my venerable 9 years old Sony NWZ-A818. I like a lot N3/AKM “velvet” sound and (surprisingly?) I can appreciate hi-res files even with my modest TDK IE800 and Superlux hd681 evo... only the capacitative buttons drive me to despair. Now, I have few questions... can someone help me?

1) While N3 is connected to PC as USB DAC, there is no indication “in real time” – neither on PC nor on N3 – about the bit depth and sampling rate of the file I'm actually playing. I can only change the “Output” value on PC (Cayin Control Panel --> Format --> Output --> 2 channels,24 bits/2 channels,16 bits/ 2 channels,32 bits) and then this new value appears on N3 screen – remaining the same whatever the song is playing... is it normal?

2) Now a lot of my songs stored in the DAP do end with an annoying “click” – which did not occur with the Sony. If “Gapless” function is ON, playing songs of the same album one after the other doesn't cause clicks, while the click is still present in the other songs.

3) On the N3 screen a kind of “grid” is sometimes barely visible... what is it?

Thanks!

Rosario

Hi, welcome to join us!
1.Yes, N3 runs absolutely normal according to your description.
2.What the formats of your songs? With different formats songs switching, there may be click sound which is unresolvable and decided by N3 chip.Sorry for the trouble caused!
3.The picture you showed is part of the stock background themes in N3, not a display fault. You can go to system settings->theme selection to choose the image you like.

 

[dougc]

Hi everybody!

This is my first post on this forum - like the user above I have been following this thread for a while and have finally bought myself an N3. I am having some trouble though, I cannot get the N3 to function as a USB DAC when connected to my linux PC. I have tried this now with 3 linux boxes and always get the same error:
https://pastebin.com/uXDX18St

I haven't had the chance yet to test with Windows. Has anyone got any suggestions? Could it be that I have a faulty product? (BTW I am using the latest firmware 2.1)

Thanks

 

[Wiljen]

Hi everybody!

This is my first post on this forum - like the user above I have been following this thread for a while and have finally bought myself an N3. I am having some trouble though, I cannot get the N3 to function as a USB DAC when connected to my linux PC. I have tried this now with 3 linux boxes and always get the same error:
https://pastebin.com/uXDX18St

I haven't had the chance yet to test with Windows. Has anyone got any suggestions? Could it be that I have a faulty product? (BTW I am using the latest firmware 2.1)

Thanks

Go into system settings and look for USB Mode. Change the Mode from USB to DAC and then connect it to the Linux box and see if that cures the problem. The reference to the MTP device in the error you posted makes me think it is in USB Storage mode and not DAC mode.

 

[dougc]

Go into system settings and look for USB Mode. Change the Mode from USB to DAC and then connect it to the Linux box and see if that cures the problem. The reference to the MTP device in the error you posted makes me think it is in USB Storage mode and not DAC mode.

Thank for the reply! Yep, I have changed the USB mode to DAC the N3 then displays USB DAC with 0Khz/0Bit - the error message I posted is from when the device was in DAC mode. Linux is detecting the N3 as a USB sound device but cannot access it - the N3 appears in alsamixer but I cannot use it.

The output I get from aplay -l is as follows:

➤ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC221 Analog [ALC221 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 10: HDMI 4 [HDMI 4]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: N3 [Cayin N3], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

But I get the following error when trying to play silence through the device:

➤ aplay /dev/zero -D hw:1 -f S32_LE -c 2
Playing raw data '/dev/zero' : Signed 32 bit Little Endian, Rate 8000 Hz, Stereo
Warning: rate is not accurate (requested = 8000Hz, got = 32000Hz)
         please, try the plug plugin
aplay: set_params:1382: Unable to install hw params:
ACCESS:  RW_INTERLEAVED
FORMAT:  S32_LE
SUBFORMAT:  STD
SAMPLE_BITS: 32
FRAME_BITS: 64
CHANNELS: 2
RATE: 32000
PERIOD_TIME: 125000
PERIOD_SIZE: 4000
PERIOD_BYTES: 32000
PERIODS: 4
BUFFER_TIME: 500000
BUFFER_SIZE: 16000
BUFFER_BYTES: 128000
TICK_TIME: 0

EDIT: Is there anyone else experiencing simillar issues with a recent Linux kernel? Has anyone got the N3 working as a USB DAC on Linux? I ask as I have had this problem (same errors) with three different machines each running different versions of Linux (arch, fedora and scilinux), also the install of Fedora was "fresh". I have not had this issue with the other usb sound card I own which was simply plug and play.

 

[duo8]

Thank for the reply! Yep, I have changed the USB mode to DAC the N3 then displays USB DAC with 0Khz/0Bit - the error message I posted is from when the device was in DAC mode. Linux is detecting the N3 as a USB sound device but cannot access it - the N3 appears in alsamixer but I cannot use it.

EDIT: Is there anyone else experiencing simillar issues with a recent Linux kernel? Has anyone got the N3 working as a USB DAC on Linux? I ask as I have had this problem (same errors) with three different machines each running different versions of Linux (arch, fedora and scilinux), also the install of Fedora was "fresh". I have not had this issue with the other usb sound card I own which was simply plug and play.

Have you tried playing a 44k wav with aplay?
Also try updating your BIOS if there's one.

 

[dougc]

Have you tried playing a 44k wav with aplay?
Also try updating your BIOS if there's one.

Just tried now with no luck.

➤ aplay ./organfinale.wav  -D hw:1
Playing WAVE './organfinale.wav' : Float 32 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:1318: Sample format non available
Available formats:
- S32_LE
- SPECIAL

Trying again with -f S32_LE gives the same error

➤ aplay ./organfinale.wav  -D hw:1  -f S32_LE
Playing WAVE './organfinale.wav' : Float 32 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:1318: Sample format non available
Available formats:
- S32_LE
- SPECIAL

A simillar error occurs with speaker-test:

➤ speaker-test -c 2 -F S32_LE -D plughw:1,0

speaker-test 1.1.4

Playback device is plughw:1,0
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S32_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 24 to 131072
Period size range from 12 to 65536
Using max buffer size 131072
Periods = 4
Unable to set hw params for playback: Input/output error
Setting of hwparams failed: Input/output error

Upgrading the BIOS isn't really an option for me - I would like this to work on my work PC where I should not do such things. I feel like this should work though without messing with the BIOS in anyway.

 

[duo8]

Just tried now with no luck.



Upgrading the BIOS isn't really an option for me - I would like this to work on my work PC where I should not do such things. I feel like this should work though without messing with the BIOS in anyway.

Are you using a USB3 port? Maybe try a USB2 port, or a USB2 hub if you have access to one.
Also try lsusb -vv -d 2d87:001a (as root)

 

[Wiljen]

the thing that jumps out to me is why is it requesting 8kHz? 32 is as low as the N3 goes so it is trying to meet the request but cant drop low enough to do so.

 

[dougc]

Are you using a USB3 port? Maybe try a USB2 port, or a USB2 hub if you have access to one.
Also try lsusb -vv -d 2d87:001a (as root)

I have tried with multiple USB ports 2.0 and 3.0, the ones on the front of the PC and the ones direcrtly connected to MB on the back with no luck.

The output of lsusb -vv -d 2d87:001a is https://pastebin.com/uU3M6TX5 (as a normal user) and https://pastebin.com/i0nb4PmS (as root) - for some reason a I get a resource temporarily unavailable when running as root.

 

[dougc]

the thing that jumps out to me is why is it requesting 8kHz? 32 is as low as the N3 goes so it is trying to meet the request but cant drop low enough to do so.

I don't know... but running aplay with -D plughw:1 as the warning suggests gives:

 aplay /dev/zero -D plughw:1 -f S32_LE -c 2
Playing raw data '/dev/zero' : Signed 32 bit Little Endian, Rate 8000 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:1382: Unable to install hw params:
ACCESS:  RW_INTERLEAVED
FORMAT:  S32_LE
SUBFORMAT:  STD
SAMPLE_BITS: 32
FRAME_BITS: 64
CHANNELS: 2
RATE: 8000
PERIOD_TIME: 125000
PERIOD_SIZE: 1000
PERIOD_BYTES: 8000
PERIODS: 4
BUFFER_TIME: 500000
BUFFER_SIZE: NONE
BUFFER_BYTES: 32000
TICK_TIME: 0

And with wav

➤ aplay ~/Downloads/organfinale.wav  -D plughw:1,0
Playing WAVE '/home/doug/Downloads/organfinale.wav' : Float 32 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:1382: Unable to install hw params:
ACCESS:  RW_INTERLEAVED
FORMAT:  FLOAT_LE
SUBFORMAT:  STD
SAMPLE_BITS: 32
FRAME_BITS: 64
CHANNELS: 2
RATE: 44100
PERIOD_TIME: (125011 125012)
PERIOD_SIZE: 5513
PERIOD_BYTES: 44104
PERIODS: (3 4)
BUFFER_TIME: 500000
BUFFER_SIZE: 22050
BUFFER_BYTES: 176400
TICK_TIME: 0