Cayin N3 Hi-Res DAP with AKM4490 DAC, apt-X Bluetooth, and Line, USB & Coax Out for $150
Mar 13, 2018 at 5:29 PM Post #5,476 of 6,262
I finally got the N3 a few weeks ago and, like almost everyone here, I just love it. And I second everyone praising @gLer and all the other guys working on the custom FW: I've been using it flawlessly from day 1 :) Thanks for providing this to the masses, that's a hell of a job!

I also wanted to ask a quick question to Cayin support or anyone who would have a clue: As there are several different combinations of gain setting/volume value that end up the same satisfying listening level to me, I was wondering if there is a combination that is theoretically better than the other in terms of sound quality and/or battery life? So far the tests I've done didn't show any significant difference in terms of SQ but my tests weren't very rigorous... I imagine that the difference, if there's one, is probably quite limited but I still need to chose something...
 
Mar 13, 2018 at 10:39 PM Post #5,477 of 6,262
I'm afraid I do still have a problem. I just picked the package up from the post office and I have what looks like a brand new N3 as a replacement, which is nice, but again, it has been sent to me with the battery at 0%. I'm not sure whether you sent your Thai distributor a whole batch of N3s with flat batteries or whether they are just remarkably incompetent but I am not at all happy with the situation. If this is another unit with a battery that has been sitting around at 0% for weeks or months, its performance will already have deteriorated. I've ordered a fair amount of electronic devices with rechargeable batteries over the last few years and these two Cayin N3s are the only devices that have arrived with a completely flat battery. It's common knowledge that they shouldn't be stored empty so either this one has a problem too, and has drained whilst the unit was turned off, or you are not following standard industry practices.

EDIT: Here is a picture of the new unit when I turned it on after opening the package:



I'm sorry if I sound quite angry but this is classic behaviour for vendors in Thailand and now if I ask them to send me another replacement, I won't be able to trust them. If they have another unit with a battery at 0%, they will just charge it to 40% and send it to me, and I will be none the wiser (In fact, they might already have done that for all I know....it had 4 days to discharge to 0% before I opened it and turned it on today).

Hi,it is ok, please do a full charge with N3ii off by DC 5V 2A .Actually, a full battery discharge will not damage the device or degrade N3 performance. Please don't worry about that.
 
Cayin Stay updated on Cayin at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
http://en.cayin.cn/
Mar 13, 2018 at 10:47 PM Post #5,478 of 6,262
I finally got the N3 a few weeks ago and, like almost everyone here, I just love it. And I second everyone praising @gLer and all the other guys working on the custom FW: I've been using it flawlessly from day 1 :) Thanks for providing this to the masses, that's a hell of a job!

I also wanted to ask a quick question to Cayin support or anyone who would have a clue: As there are several different combinations of gain setting/volume value that end up the same satisfying listening level to me, I was wondering if there is a combination that is theoretically better than the other in terms of sound quality and/or battery life? So far the tests I've done didn't show any significant difference in terms of SQ but my tests weren't very rigorous... I imagine that the difference, if there's one, is probably quite limited but I still need to chose something...

It is a matter of personal preference. I don't like these settings and I will let them be the default settings. I think this is the best combination for me.:laughing:
 
Cayin Stay updated on Cayin at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
http://en.cayin.cn/
Mar 15, 2018 at 7:46 PM Post #5,479 of 6,262
I finally got the N3 a few weeks ago and, like almost everyone here, I just love it. And I second everyone praising @gLer and all the other guys working on the custom FW: I've been using it flawlessly from day 1 :) Thanks for providing this to the masses, that's a hell of a job!

I also wanted to ask a quick question to Cayin support or anyone who would have a clue: As there are several different combinations of gain setting/volume value that end up the same satisfying listening level to me, I was wondering if there is a combination that is theoretically better than the other in terms of sound quality and/or battery life? So far the tests I've done didn't show any significant difference in terms of SQ but my tests weren't very rigorous... I imagine that the difference, if there's one, is probably quite limited but I still need to chose something...

It really is a stellar little player. There is no theoretically "best" setting for it, it's just personal preferences and a little to do with what headphone you're using. I love using medium gain and the sharp filter setting with my Periodic Audio Be, since they have pretty darn plentiful bass already, the sharp setting doesn't make it sound thin as some people have said. It just sounds super accurate and detailed. Love it.
 
Mar 17, 2018 at 2:47 AM Post #5,480 of 6,262
so I've had my N3 for about a year now and still absolutely love it, but I'm wanting to know if anyone has experienced quality issues with the buttons? maybe it's just been worn from so much use but the top scroll button on the side no longer clicks. Luckily it still functions fine, but the button is permanently pressed in about half way. I understand that for the price I shouldn't expect perfect build quality, but this is the second one i've had where I had issue with the physical buttons. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced any issues with theirs over time as well. If it weren't for the build, I'd say the N3 is the perfect DAP
 
Mar 17, 2018 at 7:09 AM Post #5,481 of 6,262
so I've had my N3 for about a year now and still absolutely love it, but I'm wanting to know if anyone has experienced quality issues with the buttons? maybe it's just been worn from so much use but the top scroll button on the side no longer clicks. Luckily it still functions fine, but the button is permanently pressed in about half way. I understand that for the price I shouldn't expect perfect build quality, but this is the second one i've had where I had issue with the physical buttons. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced any issues with theirs over time as well. If it weren't for the build, I'd say the N3 is the perfect DAP
my N3: up/down front touch something blocked ............ but is not phisical , i can deblocked to come back to Favorites menu, but is really a little issue, next week i can test my DAP with a must headphone: Audeze Sine. i can to see a diffference with my Sony 1-mdra :)
 
Last edited:
Mar 17, 2018 at 9:12 AM Post #5,482 of 6,262
No issues here
 
Mar 18, 2018 at 12:58 AM Post #5,483 of 6,262
Hello! Can anyone share their objective opinion on V20 compared to N3 for the 3.5mm headphone out sound quality? Deciding whether to make the switch. Price/convenience/UI etc not an issue, just focused on the sound comparison.

Thank you :)
 
Mar 18, 2018 at 10:28 PM Post #5,484 of 6,262
so I've had my N3 for about a year now and still absolutely love it, but I'm wanting to know if anyone has experienced quality issues with the buttons? maybe it's just been worn from so much use but the top scroll button on the side no longer clicks. Luckily it still functions fine, but the button is permanently pressed in about half way. I understand that for the price I shouldn't expect perfect build quality, but this is the second one i've had where I had issue with the physical buttons. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced any issues with theirs over time as well. If it weren't for the build, I'd say the N3 is the perfect DAP

Hi,may I know which country are you located? When did you buy this unit?
 
Cayin Stay updated on Cayin at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
http://en.cayin.cn/
Mar 19, 2018 at 4:51 AM Post #5,486 of 6,262
I noticed this strange bug: with bluetooth on and a song playing, raising the volume by continuously pressing the + button will turn off the player. Some steps to reproduce are: start with a moderate volume for wired headphones (like 45) and bluetooth on. Play some song. Turn off the player. Start the player, the music is paused. Play the music then start increasing the volume by keeping + pressed. After several seconds, my player turns off. It happens even without bluetooth headphone connected. I have FW 3.0, and never tested an older version.
I also have some questions for Cayin:
- It seems that CTIA headphones cannot control the volume on this player. Is this because it misses some hardware component able to detect the different resistances?
- While gapless playing is perfect using lossless FLAC files, for MP3 or OGG files there is a small interruption between tracks. The same when using bluetooth headphones (regardless of the file format). Is it possible to implement gapless for lossy files and/or bluetooth playing?
- L.E.: it seems also that replaygain on will break the gapless function.
 
Last edited:
Mar 19, 2018 at 8:01 AM Post #5,487 of 6,262
Gents, about this whole "popping" issue that seems to exist, has anyone done the following comparison and listened carefully for the popping?
There are FLACs that is a single file of the entire CD and there are ones where each song on the CD is an individual FLAC

Have you guys tried to listed to the both types of files and see if the popping happens in both cases? (I´m thinking it might be happening when switching from one file to the next....?)
Also I read theres a gapless playback feature, does activating / deactivating this feature do anything for the popping...?

Cheers
 
Mar 19, 2018 at 8:38 AM Post #5,488 of 6,262
Gents, about this whole "popping" issue that seems to exist, has anyone done the following comparison and listened carefully for the popping?
There are FLACs that is a single file of the entire CD and there are ones where each song on the CD is an individual FLAC

Have you guys tried to listed to the both types of files and see if the popping happens in both cases? (I´m thinking it might be happening when switching from one file to the next....?)
Also I read theres a gapless playback feature, does activating / deactivating this feature do anything for the popping...?

Cheers
I've experienced small interruptions with FLAC files when using replaygain. With replaygain disabled there is no gap. And you need gapless on, of course.
 
Last edited:
Mar 19, 2018 at 1:30 PM Post #5,489 of 6,262
Hi,it is ok, please do a full charge with N3ii off by DC 5V 2A .Actually, a full battery discharge will not damage the device or degrade N3 performance. Please don't worry about that.
I charged it up, discharged it, charged it up again then left it for 5 1/2 days. I turned it on a few times over those 5 days to see what was happening with the battery so that would probably have drained it a little. Anyhow, it was at 96% immediately after charging it fully then turning it back on again (perhaps because the battery indicator is still a little inaccurate as it hasn't been through a few charge cycles yet). It was then at 93% after a day I think, and after 5 1/2 days, it is still at 92%. :)

So, I must admit I was pessimistic when I received this unit and found the battery at 0% again when I first turned it on but the battery seems fine and is holding a charge very well. There was definitely a fault with the original N3 that I bought but this one is working great.

I must thank the distributor for Cayin products here in Thailand (https://www.fiio.in.th/ & https://www.holysai.com/ are two of their websites here) and also thank Cayin in China, for helping me to solve this issue. I don't know whether Cayin encouraged their Thai distributor to resolve this situation quickly or whether the Thai distributor did it of their own accord but in the end it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that I now feel I can trust Cayin 100% and would have no hesitation in recommending their products to anyone else here in Thailand. In fact I have already done so to one of my friends and he will be ordering an N3 shortly.

I had a problem with the first unit from the moment I received it but I chose not to send it back for 10 months. Taking that fact into account, I think it is fantastic that I received a new unit for the one that I sent back, and it was dispatched to me about 2 days after my returned unit was received by the local distributor. I really doubt I would receive this kind of service from a large company like Sony (or many other smaller audio companies) and even though I sometimes feel that @Andykong is personally not very fond of me ( :) ), I will definitely buy more Cayin products in the future.

Apologies for the long post and for anybody reading who thinks I am heaping too much praise on Cayin, please bear in mind that I also moaned a lot about my problems beforehand so I feel it is only right to redress the balance.
 
Last edited:
Mar 19, 2018 at 1:52 PM Post #5,490 of 6,262
I charged it up, discharged it, charged it up again then left it for 5 1/2 days. I turned it on a few times over those 5 days to see what was happening with the battery so that would probably have drained it a little. Anyhow, it was at 96% immediately after charging it fully then turning it back on again (perhaps because the battery indicator is still a little inaccurate as it hasn't been through a few charge cycles yet). It was then at 93% after a day I think, and after 5 1/2 days, it is still at 92%. :)

So, I must admit I was pessimistic when I received this unit and found the battery at 0% again when I first turned it on but the battery seems fine and is holding a charge very well. There was definitely a fault with the original N3 that I bought but this one is working great.

I must thank the distributor for Cayin products here in Thailand (https://www.fiio.in.th/ & https://www.holysai.com/ are two of their websites here) and also thank Cayin in China, for helping me to solve this issue. I don't know whether Cayin encouraged their Thai distributor to resolve this situation quickly or whether the Thai distributor did it of their own accord but in the end it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that I now feel I can trust Cayin 100% and would have no hesitation in recommending their products to anyone else here in Thailand. In fact I have already done so to one of my friends and he will be ordering an N3 shortly.

I had a problem with the first unit from the moment I received it but I chose not to send it back for 10 months. Taking that fact into account, I think it is fantastic that I received a new unit for the one that I sent back, and it was dispatched to me about 2 days after my returned unit was received by the local distributor. I really doubt I would receive this kind of service from a large company like Sony (or many other smaller audio companies) and even though I sometimes feel that @Andykong is personally not very fond of me ( :) ), I will definitely buy more Cayin products in the future.

Apologies for the long post and for anybody reading who thinks I am heaping too much praise on Cayin, please bear in mind that I also moaned a lot about my problems beforehand so I feel it is only right to redress the balance.

Glad you are satisfied with the N3 and everything sorted out eventually. If you are concern with the battery of yoru DAP, just use it as regularly as you could and maintain the famous 20-80 practice for 1-2 months, this will improve the efficiency of the Lithium battery in N3, and this is in fact applicable to all Lithium powered devices.

I am being straight and frank, so maybe you get confused that I don't like you. The fact is I won't take things personal, you are after-all a demanding and persistent audiophile, and that's all it matters. I have a lot of audiophile friends whom I can't agree with on some of his/her audiophile practice or preference, but that doesn't mean I disagree with him at personal level. :beerchug:
 
Cayin Stay updated on Cayin at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
http://en.cayin.cn/

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top