I don't have an M8 so I don't know . The RS8 isn't dark sounding...but it has a natural "analog" tuning...you can listen to it for hours without strain your ears...it sounds just fantastic imo. I've also the new AK SE300 (R2R) which sounds supberb too...and this 2 DAP's are argains compared to the upcoming N30LE . I wonder how this "monster DAP" will sound...sure I don't get one....too expensive .
If you compare this with other similar DAPs, then this is also highly overpriced.
It’s a fat overpriced DAP with a pair of old left over AKM DACs is what it is, if not for all the marketing about the 30th Anniversary.
It’s not like we don’t have enough Hi-Fi DAP manufacturers. You guys should stop encouraging companies like Cayin and A & K and let competition do its work. Look at how well the Hiby R6 Pro II is implemented and look at what it costs !
Hopefully the II is a marked improvement over the R6 Pro then ... which, if I recall correctly, exhibited 20dB (100x) worse objective performance than a $9 Apple USB-C->3.5mm dongle. Hell, I think even the Qudelix 5K, operating over Bluetooth, performed better than the R6. Otherwise, I don't think the Hiby is the device I'd choose to make the point.
Hopefully the II is a marked improvement over the R6 Pro then ... which, if I recall correctly, exhibited 20dB (100x) worse objective performance than a $9 Apple USB-C->3.5mm dongle. Hell, I think even the Qudelix 5K, operating over Bluetooth, performed better than the R6. Otherwise, I don't think the Hiby is the device I'd choose to make the point.
I’ve never owned the original R6 Pro. But just looking it up on paper, the R6 Pro had dual ES9028Q2M (mobile) DACs. The Pro II comes with dual flagship AK4499EX (new generation) DACs among a lot of other new things. I have the R6 Pro II btw and it’s synergy with any IEMs is just amazing and for me personally it’s better than my Dx320 and Zx707 !
I’ve never owned the original R6 Pro. But just looking it up on paper, the R6 Pro had dual ES9028Q2M (mobile) DACs. The Pro II comes with dual flagship AK4499EX (new generation) DACs among a lot of other new things. I have the R6 Pro II btw and it’s synergy with any IEMs is just amazing and for me personally it’s better than my Dx320 and Zx707 !
Unfortunately, you can't compare Hiby with others here, not even with Cayin.
This is a completely different clientele, who may also have demands that are geared towards this.
So don't compare the typical German apples with oranges.
I had the Hiby R6 with me, and it was not my taste.
As you can see, this is common practice.
Others love manufacturer X in headphones, amplifiers and so on.
That's perfectly normal.
Where we agree is that the price of an Anniversery Edition will remain out of reach for most.
Even if something innovative is included.
You don't have to buy if you don't want to.
Look forward to the latest Cayin products or not.
It's up to you what you do with your money.
I am happy for those who can buy and afford one.
Let's hope that there will still be something affordable for us from the birthday.
If not, Cayin has driven the whole thing up the wall himself.
It would also be nice if things would calm down a bit so that Andy could introduce more products from the birthday.
Whether the chip is worth $3 or not doesn't matter at all, what is important is what has been made of it and what has lived up to the claim.
And by the way, yes, the Akm fire has stirred things up, as has the Corona thing.
Some have stayed quiet others have developed or used the time in other ways to keep the company going.
If you compare this with other similar DAPs, then this is also highly overpriced.
It’s a fat overpriced DAP with a pair of old left over AKM DACs is what it is, if not for all the marketing about the 30th Anniversary.
It’s not like we don’t have enough Hi-Fi DAP manufacturers. You guys should stop encouraging companies like Cayin and A & K and let competition do its work. Look at how well the Hiby R6 Pro II is implemented and look at what it costs !
I have the Hiby R6 and TBH the N30Le is much, much better lol. The amps on them are far apart. The details are also a level apart. I am not biased towards Cayin but I think it’s a fact. If we compare prices look at the price of the SP3000 and the Sony gold brick. When they first came out was not that far from the current N30Le price. I don’t have any problems on the pricing and think it is fair. As someone says the costs of R&D have to be considered. Prototyping costs $$s. We have to be fair, somehow it has to be absorb into the final picture. Plus it’s limited so the chances of making a lot of money is not that high.
I have the Hiby R6 and TBH the N30Le is much, much better lol. The amps on them are far apart. The details are also a level apart. I am not biased towards Cayin but I think it’s a fact. If we compare prices look at the price of the SP3000 and the Sony gold brick. When they first came out was not that far from the current N30Le price. I don’t have any problems on the pricing and think it is fair. As someone says the costs of R&D have to be considered. Prototyping costs $$s. We have to be fair, somehow it has to be absorb into the final picture. Plus it’s limited so the chances of making a lot of money is not that high.
Fair enough. I’m not going into more Hiby vs Cayin here and dereailing the thread but just to clarify I’m talking about the new R6 Pro II with 2x 4499EX DACs (same as what the N30LE has, albeit the older ones before the factory went down).
I’m also not a fan of Hiby. In fact the R6P2 is my first ever product from Hiby (not just first DAP) and I’m just appreciating how good it is and how reasonably priced it is for it‘s performance.
Fair enough. I’m not going into more Hiby vs Cayin here and dereailing the thread but just to clarify I’m talking about the new R6 Pro II with 2x 4499EX DACs (same as what the N30LE has, albeit the older ones before the factory went down).
I’m also not a fan of Hiby. In fact the R6P2 is my first ever product from Hiby (not just first DAP) and I’m just appreciating how good it is and how reasonably priced it is for it‘s performance.
Price to Performance is very subjective in this hobby.
If I use your analogy, then I would say Cayin RU7 and RU6 are pathbreaking products and provide way more value (Price to Performance) for mainstream market than any DAPs. You can then take this further down to Apple Dongle which costs barely 10 bucks for excellent value (Price to Performance).
I hope you enjoy the experience of hearing music with DAP you have. If you have problems with pricing, I believe you have expressed that very well and I am suggesting you to move on.
Unfortunately, you can't compare Hiby with others here, not even with Cayin.
This is a completely different clientele, who may also have demands that are geared towards this.
So don't compare the typical German apples with oranges.
I had the Hiby R6 with me, and it was not my taste.
As you can see, this is common practice.
Others love manufacturer X in headphones, amplifiers and so on.
That's perfectly normal.
Where we agree is that the price of an Anniversery Edition will remain out of reach for most.
Even if something innovative is included.
You don't have to buy if you don't want to.
Look forward to the latest Cayin products or not.
It's up to you what you do with your money.
I am happy for those who can buy and afford one.
Let's hope that there will still be something affordable for us from the birthday.
If not, Cayin has driven the whole thing up the wall himself.
It would also be nice if things would calm down a bit so that Andy could introduce more products from the birthday.
Whether the chip is worth $3 or not doesn't matter at all, what is important is what has been made of it and what has lived up to the claim.
And by the way, yes, the Akm fire has stirred things up, as has the Corona thing.
Some have stayed quiet others have developed or used the time in other ways to keep the company going.
As I said above to the previous poster, I’m not a fan of any brand. I have one of each from most of the brands here.
I compared the R6 Pro II with the N30LE because they have the same flagship DACs and both come with Class A amplifiers and so on.
Sure implementaiton matters. I own the R6P2 and I can tell you it’s implemented fantastically for its price. Yes it has low output power, it’s aimed at IEMs as it should be since it’s a portable audio player.
Price to Performance is very subjective in this hobby.
If I use your analogy, then I would say Cayin RU7 and RU6 are pathbreaking products and provide way more value (Price to Performance) for mainstream market than any DAPs. You can then take this further down to Apple Dongle which costs barely 10 bucks for excellent value (Price to Performance).
I hope you enjoy the experience of hearing music with DAP you have. If you have problems with pricing, I believe you have expressed that very well and I am suggesting you to move on.
We can debate the pricing like this specific poster who thinks his/her definition of price to performance is most appropriate. We can have another 200 pages of pricing debates and by then this product would be likely sold out. Please continue to do so if you like to.
This will not change the market dynamics (as some even think) as Cayin is pretty smart is transferring their technology from high end to mainstream market in an efficient manner. It may not be today, but in the future we will see those product releases come through. Any company that produces a product needs to recoup the costs. If Cayin feels they have priced it appropriately, it is what it is.
I would like to see user impresssions just like we sere here on other threads soon. I hope those can afford this product will enjoy and share those thoughts with us. That is all this hobby is about.
You'd need 4x 4499EX's like SP3000 has to actually equal the same relative decoding performance. 4499EX are only 2-channel's per chip + the additional clocking wafer. 64 vs 128 pins, etc.
One thing I do wish these boutique DAP producers would do, is combine their SoC purchases under a single, shared, entity ... so they can get to enough volume/leverage that we're not stuck with a four year old SoC that was a mid-range release even then.
Smarter handling of storage cards would be nice, too.
Instead of storing the index on internal memory, and being forced to re-index the card every time it is changed (which takes 10-15 minutes on a 1TB card), or be stuck with folder-browsing, just store the index on the card itself, and read it from there. Then give me the option to prompt to me update it on insert (so I don't forget), and have a manual option to do it on demand (that's there on most DAPs anyway). This would make swapping cards quick and tolerable (10-15 seconds instead of 10-15 minutes), and would make concerns about onboard storage much less significant.
You'd need 4x 4499EX's like SP3000 has to actually equal the same relative decoding performance. 4499EX are only 2-channel's per chip + the additional clocking wafer. 64 vs 128 pins, etc.
AK4499EXs are always paired with AK4191 and other components which make them equal to or better than the AK4499EQ. That is why they are generally referred to as AK4499EXEQ.
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. The RS8 isn't dark sounding...but it has a natural "analog" tuning...you can listen to it for hours without strain your ears...it sounds just fantastic imo. I've also the new AK SE300 (R2R) which sounds supberb too...and this 2 DAP's are argains compared to the upcoming N30LE 
.
