Cayin N30LE DAP: A Transformative Milestone (30th Anniv. Limited Edition)

[bigbeans]

So now the AP IEM is sold out? Because I already booked one too but have to wait for paypal verification so I can't purchase it yet

I purchased the 2nd to last one. There should still be one left

 

[RonaldS86]

I purchased the 2nd to last one. There should still be one left

I hope the last one is mine

 

[bigbeans]

I hope the last one is mine

If Andrew said he’ll hold it for you, then you’re in good hands.

 

[RonaldS86]

If Andrew said he’ll hold it for you, then you’re in good hands.

Yeah I trust him but I can't help but feeling anxious

 

[NJoyzAudio]

What about now

https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/cayin

Also...Andrew has told me he only has one AP iem left. It seems he sold out of the AP combo just this morning.

Yeah saw that and posted a few back that I was no longer the last buyer which is a good thing!
Congrats on the Amber Pearl purchase. Let us know your impressions.

 

[NJoyzAudio]

Heads Up on the 1.3 version of the FW for the N30LE
If it doesn't install OTA try the following:

I am a Neutron user, and on the N30LE with FW 1.2 it would run fine, EXCEPT when the screen would go into power saving mode (go dark) the player would stop.
No changes in either the OS or the Neutron settings would stop this unwanted behavior.
Noticed in the FW 1.3 notes the listing of 3rd party SW compatibility. Confirmed Neutron should also be part of this fix,
Went to do an OTA upgrade, it would stop loading at either 18%, 32% or 64%, (each time had to clear the cache to even have it try again)
Went to Cayin FW download site and it was slow and would not go past 300KB download speed (probably in a maintenance or update cycle)
Went to the Google Cloud link on their support page, got the SW in 2-3 min.
Loaded it to the root directory of both the SD card I was using and the devices storage.
I could get to either 38% or 72% and it would error regardless of SD or local storage. Even tried several brands of SD card, all the same results.

Waited several hours and was able to download direct form Cayin support the 1.3 FW in again 2-3 mins.
Loaded it to the root directory of the onboard storage, and the update completed within 3-4 mins.
Seems FW 1.3 can be cranky to load.

FYI
The update did solve the issue with Neutron Player.
As to the N30LE
I did sneak a short listening session in before I started my burn in process and with FW 1.2, and like everyone else has said you put up with some of the quirks because the sound is SO good even without full burn in.
Continuing with the burn in process (why I was so determined to fix Neutron - having it stop for long periods has just extended my burn in time) and haven't sneaked any quick listens with FW 1.3 and as of today over 72 hours of burn in, though I'm tempted to.
My N8ii came into its own after about 90 hours of burn in on Class A / Tubes, and I put another 40-50 hours for Class AB/SS, so thinking I will need to do the same here for the N30LE
I don't seem to have the warble or the static some others have mentioned but keeping my fingers crossed.
And for anyone with a N8ii, the N30LE is both larger in size and heavier if you are wondering.

Just passing along my findings since the community of owners for the N30LE is so small by design.

 

[trbo996]

I hope the last one is mine

As of 1pm eastern today, I think there was only one set of the AP IEMs left or unclaimed as it was the set pulled out of my box. It was a challenge to walk away and not even listen to them, but lord knows my wallet couldn’t handle that damage. Hope one of you gets to enjoy!

 

[RonaldS86]

As of 1pm eastern today, I think there was only one set of the AP IEMs left or unclaimed as it was the set pulled out of my box. It was a challenge to walk away and not even listen to them, but lord knows my wallet couldn’t handle that damage. Hope one of you gets to enjoy!

Yeah I think that way too at first, but after all the buzz on the cooler thread I just can't keep my cool so I start the hunt on the tiger

 

[Andykong]

Many Thanks Andy...

There doesn't seem to be any problems with my album art as all album art shows perfectly on my LPGT Ti... I also purchased UAPP and album art displays perfectly for all albums and every song without issue.

The strange thing is that some album art doesn't show in Cayin Music but the same album art shows in Hiby Music and vice versa, some album art doesn't show in Hiby Music but the same album art shows in Cayin Music which is realy baffling...

Also, some albums don't show album art for certain songs but show the album art for all the other songs in the album even though it is all the same art.

I didn't mean your album art was causing the problem, sorry for the miscommuncation.

We need to replicate the problem before we can find out if we have missed some JPEG support in N30LE. It happened before when one of our DAPs failed to support progressive JPEG, we optimized our firmware to add that support later on, but it would be very difficult to find out the problem when we don't have the original album art that triggered the problem on hand.

 

[Andykong]

I did too and I had to send my unit back to MusicTeck. I had 80 hours of burn in completed and it didn't go away. In any mode. However, I have had my replacement unit for the last 3 weeks and not a single problem with that white noise...It was super annoying on the soft tracks...and the first 2-3 seconds of a song. Mine was the N30LE not the AP version. I do want to stress that I am completely satisfied now, but I do believe there is an issue. Something to add was mine was in the RIGHT CHANNEL only. I don't know if you all are hearing it in both, but mine was a problem in right channel.

Can you recall the serial number of your previous N30LE unit? We can't replicate the problem in our lab., it would be helpful if we could identify your unit and have it thoroughly checked before our repairman changing anything.

 

[RonaldS86]

Anybody here using N30 as a source for your amp? I need to ask because I have a plan to purchase Feliks Envy performance but don't want to spend too much so I need amp only for my upcoming Caldera. Is it okay to use N30 in SS mode as a source using the LO? What will happen if I use N30 in tube mode for a source for the envy? My friend said it will cause a distortion in sound because of the double tube on N30 and the Envy. Sorry if it's already answered here. TIA

 

[Andykong]

I have N30 Amber pearl, but I also need an open back full size headphone to go with the N30.

-> What TOL headphone have you succesfully tested with great synergy with the N30

very sincerely

Do you have a preference to start with? Don't pick a headphone because it is TOTL, make sure it works well with your personal preference, from sound signature to music genres.

For open-back full-size, I have tried Meze Elite, HifiMan HE1000SE, AKG K812, and Focal Utopia, all four work pretty well with N30LE, so I guess there is a decent choice of portable-friendly full-size headphones out there for your N30LE. By the way, I have only tried the original Utopia, not sure if the newer version is significantly different.

 

[Andykong]

Heads Up on the 1.3 version of the FW for the N30LE
If it doesn't install OTA try the following:

I am a Neutron user, and on the N30LE with FW 1.2 it would run fine, EXCEPT when the screen would go into power saving mode (go dark) the player would stop.
No changes in either the OS or the Neutron settings would stop this unwanted behavior.
Noticed in the FW 1.3 notes the listing of 3rd party SW compatibility. Confirmed Neutron should also be part of this fix,
Went to do an OTA upgrade, it would stop loading at either 18%, 32% or 64%, (each time had to clear the cache to even have it try again)
Went to Cayin FW download site and it was slow and would not go past 300KB download speed (probably in a maintenance or update cycle)
Went to the Google Cloud link on their support page, got the SW in 2-3 min.
Loaded it to the root directory of both the SD card I was using and the devices storage.
I could get to either 38% or 72% and it would error regardless of SD or local storage. Even tried several brands of SD card, all the same results.

Waited several hours and was able to download direct form Cayin support the 1.3 FW in again 2-3 mins.
Loaded it to the root directory of the onboard storage, and the update completed within 3-4 mins.
Seems FW 1.3 can be cranky to load.

FYI
The update did solve the issue with Neutron Player.
As to the N30LE
I did sneak a short listening session in before I started my burn in process and with FW 1.2, and like everyone else has said you put up with some of the quirks because the sound is SO good even without full burn in.
Continuing with the burn in process (why I was so determined to fix Neutron - having it stop for long periods has just extended my burn in time) and haven't sneaked any quick listens with FW 1.3 and as of today over 72 hours of burn in, though I'm tempted to.
My N8ii came into its own after about 90 hours of burn in on Class A / Tubes, and I put another 40-50 hours for Class AB/SS, so thinking I will need to do the same here for the N30LE
I don't seem to have the warble or the static some others have mentioned but keeping my fingers crossed.
And for anyone with a N8ii, the N30LE is both larger in size and heavier if you are wondering.

Just passing along my findings since the community of owners for the N30LE is so small by design.

The memory management of Android systems has always been their weak point as they are not a truly multi-tasking system.

If you run get stuck in the middle of an OTA update, you need to clear the cache of the system update process otherwise it will repeat the download error:

1. Disconnect your WiFi.
2. At the top right corner of the firmware update page, click the three dots, please select clean cache.
3. Reboot your N30LE and connect to WiFi again, you should be able to download the firmware again.

I have pinned this instruction to the FAQ of N30LE in post#2 of this thread.

 

[Andykong]

Anybody here using N30 as a source for your amp? I need to ask because I have a plan to purchase Feliks Envy performance but don't want to spend too much so I need amp only for my upcoming Caldera. Is it okay to use N30 in SS mode as a source using the LO? What will happen if I use N30 in tube mode for a source for the envy? My friend said it will cause a distortion in sound because of the double tube on N30 and the Envy. Sorry if it's already answered here. TIA

If you go down this route, make sure you try the tube timber line out at some point and judge it with our own ears.

We have tested the N30LE tube timber line out to our vacuum tube headphone amplifier, which works fine in our cases. We use 3.5mm to Dual RCA connection and set the N30LE Line Out to "high", which is roughly 2Vrms.

 

[FooFighter]

I think it's clear to most owners but you can still use the direct LO mode and won't have any amp circuit involved.
With additional amp connected I could imagine that the difference between direct LO and preamp mode is a matter of taste and not SQ anyway