@morndewey CPU is too weak for this
Cayin N3Pro DAP: Dual AK4493 and MQA with Vacuum Tube
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morndewey
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Yeah I fear this is true, but I’ve also been informed otherwise.
Mix of FLAC & MP3. I tried another card formatted to exFAT. I tried a track which consistently caused the volume stutter issue and the player stuttered then rebooted, but now all files seem to be playing fine without any issues. It’s strange, but I’m not going to jinx it. Back to enjoying the music.
magicalmouse
500+ Head-Fier
I have read the instruction booklet but can find no way to play all an artists albums randomly i.e. one track from the first album then the next track from another album and so on.
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
magicalmouse
500+ Head-Fier
I would really like an instruction book/leaflet on the music player which i believe is a hiby derivative, i cannot find a way to
1. play all an artists tracks randomly
2. i have selected play through all albums but it seems to repeat the same album over and over rather than move onto the next
also i find the pulling up from the bottom for settings only works sometimes although this might be my technique, the pull down from the top works flawlessly
Other than that it is a wonderful player in tube mode (i found that (imo) triode works best for some headphones, linear for others - it is great to have the choice), i find the single ended sounded flat and boring if not using tube mode but wonderful with it. Tremendous value dap.
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1. play all an artists tracks randomly
2. i have selected play through all albums but it seems to repeat the same album over and over rather than move onto the next
also i find the pulling up from the bottom for settings only works sometimes although this might be my technique, the pull down from the top works flawlessly
Other than that it is a wonderful player in tube mode (i found that (imo) triode works best for some headphones, linear for others - it is great to have the choice), i find the single ended sounded flat and boring if not using tube mode but wonderful with it. Tremendous value dap.
d
kmmbd
500+ Head-Fier
Received the Cayin N3 Pro review unit as part of the review tour. First impressions:
Build: Great, as is typical of Cayin. Buttons have a very nice feel to them and the volume wheel has a really nice traction.
Accessories: Pre-applied screen-protectors, a type-C cable and a silicone bumper. I also received the upgrade leather case alongside the unit, will try that later.
Display/Menu: Display is passable, not as good as iBasso DX160 or Cowon Plenue R2 (AMOLED goodness). Menu is intuitive. Smooth UI for the most part. Kinetic scrolling worked well. Can't say anything about battery life yet. Had 5% battery drain for ~30 mins of music. So I guess 10 hours of playback is on the card.
Sound: This section is gonna be very long in the full review as this DAP is a chameleon. Two tube modes, single-ended/balanced has slightly different signatures too to my ears. And then there are the reconstruction filters (6 of them) which all alter the tone a bit.
I mostly used the tube mode because that is definitely the unique selling point. The tubes take 4 seconds to warm-up every time they're idle for more than a few minutes, which is kinda fun in a sense. Another quirk is that the tubes will "ring" if you place the DAP a bit forcefully on solid surfaces. No, they won't break or anything, just that it gives a nice "ting" sound that threw me off a bit.
Tube has two modes: ultralinear and triode. Ultralinear mode is quite aggressive sounding with wide stage, not my cup of team but may be useful for laid-back IEMs. Triode mode has the nice bass reverb of tubes and a bit of even order harmonic distortion in the upper-mids/lower treble I reckon. I did all listening with Final FI-BA-SS which is very detailed and transparent to source so these differences were noticeable, but your mileage may vary with other setups.
Finally, in terms of detail retrieval, it falls short of my current benchmark: Questyle CMA-400i. Then again, comparing a full desk-setup with a DAP is all sorts of unfair. Cowon Plenue R2 has slightly better layering and separation too but it's less dynamic than the N3 Pro.
All in all, a very good first impression for me. The numerous sound modes alone make this a very versatile player. There's also MQA/Tidal support which I will test later during the course of the full review.
Build: Great, as is typical of Cayin. Buttons have a very nice feel to them and the volume wheel has a really nice traction.
Accessories: Pre-applied screen-protectors, a type-C cable and a silicone bumper. I also received the upgrade leather case alongside the unit, will try that later.
Display/Menu: Display is passable, not as good as iBasso DX160 or Cowon Plenue R2 (AMOLED goodness). Menu is intuitive. Smooth UI for the most part. Kinetic scrolling worked well. Can't say anything about battery life yet. Had 5% battery drain for ~30 mins of music. So I guess 10 hours of playback is on the card.
Sound: This section is gonna be very long in the full review as this DAP is a chameleon. Two tube modes, single-ended/balanced has slightly different signatures too to my ears. And then there are the reconstruction filters (6 of them) which all alter the tone a bit.
I mostly used the tube mode because that is definitely the unique selling point. The tubes take 4 seconds to warm-up every time they're idle for more than a few minutes, which is kinda fun in a sense. Another quirk is that the tubes will "ring" if you place the DAP a bit forcefully on solid surfaces. No, they won't break or anything, just that it gives a nice "ting" sound that threw me off a bit.
Tube has two modes: ultralinear and triode. Ultralinear mode is quite aggressive sounding with wide stage, not my cup of team but may be useful for laid-back IEMs. Triode mode has the nice bass reverb of tubes and a bit of even order harmonic distortion in the upper-mids/lower treble I reckon. I did all listening with Final FI-BA-SS which is very detailed and transparent to source so these differences were noticeable, but your mileage may vary with other setups.
Finally, in terms of detail retrieval, it falls short of my current benchmark: Questyle CMA-400i. Then again, comparing a full desk-setup with a DAP is all sorts of unfair. Cowon Plenue R2 has slightly better layering and separation too but it's less dynamic than the N3 Pro.
All in all, a very good first impression for me. The numerous sound modes alone make this a very versatile player. There's also MQA/Tidal support which I will test later during the course of the full review.
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named name
100+ Head-Fier
I’ve had the N3Pro since launch in September and don’t like the included cases, started recently looked for possible alternatives and found that the Dignis Mojo-Poly case fits rather well.
When in the case, I use HibyMusic on my phone to navigate.
Will add little bit cons to n3pro. Bought Hiby WH3 bt earphones. Cannot pair in UAT mode. Only aptx.
Cayin drop link to earphones when I walk through the city, even if I downgrade codec to SBC. Sound disappear from milliseconds to 5-10seconds. Huawei P30pro however works fine with very few disconnects.
Looks like buitl-in BT transmitter very weak. But sound quality compared to Huawei much more better as well as loudness.
So i'm very disappointed this issue.
Hiby plays very good. Best bt iem I tried.
Cayin drop link to earphones when I walk through the city, even if I downgrade codec to SBC. Sound disappear from milliseconds to 5-10seconds. Huawei P30pro however works fine with very few disconnects.
Looks like buitl-in BT transmitter very weak. But sound quality compared to Huawei much more better as well as loudness.
So i'm very disappointed this issue.
Hiby plays very good. Best bt iem I tried.
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I've had my N3Pro on shuffle (~4000 files, mix of MP3 & FLAC) for 5-6 hours now, UL mode on medium gain, volume set to 50 and battery is at 50%, while I burn in my IMR Opus Mia & the DAP. I've been checking on it every so often and it's only gotten slightly warm. Just switched to high gain & turned volume up to 70. Will report back if there are any issues.
Here's a quick unboxing video of the Cayin N3 Pro that I received from @Andykong from the Cayin Tour!
Hello everyone, just got my N3 pro and got some questions, if someone has been able to figure out something:
- Parametric EQ -> Only way I found up to now is to use LDAC between my phone and the DAP, listening to UAPP. Is there anything like a dongle with custom parametric equalizer or other things (unlike the lotoo paw s1 that can only switch between predefined profiles)
- Graphical EQ built in -> I find that when I play higher resolution files (like 24/96 or 24/192 or even MQA) the graphical EQ is disabled. Is it working as intended for whatever reason?
thanks in advance
- Parametric EQ -> Only way I found up to now is to use LDAC between my phone and the DAP, listening to UAPP. Is there anything like a dongle with custom parametric equalizer or other things (unlike the lotoo paw s1 that can only switch between predefined profiles)
- Graphical EQ built in -> I find that when I play higher resolution files (like 24/96 or 24/192 or even MQA) the graphical EQ is disabled. Is it working as intended for whatever reason?
thanks in advance
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Working as intended. Explained earlier in the thread by @Andykong
Short version: processor is underpowered, so you "have to choose" between hi res or EQ.
Thanks, sorry I tried to search the thread for the info but just didn't get it
You might wanna have a look at the Qudelix 5k. Has an app with PEQ
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Been digging this quite a bit with the IT00. Keeping it on triode mode just provides pretty much exactly the "EQ" I need. I swear, this DAP really kicked off a low key tube obsession in my listening habits, to the point where solid state is taking a backseat. I finally found a desktop rig that sounds better (as it should) than the N3Pro with the 99 Noir or IT00, but it took some effort. What's impressive is that going from the desktop rig to N3Pro, I'm still getting a very satisfying listening experience.
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