[laleeee]

I dont own the N3Ultra. Well not yet anyways but I do own the Ibasso PB5 amp. One of my favorite pairings IEM wise is in my review on the front page of headfi
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/tansio-mirai-x.27031/review/32982/ Assuming N3 Ultras will have comparable warmth and dynamics as my PB5..

Tansio Mirai-X has some crazy synergy with it. If your a fan of excellent bold bass. These are what I call Audiophile basshead IEMs. Take a read if your interested.

Do you call it audiofil basshead ? Lol. Why ? Because the ugly 3k peak ? Or the weightless bass without body ? The X sounds thin for me
The Neo5 has slower but more defined bass

 

[fish1050]

There's also the fact that vacuum tubes are microphonic so any movement/vibration will introduce some ringing sound. Regardless of how well it's damped.

True, and I would view it as being more transportable than portable despite the size. Not sure how comfortable I would be shoving this in and out of my pocket if it fits or in and out of a bag when traveling. With the vents on the side what about it getting wet if it starts to rain? God the more I think about the practicality of it the more I am apprehenive on getting one no matter how great it sounds.

I need a DAP I can take comfortably with me without worrying about it and the N3 Ultra would have me worrying constantly.

 

[gadus]

Almost all dap are not really portable and not convenient to put in your pocket...

 

[InvisibleInk]

But now I am starting to waver a little

Based on your post history, this doesn't surprise me. It would have surprised me if you'd hadn't started wavering.

 

[alwass89]

There's also the fact that vacuum tubes are microphonic so any movement/vibration will introduce some ringing sound. Regardless of how well it's damped.

Cayin states :
"With the refinement and upgrade in structural installation and circuit architecture, the N3Ultra has effectively overcome the microphonic effect of the JAN6418. When users select one of the two vacuum tube timbre in the N3Ultra, whether walking with it in hand, carrying it in a backpack, or even during jogging which might involve vigorous shaking, the microphonic effect will not impact the music experience."

I can confirm this. I used the DAP for about an hour and a half during my evening commute. Walking from my office to the train, sitting on the train and then walking from the train to my house. There was no audible microphonics or ringing to my ears at least.

The DAP is on the smaller side as far as DAPs go, but it is a bit thick, so fitting it into a pant pocket would be tough. It fit very comfortably into my jacket pocket, but once the weather gets warmer and I wont be wearing a jacket.

 

[alwass89]

I received N3 Ultra today and used it for about 90 minutes on my evening commute home. I walked from my office to the train, sat on the train and then walked from the train to my house. There was no audible microphonics or ringing, to my ears at least. I used the player on Tube timbre - Classic, Medium Gain, 42 vol, 4.4mm balanced out, and listened to 96/24 and 44.1/16 ALAC tracks with the screen off using the Sony MDR-1AM2 headphones. Battery went down from 95% to 78%.

I had the N3 Pro a few years ago, and based on what I remember, everything about the Ultra is better. Build quality seems better, the volume wheel isn't wobbly like it was on the Pro. Screen is much better, responsiveness is much better. The Snapgdragon CPU with the 2GB of RAM makes a huge difference compared to the Pro. It's not going to run as smoothly as the DAPs with the 665 and 4GB of RAM, but for a music only player it is more than sufficient. I was able to import my m3u playlists and was able to play them with no problem.

While I ordered the blue leather case, and its beautifully made, protects the player well, I actually really like the included silicone case. It doesn't add as much bulk to an already thick player, it offers good protection even to the top of the player (with the leather case the top of the player is exposed) and its best feature, you have access to the micro SD card slot, which is huge for me.

@Andykong I have some requests for future firmware updates.

• First, would be being able to sort the artist category by Album Artist, not just Artist.
• Next would be to be able to choose to scan short songs. I listen to full albums, and occasionally they will have interludes, or other short tracks under 1min. None of those scanned, so those albums are incomplete unless I play them from folder mode.

One problem I am running into is that many of the little artwork squares are not showing the artwork in the Album category, and Artist > Album category. This is not an issue with other DAPs I have that run Hiby software. I know the artwork is embedded into the file correctly, because when I click into the album I see the artwork, and when I play a song, the album art displays correctly on the player screen.

 

[EnigmaFotos]

I can chime in like the other two posters and say with my 6 hours of usage today, I have had zero issues with microphonics.

Really enjoying it. Will check back in after more use!

 

[seanwee]

Cayin states :
"With the refinement and upgrade in structural installation and circuit architecture, the N3Ultra has effectively overcome the microphonic effect of the JAN6418. When users select one of the two vacuum tube timbre in the N3Ultra, whether walking with it in hand, carrying it in a backpack, or even during jogging which might involve vigorous shaking, the microphonic effect will not impact the music experience."

I can confirm this. I used the DAP for about an hour and a half during my evening commute. Walking from my office to the train, sitting on the train and then walking from the train to my house. There was no audible microphonics or ringing to my ears at least.

The DAP is on the smaller side as far as DAPs go, but it is a bit thick, so fitting it into a pant pocket would be tough. It fit very comfortably into my jacket pocket, but once the weather gets warmer and I wont be wearing a jacket.

Microphonic effect from the iems/headphones/cables can definitely mask any ringing from the tubes so yeah it may no longer be a concern past a point.

 

[Andykong]

Microphonic effect from the iems/headphones/cables can definitely mask any ringing from the tubes so yeah it may no longer be a concern past a point.

Not all DAP with tubes are free from microphonics, even the N3Pro has its limitations in eliminating microphonics. I can boldly claim that Cayin's R&D work and proven track record in vacuum tube amplifiers are the major assets in the battle of vacuum tube applications for portable Personal Audio.

 

[Andykong]

I received N3 Ultra today and used it for about 90 minutes on my evening commute home. I walked from my office to the train, sat on the train and then walked from the train to my house. There was no audible microphonics or ringing, to my ears at least. I used the player on Tube timbre - Classic, Medium Gain, 42 vol, 4.4mm balanced out, and listened to 96/24 and 44.1/16 ALAC tracks with the screen off using the Sony MDR-1AM2 headphones. Battery went down from 95% to 78%.

I had the N3 Pro a few years ago, and based on what I remember, everything about the Ultra is better. Build quality seems better, the volume wheel isn't wobbly like it was on the Pro. Screen is much better, responsiveness is much better. The Snapgdragon CPU with the 2GB of RAM makes a huge difference compared to the Pro. It's not going to run as smoothly as the DAPs with the 665 and 4GB of RAM, but for a music only player it is more than sufficient. I was able to import my m3u playlists and was able to play them with no problem.

While I ordered the blue leather case, and its beautifully made, protects the player well, I actually really like the included silicone case. It doesn't add as much bulk to an already thick player, it offers good protection even to the top of the player (with the leather case the top of the player is exposed) and its best feature, you have access to the micro SD card slot, which is huge for me.

@Andykong I have some requests for future firmware updates.

• First, would be being able to sort the artist category by Album Artist, not just Artist.
• Next would be to be able to choose to scan short songs. I listen to full albums, and occasionally they will have interludes, or other short tracks under 1min. None of those scanned, so those albums are incomplete unless I play them from folder mode.

One problem I am running into is that many of the little artwork squares are not showing the artwork in the Album category, and Artist > Album category. This is not an issue with other DAPs I have that run Hiby software. I know the artwork is embedded into the file correctly, because when I click into the album I see the artwork, and when I play a song, the album art displays correctly on the player screen.

Someone has raised a similar problem regarding short music files of less than 60 seconds, I have advised him to use Folder view in the meantime, and have submitted a request to add the music scan setup screen back to the N3Ultra, I'll report back if I receive confirmation from our Software Engineers

If I understand correctly, you would like to organize all the artist entries by Album instead of by Title? I'll follow up with your first request to find out if it is possible to add a Level 2 category after Artist.

Regarding the display of your thumbnail album art, may I suggest you take out the SD card, perform a music scan without the card, this will wipe the existing index, and then insert the card and search again. It would be even better if you could identify the album art that can't be displayed, copy the specific files to another newly formatted SD card, and test if this will display correctly. I want to make sure this is not a software glitch or card compatibility problem before we dig into the file format of your embedded album art.

 

[fish1050]

Based on your post history, this doesn't surprise me. It would have surprised me if you'd hadn't started wavering.

Yeah with anything cool you get excited and then while you wait for it to be released you start to look at the numbers. Then inevitably something else gets released that is more practical and you switch gears. Honestly there really wasn't any other DAP that got me questioning the N3 Ultra until the R4 was announced. I considered the Shanling M5 Ultra for a brief second until I saw it was priced higher than the N3 Ultra and was using the MTouch OS.

I put some funds into a GIC specifically to raise the money I would need to get the N3Ultra next year to avoid dipping into my savings. So I am still planning to spend about the same amount of money just splitting it between likely an R4 (unless something else catches my eye later) and a desktop tube amp vs the N3 Ultra. It is a combination of selling audio gear and running my own business for many years that always causes my practical brain to override my impulse brain in the end. Selling this stuff you start to see how the law of diminishing returns starts to kick in as the price of gear goes up. In this case is there enough of a difference in sound quality between a tube amp N3 Ultra and a Class A amp R4 to justify spending twice as much, especially since the R4 has features the N3 Ultra doesn't? If I could actually go into a store and demo an N3 Ultra I probably wouldn't be able to stop myself from buying it. But now with everything mostly available online only vs instore shopping the impulse buy becomes less powerful and easier to resist.

Edit: the more I think about it whether I buy an N3 Ultra or a different DAP and a desktop tube amp the goal is the same. To experience that wonderful tube amp sound, I have simply changed lanes in search of the same thing the N3 Ultra offers but with greater flexibility. With a tube amp I can experience tube sound quality with any source I connect to it whether it is a DAP or something else. Would I really be able to appreciate the N3 Ultra tube sound taking a walk outside or riding transit, probably not. But at home in my quiet room absolutely yes with any DAP. Here I will have a much more powerful tube amp to listen to. I am not now nor will I ever be a DAP collector, I am simply searching for the best sound quality I can get within my price range.

 

[newworld666]

If some could try if this DAP has a fully UAC 2.0 compliant controller with an Active Front End (AFE) function for headset applications available when the DAP is set in DAC mode ?
This mean that, when the N3Ultra is connected to a smartphone as USB-DAC, the hardware buttons of the N3Ultra should be fully functional to control the playing music from web streamers (Qobuz, Tidal, etc) (FF/RW/Play/Pause/Volume).

Then as, I use usually my DAP stacked to my smartphone by a magsafe magnet (with an adapter set on the DAP) ... do I have to intend some bad audible issues with the Vacuum Tubes (I don't have any issues with all my Solid State DAPs when a magnet is put on the back) ?

 

[Uprox]

I am simply searching for the best sound quality I can get within my price range.

Best sound quality isn't always most lovely sound, actually.

 

[mt877]

If I understand correctly, you would like to organize all the artist entries by Album instead of by Title? I'll follow up with your first request to find out if it is possible to add a Level 2 category after Artist.

@alwass89 said:

• First, would be being able to sort the artist category by Album Artist, not just Artist.

Currently can sort by "Artist", please add ability to sort by "Album Artist" as well. This is a feature I would like as well.
See picture below.

{Edit:}
On some albums there are artist collaborations and for example 2 artist names are put into the "Artist" ID tag. If sorting by Artist on the player, then the music with 2 artists names are listed separately in the player listing. By being able to have the "Album Artist" ID tag available to sort by, we can add the main artist name into Album Artist ID tag, then if we sort by Album Artist, all songs / music tracks for the album stay together instead of separately. @Andykong, I'm sure you understand this concept.

While we are making feature requests, it would be nice if we could also edit the ID tags in the player for individual songs / groups of songs / entire albums. Since we can't sideload any Android app like ID Tag editor onto N3Ultra, this would be something to really enhance the features of this player.

My N3Ultra will be out for delivery later and I'll be getting it today. Yay!
{/Edit}

 

[mikaik]

the more I think about it whether I buy an N3 Ultra or a different DAP and a desktop tube amp the goal is the same. To experience that wonderful tube amp sound, I have simply changed lanes in search of the same thing the N3 Ultra offers but with greater flexibility.

I'm going the opposite direction, moving from a small desktop tube amp to the N3U. I simply don't want to be constrained to a single room when listening to headphones. I want to be able to listen in my study when working, on the sofa, in my cellar, etc.

I think we are spoiled for options, we just need to decide which one works best for each of us at a certain point in time. 3 years ago I was doing only home office, so desktop amplification was enough. Now I'm going to the office, so more mobile solutions are needed.
It's difficult to chase that particular solution and not get swayed when reading about the abundance of products nowadays, so I totally understand your analysis.