Cayin N5 DAP - Product Info (Post #2), Resources (Post #3) and Discussion

[Ultrainferno]

   
Isn't AK4490EQ from Asahi Kasei Microdevices?

 
It is: http://www.akm.com/file.jsp?id=273638

 

[regit]

   
It is: http://www.akm.com/file.jsp?id=273638

Thanks! Got confused, saw the review and it mentioned TI (now corrected to AKM). Googled and quite a few placed made reference to TI.
 
Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Andykong]

Working without issue...

In retrospect, the N5 is one player that works really well off the bat. Sure there is hiss in balanced, and the battery status is a little wonky, but everything else is really awesome.

Was trying Opus #1 on Sunday, with only one song and the machine froze. I think the dap choke on my sdcard full of dsd, iso and cue files. Yet, I can throw any format at the N5 (save DTS which I dunno any dap that does DTS) and it will play (and with GAPLESS). And you can do that with 2 sdcards!

Unlike many other offerings which left the oven too early and are still pretty much in alpha-beta stage with the firmware/UI. N5 don't have serious firmware issue. Nothing that hurt the sound, or worse, brick the dap!  Buddy's L5Pro is rendered inoperable after FW update and now waiting to send back to china just to reset the dap!?!

The build is really solid. I think it can survive a 2-stories drop... no joking. Love physical buttons and scroll wheel. They are solid and functional. While touch screen has a modern feel, I hate those mis-selects, mis-scroll, and certainly hate having to clean the touch-screen every time after I browse the song list... oh the smudges...

N5 sound really good, detailed, mildly warm, melodic and airy. Sure it is not LPG or Valoq, but it is a portable player first and foremost and unless I am constantly A-B-ing while out and about, or like squinting my eyes to see that extra 5-feet soundstage width, N5 sound is good enough, certainly for many IEM and with its' respectable amp, many headphones as well.

N5 operate well as a DAC (play well with foobar ASIO) and with USB3.0, it is the only player I have that I can plug straight into the PC without using a reader.

Here's the question, why is N5 not selling like hotcakes?

Such a joy to run into your sharing when I come back from another project. Your appreciation is the biggest motivation to press on to do better.

We are indeed peculiar about the general acceptance of N5, but it is kind of a bit late to do something seriously, the market has a very short memory on DAP products, a lot shorter then we can catch up. New DAPs are coming out every month, and competitors are rolling out new models much faster that we can imagine, this become a pattern that a lot of customers start their choice from the latest products and work their way back, so unless there is something dramatic coming up, N5 will remain steady as-is in our projection.

N6 put audio performance at top priority, and N5 puts practicality as the primary objective, and audio performance is a close second. We want our users to have peace of mind that the player will do anything at anytime for off-line music. We have tried our best and we believe we are very close to what we have started off with.

One minor feedback on your sharing: I believe Cowon Plenue 1 supports DST encoded DSD afte the latest firmware update. Not sure if the more expensive Plenue S will support that, haven't had the opportunity to try out the new Flagship. DST encoded SACD ISO are indeed a tough format for DAP, we are working very hard to resolve the issue, apparently we need a lot more processing power from the MCU so N6/N5 is unlikely, but our subsequet product might offer some surprise along this line

 

[Andykong]

Excellent pairing for Cayin N5, the new ($50) Dynamic driver based Shozy Zero IEM.





Shozy seems really serious about bringing something to the masses without that renowned crippling high price tag.

Anyone interested can check out the thread here.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/803785/shozy-zero-50-iems-with-real-rosewood-taking-on-the-500-big-boys

The guys are going nuts over them.

A very interesting update, have heard about this small wonder but didn't have the opportunity to try it out. The combo is good for pop? bass heavy? sweet vocal?

But honestly, $50 for a pair of IEMs with real rosewood, N5 users who loves wood decorated gear should run to get a pair, unbeatable give the price and H20Fidelity's recommendation.

 

[H20Fidelity]

A very interesting update, have heard about this small wonder but didn't have the opportunity to try it out. The combo is good for pop? bass heavy? sweet vocal?

But honestly, $50 for a pair of IEMs with real rosewood, N5 users who loves wood decorated gear should run to get a pair, unbeatable give the price and H20Fidelity's recommendation.

 
I personally find Zero a little forward in bass with quite a warm voicing around the mid-range, treble nice and polite. Thick note weight that will be quite versatile across many genres. They're quite detailed for their price, no, very detailed and especially good with vocals female/male.
 
I haven't stopped using them for 4 days now as my goto IEM with Cayin N5, you must try them sometime. Usually I try a $50 earphone for 30 seconds and throw it in the corner, but with Zero it was different, it immediately succeeded at producing quite a complex track I use for testing. From there I haven't put them down.
 
I will stress though I think its a two street, the Cayin N5 is a large contributing factor to the synergy I have going. Quite amusing really (and kind of eye opening), I have a few TOTL IEMs priced upwards of $1500 USD, moving into almost a full week now, its been Shozy Zero all day...

 

[Andykong]

I suppose this limitation is just for Music Library and you can find those tracks via folder operation.

But  in reality i have no idea, never use mp3 with so many files..
So if you defifntely know what folders and what are the tracks in there, you can try by yourself.
Or wait official response from Cayin's representative Andykong

Glad to know most of your problems have been sorted out and you are enjoying the N5, should I send a thank you card to your wife?

The 15000 file limitation will affect the functions in Music Category menu. You If you go to Music Library > TF card, you can browse through all the music files. To be honest, the Music Category functions are not very powerful when you have 15,0000 songs in your database, the categories itself become inefficient as you might end up with 3000 songs under Jazz category. Sort by artist probably will still work as it is a two-tier database setup and you will go into an album list after you select an artist, but with 15000 songs, you probably have 500 artists in the list and scroll through the artist might be a problem.

If your music library are carefully managed into hierarchy of folders, then going through the Library > TF card route will probably be more efficient. Remember to turn the Folder Operation on (at System Setup menu) so the player will jump to next folder automatically.

 

[Andykong]

Also was wondering what anyone thought about all the roll-off settings? I honestly didn't hear any difference between any of them. Anybody have a favorite setting?

The digital filters are subtle and you probably need a pair of IEM that is very resolving to make the filter become obvious. .

For your reference, the characteristics of the filters are as follow:

 

[Andykong]

Me either, even with TOTL multi-BA IEM...

I can hear the different between Super Slow roll off vs Sharp roll off with my UE IERM + TWAg V3 cable, but try to distinguish between Short delay slow rolloff vs Slow rolloff is hopeless in my gears (and ears )

 

[Andykong]

Headfonia has just reviewed this DAP with some interesting comparisons with DX80, X5II etc. See http://www.headfonia.com/review-cayin-n5-ribbed-pleasure/

Wow, thanks for your update, have been looking forward to their review. Speechless for your efficiency as well, I believe their review was online a few hours only, and you have updated the N5 community before I finish reading the review.

I want to thanks Lieven for doing such a great job in the N5 review. He literally bring the N5 with him to his honeymoon, so you can tell how devoted he is with DAP review. My sincere salute.

 

[Ultrainferno]

Wow, thanks for your update, have been looking forward to their review. 
I want to thanks Lieven for doing such a great job in the N5 review. He literally bring the N5 with him to his honeymoon, so you can tell how devoted he is with DAP review. My sincere salute.

 
You're most welcome, Andy. See you soon in Munich! Warm up an i5 for me already

 

[twister6]

...
N6 put audio performance at top priority, and N5 puts practicality as the primary objective, and audio performance is a close second. We want our users to have peace of mind that the player will do anything at anytime for off-line music. We have tried our best and we believe we are very close to what we have started off with.
...

 
Hi Andy, since you are knee deep in i5 announcement prep work, by the same token as you have mentioned N6 and N5 above, where does i5 fits in this equation?  Would it be like N5 on wifi/touch-screen steroids?

  I'm really curious about your take on audio performance of i5 (if you allowed to share it with us), and if you consider it to be somewhere between N5 and N6?

 

[Andykong]

You're most welcome, Andy. See you soon in Munich! Warm up an i5 for me already

We'll demo per-production version of i5 at Munich, looking forward to hear your comment in person.

 

[Andykong]

Hi Andy, since you are knee deep in i5 announcement prep work, by the same token as you have mentioned N6 and N5 above, where does i5 fits in this equation?  Would it be like N5 on wifi/touch-screen steroids?   I'm really curious about your take on audio performance of i5 (if you allowed to share it with us), and if you consider it to be somewhere between N5 and N6?

Honestly speaking, I don't know for sure as I haven't heard the latest version of i5 yet. The i5 we have at SoCal is the shortlisted Production candidate, and we are building pre-production units for the press conference as well as Authentication requirements (EC, WiFi etc). I guess I'll get hold of a unit by early next week, and publish an official introduction to the DAP before Munich Hi-end Show.

 

[lesp4ul]

This is also a killer combo, too bad it almost $250 in my country for mint condition. Zero will be a great alternative like h20fidelity said.

 

[Andykong]

This is also a killer combo, too bad it almost $250 in my country for mint condition. Zero will be a great alternative like h20fidelity said.

UE TF10? Amazing soundstage, best of class, unfortunately I have problem wearing it, stick out of ear and become unstable when I walk around.

If you can find a pair in good condition, certainly an outstanding combo with N5.