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

[Kangeki]

Another suggestion is if you can make a theme with bigger fonts. Really difficult to read the small text specially wps screen.

Not as versatile as my DP-X1A but given the size, power, features, SQ and price. This is a winner. I don't know why people keep calling this a mid-fi. What does it even mean? Is that because of the price?

Pretty sure if you slap a thousand bucks for this people will call this TOTL.

 
I have no problem with the font size on the screen but I can understand why it may be a problem for some people.
I would say that if the title of the song could be more "permanently" exposed in the playback screen it would be great. When I want to check the song's title, I usually push the "back" button to have the titles list (I use files navigator) and I usually do not read it immediately on the playback screen as I often have to wait it to appear.
But that is not such a big issue and I do love the N5 !

 

The P1 is rated at 50ohm, 96db sensitivity, definitely belong to the insensitive group among IEMs.

 
Thank you for the precision on specKtre's reply. I believe mine (CE6P) are around 123 dB / 16 Ohm (or something like that). At least the bass version (CE6B) are, according to Headfonia, at 115 dB / 22 Ohm.

 

[tienbasse]

   
That's nice, quite curious of how it sounds but I won't be able to try that since I don't have any symetrical cable and that my IEMs are too sensitive.
A friend moved from the SE output to the balanced one and he told me he immediately noticed a larger scene, and a better separation as a consequence.

The difference in soundstage is significant between SE and balanced with the N5.
It's very obvious with Fidue Sirius, Rose Cappuccinos and AK T8iE (I mostly have MMCX cables), a bit less obvious with AK Angies.
 
Hiss is quite present with the Sirius, T8iE and Angies. Cappuccinos are less sensitive.

 

[headwhacker]

The difference in soundstage is significant between SE and balanced with the N5.
It's very obvious with Fidue Sirius, Rose Cappuccinos and AK T8iE (I mostly have MMCX cables), a bit less obvious with AK Angies.

Hiss is quite present with the Sirius, T8iE and Angies. Cappuccinos are less sensitive.

The hiss is present in T8ie but not intrusive and only noticeable on a very quiet environment and if you are only consciously looking for it. The SQ more than compensates. N5 actually makes my Roxanne alive. After a long while I am listening with my Roxanne again. expanding the gain options and adding another -12dB under the current low gain should help with the hiss.

The bass/low end hits harder but without making the overall SQ thick. I think this is why people find this DAP warm. I can actually hear more details using Roxanne on N5 than on DP-X1. But I don't think this is a warm DAP at all. Not with Roxanne at least.

 

[Andykong]

The difference in soundstage is significant between SE and balanced with the N5.
It's very obvious with Fidue Sirius, Rose Cappuccinos and AK T8iE (I mostly have MMCX cables), a bit less obvious with AK Angies.

Hiss is quite present with the Sirius, T8iE and Angies. Cappuccinos are less sensitive.

The hiss is present in T8ie but not intrusive and only noticeable on a very quiet environment and if you are only consciously looking for it. The SQ more than compensates. N5 actually makes my Roxanne alive. After a long while I am listening with my Roxanne again. expanding the gain options and adding another -12dB under the current low gain should help with the hiss.

The bass/low end hits harder but without making the overall SQ thick. I think this is why people find this DAP warm. I can actually hear more details using Roxanne on N5 than on DP-X1. But I don't think this is a warm DAP at all. Not with Roxanne at least.

I have written a single-end vs balanced comparison on headfi application in the i5 thread, its a bit long and not really focused correctly (i.e., not well written), but I kind of make my points finally, worth checking it out if someone is interested in the single-end vs balanced discussion:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/802382/cayin-i5-lossless-android-dap-with-akm4490-dac-supporting-32-384-pcm-64-128-dsd/2205#post_13066092

The point implies warm sounding observation is very valid, a lot of people will think that way. In fact one of the most difficult part in sound tuning process is to maintain resolution and detail while we want to achieve a warm and involving sound signature, I think N5 has been doing very well on this account.

 

[Andykong]

Thank you for the precision on specKtre's reply. I believe mine (CE6P) are around 123 dB / 16 Ohm (or something like that). At least the bass version (CE6B) are, according to Headfonia, at 115 dB / 22 Ohm.

96dB / 50ohm vs 123 dB/16ohm ? That is 27dB different, the number might not looks significant, but in reality, we are talking about more then 500x power requirement, or less 0.2% if you were to look from another angle.

Please check out the Power ratio of Decibel in Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel


3dB = 2x
10dB = 10x
20dB = 100x
30dB = 1000x

 

[Kangeki]

I never found any official communication of those CIEMs sensibility but I can tell they are very sensible. On the N5 I am listening on SE mode at 16/100 in average on low gain. I do not know if it helps in any way in corroboring or disproving previous statements.
 
If I have the opportunity to meet up with someone who has a symetrical cable I will try for determining the level of noise. However your proposition of -12 dB should be better than the - 6 dB for very sensible IEMs as the N5 has a lot of power in reserve. I do not know if it would really solve the noise problem though (in the sense that one finds it at least very bearable), but still may make everything better for them.

 

[nmatheis]

The think implies warm sounding observation is very valid, a lot of people will think that way. In fact one of the most difficult part in sound tuning process is to maintain resolution and detail while we want to achieve a warm and involving sound signature, I think N5 has been doing very well on this account.

Yes, N5 tuning is very nice, especially for the price range. Warm without sounding bloated. Sparkly without sounding sharp. It's a winner in my book!

I do think there's some room for improvement...

The low gain setting could definitely have less power to allow for better volume fine-tuning with sensitive IEM.

Eliminate any and all scrolling in the too bar. Text is small, there's way too much stuff crowded together up there, and text is scrolling back and forth. It makes my eyes hurt, lol. Either shorten the text or use icons. For instance, use LG/HG and HO/LO and consider eliminating text for which screen you're on (at least on the Now Playing screen). Those two things would provide more space along the top bar, so the text isn't so crowded and allow the volume and battery numbers to be larger and easier to read. Please ask about this Andykong. I really don't even like to look at the top bar as it is.

Quick Settings should be reconfigured so that gain setting is at the bottom of the Quick Settings so instead of at the top. I've accidentally switched to high gain more than one while music is playing through sensitive IEM because of this. Not pleasant :eek:

Volume overshoots quite a bit if you hold down the volume buttons instead of clicking them. Again, I've had volume accidentally pushed beyond my comfort level because of this. Any way to make quick volume adjustment more precise?

Similarly, scrolling through lists with the buttons overshoots. It would be nice if the scrolling stopped precisely when you stopped pressing the button instead of a second later. Not so critical as with volume adjustment, though.

Please don't take all that as having the N5. I really do love it. I've just used a lot of DAPs, and those are some thoughts on how to further improve on a fantastic piece of hardware based on my experience

 

[Atkamon]

Yesterday I've finally received my N5, and my initial impressions are great!
 
I'm not exactly and experienced audiophile, the N5 is my first dedicated music player and my Shure SE315s that I've had for a year are my first step into audiophile territory. I've got a lovely pair of Trinity PM6s on pre-order, so I thought I must get a better source.
So far I've only been listening to music on my phone or laptop, never anything with a good DAC.
 
One thing is for sure, as soon as I started listening to the N5, I finally understood what "soundstage" means. Even with the Shures everything just opened up and became so much more spacious than before. Huge improvement on instrument separation as well. Very happy with the sound and I now literally CANNOT wait for my new IEMs.
 
My N5 came with 3.2 pre-installed, and I am pretty happy with the operating system.
I do agree with the points made before me that the top status bar is way too overcrowded, and that the gain setting should be lower on the list.
I'm also a lot into EQing, so I would love some extra custom EQ slots and maybe quicker access to the EQ from the now playing screen.
 
One actual problem I ran into was I'm not able to play my only album that I own in 24 bit WAV. It's Radiohead's Moon Shaped Pool that I've bought straight from their website in 24 bit WAV. I've had no problem playing it on my phone or computer, but on the N5 when I select a song, the device clicks (which I've read on here is normal) but the song doesn't play. If I keep pressing the play/pause button, sometimes it starts skipping through the song but no sound come out. Any ideas?

 

[Andykong]

[COLOR=FF00AA]Merry Christmas[/COLOR]​

On behalf of Cayin, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. I know we are always busy this holiday season, especially when Christmas is not a public holiday in Mainland China , but I want to take the time to wish you and yours, happy holidays. This is a special day for family and friends, there isn't anything can't wait until tomorrow, so relax and hug your beloveds around you, play some music, and enjoy the moment together.

I just had a wonderful Christmas dinner with my family. We were a bit late this year as my niece just arrived from LA this morning, but family is always worth waiting for, and good music will make the dinner ever more involving and pleasant. This is one of the playlist that I appreciated during the holiday season and I want to share this with you.

NOTE: If you can't see the embedded video above, please CLICK HERE to see the video.​

 

[nmatheis]

Andykong: Merry Christmas to you, too. And to the other people at Cayin who work very hard to make such great audio gear for us!

 

[nwavesailor]

Are there 2 versions of the N5: the N5 and Spark N5?

 

[nmatheis]

Are there 2 versions of the N5: the N5 and Spark N5?

Nope. Same thing. The Spark in the name refers to the parent company name.

 

[Andykong]

Are there 2 versions of the N5: the N5 and Spark N5?

http://en.cayin.cn/about?c=135

Zhuhai Spark Electronic Equipment Co., Ltd. was founded in 1993. Our company isdevoted to developing best-sounding audio equipment within budget and we are marketing our Hi-Fi products under the name of Cayin.

 

[nmatheis]

http://en.cayin.cn/about?c=135

Zhuhai Spark Electronic Equipment Co., Ltd. was founded in 1993. Our company isdevoted to developing best-sounding audio equipment within budget and we are marketing our Hi-Fi products under the name of Cayin.

Yup, I PM'ed my man nwavesailor just about the same info Andykong

 

[Steve80]

What does it mean, "magic code 20" in menu ? Some people have "magic code 35" 
Is this hardware revision ?