[buihia]

Anyone did comparison between dignis and cayin leather casing? Issit worth the premium?

 

[twister6]

 

 

Love mine as well My first Dignis case was one for the iBasso DX90/DX50 so I quickly jump for one when they release one for the N5. What I like about the case is the tight fit and attention to details. Nice felt inside to protect the DAP...
 

 
At the back, they include a piece of stick-on leather to complete the "enclosed" look! Nice
 

 
Wow, that is a nice detail with a stick-on leather piece!
 
Can you please tell me how does Kaiser K10U pairs up with N5 and which silver cable are you using?  Have you tried them both single ended and balanced?

 

[regit]

   
Wow, that is a nice detail with a stick-on leather piece!
 
Can you please tell me how does Kaiser K10U pairs up with N5 and which silver cable are you using?  Have you tried them both single ended and balanced?

 
I am using a Toxic Silver Widow for the K10U. I don’t have the courage yet to butcher the Toxic cable myself to make it balanced; I have however converted the stock to balanced and the observations is the same when using balanced SE846. Extended, better imaging, separation and soundstage, however, subtle but there and not as much differences as the SE 846 vs balanced 846 comparison has made.
 
And oh yes, despite having 35ohm, K10U still hisses in balanced mode.
 
As for the K10U and N5 pairing, IMHO, Cayin N5 is that kind of DAP that will make any IEM sound reasonably good; and Noble K10 is that kind of IEM that will make any DAP sound reasonably good. So, off the bat, they are a good pairing by default.
 
But if we were to split hair… everything will be relative and at the end of the day, here’s what I noted when speaking relatively to a Sony A15+Pico Slim combo, a combo that I still found very relevant in terms of sound today.
 
N5 to me is a little on the warm side, and K10 is also a little on the warm side (especially with the stock SPC cable). When pairing together, they can be overly warm, almost creating a veil and darkness (this is really nit-picking). Little details whilst there are not as “standout”. Decay in everything is also longer (granted, I have not played with the filters much and I am on slow delay at the moment).
 
With the Pico Slim background is pitch black (more so than N5 is SE). Sound is very clean (but less forgiving on crap recording. It also has more “fixness” in the presentation, imaging and placement is done better with the slim. Slim has a very precise placement/presentation of everything.
 
What N5 has more over the Pico Slim is

• the airiness in presentation,
• Smooth presentation,
• Contrast,
• Soundstage width and layering (while depth is only a hair better on the N5).

 
What Pico Slim has more over the N5 is

• Precision in imaging and placement,
• Tighter bass control,
• Micro-contrast,
• Adding that little “sparkle” to the treble.

 
Listen in isolation, the N5+K10U pairing is inviting, smooth and warm (and airy at the same time). In the midst, there are enough details but not analytical enough for those pixel-peeving nuts (and therefore not edgy in the high). Vocal presentation is full and smooth and this is what I deemed to be the strongest point of this paring.
 
In another word, if I want to focus on the romantic side of the K10U, I would go to the N5. The pairing works really well with vocal, jazz, live pop. And if I want to focus on the imaging, articulation and precision of notes, I would go to the Pico Slim. The pairing works well for classical, pop, IDM (and complicatedly arranged pop concerts).

 

[stefanolandesca]

Comparo vs dx80?

 

[Andykong]

Thanks for the follow-up Andy. Will do the test when I come around it...

For now, take good care of yourself and hope you enjoy your well-deserved break!

]

The mysterious is finally solved.

(1) When the N5 is not connected to any output device (i.e., all three output on the top of the player is not plugged in), the device will assume coaxial out as the default status, I believe this is a power saving feature.

(2) N5 support upto DSD64 and PCM192kHz in coaxial mode only, all DSD128 file will be skipped

(3) When you plug in a headphone, N5 will enter phone output mode, DSD128 is supported.

I have advised the team to revise the User manual and include a reminder to clarify this problem in next printing.

 

[Andykong]

Love mine as well My first Dignis case was one for the iBasso DX90/DX50 so I quickly jump for one when they release one for the N5. What I like about the case is the tight fit and attention to details. Nice felt inside to protect the DAP...




At the back, they include a piece of stick-on leather to complete the "enclosed" look! Nice

Have to agree with twister6, the stick-on leather piece is a wonderful idea, really tempted to buy one because of the highly considered design.

 

[nmatheis]

Check your PM @Andykong 

 

[Andykong]

Reference to posts #1232 and #1235 on page 83, regarding the non-linear battery reading below 20%, now I discovered something about the upper range... I'm not sure if this is actually the first time I observed on fw3.0... my impression is so. On fw 2.0, I'm pretty sure it wasn't like that because a large part of my N5 burn-in (~150hrs so far) was with 2.0, and I have been checking quite regularly and have established a general trend of the reading dropping about 10% per hour. My impression is that by the time 3.0 came, I have slowed down the burn-in frequency and ramped up DX80's, hence I may not have observed the battery level drop trend of 3.0.

Today I happened to check the battery level after running for 6hrs and I was shocked to see 71% remaining. This couldn't be. Unfortunately I didn't manage to catch the battery flat as I was out.

I have since recharged and started another run. As of 5hrs, I'm looking at 76%. If it still lasts 9hrs (means the reading really screwed up big time), it should end around 3am later (1130pm now, GMT+8). I will be staying up till around 2am and will check again. If it is still running, I won't be too worried about the battery's physical condition. But however it would mean a probable issue in fw3.0 compared to 2.0.


Update + consolidate:
- At 5hrs, battery reads 76%.
- 6hr 00min --- 71%.
- 8hr 30min --- 61%.
- Once it falls below 60%, it's speeding up. At ~8hr 40min onwards, it dropped 5% in 3mins.
- 8hr 45min --- 48%.
- 8hr 50min --- 42%.
- 8hr 55min --- 32%, now it's dropping 2% by 2%.
- 9hr 00min --- 17%.
- 9hr 05min --- 5%.

Exercise cut. Stop before player poof lol...

So battery is still ok. Could it be fw3.0? I'm tempted to flash back to 2.0 to try...


Sidetrack... btw how do I export the playlist and later import back? I've been doing firmware flashing for both N5 and DX80 recently and really dreading each time gotta setup my playlist again   



Update:
- Flashed to 2.0 and running now. After 2hrs, reading is 91%. Ohno... looks like this behavior unlikely to be 3.0 related   
- 6.5hrs --- 70%. I stopped the exercise and flashed back to 3.0.   

This is a bit of discouraging that the battery reading is not linear . In most cases, I recharge my N5 (or N6) based on the hours of usage, assuming the N5 will last 9 hours and N6 will last 6 hours (after one year of continuous use), and whenever I spot 2x% on the battery meter, I'll recharge the player when I could.

I have checked the playlist setup, the playlist information is stored in the local storage of the player and it should be retained when you upgrade/downgrade between v3.0 and V2.0.

 

[Andykong]

I am using a Toxic Silver Widow for the K10U. I don’t have the courage yet to butcher the Toxic cable myself to make it balanced; I have however converted the stock to balanced and the observations is the same when using balanced SE846. Extended, better imaging, separation and soundstage, however, subtle but there and not as much differences as the SE 846 vs balanced 846 comparison has made.

And oh yes, despite having 35ohm, K10U still hisses in balanced mode.

As for the K10U and N5 pairing, IMHO, Cayin N5 is that kind of DAP that will make any IEM sound reasonably good; and Noble K10 is that kind of IEM that will make any DAP sound reasonably good. So, off the bat, they are a good pairing by default.

But if we were to split hair… everything will be relative and at the end of the day, here’s what I noted when speaking relatively to a Sony A15+Pico Slim combo, a combo that I still found very relevant in terms of sound today.

N5 to me is a little on the warm side, and K10 is also a little on the warm side (especially with the stock SPC cable). When pairing together, they can be overly warm, almost creating a veil and darkness (this is really nit-picking). Little details whilst there are not as “standout”. Decay in everything is also longer (granted, I have not played with the filters much and I am on slow delay at the moment).

With the Pico Slim background is pitch black (more so than N5 is SE). Sound is very clean (but less forgiving on crap recording. It also has more “fixness” in the presentation, imaging and placement is done better with the slim. Slim has a very precise placement/presentation of everything.

What N5 has more over the Pico Slim is

1. the airiness in presentation,
2. Smooth presentation,
3. Contrast,
4. Soundstage width and layering (while depth is only a hair better on the N5).

What Pico Slim has more over the N5 is

1. Precision in imaging and placement,
2. Tighter bass control,
3. Micro-contrast,
4. Adding that little “sparkle” to the treble.

Listen in isolation, the N5+K10U pairing is inviting, smooth and warm (and airy at the same time). In the midst, there are enough details but not analytical enough for those pixel-peeving nuts (and therefore not edgy in the high). Vocal presentation is full and smooth and this is what I deemed to be the strongest point of this paring.

In another word, if I want to focus on the romantic side of the K10U, I would go to the N5. The pairing works really well with vocal, jazz, live pop. And if I want to focus on the imaging, articulation and precision of notes, I would go to the Pico Slim. The pairing works well for classical, pop, IDM (and complicatedly arranged pop concerts).

Brovo,, a very detail and information impression, very helpful to fellow N5 users, or "potential" users

To certain extend, it is difficult to beat Pico Slim with a similar sized DAP because a dedicated amplifier has a lot of congenital advantage. I consider your comment a very positive endorsement to N5 already, especially when you stated that N5 is a "DAP that will make any IEM sound reasonably good", and you have supported this statement with a flagship IEM.

If there is more I want to ask for, the K10U is kind of beyond the reach to some N5 users, I hope someone will share more impression with IEMs or headphone that are more affordable, the N5 community neeed more advise on the mix and match and headphone synergy.

 

[samuelboy]

This is a bit of discouraging that the battery reading is not linear . In most cases, I recharge my N5 (or N6) based on the hours of usage, assuming the N5 will last 9 hours and N6 will last 6 hours (after one year of continuous use), and whenever I spot 2x% on the battery meter, I'll recharge the player when I could.

I have checked the playlist setup, the playlist information is stored in the local storage of the player and it should be retained when you upgrade/downgrade between v3.0 and V2.0.

Is there anything that be done to correct it?

 

[samk1234]

  @samuelboy...I see the same thing...I get a 100% reading on the display, but the LED continues to blink.  
 
Andy, I have been using the N5 for last week or so with FW3.0 and I have a few comments.  I went back and re-read all the posts since you announced the new firmware to make sure I didn't give you repeat comments...
 
1. I turn on a custom EQ, power off the device, when the device comes back on, the EQ is turned back to OFF.  I think if you set the EQ to ON, it should be remembered through a poweroff.
 
2. Is there anyway to you could allow the user to change desktop picture...the "string" interface is fine, but having a customer background pic would give the player a little more personal touch.
 
3.  Battery LED blinks even at 100%...as noted above by samuelboy.
 
4. It would be nice when the device is powered off during playback, the spot where you are in a song should be remembered and on the next power on, start at that spot in the song...maybe start it paused (so you don't blow up your ears), but you should be able to continue where you left off.  I use my player at work and when I am in and out of my cube due to meetings, every time I come back to my desk, I have to go look at where I left off and re-navigate to that spot.  The other players usually remember where you regardless if it is an idle power off or a hard power off.
 
5.  Is there a way to stop playback at the end of an album?  I use the file navigator to pick and choose my songs, but once I pick an album, it will play that album and continue right on to the next album alphabetically.  I guess if you are burning in equipment this is nice, but when you are listening to a nice quiet movie score and then you go onto some sonically charged metal...it is quite a rude awakening.  Is there any way to limit playback to single album when using the file navigator?
 
6.  Playlist feature was a great add in FW 3.0!!!!
 
 
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
Montmozart

 
BUMP..
 
specifically for me, what he's asking for here is bookmarking capabilities. I had this feature in another player of mine, cowon J3, and i think a specific folder for bookmarks in files to revisit specific parts is very useful. That feature plus the favorites feature, which as been added, makes for perfect functionality IMO.

 

[Andykong]

Is there anything that be done to correct it?

Yes, need to recalibrate the battery to generate new set of Mohr-Coulomb parameters for more accurate battery capacity measurement and prediction, I'll recommend this for firmware revision consideration, but this will take time because we need to rely on the battery supplier, the N5 battery is a custom make battery, the factory tends to put this in lower priority because of the amount of battery units involved.

 

[nmatheis]

Ooh, a bookmarking feature would be awesome. I could throw some audiobook rips on there and not lose my place. This would be an interesting product differentiator!

Not sure if the base FW would allow this, though...

 

[Andykong]

Ooh, a bookmarking feature would be awesome. I could throw some audiobook rips on there and not lose my place. This would be an interesting product differentiator!

Not sure if the base FW would allow this, though...

The N5 has "My favorite" feature, you can always mark a song as my favorite and then retrieve the list from Music Category, does this count as bookmark?

 

[nmatheis]

Nope Andykong. Bookmark "remembers" the exact position in a file, so it's good for audiobooks or long dj mixes where you want to get back to the exact position you left off even if you play another file in between. Make sense?

Pretty sure RockBox has this. iPods have it too, but it required changing the file from .m4a to .m4b.