Cayin N5ii Android based Master Quality Digital Audio Player

[seanwee]

Posted 2 months ago. It's the first hit when searching on "Cayin N5ii". The one disclaimer is the reviewer does come across as a FiiO fanboy based on his other reviews I've seen. Not meant as slight against him, just could add to some biasness.

The limited time I've spent with the dap so far has been marginally above "good". There's still that overall harshness which makes lengthy listening a tad tiring compared to a couple of my other DAPs. Perhaps I will try other IEMs although it will have to be SE out. Haven't tried the digital filter (only 2 options?) and I normally don't bother with EQ. The only real con I have at the moment is the screen, too small for big fingers.

Bad guy good audio review? I disagree with his opinion on the N5ii but then again he just hated the UI so much he neglected going in depth about the sound, his loss then.

The N5ii is definitely superb in terms of SOUND IMHO. It has more of a high end reference sound rather than a consumer oriented warmish tuning.

I will say that the N5ii will come across as brighter than most daps in its price range because most have a warmer tilt but harshness depends more on your gear, song and general preference imo.

 

[seanwee]

Oh I have one. I love the sound quality but the periodic pauses in song playback are annoying. Cayin is working on a fix and hopefully the new firmware will improve matters.

By the way I was a FIIO bigot at one time also; then I decided to try other Chinese brands. And while I may seem somewhat critical of the unit, I really want the next firmware to be rock solid and for Cayin to sell a ton of these. For what its worth I have been through some firmware growing pains with FIIO in the past and had a Shanling unit (the original M2 not the M2S) that was so unreliable that I eventually traded the unit back in to Amazon (for about 60 cents on the dollar). Too bad because that unit sounded great with the FLC8S and it had a dedicated line out jack. So I am an equal opportunity brand bigot and gadfly.

Fanboyism in audio could be attributed to one's preference of a company's "house sound" I think. Nothing really wrong with that.

I used to want to upgrade to a FiiO X5 back when I used a lowly FiiO X1. That was before I heard the Ibasso DX90 and it really wowing back then. But back then I wasn't really willing to drop that much money on gear so I ended up with an Xduoo X3 which was seriously impressive sounding for the price, and it still is. I guess that somewhat made me an Xduoo fanboy but their X10 let me down. Currently I could be a Cayin fanboy but that could change again when I find better value products in the future.

Whoever makes the best sounding product for the money gets mine

 

[majo123]

Whoever makes the best sounding product for the money gets mine

I used fiio for a long time, x3 , x5ii, e12a x7, the only one I was slightly disappointed with was the x7 took them forever to get the firmware right , it sounded ok but treble was a bit peaky and lacked detail in my opinion for a top of the line £600 dap more with amp modules .
I then decided to be a bit more thorough with research and now I own cayin n3 , opus1, mojo and hopefully if bugs can be sorted soon n5ii, I'm still following the thread avidly.

 

[seanwee]

I used fiio for a long time, x3 , x5ii, e12a x7, the only one I was slightly disappointed with was the x7 took them forever to get the firmware right , it sounded ok but treble was a bit peaky and lacked detail in my opinion for a top of the line £600 dap more with amp modules .
I then decided to be a bit more thorough with research and now I own cayin n3 , opus1, mojo and hopefully if bugs can be sorted soon n5ii, I'm still following the thread avidly.

I quite like the sound of the X7ii but i just got the N5ii. I'll have to wait till next round then. Maybe by that time there will already be a X7iii. Hopefully it doesn't follow the path FiiO took with the X5iii.

For now I'll be content with the N5ii. Got a Hifiman Sundara and a Dunu 2000j on my "to buy" list

 

[majo123]

I quite like the sound of the X7ii but i just got the N5ii. I'll have to wait till next round then. Maybe by that time there will already be a X7iii. Hopefully it doesn't follow the path FiiO took with the X5iii.



For now I'll be content with the N5ii. Got a Hifiman Sundara and a Dunu 2000j on my "to buy" list

I have been looking at the sundara too as I own the 400i and also looked at the x7ii my dap purchase has to have 2 x card slots which is why the n5ii is one of my options.

 

[seanwee]

I have been looking at the sundara too as I own the 400i and also the x7ii my dap purchase has to have 2 x card slots which is why the n5ii is one of my options.

So you own the X7ii yet want to get a N5ii?

 

[majo123]

So you own the X7ii yet want to get a N5ii?

Sorry that didn't read well so I edited it.

 

[Signal2Noise]

I spent more time with the dap last night. Instead of using the N5005 I grabbed a set of my FLC8S that has a Null Audio Lune balanced cable. A much better listening experience over all. The "harshness" I was experiencing with N5005 was not there with the FLC's. I think the IEM filters have an affect on it. This will be the "keeper" set up going forward for a while.

I did come across two strange issues with N5ii. First was when I went to first play an album the volume was last set at 53. However the volume noticeable became incrementally louder even though the volume display remained at 53. I rapidly spun the volume wheel down but the volume seemed to stick at that high level for several seconds. I had to press pause and then the volume decreased once Play was engaged again. I think I read something about this phantom volume thing elsewhere and I'll need to investigate.

The second is was while listening the dap screen was off and and sitting next to me, untouched. The track just stopped mid song. I turned the display on and then the track resumed. Through the remainder of listening it was fine, display off. I attribute this to some weird disturbance in the cosmos.

 

[seanwee]

I spent more time with the dap last night. Instead of using the N5005 I grabbed a set of my FLC8S that has a Null Audio Lune balanced cable. A much better listening experience over all. The "harshness" I was experiencing with N5005 was not there with the FLC's. I think the IEM filters have an affect on it. This will be the "keeper" set up going forward for a while.

I did come across two strange issues with N5ii. First was when I went to first play an album the volume was last set at 53. However the volume noticeable became incrementally louder even though the volume display remained at 53. I rapidly spun the volume wheel down but the volume seemed to stick at that high level for several seconds. I had to press pause and then the volume decreased once Play was engaged again. I think I read something about this phantom volume thing elsewhere and I'll need to investigate.

The second is was while listening the dap screen was off and and sitting next to me, untouched. The track just stopped mid song. I turned the display on and then the track resumed. Through the remainder of listening it was fine, display off. I attribute this to some weird disturbance in the cosmos.

The first issue "should" have been resolved after on v3.1en. It was a notorious issue on 2.1en where it could skyrocket all the way to 100, blowing your ears out. Personally I don't think I have encountered this issue, I think. Even if I did it was probably quite minor. How loud did yours get?

About the second issue: yes, it was the player sensing some great disturbance in the cosmos, "as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced".

Jokes aside, that might be the random pause bug. A few other members and I are currently running a bug catching beta firmware from cayin so that we can hopefully find the cause of the problem and kill it.

 

[Signal2Noise]

^
The N5ii arrived with v3.1en already loaded so strange then if this volume thing was supposedly fix. It got very loud, don't think it went to 100 but I was definitey scrambling to lower it. I will watch for this behavior again upon further listening sessions.

 

[Metalomaniac]

How well does the N5II work as a dedicated Spotify player on the go?

Is the 3.5mm port sturdy? The port on my Sony NWZ-F886 broke, which is the reason I'm looking for a new DAP.

I'm looking at this vs Fiio X5III, and the Cayin is better on most aspects: better audio, longer battery, smaller and lighter.

 

[jeffhawke]

Is the 3.5mm port sturdy? The port on my Sony NWZ-F886 broke, which is the reason I'm looking for a new DAP.

I received the N5ii less than two weeks ago, have experienced no issues whatsoever either with the 3.5mm or with with the balanced port.

 

[Metalomaniac]

I received the N5ii less than two weeks ago, have experienced no issues whatsoever either with the 3.5mm or with with the balanced port.

I'm talking over several years.. My Sony gave out after just three years.

One Amazon review mentioned the plug is plastic.

 

[HD800NL]

Maybe I missed a post, but does someone know when the next firmware is available?

 

[seanwee]

Maybe I missed a post, but does someone know when the next firmware is available?

No specified date as they are still working to find a fix for the random pause bug.

BTW, reformatting the sd card then re-transferring all the songs back seems to help with the playback pause issue.

I had no freezes since I last did that and so to test it out I purposely used a corrupted sd card. That was the first time in 2-3 weeks where the freezing bug reared its head. 7 hours later, it froze again. Then I changed back to my normal sd card and guess what? No freezes so far in 2-3 days.

It's worth a shot.