Cayin N5ii Android based Master Quality Digital Audio Player

[PinkyPowers]

$3699!!! That's obscenely expensive :O

Perhaps something under one grand?

The closet thing I can think of is Campfire Audio Andromeda. But I've yet to hear that myself.

 

[seanwee]

The closet thing I can think of is Campfire Audio Andromeda. But I've yet to hear that myself.

Tried it but didn't like it. Didn't like the entire product range from Campfire Audio actually. They all have this smoothed out and warm midrange.

 

[seanwee]

N5ii internals
Credits to @Matteomar95

Doesn't look like lousy jacks to me
Everything is nicely shielded except for the realtek WiFi and bluetooth chip

Back of the PCB
Very clean imo

Just the screen, volume wheel and a mysterious chip left

Wonder what the chip above the battery is. Maybe to control battery charging or stabilise voltage output?

 

[majo123]

Ok just had a quick scan through thread and can see usb c to coax looks like it's working fine, sorry for recent post.

 

[Dobrescu George]

The internals look nice!

@majo123 Don't worry, I just wasn't sure on the spot whether that would work or not. I think Cayin themselves make cables for that purpose @Andykong

 

[seanwee]

@Reverber, it seems like your method no longer works

I'm running the newest build of the beta firmware that Andy uploaded just a few hours ago and I can't seem to trigger the bugs anymore.

Its too early to say that they have killed the playback pause bug for sure but that seems to be the case so far

 

[majo123]

The internals look nice!

@majo123 Don't worry, I just wasn't sure on the spot whether that would work or not. I think Cayin themselves make cables for that purpose @Andykong

Hey cheers...just didn't want others thinking there was problem with it.

 

[PinkyPowers]

Tried it but didn't like it. Didn't like the entire product range from Campfire Audio actually. They all have this smoothed out and warm midrange.

Save up for Noble Audio Kaiser Encore. That seems like your kind of sig.

 

[seanwee]

Save up for Noble Audio Kaiser Encore. That seems like your kind of sig.

I tried the K10U and it was the kind of signature I liked but it didn't exactly wow me. I also thought that it didn't really justify its price. Haven't heard the encore yet.
I really want to compare my Finders with the kaiser 10 again as my finders actually gave me a wow effect after equalisation.

I'll get the Hifiman Sundara first in any case. It is very detailed, instrument separation is superb and all the details just pop instead of being hidden in the mix. I actually preferred it over the Stax Sr-009.

Sundara on the right

 

[PinkyPowers]

I tried the K10U and it was the kind of signature I liked but it didn't exactly wow me.

I'll get the Hifiman Sundara first in any case. It is very detailed, instrument separation is superb and all the details just pop instead of being hidden in the mix. I actually preferred it over the Stax Sr-009.

Sundara on the right

According to John, the designer and co-founder of Noble, Encore is more detailed than K10, with better clarity and bigger soundstage.

Hopefully before too long I'll be able to give first-hand experience on how the two compare.

 

[jeffhawke]

I tried the K10U and it was the kind of signature I liked but it didn't exactly wow me. I also thought that it didn't really justify its price. Haven't heard the encore yet.
I really want to compare my Finders with the kaiser 10 again as my finders actually gave me a wow effect after equalisation.

I'll get the Hifiman Sundara first in any case. It is very detailed, instrument separation is superb and all the details just pop instead of being hidden in the mix. I actually preferred it over the Stax Sr-009.

Sundara on the right

How about Custom Art? I read wonders about the Fibae lineup and the price range appears more than reasonable.

 

[seanwee]

How about Custom Art? I read wonders about the Fibae lineup and the price range appears more than reasonable.

I'll take a look. Thanks for the suggestions

 

[seanwee]

The internals look nice!

Yup, its definitely better shielded than the FiiO X5iii

 

[CayinSupport]

So after sorting through the issues I had last night I was able to download my Spotify playlist (my SD card is in the mail for my actual music library) and I was happy with the sound but I wanted to tweak it a bit as I found it sounded thinner than I'm used to. Tried to use the EQ in the N5ii but that doesn't seem to have any effect on Spotify. Ok, it's a third party app so maybe I should try Spotify's built-in EQ... No luck, the Spotify EQ isn't available on the version I have on the DAP. Ok, so I re-download Spotify thinking maybe it's an older version of something. Still no EQ.

So i'm laying in bed this morning messing with the player and with the newly dowloaded version of Spotify, streaming this time, not listening from my downloaded playlist, and I can hear the player talking to my home wifi network behind the music! Man, I really want to love this DAP but first impressions are really important to me and so far this experience hasn't been as smooth as I had anticipated. Once I turn wifi off it's fine but still, I paid over $500 cdn for this DAP and I'm not feeling like I'm getting my money's worth.

I can deal with the wifi chatter as I will be downloading Spotify music to the internal memory and using my SD card for the rest of my library but still. Is this normal? Maybe I expect too much from a $500 dedicated music player, I don't know. I'm also new to Android so that's probably not helping.

Is there a way to get a EQ for Spotify? Is there another app I can get?

Basically I have about another week to decide whether I want to keep this DAP or not. The store I bought it from will only take a return so my only other option for a DAP at that same price-point is the Fiio X5iii. Should I exchange it for the Fiio or just learn to live with the quirks? I'm very happy with the sound so far but would really like something to EQ Spotify.

Hi, we have been aware of the EQ issue and already added it to the bug and optimization list. We will improve it in the subsequent firmware. Sorry for the trouble caused!

 

[DBurkeM]

Hi, we have been aware of the EQ issue and already added it to the bug and optimization list. We will improve it in the subsequent firmware. Sorry for the trouble caused!

Thank you! It is this kind of customer support that has made me decide to stick with the N5ii. It really seems like Cayin listens to its users and that means a lot.