[rezaswandira]

Ok, just for extra info. I'm in Thailand now, here ZX300 is ~670$, N5iiS ~495$, X5iii ~400$.
Are you sure we're talking about same DAPs? ZX300 is the most expensive one even on an official Sony page.

Have a look. https://www.sony.co.id/en/electronics/walkman/nw-zx300

 

[NicholasS]

Have a look. https://www.sony.co.id/en/electronics/walkman/nw-zx300

Oh sh... man, weird. Maybe it's made in Indonesia, so no taxes, that's why here is muuuch more expensive: https://www.sony.co.th/en/electronics/walkman/nw-zx300

Hm, maybe I should go for ZX-300 and ask you to send me from Indo... :-D

 

[rezaswandira]

Oh sh... man, weird. Maybe it's made in Indonesia, so no taxes, that's why here is muuuch more expensive: https://www.sony.co.th/en/electronics/walkman/nw-zx300

Hm, maybe I should go for ZX-300 and ask you to send me from Indo... :-D

All Sony DAPs (excluding japan-made flagships) are made in Malaysia if im not mistaken. Could be the shipping, taxes etc etc.

 

[seanwee]

I'm after a dap for work and am considering n5iis or fiio x5iii. Anybody have both and have a preference? Streaming is not an issue for me.

SQ wise the N5iiS is undoubtedly a step up. However, now that it's a $500 VS $300 thing the choice is not as clear as it once was with the N5ii.

Have you checked out the Ibasso DX120 BTW? It's on par with the N5ii SQ wise.

 

[NicholasS]

All Sony DAPs (excluding japan-made flagships) are made in Malaysia if im not mistaken. Could be the shipping, taxes etc etc.

Then it's double weird such difference in prices, it's like 50% extra of Indo's price, and it's imported too... smth is wrong here.

 

[gazzington]

I see this player has a lot of bugs. Are they mainly android based or do they effect just standard playing?

 

[originalsnuffy]

If you only use the unit to play music stored on the music, its at most "mildly buggy". More like laggy.

But it sounds great.

Now if you want to feed a Mojo, or run apps, things get a bit stickier and you would need to run a search.

So the answer to your question really comes down to your use case. It is, in my opinion, a bit underpowered in terms of CPU/Memory.

 

[gazzington]

I bought one for £185 as new. I think it will be ideal for work. I'm not intending to stream just play flacs. Hopefully it will work out well. Anybody know what iems pair nicely with it?

 

[acroyear]

The covers redrawing slowly issue is interesting, because when you use another app like Poweramp on the N5iiS the covers draw almost instantly. It's Cayin's native player that needs an update. Also, why can't we change how many covers per row? 3 is too many. A choice would be nice

 

[acroyear]

I bought one for £185 as new. I think it will be ideal for work. I'm not intending to stream just play flacs. Hopefully it will work out well. Anybody know what iems pair nicely with it?

All IEMs I've tried pair nicely, but the Final e5000 works best for me. They're a perfect match for this dap. I also use NCM nC5's.

 

[Crumblenaut]

All IEMs I've tried pair nicely, but the Final e5000 works best for me. They're a perfect match for this dap. I also use NCM nC5's.

That's good to hear - I've just ordered a pair of E5000's to use with my N5ii

 

[gazzington]

Hooray, I already have final e5000!

 

[originalsnuffy]

Honestly, I think the N5II would sound pretty good with just about anything you threw in to the mix. As a pure digital audio player, ignoring android type features, this is a great unit. The extra android features.....Tidal, etc.....well don't get your hopes up. So if you intend to use the player for direct playback from SD cards, you are unlikely to have issues. Streaming....not so much.

Those streaming issues are not unique to Cayin....good luck on those features on anything associated with HiBy.

 

[gazzington]

Not bothered about streaming at all. I have a phone for that. Whats the issue reg headphones jack. Is it on the 3.5 and 2.5?

 

[originalsnuffy]

I dunno about jack issues. I use both the 2.5 and 3.5 jacks and everything has been just fine so far. I know its possible to improve on the Cayin N5II but everything above that is going to be incrementally better not hugely better. It really is that good.

By the way I am not a review shill; I paid for my unit. There are a few regular reviewers that I no longer can trust; I have been sorely disappointed with some highly touted units that turned out to be crap that were highly plugged here by professional reviewers. Unlikely to trust reviews from some of those bad boys out there going forward.