Cayin N5ii Android based Master Quality Digital Audio Player

[seanwee]

WM1Z vs N5ii (I know I know, it's unfair. But if I have the chance, why not? )

I'm only using single ended on the N5ii

Single ended : Boy does the WM1Z like to flex its bass muscles. Quiet rumbles are more prominent on the WM1Z. Overall its warmer than the N5ii. Soundstage is wider than the N5ii . Instruments separation is better than the N5ii but presented differently. The N5ii has an upper hand in clarity and transparency but the WM1Z has a bigger soundstage to play with. Instruments sound thicker than on the N5ii which is an improvement on sharper sounding instruments. Drum beats are slower and fatter compared to the N5ii which has a more natural attack and decay.

Balanced : Before I even start playing, I noticed that hissing is significantly higher than single ended. Balanced is quite a bit warmer sounding than the unbalanced output. Soundstage is a little wider than the single ended output and has increased depth. However, instrument separation suffers due to loss of transparency caused by the warmer and thicker sound. Bass is fuller and much looser compared to SE which may hinder clarity and transparency even more. Instrument separation loses to the N5ii this round. Smaller details are still there but are very hard to hear. The sound is quite congested compared to single ended.

Personally I like the single ended output more.

 

[CayinSupport]

I assume 2.5mm TRRS to 4-pole XLR should pose no problem, am I correct?

You are right.

 

[ngs428]

@seanwee is there a preferred file system type to use for the SD card? Just picked up a 200GB one and it is in exFAT.

 

[seanwee]

@seanwee is there a preferred file system type to use for the SD card? Just picked up a 200GB one and it is in exFAT.

Yeah, it should be fine. I have a 200gb SanDisk card in exfat and a 128gb SanDisk extreme in FAT32 (just for backwards compatibility when demoing DAPs) and they both work fine

 

[ngs428]

Yeah, it should be fine. I have a 200gb SanDisk card in exfat and a 128gb SanDisk extreme in FAT32 (just for backwards compatibility when demoing DAPs) and they both work fine

Sounds good. I will keep it as is.

 

[originalsnuffy]

Just to clarify....if I have a 2.5mm balanced male; I can use a converter to 3.5 mm if I wanted to. I just can't take a 3.5mm male and get a converter to 2.5 mm and plug that into the balanced output.
Correct?

 

[Andykong]

Just to clarify....if I have a 2.5mm balanced male; I can use a converter to 3.5 mm if I wanted to. I just can't take a 3.5mm male and get a converter to 2.5 mm and plug that into the balanced output.
Correct?

Yes, that's correct.

Look at the case from a simplified perspective, i.e., current flow from DAP to headphone.

if I have a 2.5mm balanced male; I can use a converter to 3.5 mm if I wanted to. .... in this case, you have duplicated the ground of 3.5mm output to the L- and R-
I just can't take a 3.5mm male and get a converter to 2.5 mm and plug that into the balanced output. .... in this case, you have merged the L- and R- into one stream feeding the 3.5mm ground.

Duplicate is OK, it won't sound better, but it won't crash either. Merging is NOT OK.

 

[SchwarzeWolke]

Hi folks, got the N5ii now for ten days and so far I'm quite pleased with the design, the UI and the sound. Only thing I didn't find also in the manual is something like a "hold" button. Is there some way that I can lock the buttons and the volume control?

Edit: All right... Should have searched a bit further... Really cool, you can choose what should be locked when the unit is locked! Right now, I just shut down the buttons, the volume control is still accessible.

 

[craglett]

Sorry if this has been asked before (please direct me elsewhere if there is somewhere better to ask) but I wondered if anyone else was suffering with the battery "leaking" power when not in use? It's so bad that I can charge it fully, not even use it and find the battery is almost empty within a few days. Seems like something isn't quite right.

 

[maira]

Is anybody able to compare the SQ with the Pono Player?

 

[SchwarzeWolke]

Sorry if this has been asked before (please direct me elsewhere if there is somewhere better to ask) but I wondered if anyone else was suffering with the battery "leaking" power when not in use? It's so bad that I can charge it fully, not even use it and find the battery is almost empty within a few days. Seems like something isn't quite right.

Don't know if this has been adressed but did you use the "idle shutdown"? My experience with Android overall is that the system has to be in an idle state with the least amount of battery usage. Otherwise, the battery will die within two to three day.

Edit: Page 12 in the manual btw. Swipe down from the upper part of the screen and then hit the "Settings" button.

 

[Dsnuts]

Is anybody able to compare the SQ with the Pono Player?

The N5ii sounds like a more dynamic sounding Pono. Wider stage. Punchier bass. Mids have more range. Would be a nice upgrade for you.

 

[Andykong]

Sorry if this has been asked before (please direct me elsewhere if there is somewhere better to ask) but I wondered if anyone else was suffering with the battery "leaking" power when not in use? It's so bad that I can charge it fully, not even use it and find the battery is almost empty within a few days. Seems like something isn't quite right.

Do you mean you keep the N5ii turned on and idle for several days? or you have turned it off and still the battery runs out in several days? Did you install any third party application?

 

[craglett]

Thanks for the answers both. I have Idle Shutdown highlighted in the drop down menu, the unit is powered on during my test but music is not being played. I have TIDAL installed but am in Audio Priority Mode so 3rd party apps will be disabled.

The delay in replying is because I wanted to run a test. I've charged to 100%, left it in the state described above and 24 hours later 26% of the battery has drained. Seems high to me.

 

[Slater91]

Thanks for the answers both. I have Idle Shutdown highlighted in the drop down menu, the unit is powered on during my test but music is not being played. I have TIDAL installed but am in Audio Priority Mode so 3rd party apps will be disabled.

The delay in replying is because I wanted to run a test. I've charged to 100%, left it in the state described above and 24 hours later 26% of the battery has drained. Seems high to me.

That's quite normal. If you think about it, the Cayin N5ii is built on top of a smartphone foundation - same CPU, same RAM, same storage. In short, it's a smartphone without the cellular part (and a few other things, plus a few added things). At heart, it is smartphone hardware. And it has smartphone software (Android OS). So it is to be expected that it behaves like a smartphone in how it manages battery. ~1% an hour seems like an average-good figure.