[MilesR]

Cayin N6 give an impedance of 220mW +220 mW (32Ω load). Does this mean I would be limited to 32Ω head/earphones ?

 

[twister6]

  Cayin N6 give an impedance of 220mW +220 mW (32Ω load). Does this mean I would be limited to 32Ω head/earphones ?

 
No, this is a power level to expect when driving 32ohm load.  It scales down when you connect 150ohm, 300ohm, and 600ohm headphones, all of which you can drive with N6.  Obviously, if your high impedance cans require a lot of power, you probably better off stacking up N6 with a portable amp, like Cayin's C5.  I have no issues driving my R70x (470 ohm) with N6.

 

[MilesR]

I was really impressed with the review Flare Audio R2A earphones, are you familiar ? It seems to me that they would match up well. Opinions ??

 

[bluesaint]

Recently started jamming my n6+c5 combo with my hardwired hd800 and result is great much to my surprise. Great products!

 

[HenHarrier]

@Andykong - re the 'popping' noise I'm getting with my N6 (see previous messages): I recently bought a headphone amp, and the odd sounds disappear when I'm using it. Clearly it's an issue with the N6's internal amp then. Could there be a long-term impact to the player? My N6 has been doing this since I bought it back in June. Thanks.

 

[Andykong]

Cayin N6 has been added to the Dap Challenge Chart, hope this helps. 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/751068/dap-challenge-chart-including-24-portable-sources-cayin-n6-added-more-to-come#post_11229263

Great, appreciate your endorsement on the Cayin N6. I have followed your list earlier on but the project seems to quiet down after 2-3 months of active comparison, glad to know the project has picked up new DAPs recently and grow into a more representative reference.

 

[Andykong]

@Andykong
- any further thoughts on the slight popping I hear when a track at the end of a folder finishes? I get a soft 'pop' sound at the end of the track and a second one as the N6 closes down at the end of a folder. Is no-one else getting this sound? It's not a major concern - at least I have no reason to think it might be - but I would like to know whether other people have the same issue, or whether this is 'normal'. Thanks

@Andykong
- re the 'popping' noise I'm getting with my N6 (see previous messages): I recently bought a headphone amp, and the odd sounds disappear when I'm using it. Clearly it's an issue with the N6's internal amp then. Could there be a long-term impact to the player? My N6 has been doing this since I bought it back in June. Thanks.

What firmware version are you using right now? N6 does exhibit some pop sound problem at earlier firmware version, but everything after v3.0 should solve the pop sound problem already.

Can you also check
(1) if you were to use Repeat all mode (i.e., loop back to track 1 of the folder after playing the last song of the folder), will the pop sound remain unchanged?
(2) if you were to enable Folder playback function at the Playback Setup (v3.0 and v3.1 firmware), the player will jump to next folder after playing the last song of the current folder, will the pop sound remain unchanged?

My N6 didn't have the pop sound at the end of folder. If anyone has similar problem with their N6, please chip in and help us to identify the root cause of HenHarrier's problem.

Normally pop sound will cause damage to headphone instead of to amplifier, but the pop sound you described sounds like a very mild one, shouldn't causing adverse effect to the player nor the headphone.

 

[Andykong]

Recently started jamming my n6+c5 combo with my hardwired hd800 and result is great much to my surprise. Great products!

Now this is a very interesting combo, care to show us some picture?

 

[bluesaint]

Now this is a very interesting combo, care to show us some picture?

It is, I honestly didn't know how well it would've worked.  The plan was to switch over to iDSD Pro whenever that is released and use c5+n6 combo till then.  
Although I wish N6 had balanced output like N5
 
Click to see full image size.
 

 

[Gayron]

Hi guys, I'm planning to buy Cayin N6 and I also consider the Cayin C5DAC option, and wanted to ask your opinion. I already bought a pair of Sennheisesr HD650 and have a smartphone. I mostly listen to my music from the phone (Xiaomi Mi Note with a built-in DAC on board) through Sony XBA-H3. I'm basically happy with the setup, but since recently I started thinking about more serious sound. I like listening from phone because it has Google Music subscription, can scrobble etc. So my question is: Would there be any noticeable sound difference between the following setups:
N6 + HD650 or phone + C5DAC (connected as DAC via USB port) + HD 650. My major doubt revolves about the understanding that I basically don't need a standalone player due to its limited functionality, but I want the best source for my HD650, and since I can connect the C5DAC to the phone I can keep all the bonus features of a smartphone there is no reason to go for a more expensive and limited option of the N6 DAP.
 
Thank you in advance for your opinions and answers.
 
Or if I pair N6 with C5DAC would that be even greater option?

 

[Caruryn]

  Hi guys, I'm planning to buy Cayin N6 and I also consider the Cayin C5DAC option, and wanted to ask your opinion. I already bought a pair of Sennheisesr HD650 and have a smartphone. I mostly listen to my music from the phone (Xiaomi Mi Note with a built-in DAC on board) through Sony XBA-H3. I'm basically happy with the setup, but since recently I started thinking about more serious sound. I like listening from phone because it has Google Music subscription, can scrobble etc. So my question is: Would there be any noticeable sound difference between the following setups:
N6 + HD650 or phone + C5DAC (connected as DAC via USB port) + HD 650. My major doubt revolves about the understanding that I basically don't need a standalone player due to its limited functionality, but I want the best source for my HD650, and since I can connect the C5DAC to the phone I can keep all the bonus features of a smartphone there is no reason to go for a more expensive and limited option of the N6 DAP.
 
Thank you in advance for your opinions and answers.
 
Or if I pair N6 with C5DAC would that be even greater option?

Why would you consider the C5Dac when you have the N6 with the dual Burrbrown dacs?When you have an almost  totl player and you want to up the sound quality while driving big cans with authority then you go for a high quality amp like pure ii for example or a dac/amp like chord hugo if you want to bypass the N6 dacs and get a more organic and transparent sound.My point is you have to spend some more money if you want high caliber sound while having the power to drive high impedance cans.Otherwise just get Cayin c5 amp which has more power than N6 and has good synergy with it but there are some trade offs(lots of power, more expanded soundstage,more warm tone but slightly less resolving/detailed).
 
If you want to bypass the smartphone dac and get better sound on the go i would personally go with oppo ha-2.

 

[Gayron]

  Why would you consider the C5Dac when you have the N6 with the dual Burrbrown dacs?When you have an almost  totl player and you want to up the sound quality while driving big cans with authority then you go for a high quality amp like pure ii for example or a dac/amp like chord hugo if you want to bypass the N6 dacs and get a more organic and transparent sound.My point is you have to spend some more money if you want high caliber sound while having the power to drive high impedance cans.Otherwise just get Cayin c5 amp which has more power than N6 and has good synergy with it but there are some trade offs(lots of power, more expanded soundstage,more warm tone but slightly less resolving/detailed).
 
If you want to bypass the smartphone dac and get better sound on the go i would personally go with oppo ha-2.

 
Thanks for the reply, yeah all those amps you recommend are great, but are beyond my planned budget. I'm considering C5DAC over N6 because, as I see it, I can connect it to my phone and get more or less similar sound to the standalone N6 (since they have similar DACs), so I can't see why I should pay more for the player. And the reason I'm asking here is that I'm not sure, perhaps the N6 sound would beat the C5DAC+phone sound. And if somebody knowing could confirm that N6 would be a better choice than a smartphone+C5Dac I would go for it I think )

 

[Caruryn]

   
Thanks for the reply, yeah all those amps you recommend are great, but are beyond my planned budget. I'm considering C5DAC over N6 because, as I see it, I can connect it to my phone and get more or less similar sound to the standalone N6 (since they have similar DACs), so I can't see why I should pay more for the player. And the reason I'm asking here is that I'm not sure, perhaps the N6 sound would beat the C5DAC+phone sound. And if somebody knowing could confirm that N6 would be a better choice than a smartphone+C5Dac I would go for it I think )

http://www.head-fi.org/products/cayin-spark-c5-dac-portable-usb-dac-headphone-amplifier/reviews/13546
That alone should give an indication.If the C5 Dac+phone cannot beat the fiio X5,it will certainly sound inferior to N6 on  technical aspects like,resolution,transparency,bass detail,control e.t.c.

 

[Andykong]

Hi guys, I'm planning to buy Cayin N6 and I also consider the Cayin C5DAC option, and wanted to ask your opinion. I already bought a pair of Sennheisesr HD650 and have a smartphone. I mostly listen to my music from the phone (Xiaomi Mi Note with a built-in DAC on board) through Sony XBA-H3. I'm basically happy with the setup, but since recently I started thinking about more serious sound. I like listening from phone because it has Google Music subscription, can scrobble etc. So my question is: Would there be any noticeable sound difference between the following setups:

N6 + HD650 or phone + C5DAC (connected as DAC via USB port) + HD 650. My major doubt revolves about the understanding that I basically don't need a standalone player due to its limited functionality, but I want the best source for my HD650, and since I can connect the C5DAC to the phone I can keep all the bonus features of a smartphone there is no reason to go for a more expensive and limited option of the N6 DAP.

Thank you in advance for your opinions and answers.

Or if I pair N6 with C5DAC would that be even greater option?

If you want to compare the quality of DAC, then N6 will be at least a league above C5DAC. N6 is our flagship portable electronic with 2x PCM1792A, and C5DAC is our workhorse design with ONE piece of PCM1795. If you compare the specification of 1792A vs 1795, you probably notice their digital capability are similar, but the devil is hidden in the detail, check out the analogue detail and you'll notice how 1792A excel in dynamic, crosstalk and THD+N values, so you are comparing two flagship chipset vs a workhorse chispset for that matters.

If you want to compare the driving capability to handle 300ohm headphone, then C5 >> C5DAC > N6

So we have three combinations here.

N6 + C5: this is the recommended setup if you insisted to drive the HD650 with portable equipment, you have reasonable audio performance in terms of detail, soundstage and liveliness (an important factor to determine whether HD650 is driven satisfactory)

Smartphone + C5DAC: a good causal listening setup, you won't feel something is missing to start with, but if you listen carefully, the "density" is the weak link, the detail is not enough to fill up the soundstage created by the headphone, and the music is kind of lacking in emotion, some audiophhile elelements such as body, imaging are also lacking to some extend.

N6 driving HD650 directly: you can have explore the sound signature of the headphone, it can be very loud, but far from the satisfactory performance of the HD650. I'll describe this can "listenable" but not enjoyable, especially after you heard the HD650 with a proper desktop system at around US$1K range. The soundstage is clamed in the middle, lack in control, and music is a bit too dark for my taste.

To be honest, with full size open headphone like HD650, desktop system actually offer better value for money, the "watt" from portable device might be enough to drive the headphone to deafening level, but you need current to control the headphone and this is where the fundamental different between battery powered and AC powered amplifier kicks in. However, if you must go for portable device, I'll recommend N6 + C5, or even the new N5 + C5 can works pretty well too, but the N5 maybe be a bit difficult to come by, depending at your location, our US sales channel is still looking forward to their evaluation sample before they make up their mind.

 

[Yamada-Tech]

Jogdial Up and Down operation is reverse XD
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