I got the chance to spend some time with the N6ii as part of a tour. Thanks to Cayin for the opportunity!
Headphones used primarily 64 Audio U10 and HifiMan RE-2000. Sources used for comparison included iBasso DX-90, JDS Atom, Apple USB-C headphone adapter and the headphone out of my MSI Prestige laptop.
Lots of people have gone through the unboxing experience in great detail, so I won't. To put it briefly, the packaging is premium, as are the included accessories. Top marks.
The N6ii itself is quite a large and weighty device. This makes it feel like an expensive product (which it is), but it's more than I'd feel comfortably carrying in my pocket. I tried walking around with the N6ii while walking around for an hour or so, but it was just too heavy. The DX90 is much lighter and with a much smaller footprint, so gets the marks for portability. However, the sharp edges, cheap plastic buttons and slightly ill-fitting outputs make the DX90 feel quite low-rent in comparison to the beautiful N6ii. This isn't necessarily an advantage for the N6ii, as I found myself more likely to pick up the DX90 for portable use. You feel like you can throw the DX90 around a bit, whereas the N6ii needs to be treated with more care than I could muster when running for a bus or working in the garden.
The screen of the N6ii is huge and with relatively small bezels on the top and sides. It is bright and higher definition than I'd ever need from a DAP. Usually devices with big, bright, high-res screens chew threw battery life at an alarming rate. The N6ii's battery was truly remarkable. Even with the screen brightness set quite high and the WiFi running constantly, battery life might only drop 7 or 8% over an hour. You can easily go several days between charges, even more if you were judicious with the screen and connectivity.
Navigating within the Andriod OS was generally very easy and speedy. Unfortunately, I had a number of stability issues. Firstly, the Cayin app would only pick up the first few songs of each album when scanning from the SD card. I'd have to scan the SD card several times to get my library entirely on the app. Frequently (including as I write this) the app would give me a 'file not found' error when trying to play songs. This was especially frustrating when I'd scanned the SD card only moments earlier. My SD card is only a few months old, made by Samsung and hasn't had any issues on other devices. I reformated it several times to try and resolve these issues. I also had frequent crashes of both the Cayin and HiBy music apps. The Spotify app was very stable and familiar to navigate. However, it was quite slow, sometimes taking over a second to respond to inputs. Finally, the N6ii turned off completely one day. It then wouldn't charge from any of the three USB power supplies (with different cables, charging for 24 hours each) I had on hand, or even be detected when connecting to a PC. I ended up leaving it connected to my Xiaomi charger for 72 hours. After that, it turned on and I had no further charging issues.
Moving on to the sound. Really, there is nothing but positives here. I'm a skeptic when it comes to sources making a significant amount of differences. Additionally, I wrote my impressions before reading any reviews as to not colour my impressions. Overall, it had a relatively balanced signature that leaned on the leaner side, emphasizing bass control rather than emphasis. Specific comparisons below:
N6ii vs MSI headphone out: no comparison, even for a skeptic such as myself. The laptop just sounds lifeless, lacking extension at both ends, narrow soundstage, limited instrument separation and very limited adjustment in terms of volume.
N6ii vs Apple USB-C adapter (through my Mi Mix 2S): Much closer. N6ii has much lighter tonality, less boomy bass. The USB-C adapter had quite a bit of hiss, especially with the sensitive U10. The N6ii was dead silent. There was very limited volume adjustment available with the USB-C adapter, going in approximately 5% increments with huge increments. The N6ii was much more adjustable.
N6ii vs JDS Atom: the Atom was basically too noisy to be used with sensitive IEMs. Otherwise, they sounded very similar.
N6ii vs DX90: here's the most interesting comparison. I didn't have a volunteer to help me do this test blind, so take my impressions with a grain of salt. Both had excellent extension at both ends and wide soundstages. Points shared in those respects. The bass response is subtly different. The N6ii is a little bit lighter, with a touch less sub-bass emphasis. The DX90 has a bit more sub-bass, but this does come at the cost of a little bit of bass slam. The DX90 in comparison was a bit boomy. Calling it messy or uncontrolled would be an exaggeration, but it didn't have the clarity of the N6ii. Midrange was very similar, at times I felt as if the N6ii had a lighter midrange, but I think this was probably reflecting the bass bleeding over in the DX90. Treble response was indistinguishable to me. Instrument separation was excellent in both, with the N6ii getting a slight edge on certain instruments (e.g. fast floor tom drum work). The DX90 had a lot finer volume controls, but this was actually annoying as I had to change 5 or 10 increments, as opposed to 2 or 3 on the N6ii.
Comparing the two motherboards was tricky as it takes a few minutes to change the two over, so your going from inexact memories for your comparison. What was certainly noticable was the T01 being a lot more powerful. I usually had the volume on 28-30 on the A01, and 21-22 on the T01. Sound-wise, I initially felt as it the T01 might be a bit bassier, but I doubt I'd be able to pick a difference blind.
In summary, the N6ii is a beautiful, premium DAP with a clean, clear sound. I unfortunately had some technical issues. I have since done a bit of reading and it seems like these are not shared by many other users, so I will give Cayin the benefit of the doubt here and put my experience down to bad luck (or user error). I don't think I'd use the N6ii as a truly portable DAP, due to its weight and size, but I think as a source for a space-conscious audiophile, it would fit the bill nicely.
Thank you again Cayin for the opportunity.
Headphones used primarily 64 Audio U10 and HifiMan RE-2000. Sources used for comparison included iBasso DX-90, JDS Atom, Apple USB-C headphone adapter and the headphone out of my MSI Prestige laptop.
Lots of people have gone through the unboxing experience in great detail, so I won't. To put it briefly, the packaging is premium, as are the included accessories. Top marks.
The N6ii itself is quite a large and weighty device. This makes it feel like an expensive product (which it is), but it's more than I'd feel comfortably carrying in my pocket. I tried walking around with the N6ii while walking around for an hour or so, but it was just too heavy. The DX90 is much lighter and with a much smaller footprint, so gets the marks for portability. However, the sharp edges, cheap plastic buttons and slightly ill-fitting outputs make the DX90 feel quite low-rent in comparison to the beautiful N6ii. This isn't necessarily an advantage for the N6ii, as I found myself more likely to pick up the DX90 for portable use. You feel like you can throw the DX90 around a bit, whereas the N6ii needs to be treated with more care than I could muster when running for a bus or working in the garden.
The screen of the N6ii is huge and with relatively small bezels on the top and sides. It is bright and higher definition than I'd ever need from a DAP. Usually devices with big, bright, high-res screens chew threw battery life at an alarming rate. The N6ii's battery was truly remarkable. Even with the screen brightness set quite high and the WiFi running constantly, battery life might only drop 7 or 8% over an hour. You can easily go several days between charges, even more if you were judicious with the screen and connectivity.
Navigating within the Andriod OS was generally very easy and speedy. Unfortunately, I had a number of stability issues. Firstly, the Cayin app would only pick up the first few songs of each album when scanning from the SD card. I'd have to scan the SD card several times to get my library entirely on the app. Frequently (including as I write this) the app would give me a 'file not found' error when trying to play songs. This was especially frustrating when I'd scanned the SD card only moments earlier. My SD card is only a few months old, made by Samsung and hasn't had any issues on other devices. I reformated it several times to try and resolve these issues. I also had frequent crashes of both the Cayin and HiBy music apps. The Spotify app was very stable and familiar to navigate. However, it was quite slow, sometimes taking over a second to respond to inputs. Finally, the N6ii turned off completely one day. It then wouldn't charge from any of the three USB power supplies (with different cables, charging for 24 hours each) I had on hand, or even be detected when connecting to a PC. I ended up leaving it connected to my Xiaomi charger for 72 hours. After that, it turned on and I had no further charging issues.
Moving on to the sound. Really, there is nothing but positives here. I'm a skeptic when it comes to sources making a significant amount of differences. Additionally, I wrote my impressions before reading any reviews as to not colour my impressions. Overall, it had a relatively balanced signature that leaned on the leaner side, emphasizing bass control rather than emphasis. Specific comparisons below:
N6ii vs MSI headphone out: no comparison, even for a skeptic such as myself. The laptop just sounds lifeless, lacking extension at both ends, narrow soundstage, limited instrument separation and very limited adjustment in terms of volume.
N6ii vs Apple USB-C adapter (through my Mi Mix 2S): Much closer. N6ii has much lighter tonality, less boomy bass. The USB-C adapter had quite a bit of hiss, especially with the sensitive U10. The N6ii was dead silent. There was very limited volume adjustment available with the USB-C adapter, going in approximately 5% increments with huge increments. The N6ii was much more adjustable.
N6ii vs JDS Atom: the Atom was basically too noisy to be used with sensitive IEMs. Otherwise, they sounded very similar.
N6ii vs DX90: here's the most interesting comparison. I didn't have a volunteer to help me do this test blind, so take my impressions with a grain of salt. Both had excellent extension at both ends and wide soundstages. Points shared in those respects. The bass response is subtly different. The N6ii is a little bit lighter, with a touch less sub-bass emphasis. The DX90 has a bit more sub-bass, but this does come at the cost of a little bit of bass slam. The DX90 in comparison was a bit boomy. Calling it messy or uncontrolled would be an exaggeration, but it didn't have the clarity of the N6ii. Midrange was very similar, at times I felt as if the N6ii had a lighter midrange, but I think this was probably reflecting the bass bleeding over in the DX90. Treble response was indistinguishable to me. Instrument separation was excellent in both, with the N6ii getting a slight edge on certain instruments (e.g. fast floor tom drum work). The DX90 had a lot finer volume controls, but this was actually annoying as I had to change 5 or 10 increments, as opposed to 2 or 3 on the N6ii.
Comparing the two motherboards was tricky as it takes a few minutes to change the two over, so your going from inexact memories for your comparison. What was certainly noticable was the T01 being a lot more powerful. I usually had the volume on 28-30 on the A01, and 21-22 on the T01. Sound-wise, I initially felt as it the T01 might be a bit bassier, but I doubt I'd be able to pick a difference blind.
In summary, the N6ii is a beautiful, premium DAP with a clean, clear sound. I unfortunately had some technical issues. I have since done a bit of reading and it seems like these are not shared by many other users, so I will give Cayin the benefit of the doubt here and put my experience down to bad luck (or user error). I don't think I'd use the N6ii as a truly portable DAP, due to its weight and size, but I think as a source for a space-conscious audiophile, it would fit the bill nicely.
Thank you again Cayin for the opportunity.
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Brilliant card but sorry to post right after 
