[Andykong]

Hi @Andykong, good to see you back. Have a good New Year, and - most importantly - take care and stay safe and healthy.

Thanks again for your advice some weeks ago to get an N6ii as my first DAP - spot-on! I enjoy my N6ii+A01+T01, and contemplate to soon get the E01 too, of course.

Thanks a lot for your kind support. We finally resume operation yesterday, but still far from full team. Some of our staff members are still on their way back from their hometown, and some have arrived but need to go through home quarantine process before then can come back to the factory plant. We are trying our best to fight the COVID-19.

Glad you like your N6ii. Production schedule might suffer minor delay, so if you have make up your mind on E01 already, maybe you can place your order earlier too off set the longer waiting time.

 

[Andykong]

thanks for your reply, would that be able to change in other firmware updates to be able to include play store on chinese version. Not a big deal as all I care bout is tidal and qobuz and I got those running.

Not really possible, but you can install App market software such as APKPure, you should be able to access a lot of Music related app conveniently.

 

[Goochtropolis]

My apologies if this has already been said but is there a card that sounds drastically different than A01 or are they all minor variations of A01?

 

[Andykong]

Hello folks!

I've got a bit of a use-case question for you N6II folks.

Is the player able to reliably connect to public wifi (where you would need to sign in or accept terms and conditions) without having to do any finagling? Basically, I have free wifi where I work, but it requires acceptance of terms and conditions before it can connect - the HiBy R6 I tried a while ago did not do this, and I would have to use a web browser and it would drop connection frequently.

Thank you for your thoughts, I appreciate it!

You need a browser to go through the authentication process, I recommend a lightweight browser such as Dolphin Zero, Via Browser or Opera Mini. The Dolphin Zero is a private browser , it doesn’t store any browsing history, passwords, data etc, so it will take up less resources in the DAP.

 

[mashuto]

My apologies if this has already been said but is there a card that sounds drastically different than A01 or are they all minor variations of A01?

This may be an unpopular opinion around these parts... but I think the differences between any of these higher end daps (and by extension, the motherboards for the n6ii) are all going to be very minor.

I own the A01 and E01 and while I prefer the E01 for its imaging capabilities, soundstage, analog feel, etc... but the actual differences to the A01 are relatively small. Its all about tweaking things at this point rather than any large sweeping changes.

As I said, thats my opinion here, and it may not be a super popular one around here.

 

[Andykong]

@CayinSupport @Andykong

Update to below: As mentioned it looked like my N6ii had died. I left it plugged into the charger and left it for about half an hour. I then pressed the volume button in for 10 seconds, and magic! it starts to boot up. Tidal appears to be working fine and music is playing fine. Anyone have an idea what actually happened to the dap or why it wasn't responsive in any way?


Can anyone help with an issue I have just had? It seems as though my N6ii has just died. I was listening to music via Tidal and all was well and then the following sequence happened:

• The first thing noticed was the button on the right hand side to forward a track, instead went to a previous track. I then realised the forward and back buttons were reversed
• The song looked like it was paying as the song counter was moving forward i.e 0.01 etc ,also the line showing the progress was also moving, but there was no sound at all.
• I tried pressing a few buttons then went to clear all. It then said there was a problem with Tidal and a small blue circle appeared in the right hand corner of the Tidal icon.
• I tried to reload Tidal but nothing happened. I then went to press the volume button in to power off the dap but nothing happened.
• I then went to try and load Tidal again but now the screen went black and the Cayin yellow logo started to display across the screen. (as though it was booting up fresh)
• Then the wording 'Never be the same again' appeared (as though booting up) but it just hung on the screen and nothing further happened. I tried pressing buttons such as the volume button, then volume button plus pause button but nothing happened.
• I then held in the volume button to try and switch off the dap. After about 10 seconds the screen went black.
• I tried switching it on again but got nothing.
• I have hooked it up to the charger to see if power would help but again nothing. There is no bright light flashing to indicate charging.
• The dap appears a bit dead. I have tried holding in the volume button for 10 seconds plus but nothing.

I believe you have entered the safe mode of Qualcomm MCU. Search "safe mode" in this thread, you'll find a lot of discussion, examles are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

 

[inexactscience]

You need a browser to go through the authentication process, I recommend a lightweight browser such as Dolphin Zero, Via Browser or Opera Mini. The Dolphin Zero is a private browser , it doesn’t store any browsing history, passwords, data etc, so it will take up less resources in the DAP.

Thanks for the answer, and thank you in particular for the browser recommendation. While not ideal, I don't think it's a deal breaker, either. It's an excellent product concept, and I wonder what motherboard ideas you Cayin folks have in store for the future. Any plans for an IEM-targeted motherboard with low-power/low noise/high battery life in the plans?

 

[Deferenz]

I believe you have entered the safe mode of Qualcomm MCU. Search "safe mode" in this thread, you'll find a lot of discussion, examles are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Thanks Andy. I’ll have a read of those.

 

[Mastermind]

For about 3 days I've been enjoying by new and shiny E01. It's still being "warmed up", so here are my initial impressions. Class "A" provides really analogue sound signature, with refined, smooth, pleasantly sounding and somewhat relaxed (in comparison with class "AB" treble), deep bass with nice sub-bass extension and musical and well-presented mids and vocals. Class "AB" comes with more energy and brings in more digital sound signature. Faster attacks both in high and low ends, "sharper" sound in general. Imaging, stage and separation is on par in both modes and are quite excellent, one of the best I've heard.

I haven't got a chance to test T01 amp yet, but in comparison with stock A01 (which I like so much), the changes are quite noticeable. Most, in terms of sound stage - it's much bigger (both wider and higher), imaging and separation are better, trebles are more put forward, while mids are less emphasized (note weight is still amusing), although resolution is equally high in each module. Bass is a bit different too, both in quality and quantity, but it's yet to be more thoroughly tested.

Looking forward to further warming up, but so far I'm impressed - good job, Cayin!)

 

[Andykong]

I‘d like ask a few questions, in particular to @Andykong. Maybe they seem ”out of this world“ to you, but I like to treat any of my devices quite carefully and nicely. They are all about the N6ii battery.

1. What are the battery manufacturer‘s specs besides full capacity? How many discharge-charge cycles, before a certain degradation occurs?
2. How does Android (international version of N6ii) act when the battery gets very low? Orderly shutdown, or just vanishing?
3. Any harm done when running with the charger connected (QC 3.0 device at 18 W) for a prolonged time after charging fully?
4. What about charging and playing music simultaneously? I have NOT experienced excessive heat, not even with T01, of course not with A01 (I don‘t own an E01 [yet]).

Thanks in advance.

I don't have any data related to (1), sorry. We have good track record with our battery suppliers. So far our previous DAP batteries can live up with the 2 years or 300-500 charging cycle (whichever occurs first) norm and is e have encountered cases that sustain beyond that.

(3) The N6ii use Qualcomm solution so it is fully compatible with QC3.0, so this question is more related to generic lithium battery care taking under QC3.0 rather then N6ii only. In short, this will depends on your charger, some charger will cut off the charging when the charging current drop down to certain level, some won't. In most cases, it won't damage your battery immediately but will stressed the battery in the long run. If you are concerned about the battery life, shallow discharges and recharges are better than full charging cycle, because they put less stress on the battery, so it lasts longer. Regular full discharges or repeatedly charge up to 100% will speed up the aging of the battery. I always advice my users to stay within 20%-80% of battery range. I'll avoid battery drain to 10% or below, and I set countdown alarm to unplug my DAP from charger between 80% -90%. You can refer to other lithium battery discussion HERE, HERE and HERE.

In fact, that's why our Sales material stated the reference charging time of N6ii is 110 mins from 10% to 90%. We want to encourage users to stay within this range instead of charging the player to 100%.

(4) Our officially recommendation is to avoid charging and playing music simultaneously. Not that it is unsafe or the battery will explode, but this will stressed the power supply components as the internal currents will increase substantially. If you are playing regular CD quality FLAC, you probably won't aware of the that because the heat dispensation can still take care of it effectively, but when you playback high sample rate tracks, you'll feel the temperature.

My N6ii was on loan to a local reviewer, so I passed Question (2) to our Engineer and Cayinsupport will come back to you later.

 

[Andykong]

Thanks for the answer, and thank you in particular for the browser recommendation. While not ideal, I don't think it's a deal breaker, either. It's an excellent product concept, and I wonder what motherboard ideas you Cayin folks have in store for the future. Any plans for an IEM-targeted motherboard with low-power/low noise/high battery life in the plans?

Cayin rarely discuss our future product plan. If you look at our history with N8 or N6ii, there is no news or rumour at all until we debut a prototype at a major audio show. We listen to suggestion from users, but until we have a Audio Motherboard prototype on hand, we won't bring it out for discussion.

On the other hand, we probably have different assumption on the term IEM-targeted. When a manufacturer looks at the current IEM market, we don't just see the super high sensitive items, we also need to look at the items such as the electrostatic hybrids or demanding IEMs from FAD, RHA, oBravo.

 

[Rayzilla]

I don't have any data related to (1), sorry. We have good track record with our battery suppliers. So far our previous DAP batteries can live up with the 2 years or 300-500 charging cycle (whichever occurs first) norm and is e have encountered cases that sustain beyond that.

(3) The N6ii use Qualcomm solution so it is fully compatible with QC3.0, so this question is more related to generic lithium battery care taking under QC3.0 rather then N6ii only. In short, this will depends on your charger, some charger will cut off the charging when the charging current drop down to certain level, some won't. In most cases, it won't damage your battery immediately but will stressed the battery in the long run. If you are concerned about the battery life, shallow discharges and recharges are better than full charging cycle, because they put less stress on the battery, so it lasts longer. Regular full discharges or repeatedly charge up to 100% will speed up the aging of the battery. I always advice my users to stay within 20%-80% of battery range. I'll avoid battery drain to 10% or below, and I set countdown alarm to unplug my DAP from charger between 80% -90%. You can refer to other lithium battery discussion HERE, HERE and HERE.

In fact, that's why our Sales material stated the reference charging time of N6ii is 110 mins from 10% to 90%. We want to encourage users to stay within this range instead of charging the player to 100%.



(4) Our officially recommendation is to avoid charging and playing music simultaneously. Not that it is unsafe or the battery will explode, but this will stressed the power supply components as the internal currents will increase substantially. If you are playing regular CD quality FLAC, you probably won't aware of the that because the heat dispensation can still take care of it effectively, but when you playback high sample rate tracks, you'll feel the temperature.

My N6ii was on loan to a local reviewer, so I passed Question (2) to our Engineer and Cayinsupport will come back to you later.

This is very useful information. Does it also apply to mobile phones, portable amps and DACs?

Thanks for your valuable responses!

 

[Andykong]

This is very useful information. Does it also apply to mobile phones, portable amps and DACs?

Thanks for your valuable responses!

Yes, this is general lithium battery care taking, it applies to all appliance and 3C equipment with Lithium battery. The problem is, most DAC/Amp won't provide a numeric battery reading, if you only have 5 flashing LED, you can only control the charging by guessing.

 

[Goochtropolis]

This may be an unpopular opinion around these parts... but I think the differences between any of these higher end daps (and by extension, the motherboards for the n6ii) are all going to be very minor.

I own the A01 and E01 and while I prefer the E01 for its imaging capabilities, soundstage, analog feel, etc... but the actual differences to the A01 are relatively small. Its all about tweaking things at this point rather than any large sweeping changes.

As I said, thats my opinion here, and it may not be a super popular one around here.

Thank you for the info, I really appreciate it! So would you say the E01 is still warm like A01?

 

[mashuto]

Thank you for the info, I really appreciate it! So would you say the E01 is still warm like A01?

Yea I think so.

Though I'm likely not the best person to ask. There are a few good reviews floating around that go into a lot more detail that I would check out if you are interested.

What I can say though is that I prefer a bitnof a wanted more "organic" natural sound. I enjoyed the a01 and I prefer the e01 to it.