Cayin N6ii, Unlimited Possibilities: a fully modularized smart DAP

[gazzington]

What are good iems do go with e01 for multi genre listening?

 

[Andykong]

I am a little confused is amp t01
using a Burr-Brown pcm1792a
or its a different dac type similar to r2r2k?

I saw opus#3 has pcm1792a but it states Burr-Brown ....

PCM1792A is the officially name of the chipset under Texas Instrument. This was a Burr Brown DAC chipset originally, after TI acquired Burr-Brown , all Burr-Brown chipset becomes TI products but we tends to differentiate the 1792 and 1792A as a blue-blood BB chipset, hence we added Burr Brown before the PCM1792A product code.

 

[normie610]

Because our EQ can't handle sampling frequency above 48kHz

Ah so that’s why. The majority of my PCM and WAV files are either 192 and 352.8 kHz. Any future planS to have it enabled for higher res files? Thanks Andy.

 

[cr3ativ3]

No, not yet. I'm listening to the A01 from the 3.5mm single-ended output. It synergises with my T20s so much better than the E01 does. No burn-in on the A01 at all. I'm going to leave the A01 burning in overnight to see if it improves even further tomorrow. So far Ive only done one hour's worth of listening on the A01 and I'm very, very impressed.

The E01 sounded a little flat and lifeless after about 20 hours of burn-in and around 9 hours of listening. Disappointing. However, I do have a a pair of beyerdynamic Xelentos arriving some time next week and the E01 may synergise better with those.

Maybe it’s your iem pair up .. but my experience with E01 are complete different / the opposite ...

 

[Taz777]

Maybe it’s your iem pair up .. but my experience with E01 are complete different / the opposite ...

Of my two IEMs, this is my preference:

RHA T20: A01 module

Beyerdynamic Xelento: E01 module

This is not based on extensive listening, just a few hours at the moment.

 

[Vitaly2017]

PCM1792A is the officially name of the chipset under Texas Instrument. This was a Burr Brown DAC chipset originally, after TI acquired Burr-Brown , all Burr-Brown chipset becomes TI products but we tends to differentiate the 1792 and 1792A as a blue-blood BB chipset, hence we added Burr Brown before the PCM1792A product code.

A thats interesting I didnt know it was a burr brown as I once own a idsd black label and wasnt so impressed by it. I do like how it sounds from t01!

Guess ifi and cayin has different tuning that make those preferences...

Hmmm whats the difference from 1792 and 1792a?


Blue blood hehe, thats a cold blooded one hihi ) totally fits the ifi type of sound )

 

[111MilesToGo]

Here are some early impressions with Cayin N6ii + E01 module with Beyerdynamic Xelento IEMs. Source music was CD-quality (16-bit 44.1kHz)FLAC files stored locally on the micro-SD in the N6ii. I'll do the A01 review another time as I want to spend some time evaluating the E01 sound with the Xelentos. The music player software that I used was the Cayin Music app. Audio settings were:

Amp: Class A
PCM filter: Hybrid
DSD filter: IIR 47K
Gain: Medium

The volume set at 38 was perfect for me in a very quiet nighttime environment. The music genre was mostly smooth jazz. I did listen to a few male and female vocals, but it was mostly instrumental music.

The recording itself needs to be very good to get the most out of the Cayin N6ii + E01 + Xelento combination. Burn-in of the E01 module is around 24 hours. Burn-in of the Cayin N6ii is at around 50 hours now. Burn-in of the Xelentos is at 16 hours.

The key to getting good sound out of this combo is the fit of the Xelentos. The tips are specially shaped. You need to read the instructions on how to fit them correctly. I didn't read the instructions so was disappointed with the sound and went for the Comply foam tips. After some time, and after reading the instructions, I went back to the silicone tips and the sound completely changed.

Around one hour into the listening, I was becoming drawn into the music. I was discovering more and more instruments located in different parts of the sound stage. The layering of the music is something to behold. The effortless presentation took my breath away on some tracks. Now, for comparison, I used to have a pair of Amiron Homes. The bass on those was skull-tingling. I don't quite get that with the Xelentos. BUT...what I do get is the most exquisite sub-bass I have ever heard. I have a pair of beerdynamic T1.2 over-ears driven by an Arcam rhead amp. I don't get this level of sub-bass delivered with such finesse with those.

The texture of this sub-bass is so rounded and smooth that it is a beautiful contrast to the rasping texture of instruments like trumpets and saxophones, and vocals. The levels of detail, clarity, presentation, finesse and air delivered kept me going deeper into the songs, making new discoveries and feeling wonderment at how beautiful the music was. The enjoyment was so much that I had to force myself to stop listening after several hours as the time was reaching the early hours of the morning.

Music is all about emotional involvement for me. I have no interest in the graphs or measurements of a device. The emotional involvement produced by the synergy of the entire audio chain is the only thing that matters to me when listening to music. This combo delivers in heaps, and to the point that my dedicated bedtime listening system (N6ii + A01 feeding my Arcam rHead amp feeding my beyerdynamic T1.2 headphones) is now redundant, in that my N6ii + E01 + beyerdynamic Xelentos will serve as my portable system and my bedtime listening system. The additional benefit is that the Xelentos are more comfortable to wear in bed.

I'm hoping with more burn-in of all of the components, the sound will get even better. To put all of this into context, I returned my recent pair of Sennheiser HD 660 S headphones as the sound simply wasn't good enough for me.

And just for reference, my RHA T20 IEMs sound better with the A01 module as I tried those with both A01 and E01.

This is very helpful, keep this coming

Haven't heard the Xelentos with E01, but if it can replace your T1.2 setup, that would be more then impressive to me. Besides, 24 hours on E01 module and 16 hours on Xelentos means there are rooms for further burn-in. Your subsequent A01 vs E01 with Xelentos will be very interesting.

Yeah, Taz77, keep on, please. Very revealing. I have the N6ii with A01 and T01 plus the Xelento as my only IEM. For most genres I listen to (jazz, classical, classic old-school rock, and some old-school pop), I do prefer the T01 slightly because of its better authority as well as its performance and control in the bass department. Sometimes I like the A01 more for its marginally higher warmth and smoothness, in particular with classical.

Two remarks:

I do fully agree with you that the most important criterion is the capability to get engaged emotionally - you nail it. With respect to the technicalities, I try to realize the approach of doing as many things as possible just right, going from the big factors to the smaller ones; of course within budget.

The N6ii @ A01 or T01 > Xelento is my portable system, while a Hugo 2 > Violectric V281 > Sennheiser HD 800 S or Beyerdynamic T1.2 is my desktop system. I am looking forward to run my N6ii into the V281 and listen to it via the full-size headphones. It will be very interesting to compare Cayin‘s approach to Chord‘s, in particular with respect to musicality and emotions as well as transparency.

 

[kmmbd]

PCM1792A is the officially name of the chipset under Texas Instrument. This was a Burr Brown DAC chipset originally, after TI acquired Burr-Brown , all Burr-Brown chipset becomes TI products but we tends to differentiate the 1792 and 1792A as a blue-blood BB chipset, hence we added Burr Brown before the PCM1792A product code.

One thing I've been meaning to ask - is the T01 motherboard basically a reincarnation of the N6 gen 1 sound/setup in a more modern package? From memory (which can be misleading for sure) I found the T01 to be very reminiscent of the original N6. For me the most fun sounding of the three motherboards so far.

 

[Taz777]

Yeah, Taz77, keep on, please. Very revealing. I have the N6ii with A01 and T01 plus the Xelento as my only IEM. For most genres I listen to (jazz, classical, classic old-school rock, and some old-school pop), I do prefer the T01 slightly because of its better authority as well as its performance and control in the bass department. Sometimes I like the A01 more for its marginally higher warmth and smoothness, in particular with classical.

Two remarks:

I do fully agree with you that the most important criterion is the capability to get engaged emotionally - you nail it. With respect to the technicalities, I try to realize the approach of doing as many things as possible just right, going from the big factors to the smaller ones; of course within budget.

The N6ii @ A01 or T01 > Xelento is my portable system, while a Hugo 2 > Violectric V281 > Sennheiser HD 800 S or Beyerdynamic T1.2 is my desktop system. I am looking forward to run my N6ii into the V281 and listen to it via the full-size headphones. It will be very interesting to compare Cayin‘s approach to Chord‘s, in particular with respect to musicality and emotions as well as transparency.

I will probably end up getting the T01 board at some point. There is also the forthcoming E02 board to consider. I’ve never owned a decent DAP before and I’m totally bowled over!

 

[Andykong]

One thing I've been meaning to ask - is the T01 motherboard basically a reincarnation of the N6 gen 1 sound/setup in a more modern package? From memory (which can be misleading for sure) I found the T01 to be very reminiscent of the original N6. For me the most fun sounding of the three motherboards so far.

The analogue circuit is based on the N6mod back in 2017, a special R&D project with only 10 units created, five units were sold in China, and five units were used as internal R&D.

The PCM1792A in T01 is operated in DSD mode but the PCM1792A in original N6 operated in PCM mode

 

[Vitaly2017]

The analogue circuit is based on the N6mod back in 2017, a special R&D project with only 10 units created, five units were sold in China, and five units were used as internal R&D.

The PCM1792A in T01 is operated in DSD mode but the PCM1792A in original N6 operated in PCM mode

I am not sure how that dsd mod is working but I felt T01 being special right out of the box !

 

[jmills8]

I am not sure how that dsd mod is working but I felt T01 being special right out of the box !

Dsd mod ?

 

[Vitaly2017]

Dsd mod ?

I ment that from what Andy said the amp t01 is pushing sound out being in dsd all the time...

 

[CayinSupport]

Announcement of Cayin N6ii firmware v1.22EN

New Functions and System Optimization

1. Added data and user-interface to support the forthcoming Audio Motherboard.

2. Fixed “PO/LO” icon error on the Notification Bar for BAL on A01 and T01 audio motherboards.

3. Other bugs fixed and system optimization.

Firmware Upgrades Procedures

Cayin will release firmware updates to enhance and optimize N6ii as deem required. Users can update the firmware through OTA or local update. To manually download the firmware, please visit our official website, https://en.cayin.cn/. You can also directly download the v1.22en firmware from our Google Drive link.

Please make sure the device has sufficient battery power before you proceed.

Attentions

*Please make sure the device has not less than 30% battery power, otherwise please charge up the player before you proceed to a firmware update.
*Please make sure your N6ii has more than 1GB of storage before the firmware update.
*Do not operate the device during a firmware update.
*During a firmware update, the device will turn off and reboot automatically. If the device does not reboot 3 minutes after turned off, please press and hold the POWER BUTTON for 3 seconds to boot up the device, the device will resume the firmware update process.
*Please delete/remove the firmware file from the TF card after a firmware update.

OTA Update Procedures

1. Connect the N6ii to the internet via Wi-Fi.
2. Enter the Settings menu, then proceed to “System” -> “Wireless Update”.
3. Press “Check for updates”, the system will check for new firmware.
4. Press “Download” after new firmware is detected, the system will start downloading the new firmware.
5. Press “Install now” after the firmware is successfully downloaded.
6. Press “OK” at the pop-up dialogue, the system will start installing the new firmware.

Local Update Procedures

1. Download the latest firmware upgrade package from Cayin official website (en.cayin.cn), you should receive a compressed file as XXXX.zip which is used for N6ii firmware update.
2. DO NOT decompress the zip file.
3. Copy the firmware file into the root directory of N6ii internal memory or TF card, insert the TF card into N6ii before you proceed to next step.
4. Enter the Settings menu, then proceed to “System” -> “Wireless Update”.
5. Press the “┇” icon on the top right corner of the screen.
6. Select “Local updates” in the pull-down menu.
7. Proceed to the directory where the firmware file is located, then select the firmware file.
8. Press “INSTALL NOW”.
9. Press “OK” at the pop-up dialogue, the system will start installing the new firmware.

 

[greyforest]

I ment that from what Andy said the amp t01 is pushing sound out being in dsd all the time...

not really, i just ask about this with Caiyin. They told me that only the low-pass filter part of 1792a is in dsd mode.