Cayin N6ii, Unlimited Possibilities: a fully modularized smart DAP

[justsomesonyfan]

I wonder if there'll be a n6iii eventually.. hmm

 

[bukumurah]

Hi Fellas, I wanted to ask about the A02 board.. is the sound supposed be be more 'in your face' compared to the rest of the boards, including the A01? I am using mine with the C9 amp..

I also feel that the A02 does not sound velvety smooth like the typical AKM sound.. the A01 is way smoother and more musical than the A02..

On a positive note though, the A02 sounds extremely realistic, holographic and natural/believable (at decent volume level, which is around 31 on PRE mode Mid Gain, when used with the C9 in Low Gain too.. otherwise it will sound rather flat and dynamically compressed at lower volume).. in terms of naturalness and believability, it is basically on par with the R01..

But the 'in your face' presentation is really a big issue for me..

 

[emdeevee]

Hi Fellas, I wanted to ask about the A02 board.. is the sound supposed be be more 'in your face' compared to the rest of the boards, including the A01? I am using mine with the C9 amp..

I also feel that the A02 does not sound velvety smooth like the typical AKM sound.. the A01 is way smoother and more musical than the A02..

On a positive note though, the A02 sounds extremely realistic, holographic and natural/believable (at decent volume level, which is around 31 on PRE mode Mid Gain, when used with the C9 in Low Gain too.. otherwise it will sound rather flat and dynamically compressed at lower volume).. in terms of naturalness and believability, it is basically on par with the R01..

But the 'in your face' presentation is really a big issue for me..

At this point, why not just use R01?

 

[bukumurah]

At this point, why not just use R01?

LOL I had high hopes that the A02 in pre mode with an external amp would sound better than the R01 with the same amp (but in dual amping setup since it has no LO).. shouldn't it be the case?

 

[justsomesonyfan]

LOL I had hoped that the A02 in pre mode with an external amp would sound better than the R01 with the same amp (but in dual amping setup since it has no LO).. shouldn't it be the case?

it should but sound is subjective, what you see as "in your face" can be translated as "power" or "dynamics" or even "soundstage" to someone else

 

[bukumurah]

it should but sound is subjective, what you see as "in your face" can be translated as "power" or "dynamics" or even "soundstage" to someone else

That is a very good point.. though what I really meant by 'in your face' was purely in terms of staging placement, where with the A02 the singer is positioned much closer to my face than when using the other boards

 

[justsomesonyfan]

That is a very good point.. though what I really meant by 'in your face' was purely in terms of staging placement, where with the A02 the singer is positioned much closer to my face than when using the other boards

I got the "in your face" sound when i tried hifiman devices (r2r2000, hm1000), to me it's preferable when it comes to most metal songs, it's one of the reasons i wasn't a huge fan of the r01 (although i definitely need to give it another go with my new gear) as I've felt that the sound was too soft (with A01 E01 and E02 aswell) compared to the hifiman devices

then came the wm1a haha

 

[ThanatosVI]

I wonder if there'll be a n6iii eventually.. hmm

Wouldn't that be nice?
With swapable tube modules for classic and modern tube flavor...

 

[justsomesonyfan]

Wouldn't that be nice?
With swapable tube modules for classic and modern tube flavor...

honestly not really interested in tubes.. tried with amp 13 on dx320.... was very meh

I would love a modern n6ii design, not too bigger than this one, with just updated dac chips and a fully balanced r2r module (double the resistors), an A02 with the newest ak4499ex would be awesome

 

[ThanatosVI]

honestly not really interested in tubes.. tried with amp 13 on dx320.... was very meh

I would love a modern n6ii design, not too bigger than this one, with just updated dac chips and a fully balanced r2r module (double the resistors), an A02 with the newest ak4499ex would be awesome

You need to try Cayin Tube implementations!
Cayin know what they are doing here.

I'd love the N30LE, with double tube circuits. Unfortunately it's already sold out in my country.

To save some space, a modular DAP could be a solution.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

You need to try Cayin Tube implementations!
Cayin know what they are doing here.

I'd love the N30LE, with double tube circuits. Unfortunately it's already sold out in my country.

To save some space, a modular DAP could be a solution.

honestly not interested in the n30le haha, too bulky, i'm sure my modded 1a will not be too far in SQ with much better convenience, but n6ii brings in huge versatility

and true, i need to try cayin tubes!

 

[justsomesonyfan]

Grabbed a cheap n6ii + t01 that should arrive in a few weeks. If anyone is interested, I'm trading a pair of ath ad1000x for a R01 or A02 motherboard

 

[FiGuY1017]

Looking at a Cayin n6ii to replace my Shanling M6 21 is it a good buy in 2023? And will it be an upgrade? It'd probably be a to1 off eBay

 

[justsomesonyfan]

Looking at a Cayin n6ii to replace my Shanling M6 21 is it a good buy in 2023? And will it be an upgrade? It'd probably be a to1 off eBay

I'd say wm1a and n6ii are some of the best budget options out there, would pick both over the ibasso dx320, if that matters.

Good chance the n6ii won't be a huge upgrade but it'll give you a whole lot of flavors and options, from r2r (r01) to old legendary burrbrown chips (t01) to high quality lineout (A02, e02 to a lesser extent) to modern dacs (ess/akm, a01, e01, e02).

Synergy is everything IMO, so having so many options in one device which isn't a huge brick is terrific imo. Even though the android is probably a bit outdated, not sure how much That'll impact usage.

 

[FiGuY1017]

Sq wise I'm very happy with M6 21 but software wise it drives me crazy always crashing, and soooo slow! So I might be trading one headache for another?