[captblaze]

Which part is steam punk though?

the design of the knobs including the color choice as compared to the stainless chassis

I appreciate how Cayin has not only taken the internals to a different place, but they are also making a bold statement regarding their chassis design. Like it or not, it is these details that make the N8 interesting and unique (in my opinion)

I only have the budget for 1 TOTL DAP this year and with all the potential choices it wont be an easy choice

Also... the accessories shown in the pictures 1 page back adds to contrast things a bit more

 

[Pictograms]

The full black is very nice, but if it were to go full black I feel like you are missing something... like need a slightly off black or dark grey for trim

 

[Pictograms]

Has it been said if you will be able to see the nutubes glowing when engaged?

 

[seanwee]

The full black is very nice, but if it were to go full black I feel like you are missing something... like need a slightly off black or dark grey for trim

Hows this then?

 

[seanwee]

Has it been said if you will be able to see the nutubes glowing when engaged?

The glow IS visible however its just a very dim glow.

 

[seanwee]

If I were an Asian, it will be nice. Gold everywhere... But I'm not, so IMHO it looks strange. Display colors are a bit pale, or maybe it's only photo. As I see connection holes are cut without precision?

MORE GOLD !!!!!

Grey Gold

Black gold

I kinda like the Grey gold look to be honest. If you want to make it gold, go all out gold.

 

[gr8soundz]

What do you guys think?

Looks better without the silver. Black bezel (and rear I assume) no longer looks out of place.

Physical design less of an issue if they get the colors right. Black, gold, and silver seems like they couldn't decide which to use.

 

[gr8soundz]

While the home button can theoretically (but unlikely) be changed to a different shape (or color for that matters), the size of the screen are fixed due to space constraint. You have nailed the reason for that: fitting the Nutube into N8 requires a lot of consideration. Let's examine the dimension in more detail.

The tentative dimension of N8 is 128mm x 70mm x 20mm (LxWxH), the Nutube required 46.7mm x 17mm x 6.2mm (excluding the pins), and it will sit on 1mm above the PCB. the 7.2mm (6.2mm + 1mm) "thickness" requirement has ruled out the option to put the screen on top of the Nutube, and right now, if you look at the N8 photo carefully, you'll notice that the screen are installed immediately above the Nutube. that is the reason why we can't use a bigger (or longer) screen in N8.

To install a bigger screen, we have to overlap the screen "over" the Nutube. Assuming we can resolve the heat dispenser problem, this will require a dramatic increase in thickness of N8.

On the other hand, while the screen might looks small on the overall N8 form factor, the important issue is to make sure it function as a display and control (touch screen) of a DAP effectively.we can comment on that when I publish the final version of UI design, but I fairly happy with what we have right now, and I hope most, if not all, N8 users will agree with me eventually.

Sounds like you guys made great efforts to build a DAP 'around' the Nutube (I imagine preliminary discussions must have been heated before agreeing to build it). I certainly appreciate that as no one else has done it. Great to see a unique and desirable feature with so many other players to choose from. Battery life aside, should be fun to play around with the Nutube then switch to the balanced out for more serious, longer listening sessions.

Also like that you added the i2S output (another rarity). Should allow the N8 to be used as a more direct source for some dacs/amps in years to come.

 

[gr8soundz]

There is a different between afforfable and reasonable. Every since AK decided that people would pay more, they doubled the price for every new DAP and then realized that around 3k$ was certainly a ceiling that a large chunk of the well off audio enthusiasts were willing to pay.

And then other brands followed suit. If you feel 20k is what you should charge for it, based on costs and target clients, well it is your choice. And clients will buy it or not based on perceived value. Their choice. And I will judge if it is decent or not based on my own metrics as well...

Now the key question for all these products pushing the limit of pricing is : are makers really applying a reasonable margin to amortize production costs, marketing and R&D, or are just doing x3 or x4 because they know we will pay. We will never know in most cases. For cables and certain IEMs, we know it is often the latter. For DAPs it is less clear as production costs are higher. But could most high end DAPs not be sold at half price and still present good margins? For me it is an open question.

Edit : just to be fair, I am way more impressed by what you guys seems to be putting in this device technically than by anything AK has ever put out.

Hopefully, Cayin will continue to avoid this trend. Only product over $1000 in their unique catalog is the new HA-300 beast of a tube amp. Everything else is well under a grand with the N5ii currently at $370. Perhaps there's a chance the N8 will be affordable.

 

[fuhransahis]

Hopefully, Cayin will continue to avoid this trend. Only product over $1000 in their unique catalog is the new HA-300 beast of a tube amp. Everything else is well under a grand with the N5ii currently at $370. Perhaps there's a chance the N8 will be affordable.

Highly unlikely. No price has been released but he still did say 20k range. Chinese, not USD (just in case). Doubt the final price will be 60%+ lower.

At least you got some months to save up!

 

[PinkyPowers]

"Price no object" design definitely doesn't lead one to think this DAP will be "affordable" by most standards.

 

[Andykong]

Incredible coincidence, tothis is where I live!

In this case, you should check this out:

http://www.erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2102670

 

[TheUnknow]

Why do most high end DAP look like spaceships ?

 

[gr8soundz]

"Price no object" design definitely doesn't lead one to think this DAP will be "affordable" by most standards.

I only meant something less than stratospheric pricing (which $3K would be).

If Cayin asks 10x more for the N8 than their current highest price DAP, more people would take pause. It's bad PR to suddenly price new products so much higher (rather than gradual increases over a long period). Still, hasn't stopped other companies from doing just that.

 

[Cagin]

polished black anodized zirconium chassis with them gold knobs