I am not that interested in the timing but how the new flagship will be (or sound) like
What about a stripped down, smaller and lighter N8 with only tube output for less money?
This is an interesting proposal - taking the N8 from the 'transportable' to 'portable' category would be welcoming
It is portable, you are right. I would mean a shift towards a 'lite' and cheaper version in much the same way as the Lotoo PAW 6K is to the Lotoo Paw Gold Touch, would cater to a far reaching audience. Having said that, it is impressive to see how much Cayin have packed in to the relatively small form factor of the Cayin N8!
Think they've got that but without the tubes... N6ii.
@Andykong off topic, what have you had done with your UE's? Rewire?
The problem is, if Cayin were to develop a lite version of N8, I mean IF, a BIG if, in order to make is smaller and cheaper, the first thing we need to do is to remove the Nutube. Nutube is the most expensive, biggest, and most power consuming component in N8, if we didn't remove Nutube from the design, we can't reduce the width, we can't reduce the capacity of the battery, and there isn't a lot of room to reduce the length because Nutube has to sit below the screen, not behind it. Take a look at DX220 with Nutube, that's single-ended only, is it significantly smaller than N8 in terms of width and length?
The second most expensive component is the MUSE02 in LPF. We didn't really advertise it as a selling point but this is actually a very expensive components when compare to its replacement OPA1642 in N6ii.
The second most effective option to lower the cost of the DAP is NOT to reduce features like balanced headphone output but to increase the target sales volume. For example, if we increase the total product production from 1000 to 10,000, we can lower the price of material significantly because of quantity discount, the saving might be more substantial then cutting the balanced amplification features already. On the other hand, when we spread the cost of R&D overhead to the project, 1000 unit vs 10,000 units makes a lot of different too. So how can we increase the target sales volume? The golden rule is: Add More Features.
So remove Nubute and MUS02, add more features, class leading 3.5mm performance, .....
@Doug2507 is right, that is N6ii with E01.
PS. I didn't rewired my UERM (the Reference Monitor, not the Reference Remaster), I only change back to the original cable. the aftermarket cables sounds better but the 2-pins connector on the original cable provides a more secured connection.