[Andykong]

Thanks for linking to that, I enjoyed reading it (it was long before I joined Head-fi). I love seeing these type of stories, both here on Head-fi as well as elsewhere. And of course great to see that you have come full circle with the N6ii release in the future as well. Looking forward to seeing it all!

Well, I just read it again when I post that link, I can still feel the fire in my heart when I bit the bullet and jump on board, it is still burning hot.

 

[Makiah S]

The Mojo thread is 2425 pages right now, I am sure the hot questions will be asked on weekly basis, if not daily. If our official thread received that kind of attention, that would be a big problem, .... a big happy problem.

I can honestly say that we have not compiled the final BOM as-of today, we just finished our package design and is still in the process of making prototype for the package and associated accessories. When R&D department is still undergoes final refinements on the DAP, hoping to deliver an engineering sample as close to the final product as possible before Munich High End 2018, the supply chain is still in early stage only, In other word, I don't know the price of N8 right now.

When Cayin kick-started the N8 project, we didn't list any competitor as our audio performance reference. We use N6 and N6mod as reference and we are determine to beat ourselves hands down in this project. Did we manage that? The Engineering sample at the Munich show will be the first signage, let's looking forward to the show reports together.

That's great to hear! The N6 was mentioned so much back when I had my HM801 and was looking for an upgrade, kinda wish I'd gotten the N6 either way it's ghost has haunted me since. I can't say how excited I am to hear that there is indeed a sucessor! But I think a lot of us kinda knew there would be, given how much I personally enjyoed the N5ii [and I'm apparently now a "peddler" for it lol] I'm excited to hear this one

I also just got to hear the iDac-6 as well! Which has been one of my favorites for any of the AK 4490 implimentations I've heard thus far, combine that with how you guys nailed the implimentation of the eSabre Chip in the N5ii and I can only imagine how excellent this new product will sound!

Truely an exciting time for us Portable Junkies!

Well, I just read it again when I post that link, I can still feel the fire in my heart when I bit the bullet and jump on board, it is still burning hot.

And I love hearing this stuff too! Guys, I've you not met Andy in person let me tell you his passion is serious! He was so invitating when I sat down to lsiten at AXPONA, his face beaming and his excitment contagious! So I'm not at all suprised to hear that listening to the N6 had that kind of impact on you! An it's awesome that they choose you to kick off the N6 successor Thread, an I think not having any competitor in mind when redesigning the product is a smart move, to many other companies seem to try and copy other previously successful designs, sometimes successfully sometimes not.

But I think when you have an already amazing product and you simply set out to make it better, and simply focus on what you have, what you want and what your doing then the end result is better! An yea I can certianly feel a little of that fire here just from reading your comments

 

[Andykong]

So, to summarize: even though you have no idea what the price is--even in a general sense--you are demanding Andy account for how expensive it is?

1) you try to forcibly project your own re-interpretation of meaning onto what I said

then

2) you further proceed to try to dictate to me what I can or cannot be upset (actually, I said disappointed) about, and on what grounds that may or may not be legitimate, in your eyes.

So please, enough of trying to dictate meaning and terms.

I have no desire to argue (or, indeed, to fall out with you, personally).

My friend, let's chill on this. Both of you have been very supportive to Cayin DAP so far and are known for sensible and constructive contribution to the forum, I don't see why we should fall into this type of arguments.

I can tell everyone that N8 is expensive, there is no doubt about that, we don't need the final retail price to arrive at that observation. N8 is a visionary product, it embrace our 25 years of experience in high fidelity audio business.

However the two "more important" questions are:

Is N8 value for money? If it is high price and high value, we should applause together. When we announce our HA-300 tube headphone amplifier, we also receive some comment that Cayin goes evil because all they care was the US$3999 price tag of HA-300. But after we demonstrated the HA-300 in multiple shows and events, and we have owner of HA-300 sharing their own impression, we see a drastic change and HA-300 is now frequently quoted a good value for money at $3999.

Will Cayin give up the price-conscious practice and produce high price product only? If Cayin continue to roll out products at sub-$1000 category like what we did in the past, why should we bother at this stage? Let me assure everyone that Cayin will continue our current pricing and product strategy, new products at the same category as N3 and N5ii will be develop at the right time, but be reminded that our product life cycle are fairly long when compare to the industry norm so they won't be something in immediate future.

I hope this will conclude our discussion on price related issues of N8 for the moment, let's come back to this topic again when we announce the official retail price together with detail functional description and product specification.

 

[Andykong]

N8 dap + N8 iem
⠀⠰⡿⠿⠛⠛⠻⠿⣷
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣀⣤⣄⣀⡀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠛⠛⣿⣿⣿⡛⠿⠷
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⠿⠿⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⠇
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠁

⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣷⣄⠀⢶⣶⣷⣶⣶⣤⣀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⠻⠗
⠀⠀⠀⣰⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣠⣤⣴⣶⡄
⠀⣠⣾⣿⣿⣿⣥⣶⣶⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠿⠛⠃
⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄
⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡁
⠈⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠁
⠀⠀⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠉

Now, I didn't expect this and when I search, there is indeed a N8 IEM round the corner.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ultraudio-n8.846571/

Indeed I'll be testing several IEMs at Munich when I have the N8 with me. The performance of IEM are escalating exponentially, and I hope our N8 will push the limit further. As a hard-core audiophile, I am looking forward to that as well.

 

[Bacon Bits]

There's also a 64 audio iem with the name N8 coming out soonish

 

[seanwee]

My friend, let's chill on this. Both of you have been very supportive to Cayin DAP so far and are known for sensible and constructive contribution to the forum, I don't see why we should fall into this type of arguments.

I can tell everyone that N8 is expensive, there is no doubt about that, we don't need the final retail price to arrive at that observation. N8 is a visionary product, it embrace our 25 years of experience in high fidelity audio business.

However the two "more important" questions are:

Is N8 value for money? If it is high price and high value, we should applause together. When we announce our HA-300 tube headphone amplifier, we also receive some comment that Cayin goes evil because all they care was the US$3999 price tag of HA-300. But after we demonstrated the HA-300 in multiple shows and events, and we have owner of HA-300 sharing their own impression, we see a drastic change and HA-300 is now frequently quoted a good value for money at $3999.

Will Cayin give up the price-conscious practice and produce high price product only? If Cayin continue to roll out products at sub-$1000 category like what we did in the past, why should we bother at this stage? Let me assure everyone that Cayin will continue our current pricing and product strategy, new products at the same category as N3 and N5ii will be develop at the right time, but be reminded that our product life cycle are fairly long when compare to the industry norm so they won't be something in immediate future.

I hope this will conclude our discussion on price related issues of N8 for the moment, let's come back to this topic again when we announce the official retail price together with detail functional description and product specification.

Agreed

I'm thrilled to see what cayin can achieve with such a big budget.

Maybe the first ever dual ess9038pro DAP with fully discreet class A amp?

 

[audionewbi]

If N8 can bring the same performance as Cayin Ha-300 which is both headphone amp and speaker amp it is indeed a great value for money.

 

[Andykong]

That's great to hear! The N6 was mentioned so much back when I had my HM801 and was looking for an upgrade, kinda wish I'd gotten the N6 either way it's ghost has haunted me since. I can't say how excited I am to hear that there is indeed a sucessor! But I think a lot of us kinda knew there would be, given how much I personally enjyoed the N5ii [and I'm apparently now a "peddler" for it lol] I'm excited to hear this one

I also just got to hear the iDac-6 as well! Which has been one of my favorites for any of the AK 4490 implimentations I've heard thus far, combine that with how you guys nailed the implimentation of the eSabre Chip in the N5ii and I can only imagine how excellent this new product will sound!

Truely an exciting time for us Portable Junkies!



And I love hearing this stuff too! Guys, I've you not met Andy in person let me tell you his passion is serious! He was so invitating when I sat down to lsiten at AXPONA, his face beaming and his excitment contagious! So I'm not at all suprised to hear that listening to the N6 had that kind of impact on you! An it's awesome that they choose you to kick off the N6 successor Thread, an I think not having any competitor in mind when redesigning the product is a smart move, to many other companies seem to try and copy other previously successful designs, sometimes successfully sometimes not.

But I think when you have an already amazing product and you simply set out to make it better, and simply focus on what you have, what you want and what your doing then the end result is better! An yea I can certianly feel a little of that fire here just from reading your comments

Thanks for the support, comment and description like this is indeed the driving force for us to remain passionate in this business. To be honest, AXPONA is an extremely tiring trip, I have finished two CanJam before that, and I fly all the way form Hong Kong to Chicago solo, when I was setting up the booth all by myself, people from near-by booths keep coming to offer help, this is so exhausting and yet exciting. To me, being able to meet with dedicated users and sharing with hobbyist is as important as presenting Cayin products to potential customers, It is difficult to sustain the jet lag if I was there to conduct sales only.

Technically, the N8 is not a successor of N6 because we do have a N6ii in our product road map, we just don't have a date and the only thing we are certain right now is N6ii will happen after N8, and we'll take advantage of what we learned from N8 when we develop the circuit of N6ii. The N6 was Cayin's flagship DAP but we are not making it anymore. I am honored to host both Cayin flagship DAP threads in this forum, I want to present the growth of Cayin in the past 3.5 years in person, and I can promise everyone that the growth is jaw-dropping.

 

[seanwee]

Thanks for the support, comment and description like this is indeed the driving force for us to remain passionate in this business. To be honest, AXPONA is an extremely tiring trip, I have finished two CanJam before that, and I fly all the way form Hong Kong to Chicago solo, when I was setting up the booth all by myself, people from near-by booths keep coming to offer help, this is so exhausting and yet exciting. To me, being able to meet with dedicated users and sharing with hobbyist is as important as presenting Cayin products to potential customers, It is difficult to sustain the jet lag if I was there to conduct sales only.

Technically, the N8 is not a successor of N6 because we do have a N6ii in our product road map, we just don't have a date and the only thing we are certain right now is N6ii will happen after N8, and we'll take advantage of what we learned from N8 when we develop the circuit of N6ii. The N6 was Cayin's flagship DAP but we are not making it anymore. I am honored to host both Cayin flagship DAP threads in this forum, I want to present the growth of Cayin in the past 3.5 years in person, and I can promise everyone that the growth is jaw-dropping.

Looks like I'll probably be getting the N6ii then

 

[Makiah S]

Well, I just read it again when I post that link, I can still feel the fire in my heart when I bit the bullet and jump on board, it is still burning hot.

Thanks for the support, comment and description like this is indeed the driving force for us to remain passionate in this business. To be honest, AXPONA is an extremely tiring trip, I have finished two CanJam before that, and I fly all the way form Hong Kong to Chicago solo, when I was setting up the booth all by myself, people from near-by booths keep coming to offer help, this is so exhausting and yet exciting. To me, being able to meet with dedicated users and sharing with hobbyist is as important as presenting Cayin products to potential customers, It is difficult to sustain the jet lag if I was there to conduct sales only.

Technically, the N8 is not a successor of N6 because we do have a N6ii in our product road map, we just don't have a date and the only thing we are certain right now is N6ii will happen after N8, and we'll take advantage of what we learned from N8 when we develop the circuit of N6ii. The N6 was Cayin's flagship DAP but we are not making it anymore. I am honored to host both Cayin flagship DAP threads in this forum, I want to present the growth of Cayin in the past 3.5 years in person, and I can promise everyone that the growth is jaw-dropping.

Oh awesome idea, I love the trickle down methodology, making a no cost no object product to start then implementing a more cost effective version later, Shure did this recently and I applaud them for it. That news is twice as exciting now

An I would have been happy to help as well, but I understand wanting to handle it yourself I always set up solo for my own peace of mind at a show,

 

[Andykong]

There's also a 64 audio iem with the name N8 coming out soonish

I thought Ni is the natural name for Periodic Audio? I actually talked to someone in 64 Audio during the AXPONA, they did mention new IEMs are on the way.

Erlkonig from Vision Ear is also very interesting, the demo pair at CanJam SIngapore were impressive.

 

[PinkyPowers]

I still remember you are a bit skeptical when I invite you to review our N3.

I am sure you have been amazed by what we have done with $150 budget, now let me amaze you again when we have all the resource we need to build our dream sound in portable form factors.

Start saving up my friend, the dawn is near.

I'm an eager beaver to see this thing come to fruition!

 

[Andykong]

Agreed

I'm thrilled to see what cayin can achieve with such a big budget.

Maybe the first ever dual ess9038pro DAP with fully discreet class A amp?

That's better, let talk about the dream features.

Although the design is a done deal, let see if someone can figure out our offer before the Munich show.

 

[seanwee]

Although the design is a done deal, let see if someone can figure out our offer before the Munich show.

Winner gets a free N8? XD

 

[Andykong]

That's better, let talk about the dream features.

Although the design is a done deal, let see if someone can figure out our offer before the Munich show.

OK, I just finished writing the press release of Cayin N8 DAP, its a standard quick introduction covering basic headings on input/outputs, digital design, and analogue design. If anyone can guess the key selling point of all three headings, I'll put you in the N8 reviewer list.

Everyone is entitled to one "proposal" only. You can post a new "proposal" to superseded your previous version, but you must not edit your previous proposal (well, typo and non-feature related editing is allowed). This is because when there are more then one proposal get it right, time stamp become an important factor.

I sincerely someone can figure this out and I am truly happy to hang him the N8 for a thorough review.