[ECKHUAAA]

Wow this is a really honest and transparent statement, thanks for this info Andy. I own a WA8 and enjoy it very much for it’s tubey sound but at the same time it is very heavy, becomes extremely hot when in use and it’s battery lasts only about 2h so it can’t be called portable like a N8ii or C9, it’s form factor makes it a superb transportable amp for home and travel. Would be fun if Cayin decides to build one to bring some competition to Woo!

This is an
Interesting desire, anyone that has loved and followed and owned tube amp designs knows that the only limitation to their performance is the need for transformer coupling to match the impedance, the transformer rolls off both the bass and highs presenting very strong inductive reactance at the highs and poor transforming at the low end, hence the "tuby" sound, that is why an OTL ( output transformer less tube amp when paired with a speaker that can work with it is usually a very unforgettable experience. Transformer coupling is not necessarily a good thing, rather an unavoidable evil.

 

[BlueA]

What are your favorites synergies with N8II?
Any specific iems or headphones with a particularly successful match?

 

[AcousticMatt]

What are your favorites synergies with N8II?
Any specific iems or headphones with a particularly successful match?

Atrium Closed and Meze Empyrean have been my faves so far out of my headphones. Have yet to try the LCD-3 with it though.

 

[blotmouse]

What are your favorites synergies with N8II?
Any specific iems or headphones with a particularly successful match?

I mean, I've kept my N8ii due to specific synergies. Audio I don't want messed with by swapping to something else. Fourte Noir and OG Turii.

 

[yaps66]

I mean, I've kept my N8ii due to specific synergies. Audio I don't want messed with by swapping to something else. Fourte Noir and OG Turii.

Synergies for me with N8ii are A&K-EE Odyssey, 64Audo Fourte Blanc, Sony IER-Z1R and IMR Audio Titan. N8ii is well and truly alive and relevant!

 

[twister6]

What are your favorites synergies with N8II?
Any specific iems or headphones with a particularly successful match?

One of the advantages of getting N8ii (or N30LE) is that you can fine tune that synergy by trying solid state or NuTubes, class A or AB, trying to boost output with P+, etc. With other daps you try the pair up to see if it works for you. Here, you try different settings to see how you can make this pair up work to your liking.

 

[BlueA]

you can fine tune that synergy

With time I learned to differentiate the subtle effects of each one. P+ being the most noticeable.
Yet, my perception is the N8II is bright and then I restrain myself to explore some in-ear pieces, let's say like final A5K, noble, Elysian.
Please someone tell me I've wrong conceptions? thus my question to see how people match their dap best, trying to deduce a complementary tuning.

 

[peripheralsdealer]

Anyone with monarch mk3 and or annihilator 2023 that can share on their experience paired with n8ii?

Also interested in kinera loki but i assume its too soon to look for owners of loki...

 

[stersa]

Cayin N8ii,works fantastic with all my iems..…RN6-Trifecta-Mmk3-Z1R-IE600-Advar-Fh7-xelento….better than a new RS8ii-RS8 and AK3000 for my tastes…Its MY SUBJECTIVE Opinion..

Best Regards

Sisco

 

[BlueA]

Thanks everyone!
I understand and contextualize your experience but it's exactly what I asked for
and you surely helping to clean some preconceptions of mine.

 

[peripheralsdealer]

Just making sure here -
Is there a pre-applied "screen" protector on the back side of the n8ii?
Asking as its alreadt gathering hairline scratches, if thats a protector thats fine.

@Andykong Just noticed there is some tpu-like protector for the back so im relifed now, the scratches bothered me so much cuz it looked like the glass was scratched already, but the back fortunely has a protector, thanks for that protector there.

Is it possible to order from you this kind of tpu protector / glass protector in case ill want to replace the existing back protector in the future?

thank you.

 

[Leto Dal]

Quick question: the songs (Beethoven's 5 Secrets) that caused the N8ii to loop back continuously, is it MQA? or one of the recent Hi-Res FLAC after Tidal gave up MQA?

We have noticed that after Tidal announced their migration from MQA to lossless HiRes streaming, some of their new FLAC files have caused incompatible problems, and to the best of my knowledge, the problem has affected other DAPs under the same HiBy platform. HiBy is trying to resolve the compatibility problem, and we believe Tidal is aware of the situation and is working on their fix as well.

Was this solved?

Considering getting the dap exclusively for tidal streaming and tidal downloaded library to go. Would be a dealbreaker if tidal with downloads is unusable with the device.

Another question, how well does n8ii perform with ZMF lineup like Caldera and Atriums? Currently have 320 for testing around here, it works damn well with Caldera, but slightly lacks the power on some tracks with Atriums, wonder if Cayin is better in that regard... or worse?

 

[AcousticMatt]

Was this solved?

Considering getting the dap exclusively for tidal streaming and tidal downloaded library to go. Would be a dealbreaker if tidal with downloads is unusable with the device.

Another question, how well does n8ii perform with ZMF lineup like Caldera and Atriums? Currently have 320 for testing around here, it works damn well with Caldera, but slightly lacks the power on some tracks with Atriums, wonder if Cayin is better in that regard... or worse?

Sounds amazing with both Caldera and Atrium Closed. AC is my favorite pairing. I'd imagine it'd sound great with Atrium too. I can see once mine comes in which should be soon.

 

[Leto Dal]

Will receive a demo unit this weekend so I can directly compare it with ibasso 320 X and ibasso 320 Max Ti. Really like the flexibility with tubes and the power but the Anderoid 9 is definitly something, thats hold me back a bit. A really weird design choice by Cayin, considering Ibasso comes with stock 11 and can be upgraded to 13 without issues and long system compatibility is crucial for devices of that pricepoint. The fact that Tidal might stop supporting it (or even its already not possible to use tidal with the device) is just too much of a dealbreaker.

 

[magicguy]

Software obsolescence is not a problem for Hiby obviously.
If you want to upgrade Android, buy a newer dap
It’s almost Hiby response I had for my Hiby R8.
Il was not planned by Hiby IT team to try to upgrade Android.
I sold my R8.

And when I read the same thing for Cayin N8II… I stopped buying Hiby/Cayin products, you will not be surprised.