Cayin RU6: R-2R USB Dongle DAC with Head-Amp

[Krassi]

Hi!
I was also interested in an affordable and flexible R2R dac an got my RU6 today.

Headphones run nice on it but especially hooking this up on a 80s technics SU-V3 Amp and 80s speakers was the reason to try them out.. Well i like it!
It really sounds different than my Sigma dacs or also my E1DA Powerdac 2.1 in a good way.

Also tired sundaras and Sash tres on them and i reeeaaaally love the bass from this dac.

 

[wolfstar76]

Hi!
I was also interested in an affordable and flexible R2R dac an got my RU6 today.

Headphones run nice on it but especially hooking this up on a 80s technics SU-V3 Amp and 80s speakers was the reason to try them out.. Well i like it!
It really sounds different than my Sigma dacs or also my E1DA Powerdac 2.1 in a good way.

Also tired sundaras and Sash tres on them and i reeeaaaally love the bass from this dac.

If you like RU6, better try RS2 since your setting technically is not supported by RU6. RU6 does not have line out and you will be double amping when you hook RU6 with amp. Good news is, if you actually enjoy this, you will enjoy RS2 a lot more, which does have a proper line out and can actually serve as DAC mode.

 

[Krassi]

Yeah i actually forgot about all the specs of the hiby RS2.! . well since i got my ru6 used for 160 euros it was a no brainer if i would keep it

Paired with the Technics it sounds actually really good! i use a kadas toneboard normally on this amp. The SU-V3 beats the crap out of all my tube amps so i actually got two of them
my speakers with coral M-100 midhorn and H-70 sound really good with this without missing clarity..i really like that bass really kicks on the ru6.
I also have 3 tube amps that i will try with the ru6.

Main reason for the ru6 was curiosity and the price .. well maybe if i stumble upon a used rs2 ill go for it since i love hiby daps.

 

[Krassi]

Yeah i actually forgot about all the specs of the hiby RS2.! . well since i got my ru6 used for 160 euros it was a no brainer if i would keep it

Paired with the Technics it sounds actually really good! i use a kadas toneboard normally on this amp. The SU-V3 beats the crap out of all my tube amps so i actually got two of them
my speakers with coral M-100 midhorn and H-70 sound really good with this without missing clarity..i really like that bass really kicks on the ru6.
I also have 3 tube amps that i will try with the ru6.

Main reason for the ru6 was curiosity and the price .. well maybe if i stumble upon a used rs2 ill go for it since i love hiby daps.

Well glad i didnt pulled the trigger on the used one.. found the same pictures and extra cable in a bay auction but thats from a different city..
I have one from amzn right now (wich i can send back) and well maybe i should check the rs2 if i can get my hands on it.

Still amazed by the sound of the ru6 with amp and loudspeakers even if its not supposed to do this

 

[Brain Damage]

I don't know what your source is; but one thing to bear in mind with the RS2 is that it doesn't include streaming (in case your source is a streaming platform like Qobuz or Tidal)

 

[Krassi]

i am not streaming so i though "well thats a device made especially for me" when i read the specs )
But i really like the RU6 more and more..

Works great with sash tres, sundaras have not enough power on this, but i was able to run my K340 "a bit loud" on this
I am glad i did not gest scammed with the used ru6.

 

[borkenarrou]

Noob question, does the RU6 have a inbuilt battery, asking because I don't like battery powered devices anymore, as they are more or less disposable after the battery runs out. I searched this info but can't seem to find a clearcut answer.

 

[richoval]

Noob question, does the RU6 have a inbuilt battery, asking because I don't like battery powered devices anymore, as they are more or less disposable after the battery runs out. I searched this info but can't seem to find a clearcut answer.

it does not, drains my phone pretty hard….

 

[borkenarrou]

it does not, drains my phone pretty hard….

No battery makes me interested, but bit concerned that Passion For Sound noticed some random EMI noise from his RU6, not sure if this from his particular unit or a general issue with this device, I'll research a bit.

Regarding the battery draining issue I'll only use this occasionally with my smartphone, more with my laptop and as a DAC feed to my main headphone amp, I want to get a feel the R2R magic everyone is taking about

 

[richoval]

No battery makes me interested, but bit concerned that Passion For Sound noticed some random EMI noise from his RU6, not sure if this from his particular unit or a general issue with this device, I'll research a bit.

Regarding the battery draining issue I'll only use this occasionally with my smartphone, more with my laptop and as a DAC feed to my main headphone amp, I want to get a feel the R2R magic everyone is taking about

yeah, i get some electrical interferences in combination with my phone, not with my laptop. also i have an iphone 12mini, the battery is already really weak…

 

[borkenarrou]

Is there a way to use the RU6 in DAC only mode and bypass the inbuilt amp of the RU6 altogether, this will avoid unnecessary processing when I pair with a higher quality external amp, not sure NOS mode does this other than doing NOS obviously.

 

[borkenarrou]

Is there a way to use the RU6 in DAC only mode and bypass the inbuilt amp of the RU6 altogether, this will avoid unnecessary processing when I pair with a higher quality external amp, not sure NOS mode does this other than doing NOS obviously.

Unfortunately not, got the answer in previous posts, this would have made this truly a winner in my case, maybe something for next version.

 

[Dan DRC]

Unfortunately not, got the answer in previous posts, this would have made this truly a winner in my case, maybe something for next version.

Several are using the RU6 3.5mm output to an external amp with good results. The settings on the RU6 will depend on the external amp you want to use. Basically you would just need to try it out an let your ears decide. On my RU6 I have the volume set at 85 in low gain in NOS mode. I take the 3.5 out to an ifi xCAN amp. The results may very from amp to amp. I personally have not had issues with noise floor or distortion, it sounds great. I do agree it would be nice if the RU6 had a true line out but I sometimes think too much is made over "double amping" . As they say your mileage may vary. Doesn't hurt to experiment again let your ears decide.

 

[borkenarrou]

Several are using the RU6 3.5mm output to an external amp with good results. The settings on the RU6 will depend on the external amp you want to use. Basically you would just need to try it out an let your ears decide. On my RU6 I have the volume set at 85 in low gain in NOS mode. I take the 3.5 out to an ifi xCAN amp. The results may very from amp to amp. I personally have not had issues with noise floor or distortion, it sounds great. I do agree it would be nice if the RU6 had a true line out but I sometimes think too much is made over "double amping" . As they say your mileage may vary. Doesn't hurt to experiment again let your ears decide.

Thanks for the tips, I also thought 3.5mm will better for external amping cos it will not be routed via the 4.4mm opamp because the RU6 is not a true balanced design, I still haven't got the RU6 but I'll try these settings if/when I do get it.

 

[tikue666]

Hi, has anyone ever experienced playback stutters? I've been experiencing stutters a lot lately with the RU6 connected to my PC playing music from MusicBee with WASAPI exclusive mode, sometimes it gets annoying as it happens 2-3 times over the span of 10 seconds, stutters and pauses for a whole second and resumes. No volume adjustments were made when these stutters happen.