Cayin RU7: 1-Bit Resistor Network Dongle DAC /Amp

[giuca70]

Has anyone been facing intermittent stutters/artifacts in DSD 256 and 128 modes while connected to smartphones?

In this condition, the problem is the cable or the max currrent of usbc port. If 500mA shutters, if 900mA no problem.
Are You have an Iphone ?

 

[skeeb23]

Has anyone been facing intermittent stutters/artifacts in DSD 256 and 128 modes while connected to smartphones?

Yes! I found it to be related to using UApp but I only have the issue while using the LO mode to an external source. I'm on Android of course. I believe it to be a software issue not agreeing with the LO.

While just using my PO, however, I haven't encountered issues.

 

[Andykong]

first experimental cabling

Thank you.

Looks like the Line Out feature has attracted more desktop-based users to design their take to use the RU7 as a desktop replacement DAC. This is indeed not part of our design consideration, but we are glad our users have been very innovative in exploring the Dongle DAC to go way beyond our original design considerations. It can be less than convenient as-is, but if you are happy with what you hear, I am happy for you.

 

[Polky74]

Thank you.

Looks like the Line Out feature has attracted more desktop-based users to design their take to use the RU7 as a desktop replacement DAC. This is indeed not part of our design consideration, but we are glad our users have been very innovative in exploring the Dongle DAC to go way beyond our original design considerations. It can be less than convenient as-is, but if you are happy with what you hear, I am happy for you.

Probably the lack of desktop dac solutions with 1-bit technology, or perhaps their high cost has prompted many of us to implement our RU7 in a desktop solution. However, all this confirms the goodness of the RU7 project. Which, moreover, had already happened with the previous RU6.

 

[giuca70]

I would try this:
RU7 --> Monolith Liquid Spark (pre-amp) --> Cavalli Tube Hybrid --> Monolith AMT
Good for me.
A Cayin iHA-6 is in travel... It is a third product of cayin in 1 month... love it. The first is RU6 (magic)

 

[zolom]

How does it pair with the Cayin C9 (via RU7 Line Out)? Is there a noticable contribution when driving easy to drive headphones/iems (i.e. Focal Stellia / Fir Xe6)?

Thanks

 

[MicDavism141]

Has anyone been facing intermittent stutters/artifacts in DSD 256 and 128 modes while connected to smartphones?

Yes, common issues that I also found. The problem would be with the cable if you got some intermittent artifacts. The stutters usually happen when connect RU7 to iPhone and trying to drive power-hungry headphones (I found this issue with Hifiman Arya Organic and Susvara).

 

[Brain Damage]

Been listening to:
Samsung tablet >> RU7 LO (4.4) decoded to DSD256 >> ifi xCAN >> DT 770 pro. Wow! Up to now, I have avoided DSD256 when pairing the RU7 with my phone as a dac amp for 2 reasons mainly:

1. Larger power consumption and
2. Preferred DSD128 and 64 for the more analogue/organic timbre.

From this listening experience on LO the detail retrieval from the DT 770 pros along with the bass FR is lush. And yet, still not too analytical ESS sounding. Mesmerised at how Cayin have managed this. Quite happy not to move and just listen. The best my Beyers have sounded by far. #morethanhappy

 

[skeeb23]

I just released my video covering the RU7 today over at my channel. I'll link that below. One thing I didn't cover in as much detail as I wanted was the RU7 vs the iFi Go Bar. So I'll share my thoughts on that here instead:

First off, I love the RU7. The more I used the different feature set it has on tap, the more I enjoyed it! I do highly recommend that you play with the different DSD settings of 64/128/256. I was finding that some of my music played better with different rates. I could see someone maybe listening to an entire album that may just sound better on one DSD or another as I realize it can be annoying to try and switch it up for every track. Still, I keep this on 256 almost exclusively. However, if something sounds a bit off, I'll then try the other modes to see if it get's better for me.

Alright the biggest difference I found sonically between the Go Bar and the RU7 came down to how tight it hangs on to notes and overall music. The Go Bar does have that xbass feature button, but even with out it, I found it to be a bit more boomier in the lower regions. I don't think this is always something I wanted/needed. For instance, on my Focal Radiance, the Go Bar sometimes was a bit much in the low end for an already bass heavy HP as the Radiance can be. The RU7 isn't deflated of bass at all. Quite the opposite. It brings plenty of information to the low end but it just tightens it up. I was trying to explain this to my wife about this because I found it exciting to hear the difference. To me it's like if you take a basketball that isn't inflated enough, it makes a splashier type of sound when you bounce it. If it's fully inflated, it's more of a tight quick sound when you bounce. That's how I describe, not just the bass, but the entire FR across the RU7 and what it brings. Call it less roll off, if you will. I definitely noticed this in details. Listening to tracks from Gogo Penguin that can be very busy in instruments I was able to hear this as well.

That doesn't mean the Go Bar doesn't have it's advantages. I do think the xbass/xspace feature is very nice to have handy for when you just need a quick extra something to your music. Yes you could also EQ, but this is faster and easier then that can be. Also I like the different filter options of the Go Bar (can be similar to the DSD options of the RU7) but it's something you can tune to flavor your ears the best. It has more power as well. Now that's not always a great thing if it isn't the cleanest of power, but yes it has that going for it. Also for some more bass light headphones/earphones, the Go Bar gives me a bit more flavor in that region naturally. Again, not always the most efficient.

Now the RU7 holds some advantages over the Go Bar other then what I was able to hear. The Line Out function I thought at first was pretty unnecessary. Especially after reading how it's still going to be inferior to a true desktop DAC solution. Well...that was until I tested it out for myself.
I paired up the RU7 to my Cayin iHA-6 and even my BHC. My music sounded fantastic with this option actually. I used a 4.4 to dual RCA cable to make this connection work. I listened to my Meze 109 Pro among other headphones and was surprised how great it sounded. Was it as good as the desktop DAC? No, but this is portable! I mentioned this in my video as well but you could grab something like a Schiit Magni and throw that in a bag with this and power it on the go (hotel room or something) easy enough. I could see using this paired up to some iFi AMPs as well since they are smaller footprints...among many other things you can do.
I also like how simple it is to control. The Go Bar is hard to read beings it's not lit up well. The Go Bar also just has volume bars, not digital numbers. The RU7 is faster also to switch different modes and easy to control that. I also dislike the IEMatch of the Go Bar after using it back and forth. It lowers the noise but also can alter the sound a bit depending on the hp/iem.

My personal listening preferences do lean towards the RU7 in almost every scenario. I didn't notice any added noise coming from the RU7 either. Some tracks naturally have that depending on the quality of the recording. The RU7 didn't add to that. Unfortunately, the Go Bar does at times. I wish I had some ultra sensitive IEM's but so far I don't. I'll test further once I do, but with the most sensitive I own (the EA500) I did notice some noise coming from the Go Bar that I didn't notice nearly as much from the RU7. Again, this could be a compliment to how tight the RU7 holds the music.

So in summary, I love the RU7. I know my sonic opinions may seem pretty basic but that's because I didn't find huge differences between the two devices other then what I stated. That's a good thing. It shows quality in both especially given the price. I don't view the RU7 as a dongle dac/amp that is going to do things like tubes can do...or other iFi devices. It's not a burr brown DAC or even an ESS. Those can definitely contribute slightly to your sound. This just takes the sig of my HP/IEM and refines it with precision!

Video link is here and I always appreciate feedback on what you guys think should you watch. @Andykong I do think you guys struck some gold with that line out function! I never thought I would need or want it...I was wrong.

 

[Andykong]

Yes, I confirm.
I use a HUB usbc 3.2 gen2 with separate IN power PD or all type of Charger or power bank
When I connect LAN usb adapter, dongle ( in this case RU7), the sound is more rich crystalline detailed and analogue.
One DAC for 3, I confirm @Zap67

There are lots of gadgets or tricks to improve the performance of the system, from changing your cable to replacing the components in the circuitry, but there is no guarantee that you'll get better performance in due course. The only exception is tweaking your power supply. This is always the most fruitful tweak in the audiophile system, so I am not surprised that the sound is more rich crystalline detailed and analogue" after you improve the power supply to RU7.

 

[Andykong]

My setup:

USB splitter cable from Taobao: data from laptop through Cayin USB Audio Driver, and power from Zendure X6 power bank.

Since the laptop doesn't have a power drain issue, so you are assuming the Zendure X6 Power bank is a better power supply than the battery in your laptop? I think this is subject to the amount of interference in your laptop, it might or might not justify the extra USB splitter cable in the chain.

 

[Andykong]

And thi is my setup:

sound is superb !

ipad to powered USB hub to RU7? did I miss any trick you have made to this setup?

 

[Zap67]

Has anyone been facing intermittent stutters/artifacts in DSD 256 and 128 modes while connected to smartphones?

Yes, with iPhone

 

[Andykong]

I went looking for this in the thread and the only thing from Andy I could find was this:

if you are listening to anything that is NOT 1-bit, regardless of whether the material is stored in your local TF card or you are streaming via your subscribed service, it must be converted to DSD

This implies to me that there is no actual conversion of a source DSD stream. It may not bypass the audio bridge but I couldn’t find anything about the audio bridge resampling a native DSD input if the output mode matches it. Did I miss it? This is a long thread so that is highly likely. Thanks again.

I think we need to trace all the way back to the explanation of All-to-DSD features of N7 (HERE).
Someone asked for a "user-choosable "Auto conversion" feature " in RU7, and this is my response. I stated clearly that "there isn't any feedback-based (or IF-THEN-ELSE condition) that will analyze the content and act accordingly" in RU7 because we assume your mobile phone is responsible for all the brain work.

So @ClieOS is correct to state that all incoming digital audio signals, without exception, will go through the All-to-DSD conversion which is a hardware-based solution.

 

[skeeb23]

I think we need to trace all the way back to the explanation of All-to-DSD features of N7 (HERE).
Someone asked for a "user-choosable "Auto conversion" feature " in RU7, and this is my response. I stated clearly that "there isn't any feedback-based (or IF-THEN-ELSE condition) that will analyze the content and act accordingly" in RU7 because we assume your mobile phone is responsible for all the brain work.

So @ClieOS is correct to state that all incoming digital audio signals, without exception, will go through the All-to-DSD conversion which is a hardware-based solution.

To be fair, it is very simple to change up the formats on the go. It's what I do if I am listening to something that I think may sound a bit off or perhaps sampled at a low rate (old recordings tend to be) just to see what the differences can be.