[Natesdailies]

I confirm, Traillii + First Times cable and N8ii Tube, AB, P+ are just insane good.
First song with it and I am just blown away, the detail and texture with the bass, no words.

Also listening now with the Traillii (stock cable) and N8ii - Tube Mode P+ Class AB. My preferred setting with electronic music.

 

[yaps66]

Hi @Andykong and all Asian music lovers, easy to understand that you miss Qobuz in your countries.

From what I read on their website, they are pursuing an international expansion strategy. And they know Asia has a lot of serious and audiophile music lovers. For example, they report to have acquired e-onkyo, a big Japanese hi-res download platform, effective this April. Maybe there are several more steps which I missed when taking a short look at their news section.

Here is an idea: It doesn‘t hurt to approach them directly, tell them your desires, remind them how much business they leave on the floor (and unfortunately lose to Tidal), and maybe tell them how you would like a streaming platform to look and feel in China or elsewhere in Asia.

Of course, one can write e-mails to some ”info“ mail accounts. But there is a way to approach Qobuz officials directly: On the ”Audiophile Style“ forum.
Website: https://audiophilestyle.com/
The Qobuz thread is at: https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/46611-official-qobuz-issues-thread/#comment-851887
It is titled ”Qobuz issues“, but has developed into a more general thread including many suggestions by their users.

You will have to register with Audiophile Style in order to post.

There are two Qobuz men on this thread, reading and interacting regularly. One is David Craff (written as ”@David Craff“ without the quotes, note the space), who is acting as a general caretaker. The other is Dan Mackta (written as ”@dmackta“), who is the Qobuz General Manager for the U.S. So he is the topmost person one can approach without looking up the Qobuz Board and Executives. Mr. Mackta is there less regularly than Mr. Craff who is there almost daily.

Maybe this idea of approaching Qobuz officials is useful. As said, it doesn‘t hurt to present your desires, ideas, preferences and whatsoever directly, time and again. Sure, they might say ”we are working on it“, ”matter of licensing by the record companies“, ”matter of translating apps, metadata etc“.

Maybe it is a good idea for you to post on that thread.
Maybe it turns out bad when a flood of posts shows up.
Maybe mentioning this thread is a tip for everyone.

Thanks @111MilesToGo! I have joined up and posted on the thread. Let's see how they respond!

 

[Whitigir]

DMP Z1 has it pros and cons. One of it is the ability to switch to external PSU once detected. However, based on timbres and tonal body, the DMP Z1 is warm and the N8ii is spot on balanced. The level of transparency from N8ii has surpassed the DMP Z1. But that is just my experiences. Also the N8ii has true line out performances

If you are thinking of external amplifiers, there are a few to consider

KAEI TAP-1 is one of the tubes portable amp that can take in PSU and has high voltage swing +/-17V in this mode , bypassing the battery internally, offering 990mW@300ohms

PHATLAB Audio Phantasy 2 is a SET portable tubes amp.

Then there is a C9 of you want to remain with Cayin. Though, I would say that you may want to go for HA-300 from Cayin, if you really want to take the advantages of the N8ii as a source.

The KEI TAP1 is also great on paper. But it is only available in China.

 

[Whitigir]

About Sony Vs Cayin ? Originally I enjoyed WM1Z much more than N8. Now, Given that they are both released at the same time, or similarly, I rather go with N8ii. WM1Z M2 has not that innovations that can trigger my curiosity and pull out my wallet. Because unlike back then, I don’t need new devices. But N8ii innovation has peaked my curiosity and here I am.

One thing I can say is that the N8ii is the thinnest, most compact, lightest weight, most portable, best looking Digital Portable Player at this moment!!! With dual Korg tubes

 

[Steranko]

I seem to come across a problem with adding songs to a playlist. When you first start up the DAP and try to add a song to an existing playlist it does not show you the playlist. One needs to do it the second time they the playlist shows. Are people getting the same problem? I am using the latest firmware update. This seems to happen only on the first time after a restart.

 

[Andykong]

DMP Z1 has it pros and cons. One of it is the ability to switch to external PSU once detected. However, based on timbres and tonal body, the DMP Z1 is warm and the N8ii is spot on balanced. The level of transparency from N8ii has surpassed the DMP Z1. But that is just my experiences. Also the N8ii has true line out performances

If you are thinking of external amplifiers, there are a few to consider

KAEI TAP-1 is one of the tubes portable amp that can take in PSU and has high voltage swing +/-17V in this mode , bypassing the battery internally, offering 990mW@300ohms

PHATLAB Audio Phantasy 2 is a SET portable tubes amp.

Then there is a C9 of you want to remain with Cayin. Though, I would say that you may want to go for HA-300 from Cayin, if you really want to take the advantages of the N8ii as a source.

The KEI TAP1 is also great on paper. But it is only available in China.

I thought the price of DMP Z1 has come down slightly after several years on the market. With $8500 budget on hand, I personally will recommend N8ii + C9 + HA-6A to portable based users, that will give you $500 budget for interconnect and accessories to connect N8ii to C9 and HA-6A. Portable amplifier with another PSU is a bit too difficult to manage for transportable IMHO.

Or if you are seriously into desktop personal audio, N8ii + HA-300MK2 ($4,399) as you have suggested. .

 

[dadracer2]

DMP Z1 has it pros and cons. One of it is the ability to switch to external PSU once detected. However, based on timbres and tonal body, the DMP Z1 is warm and the N8ii is spot on balanced. The level of transparency from N8ii has surpassed the DMP Z1. But that is just my experiences. Also the N8ii has true line out performances

If you are thinking of external amplifiers, there are a few to consider

KAEI TAP-1 is one of the tubes portable amp that can take in PSU and has high voltage swing +/-17V in this mode , bypassing the battery internally, offering 990mW@300ohms

PHATLAB Audio Phantasy 2 is a SET portable tubes amp.

Then there is a C9 of you want to remain with Cayin. Though, I would say that you may want to go for HA-300 from Cayin, if you really want to take the advantages of the N8ii as a source.

The KEI TAP1 is also great on paper. But it is only available in China.

Then again you could get both the Cayin HA300 and the C9 so you are covered for all options. I think some people have done this...

 

[Whitigir]

Then again you could get both the Cayin HA300 and the C9 so you are covered for all options. I think some people have done this...

agreed with that approach !! I love N8ii line out a lot !! Timbres and dynamic are spot on and amazing

 

[normie610]

Burning it in now. Wow, hats off to Cayin! Amazing transparency coupled with euphonic tube sound in portable format. This is like having my full desktop setup on the go. This feels similar to my 300B preamp + CFA3 combo. Wow!

Listening to IE 900 with High gain, P, Tube, A class mode. Music is Patricia Barber‘s Clique! album in DSD512.

 

[Andykong]

Does the battery drain when powered off? I could of sworn I turned it off before I went to bed yet woke up to only 10% when I turned it back on.

The DAP won't drain battery when powered off, but there is a chance that the battery reading is not accurate before you turn it off. When you turn it on the next day, the power management reset its reading to the correct battery capacity. That's why I asked another user to reboot his N8ii to verify the correct reading of his battery in another discussion.

The wrong reading can caused by new battery or inefficient power management firmware, we'll optimise the firmware continuously, some of these problem simly won't show up at our development stage because we the sample size is limited during product devleopment stage, and randomly occured bugs will require a much largers sample size before we can identify theim scientifically.

Since we are discussing power management bug, we have identified a new bug related to maximum charge setting. After you set maximum charge on your N8ii, the power management firmware will work effectively and stop charging according to the setting when the player is powered on. IF you charge N8ii when powered off, the maximum charge setting is disabled. This is kind of silly but we'll rectify it quickly.

 

[Nostoi]

DMP Z1 has it pros and cons. One of it is the ability to switch to external PSU once detected. However, based on timbres and tonal body, the DMP Z1 is warm and the N8ii is spot on balanced. The level of transparency from N8ii has surpassed the DMP Z1. But that is just my experiences. Also the N8ii has true line out performances

If you are thinking of external amplifiers, there are a few to consider

KAEI TAP-1 is one of the tubes portable amp that can take in PSU and has high voltage swing +/-17V in this mode , bypassing the battery internally, offering 990mW@300ohms

PHATLAB Audio Phantasy 2 is a SET portable tubes amp.

Then there is a C9 of you want to remain with Cayin. Though, I would say that you may want to go for HA-300 from Cayin, if you really want to take the advantages of the N8ii as a source.

The KEI TAP1 is also great on paper. But it is only available in China.

A little off-topic, so excuse me, but I can't help myself on the topic of trans-portable amps. Not tube based, but don't forget portable options offered by Bakoon. I have the HPA-21, which is not exactly portable, though runs only from batteries (6.5 hours, which isn't bad) and is the best SS amp I've heard portable or desktop. Compact enough to fit in a large bag, pairs exceptionally well with the LO on A02 (so imagine it'll also sound stellar on N8ii), and - of interest to you - has a special synergy with HD800s. They also make more compact amps, such as the HPA-01M.

And also WA8, of course.

 

[Andykong]

I found that the unit need compatible fast charge adapter to show correct battery percentage.

I used ifi ipower elite to charge it and somehow it could only charge at low speed despite ipower elite has high current output.

I then bought a generic cheap charger with fast charge. the n8ii shows charging rapidly and the battery percentage change from 6x to 3x% once I plugged and unplugged 2 times.

that means if I keep using ipower elite, there is a chance the battery will die very soon

I didn't know you can use the iFi iPower Elite to charge a DAP. I believe this is a low-noise power supplier to DAC or amplifier with DC input, not a charger by design, Will it handshake with the DAP to establish a proper charging portocol? I seriously doubt. The high current output of Power Elite is rated at 12V/4A, that is a 48W power supply, it can quite likely causing damge to your N8ii even in short term use, because N8ii is not designed to work with external power supply, and the USB charging system cannot be mistaken as DC input for the player, they are completely different concept.

PLEASE DON'T DO THAT AGAIN. If you damaged your N8ii because of this practise, you'll void your warranty.

 

[Andykong]

It's not that the N8ii isn't as good as everyone is saying. It's that the C9 is also excellent when paired with a proper line out and a great midfi DAP.

N6ii is $1200
A02 is $400
C9 is $2000

vs. N8ii is $3500. Pricing is similar. But, ergonomically, the N8ii wins hands down. It's much faster and easier to use. It makes sense if you want several signatures and are willing to buy the DAPs and/or AMPs.

The number is correct when you buy everythin new at the same time, but the decision will be very different when someone is having a decent DAP already (N6ii or RS6 as you have mentioned earlier, or even the original N8) and their option is to sell their DAP and buy a new N8ii, or to buy a C9 to work with their current DAP.

 

[Frainen]

Same as for the M17, I am still sad to see Apple Music destroying the big battery life on the N8ii.
2% per song.

 

[Andykong]

Spoiler

Thank you so much, @HiFiHawaii808, for doing these comparisons, in particular in the evening delaying dinner (hope not sacrificing it completely).

True, ergonomically there‘s no contest, N8ii wins. Plus, it has faster SoC, more recent Android, better WiFi, (maybe) better Bluetooth (? didn‘t check the specs), …

Thanks also for reassuring that the N6ii+A02 + C9 remains convincing soundwise! In particular, since the N6ii ecosystem was quite an investment, depending on the number of modules purchased.

My personal history in the N6ii ecosystem is: Initially, N6ii and A01 were a fixed bundle - turns out A01 gets the least use of all. The other ones - T01, E02, A02, R01, skipping E01 - came in one by one, each presenting something attractive and enjoyable. My C9 came with the A02, of course. C9 is versatile, I use it not only with my IEMs, but also with my HD 800 S with the N6ii, i.e. when the 800 S leaves my desktop system (Hugo 2 + V281).

What does that mean in general? Persistence to me is a good aspect in human character, especially when paired with patience. So my dream remains that Cayin one day will consider to build a new mother body taking all the N6ii modules, and improve a lot as compared to the N6ii body. @Andykong, I did mention this previously …

and I had responsed to similar quesitons several times, this is one of the examples in N6ii discussion.

I am not saying Cayin will develop a modular based DAP again, but Cayin is extremely unlikley, and don't have any plan currently, to build a new DAP based on existing N6ii Audio Motherboard physical structure. This will limited our innovation and implementation options for our next generation DAP.