The year is just beginning, and good players come out one by one (well, or at least they are going to go out). One of the most long-awaited novelties, which came directly under the Christmas tree, was the Cayin N5ii, which is about to appear in a wide sale. About him today and talk.
The company Cayin always caused me warm feelings, even from the very first model N6 (already three years on the market, is it a joke?), Like no one else, they showed that they know how to make interesting design and sound. In addition, the company's developers have never followed the fashion (well, except that the design began to do a bit more traditional), slowly taking on the new DACs and not releasing 3 models per year. Each of their products is logical, thought out and verified, not an exception and N5ii. He does not have much in common with the previous model, you can even say that there is nothing associated with these models except the price. The new model was received by ESS Saber 9018K2M (despite the same Internet hysterics - an excellent choice), amplifiers on OPA chips, three master oscillators and in addition Android as OS. The price thus remained comparable to the first generation, the recommended cost of this model is $ 370, which in combination with good design and quality sound makes the player a strong player in its segment.
Specifications
- Processor: Rockchip RK3188
- DAC: ESS Saber 9018K2M
- OU: OPA1652 + OPA1622
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz (± 0.2 dB), 5 Hz - 50 kHz (± 1 dB)
- Output power (per channel at 32Ω load): 130 mW typical output, 250 mW balanced
- Recommended load impedance: 16Ω - 200Ω
- Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise: 0.002%
- Dynamic range: 116 dB typical output, 117 dB balanced
- Signal to noise ratio: 116 dB typical output, 117 dB balanced
- Channel separation: 76 dB typical output, 92 dB balanced
- Output impedance: ≤0.4Ω common output, ≤0.6Ω balanced
- Supported formats: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, APE, WMA, MP3, OGG, AAC, DSD, DSDIFF, SACD-ISO
- Supported resolution: depends on formats, most up to 24 bit / 192 kHz
- DSD support: up to DSD256
- Input: USB-C
- Outputs: 3.5 mm earphone, combined with a linear, 2.5 mm balanced, the possibility of USB Audio output and coaxial output with an adapter
- WiFi: 802.11 b / g / n
- Bluetooth: 4.0
- Screen: touchscreen, 3.65 ", 854 × 480
- RAM: 1 GB
- Built-in memory: 32 GB (available to the user about 26 GB)
- Memory Card Support: 2 × MicroSD
- Battery: 3000 mAh
- Operating time from one charge: up to 12 hours
- Charging time: about 3.5 hours
- Dimensions: 115 mm × 57 mm × 15 mm
- Weight: about 150 g
Packing and delivery kit
The box is traditionally made unusually, this time it is flat, although the design is still the same standard version in the style of "outer dust jacket plus an inner box with a valve on the magnet", all of this is sustained in a radical black color. It's funny that even the instruction is framed in this gothic color scheme - silvery letters on dense black paper.
In the box is the player with the protective films glued directly in the factory, a plastic cover, two plugs for the microSD slots and a USB-C cable. An additional cover made of leatherette, made "under the crocodile", will have to be bought separately.
In general, there are no excesses in the delivery set, but there are also no attempts to save money on something.
Design and management
Perhaps, it is the appearance - this is what captivates this model, in life the player was even smaller than in photographs. Its simple rectangular aluminum case weighs just 150 grams, which makes it easy to carry it in your pockets, and makes the N5ii the most compact player with Android (at least from what I saw on the review). Cayin's pretentious design ideas are unfortunately a thing of the past, the N5ii is almost antipode to all previous models: no superfluous protrusions, chamfers or ribs - a strict parallelepiped diluted only with a volume control in the upper right corner. This design is a bit like the old A & K models, but, perhaps, even better restraint looks even better.
The back panel of the player is closed with plastic with an interesting ring pattern, from above it protects the factory protector. The front panel is almost completely occupied by the screen with the button "back" under it. The screen as a whole is not bad, with normal viewing angles and even a margin for brightness, which makes it possible to see the information in the sun, but it has some inclination to a cold-blue hue. However, this is primarily a player, and for this purpose the display is quite OK.
The developers have not stinted on the physical buttons, Android and touch screen - it's good, but the management of "blind" - even better. On the left side there is an on / off button, it also (you guessed it) turns off the screen. On the right side there are three playback control buttons, below are two sockets for microSD cards (Cayin loves DSD connoisseurs). Memory card slots are made without trays, which simplifies access to them "on the go", but worsens the situation with dust clogging the player, so it's better not to keep them open and use the complete plugs. At the top there are both output sockets, on the underside there is a USB-C-connector.
By the good tradition of Cayin, this connector is very multifunctional. In addition to charging and access to memory cards, it allows you to connect the player as a USB-DAC, allows the device to read USB OTG flash drives, output a digital signal via USB Audio and with a special adapter - on a coaxial. Not all these functions are implemented perfectly, for example, in the USB DAC mode there is a delay, and the USB Audio output is not "dopplily" to the ideal operating state (it works not with all DACs, but there are complaints about background noise), but I think at least USB Audio will soon be fixed with firmware, although the delay of the DAC is likely to remain.
The developers promise up to 12 hours of the player from one charge, in my test (MeeAudio P1 in the role of load, FLAC 44.1 / 16, mode "Audio Priority") it turned out about 10 hours 30 minutes - the result is still perfect for such a compact device. The full charge of the battery took me about 3 hours, not very long, but still you get used to Quick Charge quickly, and in most players it is not enough. In the pause mode, the N5ii is discharged at a rate of about 1 percent per hour (on a rough estimate), so the off timer in idle mode should still be turned on.
Firmware
In the role of software here is Android, diligently dopified Hiby engineers who have eaten on writing firmware so many dogs that they can already be considered Koreans (I know, so-so joke). Under the strict guidance of designers Cayin the shell turned out to be very functional and convenient, all the developments of the Cayin i5 here are preserved and expanded.
Immediately after the launch, we are greeted by the window of the library, which is open on music viewing by folders. Each of the carriers receives a separate button with a ring diagram of the fullness - this is convenient, and visually. The media library is divided into three sections: music, playlists and network drives. The first two sections, in turn, are divided into subsections. In music, you can view files by folders, artists, albums, genres and all tracks in one list. In the play-lists you can see favorites, frequently played tracks, recently lost melodies and, in fact, play-lists. The network section of the media library allows you to connect to different servers and download music from them. Switch between sections and subsections either by clicking the buttons at the top of the screen, or with svaypami.
Also in the player there is a search in the media library, although now he is looking only for the name of the track - the name of the group or album is ignored, I think this will be corrected in the next updates.
The playback screen is traditional, there is a cover artwork, lyrics lyrics or a pair of pretty VU-meters. The developers have made several different control options for this screen, you can switch them using the button in the lower left corner of the album cover, this allows you to choose the most convenient option for you.
Traditionally, the player has a drop-down menu on the left, which contains the main settings: scanning of media files (very fast, by the way), sleep and turn-off timers in idle mode, digital filter mode and others. The player has all the necessary functions like moving to folders and playing without pauses. In the same sidebar there is a separate item for installed third-party applications, which are exactly two from the box: Google Play and ES File Explorer, but if you want, you can install everything you need (however, it hardly makes sense to install something other than clients of streaming services).
Just as expected there is a drop-down shutter of fast settings like turning off the network interfaces and brightness, there is also a button with a gear icon that opens access to the system settings of Android itself.
One of the main software innovations of the firmware is the priority mode of audio, when it is activated, wireless interfaces are turned off and all applications running in the background stop, maximizing the performance of the main player and removing everything that can interfere with the sound. Naturally, streaming clients and third-party players will not work in this mode, it is created exclusively for the player built into the firmware.
If to say "in general" - the software leaves behind a rather pleasant impression, everything works brightly, if you do not try to download torrents directly from the player or run images of 5.1 disks in the DSD256. In Cayin are working on improvements, so there is hope that the player will update regularly.
Also good is the UX part, everything is "at hand", the only drawback is - some buttons are small, which requires careful "aiming," but you quickly adapt to it.
Sound
To listen to the device used the following headphones: iBasso IT03, Meze 99 Classics, Audio Zenith PMx2, Noble Kaiser Encore, Campfire Audio Andromeda, 64 Audio U12, HUM Pristine and others.
Engineers Cayin took still one of the best modern DACs (a special thank you for using the mobile version, not the desktop version) and carefully "prepared" it. During the creation of N5ii, the developers decided to remember about their flagship N6, it is to its sound the novelty gravitates, in the past there were attempts to add a pitch of this or that color. I would call N5ii a neutral player, while avoiding stalling in boring monitors, its sound has a pleasant "body", which is beneficial to the sense of realism. Running a little forward, I will say that the sound of this baby is clearly a success, in its price category this is perhaps the best player for connoisseurs of naturalness without accents.
In general, to describe the sound of N5ii is quite difficult. Well, judge for yourself: the bass is good in weight, but without excessive massiveness, it has a good speed and texture, but it does not sound dry. He has excellent flexiness and elasticity for his price category, but at the same time he is carefully controlled and stays in his place even in the fashionable style of today "an anorexic vocalist monotonously beats against a background of booming beats." If you find fault with the bass of this model, you can say that it will not suit fans of additional pumping of LF, well, even here the most lower bass is pressed. I already discussed this issue on YouTube, since I generally think that in the portable technology the most uterine layers of LF are not only possible, but also need to be taken to the background. Firstly, many headphones do not control this band very well (or do not play it out at all), and it creeps into higher frequencies, crushing them, and secondly, live instruments do not go so low, so these frequencies are needed only for synthesized bass. Returning to N5ii - he has these "lower bass" pressed really very moderately, and if you listen to something with a synthetic bass line - the selection of headphones will allow you to get more than enough of this range.
The midrange range can also be described as "has no special signs", the MF here is transparent, good in detail (but not prohibitive), they are colorless and served in a fairly casual manner. The player successfully copes with the transfer of small nuances of recording, but it does not protrude the flaws of the track to the fore, it will well reveal both high-quality dynamic headphones and multi-turn fittings. Very effectively, the N5ii also copes with the construction of the scene, it is slightly larger than the average in width and slightly less than the average in depth, but the instruments are very clearly separated, there is enough space between them in both directions. According to the MF, I have the same recommendation - if you are used to players with a certain color, N5ii may seem "not so", although in fact both with emotions and with detail everything is at a very good level for its price. At the filing of MF N5ii is not aggressive, which is also worth considering for fans of "pumping anger," but the energy that exists in the record, it conveys well.
The high frequencies generally continue the general trend of the model, they are slightly simplified in attacks, they lack the "layering" of expensive tops, but they are detailed and qualitatively elaborated. HF are not aggressive, they do not climb to the fore, but they are not lost in the background, that's why everything is fine there, not megakruto, but very, very good, there are pleasant fading, providing airiness and realism, normally the volume that distinguishes qualitative recording.
A few words about the difference in yields. In addition to the difference in power (and the balance here really has a good reserve of power), the 2.5-mm jack offers a slightly higher level of detail and better dynamics. The difference is not huge, but for high-end headphones, switching to a balanced connection is probably justified.
Comparing N5ii with tops, of course, you can find the moments in which he is inferior to them, but, for my taste, obviously negative moments he is also deprived, so I'm not going to deal with nonsense, contrasting it with models of the upper-middle segment and overlying flagships.
Cayin N3 . The young "cain", of course, is good in its segment, but up to the updated "average" brother does not hold out both for permission and for building an imaginary scene. And in general it is darker in pitch, which also contributes to the difference in sound.
Cayin N5 . Continuing the "family" analogy, we can say that these players resemble brothers from different fathers - they have similar appearance in both appearance and pitch. The first N5 sounds harder, you can even say that it is more aggressive, with more accentuated HF and greater bass bass (sacrificing massiveness and corporeality).
Cayin i5 . I will go a little bit of Vangoi and assume that this model will be removed from the company's product line, against the background of the new N5ii there is no sense in the existence of another intermediate step between the middle and top models. N5ii is compact, but at the same time it's more convenient (it's a pity that this nice slow i5 wheel is not here) and closer to the flagship N6 by the sound. If you compare i5 to it, then the previous player with Android has more massive accented LF and more "spiky" HF.
Cayin N6 . It is exactly what, to my ears, the new N5ii is striving for. Despite the general "nature" of the sound, the N6 defends its "flagship" status, offering a better resolution for the MF and a noticeably better exposure to HF, although I like the slightly more massive LF N5ii more.
FiiO X5-III . Here, perhaps, is the case when the players have very little in common, which simplifies the choice between them. "Five" FiiO offers a more integrated and slightly darker pitch, while the "five" Cayin is created for fans of neutrality. It's also worth noting that the FiiO is slightly larger, but it has a better screen.
FiiO X7 + AM2 . Well, all the same, the flagship, albeit the former one, is still the flagship. Better resolution, more textural LF, better HF development - that's what the superiority of this model comes from.
Lotoo Paw 5000 Mk II . If you take out the usability in particular and the firmware in general (and the difference, as you understand, is huge) and compare only the sound - Lotoo sounds more energetic, it has a little more emphasis on LF, slightly brighter than HF, a drop of more emotions added to the MF.
Compatibility
I think, even by the characteristics it is clear that the N5ii is quite capable of coping with most headphones, except perhaps the tightest models. On the other hand, the three-stage adjustment of the Gain allows the player to work well with sensitive IEM, in my memory this is one of the quietest players in terms of background noise. Thanks to a neutral feed, the hero of this review does a good job with almost any headphones, helping them to reveal their strengths at a normal level.
The genre player is universal (with amendments for the taste of the owner), but it is especially good on styles with natural instruments and live emotional vocals. To the quality of the record, he moderately tolerant, somewhere on 6 points out of 10 on the conditional scale of "fault-finding".
As usual, several sample tracks
Joe Bonamassa - How Deep This River Runs . Reliable and the support of modern blues rock, Joe Bonamass, long avoided my selection. Apparently, he expected a moderately priced player, at which his masterly guitar skills would be fully disclosed (listening to the blues on the player for $ 3,500 is not "tru"). The quality recording greatly benefits from the volume and neutral sounding of the N5ii, allowing you to enjoy both the complicated guitar parts and the overall arrangement that this track is rich in.
Roxette - Listen to Your Heart . A little bit of absolute and total classics will never hurt, especially as the second generation of the Cayin N5 perfectly handles both the vocals of Marie Fredriksson, and everything that Per Gessle added. Especially spectacular was the final, in which the main melody of the song is replaced by sonorous code.
The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go . Конечно, Sex Pistols сильно подорвали репутацию панк-рока, убедив почти всех, что «чем хуже играют панки, тем лучше», но те же The Clash эффективно сумели опровергнуть данный тезис. Намешав в своём творчестве гремучий коктейль из панка, новой волны, фанка, а иногда забираясь даже в стили вроде регги, они смогли дать толчок множеству коллективов, развивших жанры вроде рокабилли. Но это, пожалуй, предмет отдельного разговора, вернёмся к N5ii. Как я уже говорил, от себя он ничего не добавляет, но то, что заложено в трек, — отыгрывает прекрасно, и данный хит — тому подтверждение.
conclusions
Думаю, любой, дочитавший до этого момента, уже понял, что плеер мне очень понравился. Прекрасный баланс доступной цены, компактных размеров, стильного дизайна, современных возможностей и качественного звука — вот то, что предлагает N5ii. Он не лишён некоторых недостатков (основные из которых, думаю, будут исправлены прошивками), но всё равно Cayin хорошо подняла планку среднего сегмента, и я с нетерпением буду ждать, что же они предложат в топовой модели (а рано или поздно они всё-таки это сделают).
PS Если вы любите музыку и/или активно интересуетесь темой портативного аудио — подписывайтесь на в Telegram, я там анонсирую обзоры, иногда делюсь новостями, мыслями и хорошей музыкой.
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