The Cayin company is an excellent example of a modern dynamically developing Chinese brand. Starting with the production of tube amplifiers, they gradually expanded their range to the full range of products needed to play audio: CD players, DACs, amplifiers, speakers ... Recently, the company realized that the market for high-end portable audio is experiencing a recent rapid growth. The test ball in the face of the amplifier C5 was very successful, so it was followed by a high-end player N6.
The player was developed for almost a year, and it implemented many unusual ideas. The player uses two PCM1792A DAC chips from Texas instruments. In Cayin believe that this chip is the most appropriate to their "brand" sound. To maximize the accuracy of the audio signal, the N6 employs three high-precision generators with temperature compensation: one is responsible for frequencies that are multiples of 44.1 kHz (44.1 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 176.4 kHz), the second 48 kHz , 96 kHz, 192 kHz), the third one is intended for DSD-signal (2,8224 MHz, 5,6448 MHz). This helped reduce jitter, but in order to lower it further, Cayin developed its own solution based on the FPGA SA2000, which additionally "filters" the digital signal before transmitting it to the DAC. In combination with direct support for DSD, this makes the N6 one of the leaders in the digital field.
Fit into the Cayin N6 and the amplifier, it's assembled under a scheme called Bridge-Tied Load, and is close to the dual-mono amplifier circuit. For this scheme, we had to solve a number of problems with power consumption, heat removal, etc., but it allowed us to achieve excellent channel separation, linearity over the entire frequency response, and a doubled voltage swing at the output. In total, the N6 uses 13 operational amplifiers that serve the line and the headphone outputs.
To adjust the volume, use PGA2311 from Texas Instuments, which is able to adjust the volume in the range from +31.5 dB to -95.5 dB in 0.5 dB steps. At the same time, it is ensured that the levels coincide in channels with an accuracy of 0.05 dB and channel separation up to 130 dB @ 1 KHz.
Do not have to save on everything else. The player uses 2.4 "IPS TFT 400 x 360 screen from Sharp (really very good). The system is responsible for the dual-core processor Ingenic Xburst JZ4760, running at 600 MHz. This allowed to support almost all conceivable formats both with loss of quality and without it, including high-resolution files (up to 192 KHz / 24 bit except WMA, for which only 96 kHz are supported). Also supported are DSD64 and DSD128 in DSD, DFF and SACD ISO formats.
All this is assembled on a 4-layer board with immersion gilding over nickel.
Despite the rather steep stuffing, Cayin did not inflate the price tag to the level of competitors. can be an average price of about 630 dollars. This, of course, is not cheap, but compared to similar solutions of other manufacturers - almost 2 times cheaper. I, as usual, want to thank my friends from Era-in-ear for the opportunity to get acquainted with this player.
Specifications
- DAC: 2 × PCM1792A
- Processor: Ingenic Xburst JZ4760, 2 cores @ 600 MHz
- FPGA: SA2000
- Volume control: PGA2311, 100 steps adjustment
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 KHz ± 0.2 dB, 5 Hz - 50 KHz ± 1 dB
- The coefficient of nonlinear distortion: 0.005%
- Dynamic range: 110 dB
- Signal to noise ratio: 109 dB
- Output power to headphones: 220 mW per channel @ 32Ω
- Output Impedance: 0.26Ω
- Linear output: 1.7 V @ 10KΩ
- USB DAC: asynchronous, up to 24 bit / 192 kHz
- Gain selection: 2 levels (+6 dB)
- Channel balance: ± 10 dB
- Equalizer: 10-band, ± 10 dB
- Display: 2.4 "IPS TFT 400 × 360
- Analog outputs: 3.5 mm TRS headphone, 3.5 mm TRS linear
- Digital Output: 3.5 mm TRS coaxial S / PDIF
- DSD support: DSD64 (DSF, DFF), DSD128 (DSF, DFF), SACD ISO
- Support lossless formats: WAV, FLAC, ALAC, APE (up to 24 bit / 192 kHz), WMA (up to 24 bit / 96 kHz)
- Support lossy formats: AAC, OGG, MP2, MP3
- Battery capacity: 5600 mAh
- Built-in Memory: 8 GB
- Support for memory cards: Micro SD up to 128 GB
- Operating time on one charge: up to 8 hours
- Charging time: ~ 3 h
- The dimensions are maximum: 126 mm × 72 mm × 19.7 mm
- Dimensions of the main body: 126 mm × 68 mm × 17.6 mm
- Weight: 230 g
Packing and delivery kit
To the design of the box in Cayin came up on a grand scale. For starters, they chose an unusual, but very pleasant terracotta color, complemented by silver embossing. The outer shell of the box is removed, giving access to the inner box. The latter opens like a casket. Under the cover is a cardboard envelope with instructions and spare films on the screen (one already glued). In the middle of the velvet is the player itself. Under the velvet lodgment you will find a microUSB cable, an adapter for S / PDIF, a microSD card reader and very unexpectedly a keychain with a company logo and a carbon insert, the same as on the back of the player.
In addition to this wealth, the kit was a simple case made of gray silicone, just thrown into the shipping box.
As you can see, on this point the company took into account all the wishes.
Design and management
Over the appearance of the player, too, worked hard, the design turned out to be unusual, and, perhaps, not everyone will like it, but it pleases at least what the company thought about the banal usability. Most of the case N6 is made of milled aluminum. The exception is the back panel, which in a tribute fashion was made of carbon fiber (better known as carbon). I'm not quite sure why this was done, but in general it looks interesting and unusual.
The very form of the body of the player also differs non-standard, the upper part has a circular projection, into which the screen is inscribed. The latter, unfortunately, is not round, it would make the player prohibitively expensive, but the usual square shape. The quality of the screen favorably differs from the majority of Chinese players with good color rendering and resolution. Because of this, the covers on the screen look cooler than ever. Pleased with the high resolution, software developers used a very fine and thin font that made reading difficult, but quickly corrected, releasing an updated firmware in which the font was greatly improved.
By the way, I note active work on the software part of the player, just a month after the release of the N6, a new version of the firmware was released, which greatly improved DSD support, corrected a number of bugs and optimized power consumption. I hope that this pace will be supported by developers in the future.
Controls are distributed on all sides of the player. On the front panel there are 4 control buttons of a very unusual shape. They can be used to navigate and control playback. In the right panel there are two volume buttons. On top are the headphone output connectors, the line and coaxial outputs, as well as the power button and lock. At the bottom there is a MicroUSB connector, a memory card slot and a reset hole. On the left panel is placed a navigation wheel, made of corrugated metal, with support for pressing, with which you can control the menu.
The level of execution of the hull and the overall fit of the nodes are close to the ideal, not the slightest backlash or unevenness, everything is in its place. The player, of course, rather big, but due to the relatively small thickness in the hand is very good, all the controls can be reached without using the second hand.
The interface of the player is very good. The main menu is made in the form of a circle with 5 sections, hinting that it needs to be controlled with the help of the side wheel (although the control using the buttons on the front panel also works). The sections are as follows:
- Playback screen
- Player settings
- Playback settings
- The Media Library
- Direct file access
In the player settings you can change the language, USB connection mode (DAC or file access), backlight time (from 30 seconds), brightness (5 steps), off timer, reset settings and view information about the player.
In the music settings, you can adjust the gain, digital filter (sharp and slow), gain compensation for DSD, equalizer (10-band), playback mode (in order, random repeat, repeat one track), memorize playback position when turning off, when turned off, play without pauses, balance channels and display album covers and lyrics.
The music library also deserves praise. In addition to the standard options for viewing the music library for artists, albums, genres and all the songs in a row, there are also a list of favorites in which you can add tracks yourself, and the history of the lost songs.
The playback screen is quite logical, all the necessary information is displayed at the top, most of the cover is occupied, the track name and position are shown below. By the good Chinese tradition, to navigate the track and between them, use the up and down buttons, the right button is responsible for playing and pausing, the left button for returning back to the main menu. Rotating the wheel on the playback screen prompts you to select another track from the current playlist, clicking on it opens a context menu with which you can change the gain, playback order, add a track to your favorite, or delete it.
Powerful filling did not have the best effect on the player's running time. Despite the capacious battery, on one charge it plays about 7 hours, the time of full charge when using the charger from the iPad is slightly less than 4 hours. The performance is not record, but Cayin promised to work on it and already in version 1.1 of the firmware they added support for the "sleep" mode for the processor, which allows it to consume less power in idle time. It's nice that the player displays the battery's charge in percent and does it accurately enough.
Sound
To listen to the player, the following headphones were used:
- HiFiMan Re600
- HiFiMan HE560
- Philips Fidelio X1
- Dunu DN-2000
- Lear LUF-4F
- Rhapsodio RTi1
- Ambient Acoustics AM10
In general, the sound of Cayin N6 is very well balanced. It is musical, without loss of transparency, and does not roll into excessive dryness. Its sound is incredibly detailed, the player takes care of the fine nuances of music very carefully, transferring them with the highest level of accuracy. This leads to the fact that when playing the instruments are very clearly positioned not only in width, but also in depth. With good headphones listening to the records of large groups - very, very interesting.
The power reserve of the player is quite good, although not a record one. With the exception of tight isodynamic models and headphones with an impedance above 300Ω, it copes with almost any load. The near-zero output impedance makes the N6 a good option for multi-turnaround headphones, capricious to this parameter.
Bass is incredibly good at controlling and working out the nuances. In the sound of N6 there is not the slightest hint of blur and rumble, everything is very clearly divided and served very authoritatively. It is worth noting that fans of aggressive and sharp low frequencies N6 is not very suitable, it is simply not designed for this.
The middle frequencies are very musical, their details and control also do not cause the slightest censure. The emotions embedded in the music, the N6 broadcasts very reliably.
Not surprisingly, HF is also very good. Here, too, the signature handwriting of the player is maintained: naturalness, detailing and musicality - all this is on the HF. Thanks to this sound does not tire, and you can listen to the player for a long time.
I can not help giving a couple of words to comparing the Cayin N6 with the nearest competitor QLS QA360, they perform in the same price category and, of course, compete with each other. In general, the sound of the players the situation is close to parity. In terms of detail, naturalness, etc., they are very good, the difference is greater in individual nuances. The QA360 has a bit more bass, plus it works better with tight headphones, the N6's bass is slightly better in the fade area, so the instruments in this range sound more natural, at least to my ears. QA360 also builds a three-dimensional imaginary scene. But in general, the N6's performance seems a bit more musical.
Compatibility
In general, the player is good with any headphones, allowing it to open up to the fullest. Top dynamical and reinforcement models, as well as most overhead headphones, are quite enough for him. In the additional amplifier, he does not need much, except that you decide to listen with N6 isodines, then you can dock the same C5. It's funny that the amplifier from Cayin fully corresponds to the nature of the player's sound, the rest are more inclined to substitute N6's supply (another exception, perhaps, is Aune B1).
It is very pleasing that the player can work as a USB DAC in asynchronous mode with support for audio stream up to 192 KHz / 24 bit, this makes the scope of its application even wider if you use, for example, a laptop - you can not lose as music playback from him.
conclusions
Very interesting player, getting into that niche, where he has few competitors. By sound and design, it is very close to top models, but has a price 2-3 times less, which makes it a very successful candidate for purchase, if you want to get a high-quality sound, but are not ready to pay any amount without looking. The omnivorous and versatile nature of the Cayin N6 complements its positive aspects.
The article is based on materials .
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