Name: Cayin N8ii Digital Player
Brand: Cayin
SKU: 6230
Availability: InStock

Cayin N8ii Digital Player

$3,500

Dual Matched Tube Amplification for Fully-balanced tube headphone output.
Flagship-Grade Dual DAC Architecture With Latest ROHM DACs.
Dual Operational Modes: Class A and Class AB.
Exceptional Music Listening Experience.
Fully Discrete Audio Circuitry.
Lightning-Fast Performance with Octa-Core Snapdragon 660 SoC.
Easy Multi-Tasking With 6GB RAM.
128GB Internal Storage.
Supports Both Balanced as well as Single-Ended headphones and Line-out.
Android 9.0.
Hi-Res Bluetooth Support.
5” OLED Display.
Battery Life: up to 11 hours.
Digital Interface: I2S, SPFID, Coaxial(embedded), USB Audio In and Out.
Sandblasted CNC-Machined Aluminum Chassis.

It is clear that Cayin took their original N8 DAP to a whole new level in this next gen N8ii release. The core of the design with a dual Solid State/NuTube principle is still there, now fully balanced and featuring a dual NuTube 6P1 accessible from 4.4mm BAL output. It still features a fully-discrete Dual Output power mode with P (standard) and P+ (high voltage) outputs, and adds Class A and AB amp modes (A/AB in P, and AB only in P+) found in C9. The playback-only Unix platform has been upgraded to Android 9 with Snapdragon 660 SoC and 6GB of RAM – one of the fastest Android DAP performances I have encountered based on my AnTuTu 3D benchmark tests. And the misfortune of AKM factory fire led to a discovery of a new high-end ROHM 32bit current mode DAC, available for the first time in a portable audio player, the same DAC that recently appeared in $16.5k Luxman D-10X SACD desktop player.

N8ii doesn’t have a typical Tube sound, nor does it sound lean. The sound is revealing and micro detailed without being bright or harsh and has the unique ability to finetune the pair up synergy, going from either being transparent to tastefully colored. You have the ability to switch between Solid State or Tubes/Solid State (Tubes are either enabled or disabled to give extra texture to the mids), Class A or Class AB amp mode (Class A is where you get that smooth laidback sound characteristics), and extra voltage boost going from P to P+ (doing wonders to the dynamics of DD drivers). Considering all these available tuning options, you have access to multiple tools to finetune N8ii sound to perfection in pair up with different IEMs and headphones. And that what makes it unique and stand out from the crowd.

N8ii – Power, Details and Options!

Pros:
– Many options to customise the sound
– Cyrstal clear and detailed sound
– High-quality design and build quality
– Small footprint considering all the features
– Tubes!
– Silent background
– Enough power to drive a wide range of IEMs and headphones
– Line Out

Cons:
– The number of options may be too much for some
– Top tier pricing (but I did expect it to be worse!)

The Cayin N8ii is a tour de force of options in a portable package. It’s capable of producing a detailed and powerful sound with a silent background and some stunning results.

Cayin have done about as good as you can to provide the number of features, they have while balancing heat, power consumption and still managing to ship a reasonably small device.

Its Solid State performance is as good as any DAP I have tried to date and the Tubes option gives you another flavour of tuning from the same device. If you can appreciate and make use of everything that the N8ii can offer, then it is well worth checking out.