Cayin iDAC6-MK2

[firedog]

Bought one of these for secondary use: https://en.cayin.cn/features/7/59/351.html

 

 

What is it?

 

An ESS 9028Pro DAC. It's big claim it fame is that it has both Solid State and Tube outputs, and you can switch between them as you like with the press of a button. It also measures extremely well: The SS section measures close to state of the art, and the tube output section is close behind, which is unusual for tube outputs. 

 

Basically I got it to play with adding euphonic tube distortion to my playback. I sometimes do that with older music that in my mind seems like it "should" sound that way. 

 

The truth is that the Tube and SS sections don't sound that different, it's fairly subtle. The tube output isn't all "warm and gooey"; just a little "soft" and it presents the "front to back" a little differently. 

 

If you look at the feature set for the DAC in the link, it's pretty extensive. The only drawback is it doesn't have a remote. That's usually a deal breaker for me, but in my present setup and expected use (only sometimes), that isn't a biggie for me. 

 

How is it ? Perfectly fine. It works as expected. Sounds fine, like a good modern DAC. It's not for my main critical listening, so as long as it presses many "audiophile" buttons on playback, I'm happy with it.  Bottom line: If it was my only DAC I could be happy with it. 

 

The DAC, btw, has a retail list price of $1199, but it is being heavily discounted everywhere it's sold, it seems. I got it for $1000. You may find it for less if you look. I think that probably means it's going to be replaced by a newer version soon. 

 

Cayin also makes a "top of the line" DAC that has basically the same feature set, but comes with upgraded parts, upgraded clocks, an ESS9038Pro Chip, and upgraded independent power supplies for each output.  Also a fancy audiophile case: https://en.cayin.cn/features/8/56/71/352.html.

That one costs around $3000. 

[copy_of_a]

cool - thanks for your post!
My old Pro-Ject DAC Box RS also had a switchable output stage Solid State / Tube. I enjoyed having the Tube option now and then for certain recordings, although in the end I actually used it rarerly.
As with your iDAC6 it didn‘t produce a Vintage Style Tube sound but added a touch of glue to the sound and ever so slightly changed the spatiality of the music. Pretty cool tool to quickly adjust the sound signature.
Have fun!
 

[dericchan1]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:31 AM, firedog said:

Bought one of these for secondary use: https://en.cayin.cn/features/7/59/351.html

 

 

What is it?

 

An ESS 9028Pro DAC. It's big claim it fame is that it has both Solid State and Tube outputs, and you can switch between them as you like with the press of a button. It also measures extremely well: The SS section measures close to state of the art, and the tube output section is close behind, which is unusual for tube outputs. 

 

Basically I got it to play with adding euphonic tube distortion to my playback. I sometimes do that with older music that in my mind seems like it "should" sound that way. 

 

The truth is that the Tube and SS sections don't sound that different, it's fairly subtle. The tube output isn't all "warm and gooey"; just a little "soft" and it presents the "front to back" a little differently. 

 

If you look at the feature set for the DAC in the link, it's pretty extensive. The only drawback is it doesn't have a remote. That's usually a deal breaker for me, but in my present setup and expected use (only sometimes), that isn't a biggie for me. 

 

How is it ? Perfectly fine. It works as expected. Sounds fine, like a good modern DAC. It's not for my main critical listening, so as long as it presses many "audiophile" buttons on playback, I'm happy with it.  Bottom line: If it was my only DAC I could be happy with it. 

 

The DAC, btw, has a retail list price of $1199, but it is being heavily discounted everywhere it's sold, it seems. I got it for $1000. You may find it for less if you look. I think that probably means it's going to be replaced by a newer version soon. 

 

Cayin also makes a "top of the line" DAC that has basically the same feature set, but comes with upgraded parts, upgraded clocks, an ESS9038Pro Chip, and upgraded independent power supplies for each output.  Also a fancy audiophile case: https://en.cayin.cn/features/8/56/71/352.html.

That one costs around $3000. 

Appreciate your write up on this Cayin tube dac and glad that you like it.

 

Nothing compared to your unit, but in my search for a small form factor desktop setup for my home office, I ended up with this after seeing raving reviews on SBAF and a few other forums.

 

https://doukaudio.com/products/douk-audio-st-01-hifi-bluetooth-5-0-tube-amplifier-usb-dac-coax-opt-digital-audio-amp-w-vu-meter

 

Its an all-in-one bluetooth/DAC/tube pre/class D amp with remote control and even a VU meter!!!! 

 

Cheers

 

Deric