thanks to the good folk at lumous audio i got to spend a little time with this piece of kit.
https://www.lumous-audio.co.za/cayin
for those not familiar with it, it is a usb fed & powered dac / headphone amp, which can be used to turn your phone into a dap, or can be used in conjunction with a tablet / laptop / computer usb output.
i guess it could also be used with a streamer which has a usb output?
i was looking for something portable which could be used in conjunction with my phone, the intention being that i could use it in place of walking around with my dap (lotoo paw gold touch).
my impressions follow - but i must get my disclaimer in first. i don't have extensive experience with head fi (i was pretty much fast tracked), i don't have the ability or patience to do any kind of detailed a / b testing, or take extensive notes. i just work on general impressions & whether i enjoyed the music. i am used to the sound of my lotoo paw gold touch with campfire andromeda iems or hifiman he1000 headphones, which i think is probably rather a high standard.
tl:dr:
good:
- reasonable pricing,
- very good quality build
- very good sound with good / medium tier headphones
bad:
- drains my phone battery really very quickly, so not good for portable use.
- not great with the andromedas or he1000
some detail:
packaging:
it comes in a box.
the box is easy to open & close.
the goodies are well protected & easy to access.
accessories:
the unit i had came with a nice leather cover, a very good quality short usb-c to usb-c cable, & a usb adapter (which i never used)
i am not sure if the leather cover is standard or an option. if an option, then it is well worth spending a bit extra to get it.
overall impression:
quality.
the unit looks & feels good. the accessories likewise.
the display is good, & the buttons work really well, even through the leather cover.
this may be a rather inexpensive component, but it doesn't show. build quality is better than some way more expensive items i have owned.
settings:
there are 2 settings which can be used. hi / lo gain, & oversampling / no oversampling. easily accessible, easy to use, & with noticable impact on sound.
my ears preferred the oversampling mode, with high / low gain dependant on what i was using to listen
low gain for andromeda iems & audeze sine, & high gain for hifiman he560 & he 1000.
there is a 3.5mm se & 4.4mm balanced output.
sound quality:
really rather good in some cases (audeze sine & hifiman he560) & a bit lacking in some cases (andromeda iems & hifiman he1000)
however, bearing in mind that my standard to which i was comparing was the lpgt i suspect that i am beings somewhat unfair.
audeze sine
this is where i started. i have a pair of these in my desk drawer & i almost never use them as my phone just cannot drive them. the extra power & refinement of the ru6 really made them come alive. initially i thought they sounded a bit harsh, but a change to lo gain & oversampling mode quickly solved that.
forumite gler pointed out that the initial perceived harshness cold be in part due to a shortage of power from my phone, & that running it off a tablet or laptop could improve things. makes sense, but i never tried it as i don't own a tablet, & i didn't intend to use it in with my laptop.
hifiman he560
this was a major surprise to me...
i just connected it to see what would happen, with no real anticipation that the ru6 would come close to driving these.
of course it did struggle, & drained my phone rather quickly. but at moderate volume this was a great combination.
campfire andromeda
this was a bit of a disappointment. i think that the andromeda are just too sensitive..
on some tracks i got some noise, on other tracks the sound was a little ragged & loose.
imaging & texture suffer a bit as well.
perhaps an impedance matcher would improve things, but i haven't had good results with these in the past.
the andromeda are my primary listening iems so this was a bit of a disappointment to me)
hifiman he1000
again, i think that these are just a bridge too far for the ru6.
also a little ragged & unrefined, with a loss of imaging, slam & texture.
i have to wonder if a cable along the lines of the ones made by guillaume for the nuprime udsd would work. split into 1 pigtail for data, & one for power to a powerbank, wouldn't be a really good idea for the ru6?
conclusion:
i was thinking of buying one of these. due mainly to the power drain from the phone (my intended use case) & the mismatch with the andromeda i decided not to.
if i could get a pigtail cable to cure battery drain, i probably would still. of course i would also have to buy an iem which is perhaps a slightly better match.
if you are in the market for a dap or similar, this is an item worth considering.
https://www.lumous-audio.co.za/cayin
for those not familiar with it, it is a usb fed & powered dac / headphone amp, which can be used to turn your phone into a dap, or can be used in conjunction with a tablet / laptop / computer usb output.
i guess it could also be used with a streamer which has a usb output?
i was looking for something portable which could be used in conjunction with my phone, the intention being that i could use it in place of walking around with my dap (lotoo paw gold touch).
my impressions follow - but i must get my disclaimer in first. i don't have extensive experience with head fi (i was pretty much fast tracked), i don't have the ability or patience to do any kind of detailed a / b testing, or take extensive notes. i just work on general impressions & whether i enjoyed the music. i am used to the sound of my lotoo paw gold touch with campfire andromeda iems or hifiman he1000 headphones, which i think is probably rather a high standard.
tl:dr:
good:
- reasonable pricing,
- very good quality build
- very good sound with good / medium tier headphones
bad:
- drains my phone battery really very quickly, so not good for portable use.
- not great with the andromedas or he1000
some detail:
packaging:
it comes in a box.
the box is easy to open & close.
the goodies are well protected & easy to access.
accessories:
the unit i had came with a nice leather cover, a very good quality short usb-c to usb-c cable, & a usb adapter (which i never used)
i am not sure if the leather cover is standard or an option. if an option, then it is well worth spending a bit extra to get it.
overall impression:
quality.
the unit looks & feels good. the accessories likewise.
the display is good, & the buttons work really well, even through the leather cover.
this may be a rather inexpensive component, but it doesn't show. build quality is better than some way more expensive items i have owned.
settings:
there are 2 settings which can be used. hi / lo gain, & oversampling / no oversampling. easily accessible, easy to use, & with noticable impact on sound.
my ears preferred the oversampling mode, with high / low gain dependant on what i was using to listen
low gain for andromeda iems & audeze sine, & high gain for hifiman he560 & he 1000.
there is a 3.5mm se & 4.4mm balanced output.
sound quality:
really rather good in some cases (audeze sine & hifiman he560) & a bit lacking in some cases (andromeda iems & hifiman he1000)
however, bearing in mind that my standard to which i was comparing was the lpgt i suspect that i am beings somewhat unfair.
audeze sine
this is where i started. i have a pair of these in my desk drawer & i almost never use them as my phone just cannot drive them. the extra power & refinement of the ru6 really made them come alive. initially i thought they sounded a bit harsh, but a change to lo gain & oversampling mode quickly solved that.
forumite gler pointed out that the initial perceived harshness cold be in part due to a shortage of power from my phone, & that running it off a tablet or laptop could improve things. makes sense, but i never tried it as i don't own a tablet, & i didn't intend to use it in with my laptop.
hifiman he560
this was a major surprise to me...
i just connected it to see what would happen, with no real anticipation that the ru6 would come close to driving these.
of course it did struggle, & drained my phone rather quickly. but at moderate volume this was a great combination.
campfire andromeda
this was a bit of a disappointment. i think that the andromeda are just too sensitive..
on some tracks i got some noise, on other tracks the sound was a little ragged & loose.
imaging & texture suffer a bit as well.
perhaps an impedance matcher would improve things, but i haven't had good results with these in the past.
the andromeda are my primary listening iems so this was a bit of a disappointment to me)
hifiman he1000
again, i think that these are just a bridge too far for the ru6.
also a little ragged & unrefined, with a loss of imaging, slam & texture.
i have to wonder if a cable along the lines of the ones made by guillaume for the nuprime udsd would work. split into 1 pigtail for data, & one for power to a powerbank, wouldn't be a really good idea for the ru6?
conclusion:
i was thinking of buying one of these. due mainly to the power drain from the phone (my intended use case) & the mismatch with the andromeda i decided not to.
if i could get a pigtail cable to cure battery drain, i probably would still. of course i would also have to buy an iem which is perhaps a slightly better match.
if you are in the market for a dap or similar, this is an item worth considering.
