Sunday, August 27, 2017

Cayin N3

This N3 is from part of the tour review of Cayin, but I do reserve the right to be unbiased in this review.

Introduction

In the hands, the Cayin N3 is very light, much lighter than I was anticipating. The DAP grip was good thanks to the thickness of the unit though. There is only 1 slot of micro SD, which I find as a defeat compared to Fiio which has dual SD in almost all their DAP lines.

Hands on

The navigation of the N3 is very simplistic and straight forward, you will easily get through everything and head to where you want by just a couple clicks. Menu and functions are pretty self explanatory

Listening session
IEM pairing: Noble Sage with Snugs tips, EA Ares 2+
Music: Variety

In an overall sense, I will illustrate my impressions in 3 sections, bass mid and highs

Bass
Bass wise the N3 couldnt power the bass power of some music i used, like from Beyonce which pounds a lot of low tones in songs like Diva. I only hear pops and shallow bass, but I cant blame the DAP which is of this size.

Mids
Mids are nice and smooth, mixture of vocals and guitar strings are well separated. You can easily feel the separation of tones in the music.

Highs
Highs are crispy but it doesnt overdo it, tingling sens of cymbals and high hats are heard but they do not go crashing on your face. Control is good on the N3.

Soundstage
Tested some orchestral tracks and I find the soundstage somewhat lacking which makes me feel this N3 is more suitable for studio albums. 

Conclusion
Well, I didnt go into Bluetooth cause I dont have any AptX device to try with so I omit that part out, but as a low cost no bullshittery DAP, this might be worth considering, bang for the buck where it counts. Lightweight, adequately powered, straightforward UI, good enough in my books.

Review looks simple, i know, but hey, Im not here to write a novel, and people will ALWAYS say you must go to try it to see if it fits you, so why do i need to write a 10 page declaration heh?