Cayin i5 Portable HiFi Audio Player

Pros:+Nice build quality.+Good sound (using Seinnheiser HD650 open back headphones)+Large battery provides battery life similar to a smart phone (even when using streaming via WiFi)+Works with high capacity micro SD cards with large music track libraries. Search function and scrolling is somewhat painful and limited with thousands of tracks.Cons:-Old version of Android 4.4, with all it's failings such as flakey Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is unusable with a Prius optional upgrade sound system - it cuts in/out every 10 seconds or so.-Latest Cayin firmware (v2.2) is buggy. The Cayin music player app displays a crash dialog message every time the unit is powered up. Dismissing the dialog restarts the app and then it functions. The entire player (Android?) freezes about once a week.

Interface is not consistent, not alway logical. Some functions are not easy and straight accessible. You should go around through many stages to hit the right function. Battery handling is not reliable. Plays good anyhow.

Nice dap. Better than dx90 on pretty much everything from looks to sound quality. I got it from seller from Hong Kong for cheaper.It sounds great with brighter cans or iems. It sounds little too warm for my taste with darker cans like Sony mdr z7.. Since AKM DAC on this player are more on the warmer side. Z7 sounds better with dx90 BTW. I use Jvc fx850 mainly for now and it sounds great. Darker source with brighter iem. I think Grado or any brighter cans will work good with this player.UI is user friendly like any other Android phone and quality is top notch. Battery life is good as well.

This is a very good DAP. my only concern is that sometimes it freezes up a lot. I bought the 200gb micro sd card and it works fine also. I t can lag now and again but i think its because of the 10.000 songs i have on the sd card.I would like to see more built in equalizer settings, and i think the equalizers needs configuring correctly. For example all of the eq settings on my cayin I5 sounds different on the apple ipod. am not sure if it is because of the speakers am using, but you can tell a difference.I hope in the future Cayin can add more eq options like Reggae, hip hop etc.Battery life is awesome, it will play for hours no stop.

About Me: Having used the Walkman cassette players from the 90's till the current age DAPs, I have developed a unique taste in listening to music. I am bass head and a Sony Fanboy. I have always used Sony DAPs, AMPs, IEMs, Cameras, Mobile Phones, Speakers etc.EX-DAP: Unlike the 90's you got plenty of options today, so I was always in the search of the best portable dap. My previous dap was the Walkman ZX2, it was a very capable device with detailed sound signature. But the biggest drawback is the fact that it does not even power my Z5 IEMs well. It throws just 15mW at 16ohms. This is pure BS on a device that is worth more than a grand. I always had to amp it with the PHA3. Simply wanted to get rid of the non-portable solution, so was trying many DAPs that can be a one device solution.Benchmark: Having set the PHA3 as the bench mark, was looking for a DAP that offered a similar sound signature and be able to power my XBA Z5. Also to note that the PHA3 is the best audio device I have ever heard till date.DAPs ordered:Currently I have the Fiio X5iii, Onkyo DP1, Cayin i5 and the Sony WM1A. All ordered to find the best dap and return the others. All DAPs were compared with the same FLAC/MP3 audio files and spotify/soundcloud. I have used the default audio apps on these players to do the comparision.Fiio X5iii: The X5iii is designed very well, compact and looks futuristic. It also has the same AKM4490, but dual. You name a feature the X5iii has it. But to be honest I did not find the X5iii as musical as the i5. The i5 has a much wider sound stage. Separation is much better on the i5 SE when compared to the X5iii balanced. Totally confused on how a dual AKM4490 with balanced output sound inferior to a device that has one AKM4490 with standard jack. I have tried almost all possible fidling with the Equalizer, but the sound stage,separation, bass response is no where close to the i5.Onkyo DP1: Didnt like the sound signature. DP1 was more analytical than the others. Sound stage was almost the same as the X5iii, bass was tight and separation was good. But no offense to onkyo, didnt suit my taste.WM1A: The only dap I had all my hope on. Waited for the 4.4mm balanced cable to try the balanced and sure I was impressed. It was almost the same my old ZX2, with better power. Widest sound stage and tighter bass. Was not as analytical as the DP1 but more musical. It was sounding almost as good as the PHA3 on my Z5 (Bigger headphones may again need PHA3). I was very sure that the WM1A was the device that is going to be on my pockets all the time.Cayin i5: Just ordered the i5 with no hope based on the reviews, was thinking to send it back even before unpacking it. After doing a decent burn-in for about 3-5 days, I can say the Cayin i5 has simply impressed me with the detailed sound staging. I simply cant beleive myself. This little device is capable of sounding almost similar to the WM1A but with a little more bass response. Then this is exactly I have been searching for years. Yes this player is for bass heads who dont like to compromise on the Audio quality. Bass is a little bloated compared to the PHA3/WM1A, but thats perfectly ok coz it doesnt leak or disturb the mids and highs. Sound stage is again similar to the WM1A if not better. The highs were a little harsh to my taste, but had the equalizer fix it. I am simply in love with this device, coz its a one stop solution now. I dont miss the balanced connection at all, the SE on the i5 sounds better than the balanced X5iii and almost in pace with the WM1A balanced.What more it does than the WM1A? Well, I got my Spotify and Sound Cloud streaming and the ablity to be able to use the i5 as a DAC on my laptop. This is the one device I have dreaming about owning and will surely give my 1st preference to Cayin devices in future. Even though the Sony have better imaging devices, I simply hate Sony's marketting strategy. They dont offer what the consumer wants rather try to force their amps and cables (with wierd ends). Now all the other DAPs are returned and Cayin i5 takes the throne (My Pocket of-course)Issues with i5:Player crashes once every 2/3 hours regardless of source. Have reported it in Amazon and other forums for solution. On V2.2Need more custom equalizers (Atleast two) and should have access to modify custom equalizer on the Music track window.PS: I love the classic touch of the volume knob. I simply keep twisting it even when the player is off. I have used the XBA Z5 as the only IEM to do my testing, these other devices may pair well with other earphones for which I am not sure.

To go along with all of the other positive reviews, the additional joy for me is the ability to hook the Cayin i5 to a network device (in my case, the Cocktail Audio x10) and then play music directly from there.I've bought mainly Cowon devices over the past few years (sort of hooked on the Jet Effect settings and fabulous sound the goes with Cowon) with the Plenue M being the only one I have left (all others have since gone now I have the i5). In comparison to what I'm personally used to, I think the i5 is great, fabulous build, the volume knob is very much something that stands out re usability, add to that LAN access, Bluetooth (which I've had no issues with), the ability to add other apps, and using the custom settings, the sound is very impressive pound for pound. If you can pick this up lower than list price (mine was supplied as an "open box" item via the great guys up in Edinburgh) I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised indeed.

Sounds and looks great, but the software is buggy. The main issue for me is that the stock player doesn't play perfectly gapless, so if you listen to a lot of live albums, classical music or concept album, the music has a very short but annoying clic between songs. To avoid this gapless bug, you can use alternative softwares like Onkyo HF Player, but you loose the ability to play hi-res files directly from the player, while you can still play hi-res connecting the i5 to an external DAC, like Chord Mojo.The player strong point is the sound quality, very clear and smooth, has also a powerful output so it's able to drive difficult headphones.If i could, i would rate it 3.5 stars, but i can't, so i'm putting 4 stars mainly for design and sound quality.

Gute Qualität und guter Sound, langsamer Android, Batterie geht schnell zu ende, dauert mehrere Stunden aufzuladen

Il Cayin i5 é arrivato un giorno in anticipo grazie al sempre impeccabile servizio di Amazon,ma finisce qui,perche l'apparecchio tanto desiderato non funziona perché non si accende.cercavo di caricare la batteria tramite il cavo usb/caricatore ma non cé niente da fare.Peccato. l'ho fatto immediatamente il reso di questo prodotto

Sound excellent, excellent body. SW contains errors, unstable. DNLA support only where not see .flac files. Missing SMB protocol. Direct lacking enter the IP address of the NAS.

Sounds great love it.

Ricevuto come regalo per il mio compleanno lo ho abbinato ad auricolare onemore. Il suono che si ottiene e' ottimo molto musicale con alti non aspri. Direi che e' un suono molto analogico.E' dotato inoltre di uscita cuffie ed uscita per collegarlo ad un amplificatore o all'impianto dell'auto.Inoltre la l'ingresso USB puo' essere utilizato come digital out acquistando un cavo dedicato della cayin. In questo modo e' possibile leggere i file attraverso un DAC esterno.Unica limitazione per chi ha una grande discoteca e' il solo slot sd limitato a 200GB. Si puo' sopperire inserendo nella USB chiavette, ma di sicuro meno pratico.Consigliatissimo soprattutto per la qualita' audio