Everything, including the kitchen sink!

PROS: Triple timbre selection with Solid State and Classic/Modern dual NuTube tuning, fully balanced discrete amp design with Class A and Class AB modes, P and P+ output power modes, solid Titanium chassis, lots of digital and analog outputs, hi-res 6” display, fast Android 12 performance w/665 SoC, 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM, DSD512 support.

CONS: price, size/weight, DAP can get toasty depending on the sound config.

The product was provided to me on loan for a few days for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion.

Manufacturer website: Cayin.  Available for sale from authorized retailers like Musicteck.

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Intro.

Last year when I published my N8ii review, it was titled: Beyond of “everything but the kitchen sink”.  Fast forward a year later, and out of the blue Cayin surprised us with their 30^th anniversary Limited Edition DAP, named appropriately as N30LE, even including the “kitchen sink” this time.  Available in two versions, the regular N30LE will be limited to 300 units while a special fine-tuned N30LE AP (Amber Pearl) version bundled with UM Amber Pearl IEM will be limited to 99 sets.  Due to a limited global release and the upcoming CanJam SoCal ’23 where this Musicteck’s demo unit should be showcased, I only had a very short time to audition the standard N30LE version, spending a few days with this DAP to collect my impressions.

But as I was testing N30LE, a Head-fi thread with a discussion about some customers having the issue using N30LE DAP in Class A (or Hyper mode) with specific cables in combination with particular earphones/headphones caught my attention.  While I haven’t experienced any of these issues and noticed that not everybody was affected, this was not an isolated case since a number of people reported it.  Cayin issued the official response, including the warranty extension to 5 years covering all N30LE units even if you are not the original owner.  I will leave this discussion to Head-fi thread since I don’t have anything to report here because I haven’t experienced these issues, but also don’t want to downplay it and want others to be aware of it.

Now, let me share what I have found after spending a few days with this latest Cayin flagship release, N30LE, which I already miss like crazy.

Unboxing and Accessories.

Nothing much to cover about the unboxing since I received N30LE loaner in a leather case by itself without the official packaging.

From the product listing, in addition to the DAP and its leather case, included are a quality USB-C cable, 2.5mm to 4.4mm adapter, 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter, micro-SD card tray ejector tool, tempered glass screen protector, and a quick user guide.  These are the same accessories as were included with N8ii, except for the tray ejector tool since N8ii had a spring-loaded SD slot.

Also, according to Cayin, the case is hand-made from a premium grade vegetable-tanned leather.  It wraps around the chassis of the DAP and has a side opening with a magnetic lock flap, making it more secure since the DAP won’t slide out from the top or the bottom of the case.  All the ports are easy to access from the bottom, and the top has a convenient cutout to access the volume wheel.  Buttons on the right side are covered and easy to feel since the shape is indented into the leather.  The back features a crafted metal grill, made popular by Dignis design, for a more effective venting of the heat from the DAP.

Design.

While some might expect N30LE to look similar to N8ii, these two DAPs are quite different in exterior design.  With dimensions of 156mm x 89mm x 25mm and a hefty weight of 650g, N30LE is bigger and heavier than N8ii which is 147mm x 78mm x 25mm and at 442g.  As a result, while I still consider N8ii to be closer to portable, N30LE tips the scale toward being more transportable.  Both N30LE and N8ii are definitely thicker than your average flagship DAP, and one of the reasons for that was upright position of two NuTube modules to let you see the glow of NuTube green “eyes” with both modules on the left side, facing outside through the mesh window in N30LE, unlike the glass window of N8ii.

Switching from aluminum (in N8ii) to titanium material (TC21 Ti alloy steel chassis), the elegant design of N30LE chassis is not your typical rectangular brick.  The front is occupied by a bigger 6” FHD+ Incell screen display with a higher 2160×1080 resolution and double-tap support, a step up from N8ii 5” OLED display with 1280×720 resolution.  The back is all solid titanium with laser engraved etching.  The left side has rounded mesh screen with two NuTubes behind it, showcasing the glow of green lights when activated.  The right side has a sculptured rounded design with a raised molding forming a base for 4 round golden buttons – a larger power button and 3 smaller playback (play/pause/skip) buttons below it, each with a precise tactile response.  This new updated design gives N30LE a more premium look.

The top is rounded as well, including a cutout in the right corner for a “golden” volume wheel with an etched 30yr anniversary artwork that looks like a collectible coin.  The volume wheel is open at the top and easy to access from the front and the back.  Underneath the volume wheel you have a glowing led ring with multi-color indicator of different playback sampling rates.  At the bottom, you have dedicated 4.4mm LO/pre-amp and 3.5mm LO/pre-amp ports, then usb-C port (charging, data, usb audio in, embedded SPDIF, and digital-out functionality) sandwiched with I2S port right underneath in the middle and dedicated 3.5mm PO and 4.4mm PO ports next to it.  All the way to the right, closer to the edge, you will find a micro-SD port tray which you access by pushing in the pinhole to open it.

Under the hood.

While some might consider N30LE to be “anniversary” refreshed version of N8ii due to general similarities, it actually packs a few major surprises.  When N8ii development started, Cayin was planning to use AK4499EQ DACs, but after AKM factory fire that idea was scrapped in favor of the new ROHM BD34301 DACs.  So, they end up with a limited stock of the unused discontinued 4499EQ DACs which made its way into N30LE, the reason why this edition is limited using two of these 32-bit chips per DAP.  With 4499EQ, PCM decoding supports up to 32bit/768kHz and DSD up to 1 Bit/22.6MHz (DSD512).  Also, you will still find dual Korg NuTube 6P1, and in addition to Solid State you also get two NuTube modes, Modern and Classic to give you a total of 3 timbre options.  N8ii only had one NuTube mode.

You will still find a standard P and P+ modes which boosts the operation voltage of internal headphone amp to increase the output power (P+).  It’s not the same as a gain control, and that one is also available with L, M, H gain settings.  With P+ the output voltage scales up higher.  Furthermore, you will still find a fully discrete balanced headphone amp design and Class A and AB amp modes tuned at a different bias point, and now you can also have P+ and Class A that wasn’t possible with N8ii.  N30LE also introduced a Hyper mode which selects P+ and Class A by default with other parameters maximized to their full potential, though you can still choose the timbre but not the power or class modes.

N30LE is a fast Android streaming DAP running a highly optimized Android 12 OS and using Snapdragon 665 SoC along with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB eMMC internal solid storage, all scaled up from N8ii.  If you want to expand the storage, you can add microSD card.  The open Android OS, courtesy of Hiby, uses DTA architecture which bypasses Android SRC to make sure audio, regardless of local or streaming playback, is not down sampled.  Based on the 3D Benchmark performance from AnTuTu v8.4.3 test app, I found N30LE score to be nearly the same as other DAPs with the same config.  But in practice, I felt that N30LE system response was even faster.

Those familiar with Cayin C9 amp will know that it accepts both Line out and Pre-amp inputs, making N30LE (similar to their N7) a perfect companion for external amp by providing a clean analog signal while bypassing internal head-amp.  With C9, when LO is selected, you control the volume from the amp.  And when Pre-amp is selected, C9 is at its max volume while you control it by adjusting the pre-amplification input from N30LE.  The N30LE power spec, regardless of Solid State, Vacuum Tube, P+ or Hyper, has 3.5mm PO output with 480mW (@32ohm, 0.6ohm impedance) and 4.4mm PO output with 780mW (@32ohm, 1.2ohm impedance).  In Line Out, 3.5mm LO offers 1.0/1.6/2.1V (L/M/H) and 4.4mm LO has 2.0/3.2/4.2V (L/M/H).  The digital interface is covered by USB-C and I2S ports with the following support.

The battery capacity of N30LE went up to 12,570 mAh from 10,000 mAh (N8ii).  I didn’t get a chance to run a full battery test, but Cayin provides a comprehensive table with different use scenarios and corresponding battery duration.  Also, fast charging is supported, but you have to be aware that when you are playing and charging at the same time, especially in more demanding Class A (less efficient) mode with Tubes (higher current) and the leather case on (less air cooling), N30LE will get warm.  Implemented was also Bluetooth 5.0 with a support of all common wireless protocols up to LDAC, and dual WiFi with 2.4G and 5G bands.

Page 2 – Sound Analysis, Pair up and Comparison, and Conclusion.