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Cayin iDAC 6-MK2 DAC
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Cayin iDAC 6-MK2 DAC
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Product Description
Take one look at the Cayin iDAC 6-MK2 DAC, and you’ll see that this thing absolutely exudes premium style. With an elegant silver chassis, color-matched knobs and buttons, and inset feet underneath, the iDAC 6-MK2 is a truly eye-catching part of your listening setup Read More
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4.0
(3 reviews)
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keyboard_arrow_downMojani
23
Feb 19, 2024
checkVerified Buyer
Reliability
Recently bought the Drop Cayin iDac 6 MK2. It fed my Acurus A2002 driving Mirage OMD-28s. Wanted to get my feet wet again with tubes. Sounded splendid in tube mode. I loved the filters, particularly the smoothness of the slow linear. A month in I started to notice a faint but very high pitched noise close to or a little over 10kHz. I was going crazy not sure where the noise was coming from. Having delt with tube amps some years ago, I finally realized it must be a microphonic tube. Surely enough, when I tapped on the chassis of the Cayin I heard ringing in both channels. Tapped the tubes with a pencil and the second tube from the right was the culprit. Unfortunately the tubes are soldered onto the board! I typically would have bought a new tube and plugged it in but I wasn't about to start unsoldering components on a new product. QC shows 11/2023. It seems to have very little ventilation and would heat up so bad I'd be afraid to touch it. There was never any issue with SS mode which sounded fine if a bit clinical. Fortunately Drop was gracious enough to do a full refund even though I was a little past the refund window. Bummer because the DAC not only sounded beautiful via I2S in tube mode but looked absolutely wonderful on my rack. Maybe I had a defective unit YMMV, but the fact the tubes are soldered directly onto the board calls reliability into question. Tubes are bound to wear out. Even though it sounded good, I cannot recommend this product. Back to the Hint6 DAC it is.
(Edited)
lenpeters
9
Feb 23, 2023
checkVerified Buyer
To start, the Cayin was so thoughtfully packed. That of course is not as important as how well it sounds. The setup for me was easy. I connected mine to a Mac Mini running a Roon Bridge. The display is easy to read and well laid out. The amount of options for connectivity are more than enough. I really love the option of switching from solid state to tube. Depending on the music it does make a noticeable difference. There are also lots of options for DSP settings with built in filters. I am still experimenting with those feature. The only very small detail I wish they could add (and this is a small detail,) are rubber feet that don't slide. The unit isn't bulky (which is a plus) but the feature buttons on the unit all require to be pushed. When you push you need to apply some pressure to the top of the unit or it will slide a bit.
(Edited)
kaud
189
Feb 8, 2023
checkVerified Buyer
Very good for the price Drop was selling it for
This is one solidly built, heavy unit. Solid thick aluminum case. Being able to select either tube mode or solid state mode is a really cool feature. Couple of minor quibbles- there’s no remote control included, and the white text for the buttons (input, timbre, pre-amp/line-out) are damn near impossible to read on the silver face. Why would they do that? I have the matching small Cayin CD player and it uses black text on the silver face, which is easily readable.
Sound-wise, it sounds great. Sounds similar to other chip-based DACs in its price range. Again, the ability to switch between tube mode and solid state mode is a big plus so you can customize the sound a little bit.
Comparisons -
SMSL M400 sounds flatter and less body than this Cayin.
Chord Qutest (not really a fair comparison) sounds significantly more organic. The Cayin has a more digital sound to it whereas the Qutest has a more natural, lifelike, almost analog sound in comparison (especially in higher frequencies, cymbals, etc.).
Geshelli J2 (AKM) has a bit more body but this Cayin (ESS) seems to have more incisive highs.
Recommends this product? Yes
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