Cayin C5DAC portable DAC/headphone amplifier review: disposes to music with continuation in the evening and at night…

Work is not a wolf and you can’t run away into the woods… I’d pull the legs out of the one who first said something like that

. Okay it would be about my work, but if in the same spirit “expressed” DACs or headphone amplifiers – for example, the new

Cayin C5DAC

? Now you have to wonder what the point of life is if you are in fact covered by silence? Thinking myself as a part of the universe, I came to a simple conclusion: the meaning of life is in the good work, at least a good DAC. It works, the music pours, and together with it, a balm for the soul… In short, there are a number of urgent questions: what kind of DAC? How it works? And what music? And there will be a balm, too? Well, let’s listen and catch either wolves or pokemons…

Thanks to XChesser Audio for providing a sample for listening.

Specifications

DAC:	Burr-Brown PCM1795
Digital signal:	Up to 96kHz/24bit
Frequency Range:	20-70,000 Hz
Output power:	600 mW 32Ohm
Harmonic distortion coefficient:	0.02 %
Signal to noise ratio:	101 dB
Battery:	3700 mAh/3.7 V
The operating time on a single charge:	19 hours, in amplifier mode, with a load of 32&Omega 9 hours, in DAC mode/USB input, with a load of 32&Omega
Charging time:	About 5 hours when using a DC5V/2A adapter
Dimensions:	136x63x15 mm
Weight:	185 g

Set

C5DAC

USB/Micro USB cable for charging/connecting to a PC

Micro USB/Micro USB cable for connection to android device

3.5 mm/3.5 mm cable

Set of silicone “legs”

3.5 mm/coaxial cable

A pair of rubber bands for attaching to another device

Appearance and Package

Wear what you wear! The device in its cardboard box as if fell out of the “matrix”: zeros and ones “flow” on the packaging from top to bottom. And how to display the logo! “Armature” letter C stylishly strings the rest of the marking: 5DAC – let’s get acquainted!

Inside the musician will find everything you need for a cloudless life: the device, a storage bag, a manual, a 3.5 mm 3.5 mm cable for using the DAC as an amplifier, a set of silicone “legs” and a pair of rubber bands for attaching to another device, and also – cable micro, USB micro and USB for connecting to a smartphone, power adapter or PC.

Cayin C5DAC is like a golden brocade. On top and bottom of the device are two aluminum plates, between them – a black “arrow” of plastic.

On the top end, under the translucent plastic spinning “gear” volume control, here – the LED, indicating the operation of the device, 3.5 mm headphone output and line input. On the right end you will find two triangles: bass boost and gain high/low . The left end is stylishly blank.

Bottom end is very rich, I list: coaxial output for digital signal transmission , Micro USB input/output paired with DAC/AUX-CHG switch and another Micro USB input for charging the C5DAC with a power adapter.

At the bottom of the device glows the device charge indicator, consisting of three orange LEDs. Assembly good quality, all clear, symmetrical, no backlashes and creaks, no questions.

The unit looks stylish, vintage, with a throwback to days gone by. Color – from golden to “sparkling champagne. In the center of the front panel is a Cayin facsimile, on the back – logo, marking, Made in Chine and all the stuff..

The device is lightweight – only 185 grams, the dimensions, like a 5-inch smartphone – 136×63 mm, while the DAC has a very thin “waist”: 15 mm. In general the device is demonstratively cute.

The C5DAC has a second profession: it can be used as an external sound card by connecting it to a PC or smartphone no driver required, all is set Plug and Play , or as an external amplifier by sliding the knob from DAC to AUX/CHG with one finger. By the way, the smartphone powered to the DAC will recharge on its own.

Novelty Performance Time:

• in DAC mode – about 8,5 hours time depends on the resistance of the headphones

• in amplifier mode – came out in the neighborhood of 17.5-18 hours.

It took about 6 hours to charge it with a 5V/2A power adapter. Perhaps the battery will develop and the charging process will go faster. No problems when connecting to a PC and Samsung galaxy 7 edge/Samsung galaxy tab s2. All clear, just flawless.

Sound

For listening we used the following headphones: Etymotic ER-4S, Etymotic ER-4SR, Beyerdynamic DT 1350, Beyerdynamic DT 250/250, Phonon SMB-02, Hifiman HE-4.

With all headphones the device played properly. I did not notice any genre preferences in the device.

The sound of the Cayin C5DAC I would classify as neutral. The device pleases unexpectedly with its powerful and voluminous sound with good separation of the instruments. It’s also very musical: the whole material is played at maestro level, with soul and detachment from vanity. No apparent bugs or distortion detected. To be honest, I didn’t expect such an immersion from such a “lightweight” box.

By the way, I advise the owners of the device to discharge 3-4 full columns of battery. I feel like the sound is smoother, cleaner and more solid after 30-50 hours. No matter what kind of music I played it was played with enthusiasm. But the device won’t “sugarcoat” a bad recording: it will cut straight to the truth – with all sherbins and flaws.

As for the volume, on the headphones that I plugged, everything “rocked” even on the “lower gain”. Unfortunately, I gave the Hifiman HE-6 to the side, but I checked the novelty with the HE-4. Paired with C5DAC they sounded pretty good, especially considering the “tightness” of these ears. In general the reviewer is shocked! The sound of a portable DAC with stationary equipment are not compared , it was quite at the level.

The device draws a panoramic picture well – both in depth and in width. The musical canvas is played rather dense, holographic, with good detail. With all its smoothness the Cayin C5DAC perfectly conveys the emotion of the music composition. It’s really a pleasure to listen to with the DAC. Its “inner voice” does not tire and even disposes to music with the continuation of the evening and night…

The treble is without peaks, “shouting”, and dips. If it were not for some crumbling of this register, everything would be just great. The number of them is exactly as it should be – for my taste at least.

The midrange is smooth, detailed, without too much roughness, peaks and dips. The melody is properly expressed and very musical. In general, I would like to complain, but there is nothing to complain about.

The woofers – with good punch and weight, they draw depth nicely and thus give the overall picture a full sound. All in all, surprisingly everything is also very good. In the beginning it seemed to me that the low frequencies lacked a little control, but over time, no matter how hard I tried, I could not find anything specific. Perhaps this is the result of bringing the battery power back to normal or the effect of some magical warm-up. In short, my questions about the woofer are somehow dispelled.

Conclusions

It’s a very interesting device. On the positive side: sound quality, nice appearance, long battery life, working as an external sound card with a desktop or laptop, connection to your mobile gadget on Android probably ios devices will not cause heartburn either, if you can get hold of a special cable for iphone – let me know who checks it . Among the devices I tested, there were no problems.

The only thing I would tighten in the Cayin C5DAC is to change the coaxial output for the input. Now every other audio player has spdif coaxial output and for me personally it would be very convenient to connect via this interface. But, if grandma had a “mustache”, she’d be a grandpa..

Otherwise, the device turned out to be charming, especially in the main thing – the sound. And the price tag, I would say, is ridiculous: Cayin C5DAC in the American Internet for about 12 500 Dollars. Well, where else can I relax so much??

Sound, design, battery life, using the device as a mobile phone, price.

You can not charge the device from your PC if the Cayin C5DAC is used as a sound card. I would change the digital output coaxial for the input.