[HiFiWar]

Oooofff, disappointed, I was eyeing this amp as an upgrade to my Aune S17, but I do listen a lot on my active speakers and I need that output, if it doesn't have it, it's out of the question for me then.

Also I would like to know if this headphones it's capable of running ModHouse Tungsten and how well it does with it if you can plox!

I'll let you know once my Tungsten comes in, but I imagine it'll run it just fine. I'm powering my Susvara off a Schiit Magnius ($230) amp right now and it sounds fantastic at less than 50% power. The iHA-8 has a lot more power.

 

[Erick Muller]

I'll let you know once my Tungsten comes in, but I imagine it'll run it just fine. I'm powering my Susvara off a Schiit Magnius+ ($230) amp right now and it sounds fantastic at less than 50% power. The iHA-8 has a lot more power.

Yep, I read the specs and going by memory it's producing 1.4w at 300ohm which though is not the ideal 1.6w at 300ohm most people recommend for Tungsten SS version, it's close enough and going by reports of people saying that the Jot2 is able to power Tungsten, then this amp it's going to have less of an issue with it.

 

[HiFiWar]

Yep, I read the specs and going by memory it's producing 1.4w at 300ohm which though is not the ideal 1.6w at 300ohm most people recommend for Tungsten SS version, it's close enough and going by reports of people saying that the Jot2 is able to power Tungsten, then this amp it's going to have less of an issue with it.

I can run my Solitaire P off of my Cayin RU7 without maxing it out. Not the best it'll sound, but doable.

 

[Andykong]

Well, I have an iHA-8 and an iDAC-8 on the way. I will post a review when I can. I always liked Cayin and was one of the first reviewers on the N7 and RU7. I'm already a bit disappointed to find that the iHA-8 doesn't have RCA outputs at least though on the rear - pretty common these days to connect speakers in addition to headphones. I'll see how the iDAC-8 outputs work with my KEF LSX.

Thank for your recognition and trust to Cayin products. I am looking forward to your review.

We have discussed the analog output options in headphone amplifiers briefly HERE.

If you have ordered the iDAC-8 and iHA-8 together, you should connect your active speaker to iDAC-8 instead of iHA-8, that's how the duo works by design. Line out or Pre out is common on DAC/Amp or All-in-One products, but when we split the DAC/Amp into two boxes, the line out will find its way to the DAC instead of the amplifier.

By the way, your KEF LSX is a DSP active speaker, it should prefer digit inputs over analog inputs. From what I understand, all analog input to LSX, LS50, and LS60 will be converted "back"
to digital by the built-in ADC before feeding to the DSP crossover and Class D amplifier, so defeats the purpose of having an outboard DAC or preamp for these speakers.

 

[Andykong]

Oooofff, disappointed, I was eyeing this amp as an upgrade to my Aune S17, but I do listen a lot on my active speakers and I need that output, if it doesn't have it, it's out of the question for me then.

Also I would like to know if this headphones it's capable of running ModHouse Tungsten and how well it does with it if you can plox!

Unfortunately, the preamp function was placed at the iDAC-8 instead of the iHA-8. We have to make a choice when we design the i-Series.

I have added the 128ohm output rating in the iHA-8 specification because of the ModHouse Tungsten at the last minute before I published the specification. There aren't a lot of headphones in this impedance range so we didn't publish the output rating of 128/150 ohm in the past, the ModHouse Tungsten changed the landscape.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find Tungsten in China or Hong Kong, so we cannot test the synergy before we roll out the iHA-8.

 

[Polky74]

@Andykong
I wanted to know if, like the iHA-6, the iHA-8 was also equipped with an internal balancer to be able to use the balanced output even when using an unbalanced input towards it. Thank you.

 

[HiFiWar]

Thank for your recognition and trust to Cayin products. I am looking forward to your review.

We have discussed the analog output options in headphone amplifiers briefly HERE.

If you have ordered the iDAC-8 and iHA-8 together, you should connect your active speaker to iDAC-8 instead of iHA-8, that's how the duo works by design. Line out or Pre out is common on DAC/Amp or All-in-One products, but when we split the DAC/Amp into two boxes, the line out will find its way to the DAC instead of the amplifier.

By the way, your KEF LSX is a DSP active speaker, it should prefer digit inputs over analog inputs. From what I understand, all analog input to LSX, LS50, and LS60 will be converted "back"
to digital by the built-in ADC before feeding to the DSP crossover and Class D amplifier, so defeats the purpose of having an outboard DAC or preamp for these speakers.

It's pretty common to put rear outputs on a headphone amp to output to speakers. My $230 Schiit amp has that, and so did my $3,800 iFi amp, and my iBasso DAP amp, and my Cocktail Audio all-in-one, etc. Selling the DAC and amp as two separate products is fine, but the DAC doesn't have headphone outputs like an all-in-one would and the amp doesn't have the output capability that a normal headphone amp would by itself - seems like they should have been combined then. Also, a separate streamer that I believe is more expensive than either the DAC or amp and runs off Android 9 seems very out of place in the current market, especially from Cayin after using the N7 and RU7. I'm giving it a chance since I like what you guys have produced in the past, but it does seem pretty outdated in some ways. I use an RCA to 3.5mm analog cable to output to my active speakers - the LSX is famous for having a terrible app, so I avoid using them wirelessly.

 

[leylandi]

 

[Andykong]

Cayin has uploaded a video to explain the 2024 i-Series three-piece suit today, and we have also posted a detailed iHA-8 product page on our website.

The iHA-8 will be retailed at US$999, and we shall ship out the 2024 i-Series three-piece suit to our dealers this week. US, Germany, Singapore, and Indonesia dealers will receive their orders very soon, and we shall fulfill more orders when we complete our next production batch by mid-April 2024.

Please check with your Cayin for the local price and date of availability.

 

[HiFiWar]

Umm, wow.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Umm, wow.

Too bad you don't have the Wandla.
Cayin vs Ferrum stack would have been a nice comparison

 

[HiFiWar]

Too bad you don't have the Wandla.
Cayin vs Ferrum stack would have been a nice comparison

Sorry, just the Erco 2 and RME adi-2/4 Pro se

 

[HiFiWar]

OK, initial impressions are really good other than damn near blowing out my eardrums twice. On the iHA-8, the line/pre-switch on the back was a bit misleading. I assumed the Pre would send the volume control to the amp - no, and ouch, the amp volume was all the way off. Oh, and the light off on the amp for Source means XLR input. The Line setting allows the amp to control volume. I typically associate line out with max volume, but that's not the case here. It is definitely the case though with the iDAC-8, just to add confusion. I connected my speakers to the iDAC-8 since the amp doesn't have any RCA outs. So you will NOT have AMP control over your speaker volume. Of course, I switched to pre-amp to test my speakers since the iDAC-8 was acting as a pre-amp. No sound out of my speakers since I had the DAC turned down pretty low to test. I was dumb enough next to hit the line/pre button on the DAC at which point my speakers played at full, line-out volume. Ouch, 2.0. So, I now have my speakers turned WAY down and I have both the amp and DAC set to line out which doesn't allow me to volume control on the DAC, but does on the amp. Why does the pre-amp not control the volume on the amp, but it does on the DAC? Dunno. I still associate line out on an amp with no system volume control, but maybe I'm crazy. Anyway, set both to line out if you pick up this stack and you should be fine - just turn your active speakers WAY down if you have them. If you don't have active speakers, you'll need to play with pre-amp, but you can't just crank your pre-amp setting to max on the DAC because then you'll introduce some intense distortion. Cayin, just put some outputs on the amp next time. Easy solution.

Anyways, these are driving the Susvara at 50% volume with high gain and Hyper turned off (what could you possibly need Hyper to drive? Tungsten? Some sort of sound weapon? You can't drive some passive speakers with the amp, so why does it need Hyper mode?) All it can drive are headphones, so it seems a bit gimmicky. It adds a tiny amount of volume, that seems to be about it. The tube definitely sounds a bit warmer with the edges rolled off vs the "Trans" mode, which I assume is the solid-state mode. Trans crisps it up with a really clean source. MQA/MAX files play at 88.2KHz vs the usual 44.1KHz and FLAC is playing at 192KHz. Anyway, that's my initial thoughts, feel free to ask questions.

 

[Andykong]

OK, initial impressions are really good other than damn near blowing out my eardrums twice. On the iHA-8, the line/pre-switch on the back was a bit misleading. I assumed the Pre would send the volume control to the amp - no, and ouch, the amp volume was all the way off. Oh, and the light off on the amp for Source means XLR input. The Line setting allows the amp to control volume. I typically associate line out with max volume, but that's not the case here. It is definitely the case though with the iDAC-8, just to add confusion. I connected my speakers to the iDAC-8 since the amp doesn't have any RCA outs. So you will NOT have AMP control over your speaker volume. Of course, I switched to pre-amp to test my speakers since the iDAC-8 was acting as a pre-amp. No sound out of my speakers since I had the DAC turned down pretty low to test. I was dumb enough next to hit the line/pre button on the DAC at which point my speakers played at full, line-out volume. Ouch, 2.0. So, I now have my speakers turned WAY down and I have both the amp and DAC set to line out which doesn't allow me to volume control on the DAC, but does on the amp. Why does the pre-amp not control the volume on the amp, but it does on the DAC? Dunno. I still associate line out on an amp with no system volume control, but maybe I'm crazy. Anyway, set both to line out if you pick up this stack and you should be fine - just turn your active speakers WAY down if you have them. If you don't have active speakers, you'll need to play with pre-amp, but you can't just crank your pre-amp setting to max on the DAC because then you'll introduce some intense distortion. Cayin, just put some outputs on the amp next time. Easy solution.

Anyways, these are driving the Susvara at 50% volume with high gain and Hyper turned off (what could you possibly need Hyper to drive? Tungsten? Some sort of sound weapon? You can't drive some passive speakers with the amp, so why does it need Hyper mode?) All it can drive are headphones, so it seems a bit gimmicky. It adds a tiny amount of volume, that seems to be about it. The tube definitely sounds a bit warmer with the edges rolled off vs the "Trans" mode, which I assume is the solid-state mode. Trans crisps it up with a really clean source. MQA/MAX files play at 88.2KHz vs the usual 44.1KHz and FLAC is playing at 192KHz. Anyway, that's my initial thoughts, feel free to ask questions.

The logic of Pre-Power amplifier is a bit different from your expectation.

When you set the switch on the rear of iHA-8 to PRE, the iHA-8 headphone amplifier is expecting a pre-amp input (corresponding to the Pre-Amp output of iDAC-8). At this configuration, the iHA-8 functions as a PURE POWER AMPLIFIER, which is the logical arrangement when you are using a Pre-amp input, otherwise, your iHA-8 will double amp with your pre-amp.

To describe the setting explicitly, when you set the iDAC-8 to Line,, you have configurated the iDAC-8 to OUTPUT analog signal at line level. On the other hand, when you set the iHA-8 to Line, you have configurated the iHA-8 to accept INPUT at line level. In this configuration, the iDAC-8 outputs at fixed voltage level, and the iHA-8 is responsible to the volume control function.

Likewise, when you set the iDAC-8 to Pre,, you have configurated the iDAC-8 to OUTPUT analog signal at pre-amp level. On the other hand, when you set the iHA-8 to Pre, you have configurated the iHA-8 to accept PRE-AMP input. In this configuration, the iDAC-8 outputs at variable voltage level, and the iDAC-8 is responsible to the volume control function.

When you connect your active speaker to iDAC-8, you can turn down the volume of iDAC-8 to zero, set the iDAC-8 output to PRE, and then turn up the volume gradually. However, you cannot configurate the two set of analog outputs of iDAC-8 independently.

The Hyper mode will different slightly more power over the standard mode, but that's a by-product of the changes in parameter in the IHA-8. The major gain is sound quality such as dynamic, transient and transparant, and you have a slightly different sound signautre, with a fuller sound. If we merely want to deliver more power (or volume), we can do that at the Gain control which is a lot easier (and low cost) to implement.

If you are uncertain about the procedure to switch between the Pre-Line input
We have one full paged in the user manual devoted to explain this feature, itis right after the feature list and before the system connection instruction.

 

[betula]

Anyway, that's my initial thoughts, feel free to ask questions.

Any sound comparisons to other amps?