N30LE, A Transformative Milestone
30th Anniversary Limited Edition Digital Audio Player
Cayin decides to celebrate its 30th Anniversary by introducing a special limited edition DAP that brings its portable product line to the next level. The DAP is powered by a fully-balanced headphone amplifier with a matched pair of KORG Nutube double triode vacuum tubes. It has incurred the renowned DAO (Dual Amplifier Operation, choice of Class A or Class AB) and Dual Output Mode (DOM, choice of standard P mode and high power P+ mode), and introduced an all-new HYPER mode that delivers the ultimate performance of the discrete amplification circuit in the DAP.
Bin Liang, CEO of Zhuhai Spark Electronic Equipment Co., Ltd., the parent company of Cayin Audio said, “Cayin R&D team has devoted a lot of resources to develop our Gen3 vacuum tube audio circuit. We solved the problems one after the other and finally implemented two unique vacuum tube timbres in one circuit. The “Classic” timbre is retro with a warm, full, and mellow sound while the “Modern” timbre is transparent with excellent speed and linearity. We also extended the vacuum tube timbre circuit to cover all analog outputs including headphone, line-out, and preamp output. This is also a nightmare for our engineers. It is a huge challenge and we are very excited about our final achievement.”
The N30LE features two discontinued AK4499EQ from AKM and can natively decode up to DSD512 and 32 Bit/768 kHz. Ye Maosheng, our Lead R&D Engineer said, “We had spent a lot of resources to explore this chipset back in 2020, and we had a limited stock of AK4499EQ in our inventory that perfectly suited the N30LE as a limited edition anniversary product. The DAC chipset will be connected in Mono mode and programmed to provide fully balanced differential current output across 8 channels. We shall connect each 2 channels output in parallel and feed into a 2x2 current to voltage I-V converter network to provide a low-noise high-current DAC output stage. These will provide excellent driving capability to support the complete audio circuit.
Key Features
Digital Decoding
- Dual AK4499EQ, discontinued flagship 32-bit DAC chipset, mono mode, paralleled current outputs
- Decode PCM up to 32bit/768kHz, DSD up to 1 Bit/22.6MHz (DSD512)
- Solid 2x2 current to voltage I-V converter network as low noise high current output stage of AK4499EQ DACs.
- Two extremely low-noise Femtosecond Crystal Oscillators to ensure high precision low jitter digital playback.
- Comprehensive digital interface option: I2S (mini HDMI), USB Audio Input/output (USB-C), and S/PDIF Coaxial (Embedded USB-C)
- Balanced tube amplification with matched paired KORG Nutube 6P1
- Fully-discrete fully-balanced NPN/PNP Push-pull headphone amplifier supports dedicated 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced phone output
- Tri-Timber (Nutube Classic, Nutube Modern, Solid-state) from Gen3 vacuum tube audio circuit
- Dual Amplifier Mode (Choice of Class A/Class AB)
- Dual Output Mode: P (Standard) and P+ (High Power) mode
- Hyper Mode: Combing Class A, P+, and numerous operation adjustments to deliver ultimate performance
- Highly linear volume control through a pair of low noise, low distortion resistance ladder-based MUSES72320 stereo electronic volume
- Desktop grade 3.5mm single-ended (2.1V, 1.6V, 1.0V) and 4.4mm balanced (4.2V, 3.2V, 2.0V) selectable output level Line Out
- 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced Preamp output
- 470mF/5.5V ELDC (Electric Double-Layer Capacitor) ultra-capacitor as power reserve in the main power supply system.
- Compartmented CNC Aluminum frame to improve heat dispersion, reduce internal interference and minimize vacuum tube microphonic
- CNC machines TC21 Titanium alloy steel chassis for lightweight and robustness
- Snapdragon 665 CPU with 8G DDR4 RAM running customized Android 12 with Google Player preinstalled
- Storage capacity: 256 GB internal memory, one microSD card up to 1TB
- DTA bypasses Android SRC, Hi-Res playback, and streaming to all applications
- Multi-color smart glowing sampling rate indicator integrated below the gold-plated brass Volume control knob.
- 6.0” 1080x2160 FHD+ Incell screen support double tap to wake and gestures
- 12570mAh (3.8V, 48Wh) high-capacity polymer lithium-ion battery, support PD2.0 fast charging technology
- 156mm x 89mm x 25mm, ~650g
N30LE will be available in two versions. The N30LE standard package will be limited to 300 sets globally. There will be a special N30LE Amber Pearl version, only 99 sets are available. This a bundle package with UM Amber Pearl IEM. We have worked with the UM engineering team to fine-tune the IEM, and our engineers have fine-tuned the N30LE DAP accordingly for the best possible synergy.
N30LE (300 units worldwide)
SRP: US$4,999
N30LE Amber Pearl Combo (with UM Amber Pearl IEM)
SRP: US$12,999
Availability: 28 August 2023
The N30LE will be demonstrated in the following shows and events:
Hong Kong High-End Audio & Visual Show (11-13 August 2023)
(Booth C01, Hall 3, Hong Kong Convention Center)
CanJam London (19-20 August, 2023)
(Hifonix, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London)
China Beijing International Headphone Expo (26-27 August 2023)
Area B, Main Display Hall, 3/Fl, Asia Hotel, Beijing.
Functional Diagram:
Specification:
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