Cayin N6II

A reinvention of a classic arrives in the form of Cayin's N6II, a distinctly modular music player that sports interchangeable amplifier and DAC motherboards.

READ ALSO Cayin's N6II – a technical marvel that starts with AKM, TI or ESS

This unparalleled versatility allows Cayin to tune this Android O, Spotify and Tidal Masters MQA platform, with offline streaming storage, to cater to nearly every pair of audiophile ears and preferences, doing so with aplomb each time.

Before proceeding, you'll also need to check out Currawong and Headfonia's lowdowns on all of the N6II's motherboards released to date!

A01 module: AKM AK4497, based on the winning Cayin N8 flagship formula and celebrated by Headfonics, Headfonia, The Headphone List and Twister6. A generalist, great at all things

A02 module: Dual AKM AK4497 for line or pre-amp output into downstream amplifier (not headphones or earphones), with analog volume control and analog resistor-capacitor low-pass filter

T01 module: Dual Texas Instruments PCM1792s, a heritage chip brought into the future as examined by Headfonics, Headfonia and The Headphone List. Wonderful to open up anything compressed, adds new dimensions of delicacy, subtlety and soundstage to Vision Ears IEMs

E01 module: ESS Sabre ES9038Pro with fully discrete, 3.5mm Class A amplifier dissected by Headfonics and Twister6. Will breathe new life into ANY dynamic driver IEM you thought you knew

E02 module: Dual ESS Sabre ES9038Q2Ms with fully discrete, balanced 4.4mm amplifier and dedicated hardware line output checked out by Headfonics and Twister6. A specialist at unlocking tri-brids and their electrostatic tweeters, like those on the Empire Ears Odin

You'll be able to see everything from Cayin here and all our other music player options here. To look up only Cayin's modules sold separately for the N6II, view A01, T01, E01, E02 and R01.