Cayin D30 DAC outperforms Weiss, Playback, CH and MSB


Recently I was looking to upgrade my DAC ( Weiss 501mk2). While I was all happy about 501, I asked my local Weiss dealer to lend me their new flagship Helios for a home audition. I could hear the improvement but not justify the doubled price tag in my opinion. Then I was asked by another dealer to try the flagship of SoulNote D3 which is 4 times the price of my 501. Since then I tested in my premise MSB Reference , Esoteric K01-X , Playback Design, CH… all 2 to 5 times the price of my 501. They all sounded better one way or the other but nothing “wow” … 

A friend recommended me to give a try to Cayin D30th (or Cayin Soul D30) , which is a Chinese manufacturer making mostly head fi amps / DAC. I was very hesitant with lots of doubts at first but once I put it side by side to compare with ALL the others,  the Cayin D30 blew them away within the first 30 seconds! 
 

1: Dynamics : all the drums , piano keys strikes are significantly better at any volume level. Microdynamics are much wider 

2: 3 dimensional : by comparison ALL the other DACs produce layers of depth but not in a 3 dimensional imaging like the Cayin. The whole soundstage are much more defined

I played mostly on vinyl but since I had the Cayin I notice I had not play my turntable for over a month! It’s very engaging , musical (analog sound?) I didn’t experience with any of the others DACs 

I feel the Cayin D30 owes some proper exposure : it has two completely independent sets of Chip Set  ESS 9039 Pro (up to DSD512) for the “modern CDs or files” and a Phillips 1307+1547 (1-bit) for the “Classic red book CDs 44.1hz)I found myself most enjoyed with the classic mode with the CDs I bought in the 90s. 
it’s much more balanced, smooth and natural with these “vintage” CDs than most of the remastered/ upsampled  reissues.  Makes me query does all these MQA ,K2, SACD, DD512 format produce better sounding or just “different” sounding? 

Another discovery : the analog portion of this DAC : the separate Power Supply weighs 50i lbs ! I tend to suspect the quality / materials used in the power supply yields a bigger impact on the final SQ, than any of the “modern” digital technologies (MQA / upsmapling rate / connectors and OCXO clock! )

I believed in big name brands but in the last 4 weeks this not so famous DAC just beats every DAC and my ears made the verdict : I sold my Weiss and now a happy owner of Cayin 

Anyone in the market for a high end DAC ($10k+) should give this a serous audition

128x128eddiechanghk

@thieliste I had a local audiophile who owns the latest Playback MPT8+ MPD8 ( can’t remember the model number but it’s their current flagship transport + DAC) compare against the Cayin.  It was a very close call but we only tested red book CD and Cayin’ s dynamic range was 25% better ! Since we only had 5 hours to do the shootout I must say the Playback was not tuned or cable matched to its optimum. If I take the price into the equation then Cayin is a no brainer. 

@eddiechanghk 

Any photos to share and have you heard anything on when this unit will updated on their website?

Thanks,

Wig

Guys,

Thanks! Maybe they'll design an entry level variant utilizing the same technology in the $4K+ range.

Wig