Cayin Announces E01 Motherboard for N6ii

In the world of high quality portable music players, the vast majority of them use components that are very specifically created for the reproductions of digital and analogue audio, something which is mostly not true for regular consumer electronics such as mobile phones. However, one particular type of portable audio player design which is still not very popular (due to the high cost/effort required to produce it) is a modular one. The N6ii from Cayin is one of those rare beasts which does feature a modular design, and the latest addition to Cayin’s portfolio is the E01 motherboard.

On some devices you might be able to swap out certain opamp chips, or you might even get dedicated swappable amplifier modules (as in the case of something like the X7-series and Q5-series from FiiO), but in the case of the N6ii you can actually swap out the entire motherboard, and the reason for doing this is because it allows you to replace the DAC chip.
The stock motherboard for the N6ii is called the A01, and this features a DAC chip made by AKM. Then, after some time Cayin announced the availability of the T01 motherboard which featured a DAC chip produced by Texas Instruments. Now, it seems, the time has come to satisfy the needs of those who prefer DAC chips made by ESS Sabre.

The E01 sports the highly-regarded ES9038PRO chip which is usually reserved for use in desktop applications, not portable ones. What’s also interesting about the E01 is that it also allows the user to switch between 2 different types of amplifier circuitry (this can be changed within the UI ander the appropriate settings). You have the choice of selecting between class-A or a class-AB amplification. As was the case with the T01 motherboard, the E01 does have a dramatic effect on the battery-life. Unfortunately, this is simply a side-effect of implementing desktop-grade components. The battery-life for the N6ii when using the stock motherboard is rated at roughly 13-14 hours, whereas the E01 motherboard will drop that down to about 9.5 hours when using the class-AB amplification topology, and around 7.5 hours in class-A mode.

Pricing and Availability

The E01 is expected to go officially on sale on the 16th of December and will carry a price-tag of $399.