And, the next purchase has been made!
The hiby r3 pro saber is on the way to me.
This, to me, is what the fiio m6 should have been. We shall see if it does the job.
Crosses fingers
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And the r3 pro saber has been returned.
I have officially proved to myself that the low end stuff is not worth it for me.
Time to graduate and choose what’s more important, overall ux or sound quality.
Since you were asking for it : here’s Apple Music running on my Cayin N6II no problem. Just installed it from the Playstore.
Video (gif) here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fXiJDa2Esat8wzbMhJBaX0gRTzkbiX88/view?usp=sharing
It runs quite smooth too. The Video does not do it justice.
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@Tom_Ato thanks tom!
There are two potential problems with the n6ii that I can’t answer. Maybe you can figure it out.
- can you login to apple music?
- can it receive bluetooth aac codec?
Specs only list transmit with aac. That means I can’t stream using bluetooth at the best quality available from the iPhone. This is not uncommon with BT 4.2 devices.
The problems with Apple Music tend to show up during login due to the dap not fully supporting google services (but, that said, I do believe this dap does) it’s the bluetooth issue that prevented it from being on the list.
Lastly, the dx160 got through the above, but it worked so poorly after that, I couldn’t live with it. I don’t even know if it’s a faster chip or a newer android or both that solves that. (I believe the n6ii does have a step up in snapdragon but not in android vs the dx160, but I am not sure)
FYI: I can’t access the video.
Hi Derek
-
I don’t want to make an account, so I won’t login. It will work though, because N6II has full google services support out of the box. Playstore was already there and I can install and use whatever apps I have on my phone too.
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N6II Bluetooth (4.2) supports SBC, AAC, aptX and LDAC
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Performance is not on the same level as on any top-spec phone but that can be expected because a high end processor in a DAP would make it A LOT more expensive AND drain the battery fast.
The CPU on the N6II though is sufficient and with the latest firmware update, everything runs reasonably smooth including Apple Music.
Try the link again, please. It’s loading for a long time but you can just use the download arrow in the top left corner. This is just a GIF, in reality it runs even better!
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- cayin’s own specs say this is not true. Receive in ldac and sbc only. While transmit specifically does support aac, receive does not. See link. Scroll to the Bluetooth image.
https://en.cayin.cn/products_info?itemid=119
Like I said this is very common on BT 4.2. aac is almost always in 5 because just about every 5.0 chip includes it built in. That is not true of 4.2 chips, so the manufacturer has to do work to support it.
With the above being the case, I can’t justify this dap.
I only know of 2 that definitely have aac, google play, and decent processors.
I did it and you owe me, @Dynamic !
Took me forever to log into Apple Music as Apple had deactivated my accound for “security” reasons.
What those might be, no idea. I simply haven’t used it for 3 or 4 months.
The whole procedure to reactivate my account was ridiculously complicated. When I finaly managed and logged into Apple Music, I was greeted by their ridiculous setup wizard that forces you to choose from suggestions regarding you musical taste and favourite artists. No need to mention I wanted to skip that step, but no. You can’t skip it. You have to select anything so they can shove their s*** down your throat. I don’t want your suggestions! Leave me alone!
Ok. Listening to Jimi Hendrix now on my SURFACE EARBUDS!!! Ugh. 
Hope you’re happy now Derek.
Note to self: Uninstall/Unsubscribe asap before Apple charges money. 
P.S. Everyone says AAC support is included…
Cayin N6ii Digital Audio Player with MQA Support | HiFi BLOG
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Everyone except the manufacturer.
The manufacturer could have this listed wrong on their specs. Or, a firmware update could have added it later. But it is common with 4.2 and earlier to not support aac in one or both directions.
I am planning to email them at some point to find out. Will also get to see how helpful their customer support is.
They did various firmware updates that may not be mentioned on their website. Last update included LDAC for instance.
I know. But I can’t find any update or release notes that mention adding aac to the receiver side.
I have gone through this research for dozens of daps. Very few support this combination of features. Many use exactly the same Bluetooth chips (if they list those things publicly at all).
That’s how I got narrowed to BT 5. Basically all daps that had the support were also BT 5.
Same way all google services enabled daps were at least android 8+.
It is what it is. As far as I can tell, I have 2 daps to choose from.
Oh, and the r3 appeared to refuse to function in aac despite supposedly supporting it. Hence it went back. (Among other reasons).
So how to test for AAC support?
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I think @Dynamic wants to play an aac file on his iPhone and transmit it it to the DAP, so the DAP needs to be able to receive Bluetooth aac.
I’m interested in how this works out because as much as I hate apple, they have trapped me in their ecosystem and I do have a lot of carefully curated aac files in iTunes. Currently I’ve connected my iPhone to my Oppo portable amp/DAC using a regular lightning cable (no adapter) but I am intrigued about going completely wireless.
Let’s clear up some things. First there are two things called AAC.
- The file format type apple uses by default for their music.
- The highest quality bluetooth codec apple supports to beam music to another BT device. (not actually apple’s thing)
Whether I am streaming from Apple Music or Amazon HD (or anything else) on my iPhone to a BT device, #2 applies. If #2 is not present, you get downgraded to SBC (assuming that is supported, which, you know, it is). And on that, I can hear pretty substantial quality differences in the sound output. On BT/aac, I have a hard time distinguishing from wired. And usually only because most BT implementations have a noise floor. On the BTR5 I have to strain to hear this noise. On the q5s-tc, it tried to make me deaf with that noise (ok, that’s an exaggeration, but it was very noticeable)
Apple does not support any other BT codec. LDAC, Aptx (any variety) etc. So, when the source is apple, it’s aac or audible quality issues.
@Tom_Ato I don’t have a good answer for that yet. Many devices simply show AAC/SBC/AptX… etc when BT is engaged. There are bluetooth testing apps, but since I do not currently have any android device, I can’t find one for you that tells me.
I could probably tell from the quality while streaming from any apple device.
On the user experience side, BT/aac needs to be present for when I can’t tolerate a cable (assuming the dac supports usb input, many do) and I can’t use wifi to stream (which again, is very situation dependent).
On the dx160, I found myself relying mostly on the BT streaming (which did support aac, at least it sounded the best I have heard yet over BT) despite having streaming apps available. Part of that was because the dx160 was not reliable in any other scenario. And since the BTR5 actually does that specific job better, the dx160 became redundant. I would definitely use wired or streaming directly from the dap in the evenings when mobility is less critical.
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If the receiving device doesn’t show what Bluetooth CODEC is being used in receive mode, then one way to tell is to connect to the DAP via a Mac. From there, set some music playing to the DAP and then you can access extended Bluetooth properties by Option-Clicking the Bluetooth icon on the menu bar.
Note that if you’re not actively sending audio to the device, it won’t show an active CODEC at all.
Beyond that, I’m almost certain the N6ii doesn’t support AAC as a receiver. It didn’t support LDAC at launch, either, and that was clearly called out in the firmware update when they added it. Same with the N8 … when they added AAC support (it had neither receive nor transmit at launch), the firmware update that added it called out specifically that it was added for TX and RX.
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If it’s in Apple’s walled garden (the MFi certification program)…it should work as well as possible.
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Thanks for clarifying the 2 definitions of aac. I haven’t used BT much in the past, so this helped a lot.
An astonishingly small number of daps/amps/dacs are MFi certified. Statistically approaching zero. And even ones that claim they are, really mean “but only if you user our special cable”.
Very frustrating. However, this is less critical to me. As the most likely times I would be wired, one of the 2 CCK adapters are fine. (Which solves this problem). I have experimented wiring an amp while mobile. As long as I use the right cable length, it can work. But iphone is in one pocket and dap/amp in another, and then headphone cable going out. It’s a bit of a spider web.
So, BT for that is much, much easier. Or tethering the dap to the phone and streaming from there. Etc.
I honestly should have thought of that. Can’t retain everything. Really good idea!
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I understand the difference of AAC and AAC Bluetooth protocol.
Question : imagine using an Android DAP with Apple Music. You can stream their music as well as your library, just like on the iPhone.
What difference does the Bluetooth protocol make to transfer the music to your headset?
NONE. It just works, whatever codec Apple Music is sending to your earbuds. I tested it, I just showed you. Only way the protocol matters is in quality.
I googled and found a website explaining and comparing all Bluetooth protocols. AAC is the one with the worst quality but high demand in decoding power. LDAC is the best and most advanced one.
What I am trying to say is : Using at least the one device I own, the N6II, you will be able to use Apple Music wirelessly and of course with proper headphones.
P. S. I asked my dealer and he thinks AAC Bluetooth is supported but will ask Cayin directly.
It still Chinese new year, so they are still on vacation…