Cayin ID6 Streamer, DAC and Headphone Amplifier

The Cayin iD6 is a desktop streamer, DAC, preamp and headphone amplifier in one compact box. Two ESS ES9082Q DACs run in dual mono, a pair of 12AU7 tubes offer two tube timbres alongside solid state, and the fully balanced discrete amplifier gives up to 4.0W into 16Ω. Android 14 on a 6-inch touch screen runs the main streaming apps bit-perfect, and its line, pre-amp and digital outputs let it sit at the centre of anything from a headphone set-up to a full hi-fi system.

Three timbres, instantly switchable

The tube stage pairs two 12AU7 dual triodes with MOS-FETs for natural warmth, body and musicality, and a dedicated tube window shows the glowing filaments with subtle ambient lighting. The timbre applies to the headphone outputs and to the RCA and XLR line and pre-amp outputs:

• Classic Tube: warm, smooth, relaxed and easy to listen to, with delicate, engaging vocals.
• Modern Tube: an expansive soundstage, incisive resolution and tight, powerful bass.
• Solid-State: precise and composed, with maximum resolution, ideal for fine detail in classical and instrumental music.

Dual mono DACs

Each ES9082Q SMART Hi-Fi DAC works in mono for one channel, for fully independent left and right channels with better separation, signal-to-noise ratio and clarity. Cayin’s channel summing combines the DACs’ multiple channels to raise dynamic range and output, giving large-scale music more weight, scale and authority.

Four-channel fully balanced amplifier

The discrete, fully balanced headphone amplifier uses Nexperia audio-grade BJTs for the current gain and output stage, switches between Class A and Class AB, and has a DC servo for a clean, low-distortion output. The 4.4mm balanced output gives 4.0W + 4.0W into 16Ω or 2.6W + 2.6W into 32Ω, and there is a 6.35mm single-ended output too.

Bit-perfect Android streaming

A Rockchip RK3576 octa-core processor (four Cortex-A72 cores at up to 2.2GHz and four Cortex-A53 at up to 2.0GHz, with an AI NPU) keeps the system fast with large libraries and streaming apps. Cayin customised Android 14 from the low-level drivers to the audio framework for system-wide bit-perfect playback, including third-party apps such as Spotify, TIDAL, Qobuz, Amazon Music, Apple Music, SoundCloud and YouTube Music, with PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and native DSD512. DLNA, AirPlay and Wi-Fi music transfer are supported, and the Cayin Control app handles timbre, playback settings and device control (the Android version is on Cayin’s website).

USB, wireless and storage

A 16-core XMOS XU316 USB processor supports UAC 2.0 and UAC 1.0 for Windows, macOS, Android and Linux, with asynchronous transfer and precision clocking to cut jitter. Dual-band Wi-Fi handles streaming and casting, and a Qualcomm QCC5125 gives Bluetooth 5.1 with LDAC, aptX HD, aptX, aptX Low Latency, AAC and SBC. Play music from internal storage, a dedicated M.2 NVMe 2280 SSD bay (SSD sold separately), USB drives, external hard drives or card readers.

Independent digital and analogue power

A high-performance toroidal transformer feeds fully independent supplies for the digital and analogue sections, with efficient DC-DC regulation, ultra-low-noise linear regulators and polymer molybdenum filter capacitors keeping ripple and noise down across the audio path.

All in one

Digital inputs take CD players and other sources, the line and pre-amp outputs feed a power amplifier or active speakers, HDMI ARC connects a TV or projector, and the digital outputs can feed an external DAC: the I²S-LVDS output (on an HDMI socket) and USB host audio output make the iD6 a digital source too (check the I²S pin configuration before connecting another brand’s equipment).

• Analogue outputs: balanced XLR and single-ended RCA line/pre-amp outputs, 4.4mm balanced and 6.35mm headphone outputs.
• Digital: I²S-LVDS, coaxial and optical outputs; coaxial and optical inputs; USB DAC input; HDMI ARC input.
• USB and network: USB 3.0 OTG (storage or PC transfer), two USB host ports (storage or USB audio output), wired Ethernet, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antenna terminals.

Thoughtful details

The 6-inch 1080 × 2160 touch screen has a custom landscape interface behind a seamless black glass panel. A dedicated ADC feedback circuit lets the processor analyse the audio in real time for spectrum and VU meter displays. The volume knob has a precisely tuned feel and an illuminated ring that shows the audio format by colour, side vents keep it cool, and external high-gain antennas strengthen Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The chassis is machined from a single piece of aluminium, then sandblasted and anodised, in silver or black.

Good to know

• It can be the centre of a whole system: headphones, active speakers, a power amp, a CD player or a TV through HDMI ARC.
• The M.2 SSD is not included.
• Colours: black or silver. In the box: iD6, power cable, accessories and documentation.