Back to the 90s - Cayin CP6

Retro wave? 

In recent months, I’ve noticed mobile CD players repeatedly on Instagram and online, which various companies have newly introduced or presented. My impression was ultimately confirmed at the High End in Vienna this year: there were quite a few models of portable CD players to be seen, but mostly rather affordable devices.

This is not surprising at all, especially since our youth is riding a strong retro wave, so to speak. What is pure nostalgia for some is being rediscovered by younger people as a slowed-down, physical music experience.

Until now, I hadn’t taken the whole thing very seriously. But that changed abruptly when I saw a portable CD player – the Cayin CP6 – at the Cayin booth. The CP6 is not just some cheap Chinese product but an extremely high-quality device that, besides two integrated premium DAC chips, even contains a real tube section. The price of 699 USD (excluding taxes) also points to a rather ambitious product with a serious audiophile background.

Recently, the shipment from Cayin with the CP6 devices arrived here, and of course, I had to test one of these devices myself. Nostalgia hit me right away while unpacking: I still remember well the late 80s and the 90s when I owned various portable players myself – especially the legendary Discman models from Sony. I simply loved those devices back then.

Where are my CDs, actually?

What immediately struck me after unpacking: This device is significantly larger and heavier than the players from Sony, Philips, and others back then. The CP6 is essentially made of solid aluminum and not cheap plastic. But the very high-quality audio section, which is miles ahead of the devices from back then, also contributes to the size and weight.

I definitely couldn’t wait to finally test the device. But wait – where were all my CDs? Over the past years, I kept buying CDs but immediately ripped them on my PC and saved them on SSDs or SD cards. The physical discs gradually ended up in boxes somewhere in the basement.

So I went down to the basement and searched for the boxes with the CDs! Fortunately, I found them very quickly. Although I didn’t find the majority of my collection, I did find some copies that represent a good cross-section of my musical taste and at the same time offer very high recording quality – exactly what I was looking for.

As a side note: Of course, I would most like to listen to my usual test playlist with the device; that would be the ideal case for a direct comparison. But since I currently only have these tracks digitally, I have no choice but to take the retro experience to the extreme: I ordered some CD blanks to burn exactly these digital tracks onto CD. The blanks – of course, high-quality examples – are already on their way to me via Amazon.

Before we turn to the "inner values" of the CP6, here are a few unboxing impressions:

Playing partners

Now the only question left is: what to test with? Since the device offers both a 3.5 mm and a balanced 4.4 mm output, I initially decided to use high-quality in-ear headphones.

• Noble Audio Kronos 
• Volk Audio Etoile

The examples I selected are, of course, my two current favorites: the Noble Audio Kronos and the Volk Audio Etoile. These are two absolutely fantastic in-ear headphones and, in my opinion, pretty much the best you can currently buy on the market. I also chose these two models because I know them inside and out and know exactly how they can and should sound.

To be honest, my expectations were, let's say... rather moderate. Because in my memory, the CDs sounded good on the mobile devices and headphones available at the time, but they were probably miles away from what is possible today – especially compared to modern Digital Audio Players (DAPs). Considering the resolutions, clock rates, and precise converter stages that today's high-end DAPs offer, the idea of putting in a spinning silver disc with 16-bit and 44.1 kHz almost felt like a technological step backward. Accordingly, I was skeptical but incredibly curious whether the CP6 is more than just a nice nostalgia bonus.

The moment of truth

So let's get started and put the first disc in! I chose the album Frigga’s Web by Hagalaz’ Runedance because, on the one hand, I like the music and, on the other hand, the recording quality is excellent.

It was really a strange and indeed very nostalgic feeling, or rather a very special nostalgic moment: opening the lid, inserting the CD, and finally pressing the big, physical play button. Memories of past times immediately came flooding back. This tactile experience of actually holding the music in your hands and starting it mechanically is something that has completely disappeared in today’s age of fast swipes and endless streaming playlists. Suddenly, you take a completely different kind of time for the music.

And what finally came out of the Volk Audio Etoile IEMs then quite strongly surprised me. It quickly became clear to me that this portable CD player is not just some cheap retro device but can easily keep up with DAPs in a comparable price range. 

I would even go so far as to say that this CD player outperforms some similarly priced DAPs in sound quality. And that is quite remarkable! After all, for years and decades we have been told repeatedly that pure digital data or ripped music is far superior to physical CDs – precisely because the CD is imperfect, rotates in a mechanical drive, and is constantly exposed to shocks and vibrations. Cayin impressively proves the opposite here.

And since we're talking about shocks and vibrations: I still remember well that the Discman players back then were quite sensitive to shocks during transport. It could easily happen that the CD would skip. That is absolutely not the case here. I couldn’t disturb the CP6 even by shaking it vigorously! In this respect – pure drive and buffering – this device is miles ahead of the players from back then.

An unexpected deceleration

After I had listened to the album all the way through once – and yes, I listened to it completely without skipping, just like people used to do – I switched to the Noble Audio Kronos. With these in-ear headphones, I let the entire record play through again. 

This is somehow something completely different from what we are used to nowadays. Today, we have huge music libraries with tens of thousands of tracks in the terabyte range and can jump back and forth between albums and tracks at the speed of seconds using apps like Roon and others.

Of course, you can also skip tracks and go forward or backward on a CD. But consciously or unconsciously, I simply did not do that here. Instead, I listened to this entire album twice in a row with two different in-ears, and I have to say: It was and is a truly fascinating and interesting experience.

Here are the music albums or CDs that I have tested so far with the CP6:

• Hagalaz’ Runedance – Frigga’s Web

• Pacific Rim – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Ramin Djawadi)

• Dead Can Dance – Toward the Within

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (John Williams)

• The World of Hans Zimmer – A Symphonic Celebration

• Indiana Jones – The Soundtrack Collection

Soundcheck

After briefly addressing the basic sound potential of the CP6, I would like to describe my sound impressions here in more detail. Since the Volk Audio Étoile and the Noble Audio Kronos are fundamentally very similar in some important points, although they differ in details and complement each other perfectly, I will keep my sound impressions general and not distinguish specifically between the two in-ears.

What I completely forgot to mention so far: The CP6 has tubes that can be optionally switched on if desired! Thus, the device offers two completely different sound modes:

On the one hand, there is the precise, high-resolution, and detailed solid-state mode via the internal transistor amplifier. On the other hand, the CP6 offers a smoother, warmer, and wonderfully relaxed tube sound, which is realized by the built-in miniature vacuum tubes from Raytheon. Having this flexibility directly on a portable player is really great for fine-tuning with different in-ears. 

Since we are ultimately talking about a Cayin device here, and Cayin is the absolute tube specialist in the hi-fi sector, it is hardly surprising that real tubes are also used in the portable CP6. 

The CP6 is characterized by an extremely low noise floor – or as we audiophiles like to say: a wonderfully black background.

What also immediately stands out is the excellent channel and instrument separation. Even a complex orchestra is very cleanly broken down; individual instruments and voices are easily distinguishable without the whole ever losing cohesion. The sound remains consistently seamless – exactly what an excellent top-level DAP does.

Next, I wanted to take a closer look at the dynamic range and its reproduction by the CP6. For this, I used the track "The Dark Knight" from the album "The World of Hans Zimmer – A Symphonic Celebration".

And what can I say? Both the quiet, delicate passages and the powerful, loud outbursts are reproduced by the CP6 absolutely effortlessly and completely distortion-free. It’s a true joy when the Noble Audio Kronos delivers the bass or bass drums in the orchestral tracks with full force and precision. 

Especially in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, a triangle is used in many tracks, which the CP6 resolves incredibly finely and delicately. Otherwise, the device really leaves nothing to be desired in terms of details – on the contrary: the highs have exactly that brilliant "sparkle" and fine shine that I want in such recordings. And then, the next moment, when that abysmally deep bass hits during the orchestral strikes – WOW!

Yes, right now as I write these lines, I have goosebumps all over my body! 😵😱😍

Because what must not be cannot be!

The goosebumps get even stronger when I insert the CD Dead Can Dance – Toward the Within. Is that even possible? Can it really be? How on earth can this thing sound like that?!

Freely following the motto: "Because what must not be cannot be," I stare in disbelief at this piece of retro technology. And the CP6 seems to be grinning mockingly, calling out: "Just wait, colleague – I'm just warming up!"

Lisa Gerrard’s and Brendan Perry’s voices on Dead Can Dance – Toward the Within stand so realistically in the room and are presented so intensely and with such verve that I literally start to sweat. I feel transported directly into the 1994 live concert recording—with all the intense emotions that only a real live concert can evoke. This is also contributed to by the incredible spatiality and three-dimensionality, which really comes to life on this album with the Noble Audio Kronos and the Volk Audio Étoile.

I think I need a breather because my pulse has noticeably increased by now.

(Preliminary) Conclusion

Earlier in the text, I mentioned the sound of a comparably priced DAP—and I have to correct myself here: If the recording or CD allows it, the CP6 will cause absolute disbelief among some people. Let’s be honest: This doesn’t compete with the mid-range; it competes directly with real flagship DAPs!

The CP6 is by no means just another piece of retro tech for Gen Z. This is an absolutely serious piece of audio equipment that impressively shows me what is possible today in terms of sound—especially with a physical medium like the CD.

I am by no means a nostalgic person; on the contrary, I am always looking for the latest technologies. I had long written off the CD and didn’t miss it either. That changes abruptly now with the CP6. I am already feverishly searching my brain for the space or the remaining boxes in the basement where all my CDs might be stored—hopefully, no one has thrown them away yet! 😱

Can it do even more?

Of course, I will also test the CP6 with other CDs and albums and next, connect large headphones to it. Since the CP6 offers not only the usual headphone outputs on the back but also two line or pre-out outputs (also in 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm) as well as a digital output, it can practically be used as a pure CD transport—bypassing the internal audio section, DACs, and tubes.

That's exactly what excites me: I want to connect the device to various large, stationary headphone amplifiers to see what this player is worth as a pure source. First, I have the new Lotoo Gungnir in mind. This should be excellent for a first test and clearly demonstrate the maximum potential of the CP6 as a source.