Cayin iHA - 8

Description

Cayin Audio presents its new, small yet powerful Class A headphone amplifier that packs a punch. With the iHA-8, the valve specialist returns to the world of transistors, delivering almost 20 watts of Class A power in a compact desktop format.

Despite its small size, the Cayin iHA-8A sounds huge and awakens your music with the same dynamic and lively enthusiasm already demonstrated by its larger siblings in the Cayin range.

The 75-watt power supply, discrete FET construction with Class A biasing and the massive operating voltage of the optional Hyper Mode make it possible to drive any low-impedance headphones.

The iHA-8's newly added 4.4 mm headphone output makes it a member of Cayin's new desktop family, alongside the iDAC-8 and iDAP-8. If you want to connect IEMs, the electronic resistor ladder volume control keeps noise low. These precise controls maintain the signal-to-noise ratio and channel balance down to the lowest level of the iHA-8's ALPS-controlled encoder.

Transparent at all volume levels, both low and high, with near-perfect channel matching, this sonic mini-marvel from Cayin reveals hidden details deep within your music.

Given this linearity, you will hear everything: what enters via the input and what comes out amplified. To support the excellent signal-to-noise ratio of the two high-tech NJR MUSES72320 volume controls, Cayin relies on the old school of Class A biasing and high operating voltages. The latter can be increased to over 30 volts by pressing the iHA-8's Hyper Mode button.

Right from the drawing board, the FET power and voltage amplification of the iHA-8 features a tube-like square-wave function to reduce distortion. Cayin's individual transistors are kept at their ideal point and in their ideal operating range to achieve the best open-loop linearity. They do not rely on the magic formula of negative feedback to correct errors because there are very few of them.

The iHA-8 uses a new type of gain control that is only used as part of the feedback loops around the amplifier output stage. Excessive open-loop gain is something that Cayin cannot be blamed for at all and allows you to turn up the volume control to obtain the best dynamic performance. This in turn benefits the performance of the iHA-8. The Cayin input stage, where most of an amplifier's sound signature is defined, is based on Toshiba's ubiquitous 2SK209 JFET. Known for their low-noise drivers, these JFETs serve another purpose: they allow Cayin to directly couple the iHA-8 power amplifier.

Therefore, the frequency response is practically flat, ranging between 10 Hz and 80 kHz, and it deepens the bass response so that the phase response stays within the human hearing range – for fast bass, excellent dynamics and impressive precision.

The input JFETs of the iHA-8 are connected in parallel to provide the current required to adequately drive the large capacitances of Cayin's 24 Vishay MOSFET output devices. The wide bandwidth achieved preserves phase and adds spatial signals, imaging and height ambience.

The iHA-8's numerous power transistors are mounted on copper rails, while the chassis has better heat dissipation compared to the previous model. This heavy-duty hardware allows the MOSFET buffers to stay cool and operate at a constant temperature. In this way, they are able to handle the largest amount of current while resisting high voltage, which comes in handy considering Cayin's Hyper mode.

The large number of output transistors ensures an immense current intensity for a good reason: to be able to make the most of the advantages of a typically oversized Cayin power supply with a 75-watt toroidal transformer at its core, 50,000 uF filter capacitors, ultra-fast rectification, and continuous voltage regulation, even in the power amplifier of the iHA-8.

All of this leads to Cayin's ultimate voltage source, once again capable of cost-effectively powering the AB1266 Phi TC from ABYSS Headphones, the LCD-5 from Audeze Headphones, Dan Clark Audio, and HIFIMAN's HE-6 and Susvara. But crucial optimisations in the signal path mean that this giant also wears ballet shoes to effortlessly drive any other real-world load.

Whether Fostex, Focal, Final Audio, HEDD Audio or ZMF headphones, there is nothing the iHA-8 cannot handle… even IEMs like the Subtonic Audio Storm. Make the Cayin the centrepiece of a desktop headphone rig, driven by its own iDAC-8, the HIFIMAN EF500 or the Matrix Audio Mini-I Pro 4. It's that good.

i-Series mini system with 8 towers. If you are looking for a valve amplifier, take a look at our new Cayin HA-2A, or explore the rest of the world of Cayin valve amplifiers.

Stacked one on top of the other, the iDAP-8, iDAC-8 and iHA-8 create a fully balanced head-fi system that requires just 24 x 21.5 cm of floor space.