Cayin Fantasy Review – Light My Fire
Introduction
The Cayin fantasy is a $799 single-dynamic driver earphone with a Beryllium diaphragm which I had for ca. 2 weeks as part of a Head-Fi tour. Cayin have mad themselves a name with high-end daps, and they are currently entering the premium earphone segment, too.
Specifications
| Driver: 10.3mm dual cavity with two-way magnetic driver structure with 9.5mm beryllium-plated diaphragm |
| Impedance: 37 Ω |
| Sensitivity: 108 dB @ 1 kHz |
| Frequency Range: 20 – 40,000 Hz |
| Cable/Connector: 0.78mm 2-pin |
| Tested at: $799 |
| Product page: Cayin |
Physicals
I never completely unboxed the Cayin Fantasy because of the short time period I had it for. Therefore here a stock picture of the content. The earpieces arere comfortable but isolation is not great. I’d rather like to focus on the sound in my brief analysis.
Tonality and Technicalities
Equipment used: MacBook Air, iPhone SE (1st gen.); DragonFly Cobalt, Khadas Tone2 Pro, DragonFly Red, Jitterbug FMJ,
The Cayin Fantasy is a fast single DD earphone with great imaging that will be polarizing over its 4- 5 kHz peak.
Bass is as speedy and dry as it gets. Absolutely superb. No mid-bass bloat, no thumping, just a very composed and focused signal. Sub-bass extension is not the biggest so that some may miss that low-end rumble (I personally don’t).
Male vocals in the lower midrange have very good weight and definition, the reproduction is very realistic. But the higher notes of female voices or saxophones or violins can get fatiguing to my ears. That’s where that 4-5 kHz peak comes in, which introduces harshness and grain to some ears when listening at higher volumes. But it brightens up older recordings. It comes as no surprise that midrange has great clarity.
Treble extension is very good, too. Cymbals in the 7-10 kHz range are extremely well defined and crisp, but may be a bit sharp and bright for younger ears (they are mostly fine for my old flappers).
Technicalities are excellent for a single DD: expansive staging in all directions yielding a “cavernous” or “holographic” experience. Stage is wider than deep but deep enough. Lots of headroom.
Detail resolution is outstanding and instrument placement and separation even more so. I cannot think of any other earphone I could locate instruments on the stage so well – and guess distances between musicians.
At $799, the Cayin Fantasy is in line with the $800 Moondrop Illumination and the $700 Dunu Zen. Zen has more depth and less treble extension, and also some midrange glare, and it excels in microdynamics.
The Moondrop, I cannot remember in detail, but it was probably the least bassiest of the lot and is not quite as resolving as the fantasy. I also had perceived the Illumination as bright.
These comparison are from memory and should be taken with a grain of salt.
Concluding Remarks
In summary, the Cayin Fantasy is a great single DD earphone, but ultimately too bright for me. Please also check out our Cayin amp and dap reviews, such as the C9 Portable Amplifier and the N6ii with three different motherboards.
Until next time…keep on listening!
Disclaimer
I’d like to thank Cayin for this opportunity to add to my experience in the premium segment through a Head-Fi tour. I also thank the next reviewer, Head-Fier dweaver, for having a nice chat on the door.
Our generic standard disclaimer.
You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.
