The Cayin R202 motherboard is a high-performance audio module built around a fully discrete, fully balanced dual-DAC architecture. It features both a 24-bit R-2R ladder DAC and a discrete 1-bit DAC, each using ultra-precise 0.1% thin-film resistors for native PCM and DSD decoding. A dual digital audio processor supports up to PCM 768kHz and DSD512, with smart triple decoding modes—automatically selecting the best DAC architecture for the input format.
The motherboard also includes a quad-channel, fully balanced headphone amplifier built from high-grade op-amps and INA1620 drivers, delivering dynamic, transparent sound. Power is delivered through a matrix-structured clean supply with ultra-low-noise LDO regulators, ensuring a quiet, stable signal path.
R202 is a Gen2 audio motherboard module that gets inserted at the bottom of N6iii DAP using a quick-release latch mechanism with two buttons easily accessible on the left/right sides. The mechanism seems to be very robust and secure, and I found it very easy to handle with one hand. Once latched in, there is no room for wiggle, nothing is rattling, and I have never had an issue while pulling on the cable when removing IEMs/headphone plugs. I went back and forth between R202, C201, and E203 cards a dozen times during comparisons. It worked in a true plug-and-play fashion without the need to power down the DAP.
Cayin implemented a dedicated microcontroller on the card that interacts with the primary 665 MCU every time a card is inserted, making all the necessary custom adjustments and monitoring relative to that card. Since this is not just an amp card but a DAC/amp board, each one requires more interface customization per its corresponding design since each DAC/amp card will be custom not only to its selection of components but also its functionality, resulting in different ports, like C201 having separate 3.5mm PO and LO ports and a shared 4.4mm PO/LO port, while R202 and E203 having a separate 3.5mm and 4.4mm PO-only ports.
According to a new naming convention, the “C” in C201 card corresponds to Cirrus Logic DACs, “E” in E203 corresponds to its ESS DAC, and the new card I’m covering today is R202, where “R” corresponds to a discrete DAC (R-2R and 1Bit) design. Just like E203, the R202 design focused on pure audio output performance, so only Phone Out was implemented, with no Line Out functionality.
The fully discrete, fully balanced dual DAC architecture of R202 incorporates a total of 320 ultra-precision (0.1% accuracy) thin-film resistors, 192 pieces of which are used in a 24-bit R-2R PCM DAC config, and the remaining 128 pieces are used in a 1Bit DSD DAC config. You can select either of the DACs or let it be chosen automatically, depending on the processed audio format. The dual Digital Audio Processor of R202 supports up to PCM768kHz and DSD512.
In the Box:
- DAC module;
- Manual.
