Cayin N7 vs HiBy R8 II

Short answer

Power: about the same. The Cayin N7 has 250 mW into 32 Ω, the HiBy R8 II 225 mW (balanced: 500 mW and 710 mW). Both drive 565 of the 567 non-electrostatic headphones here to 100 dB, so on that test the difference changes nothing.
Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the Cayin N7 publishes no noise figure.
Output impedance: 14 headphones are left alone by the Cayin N7 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the HiBy R8 II (64 Audio Nio, 64 Audio Volur, Campfire Audio Andromeda 2023, 11 more).
Price: the same, $1999.

Both are portable players, both at $1999.

On raw power they are level: each reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 non-electrostatic models here.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

Specification	Cayin N7	HiBy R8 II
Power into 32Ω	250 mW	225 mW
Power into 150Ω	53 mW	48 mW
Power into 300Ω	27 mW	24 mW
Power into 600Ω	13 mW	12 mW
Output impedance	0.6 Ω	1 Ω
Output noise	not published	3.2 µV
Price	$1999	$1999
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	565	565

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Balanced output

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

Balanced	Cayin N7	HiBy R8 II
Socket	4.4mm	4.4mm
Power into 32Ω	500 mW	710 mW
Power into 300Ω	53 mW derived	76 mW derived
Output impedance	1.2 Ω	1 Ω
Output noise	not published	5.4 µV
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	566	566

Through the balanced sockets the two are level on the same test: each reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

Load	Cayin N7	HiBy R8 II
32 Ω	Published	Published
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Derived	Derived
600 Ω	Derived	Derived

Both makers publish a power rating. Cayin N7 publishes at 32 Ω; HiBy R8 II at 32 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

The two publish at the same loads, which is the one case where the rows of this table can be read straight across.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

On power they are interchangeable across this whole database: there is no headphone here that one reaches 100 dB on and the other does not.

14 headphones are left alone by the Cayin N7 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the HiBy R8 II (64 Audio Nio, 64 Audio Volur, Campfire Audio Andromeda 2023, 11 more).

565 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

On real headphones

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

Across all eight the two stay within half a decibel of each other, which is a way of saying that on power this pair is one product.

The hiss columns are empty for Cayin N7 because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	Cayin N7 headroom	HiBy R8 II headroom	Cayin N7 hiss	HiBy R8 II hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+32 dB	+32 dB	not published	25 dB
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+12 dB	+12 dB	not published	5 dB
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+22 dB	+21 dB	not published	3 dB
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+17 dB	+17 dB	not published	-2 dB
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+14 dB	+13 dB	not published	-3 dB
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+10 dB	+10 dB	not published	-9 dB
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+6 dB	+6 dB	not published	-13 dB
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+4 dB	+4 dB	not published	-15 dB

What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

These two cost the same, $1999, so price settles nothing. Out of the 567 models here, the Cayin N7 leaves 14 models alone under the one-eighth rule — and on the other side there is no such advantage at all.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Both pages in full

Each in full: Cayin N7 and HiBy R8 II.

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