ЦАПы — Cayin BTC-2

The BTC-2 is a compact desktop Bluetooth receiver, DAC and headphone amplifier from Cayin, announced for European release in May 2026 at EUR 198. It combines wireless reception, a coaxial digital input and an analogue line input in one aluminium box, and it can feed headphones directly or act as a source for an active or passive system. The US price is USD 139.

Key specs that matter

Inside sits the ESS ES9018K2M Sabre 32 Reference chip in a dual-chip, four-channel balanced circuit that keeps positive and negative signal halves separate through decoding and amplification. Over S/PDIF coaxial the unit accepts linear PCM up to 24 bit and 192 kHz. A Qualcomm QCC5125 Bluetooth 5.1 SoC supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX LL, aptX HD and LDAC, with Bluetooth streams carried up to 24 bit and 96 kHz. The 4.4 mm Pentaconn balanced headphone output delivers 280 mW per channel, and a 6.35 mm single-ended jack sits beside it. Cayin quotes response from 10 Hz to 80 kHz, distortion plus noise of 0.0013 percent with a 121 dB noise floor ratio. Output impedance is 1.0 ohm balanced and 0.5 ohm single-ended. The case measures 168 x 167 x 39.5 mm and weighs 0.75 kg.

Engineering and use context

The chassis uses 6 mm thick aluminium alloy with a brushed anodised surface, and a customised OLED dot matrix display shows input and status. The DAC offers three digital filters, named minimum phase, slow roll-off and fast roll-off, and they are switched from the menu. Volume runs through an ALPS potentiometer, and coupling is by Nichicon capacitors made in Japan. Power arrives through a USB-C port rather than a built-in supply. A detachable rubber antenna improves Bluetooth reach, and a small IR handset is included for volume and input control. Beyond the headphone outputs, the rear panel carries analogue line outputs on RCA and an S/PDIF digital output, which also allows the analogue input to be converted into a digital stream.

Pairing

Through the line outputs the BTC-2 can drive a pair of active speakers or a stereo integrated amplifier, adding wireless streaming from a phone. The coaxial input suits a CD transport or a TV with a digital output, while the balanced socket suits headphones supplied with a Pentaconn cable. Headphones with single-ended plugs use the other jack, and the S/PDIF output can pass a signal on to a separate DAC or recorder.

Alternatives

The Cayin iDAC-6 MK2 is a larger desktop DAC with an ES9028Pro chip, six digital inputs and a switchable tube or solid-state output stage.