[olddude]

This site is full of people talking about $500 headphone cables and $1K ac cords and $5K headphones and $1500 iems, so why are we surprised at A&K charging so much for DAPs?  If people want to pay $3-5K for a DAP, it's their choice.   I bought an A&K 120ll and am very happy with it (at $1500).  I surely wouldn't buy a 380 or a 1Z, too much money for a carry-around device (and what I'm willing to spend).  But that is the market I fall in.  If you are willing to buy a $3+K device I'm sure someone will sell it to you.  Supply and demand, demand and supply.  A&K is in business, so if folks want its stuff, what is that to anyone else?  I'm sure those 380SS's will sell out soon.  Someone likes that level of stuff.  Just like all the other crazily-priced audiophile stuff that you can buy.
 
 I see a guy driving around in a Ferrari or a Tesla or a Lambo (where I live, they do) and I think, "why do you need that, my Acura is just about as good."  But they want it, the companies sell that level/price of vehicle, and they are happy with their choices.  It doesn't really matter what I think, it's their choice.  And I bet there is someone with a Honda Civic looking at my Acura thinking the same thing: "why does he need THAT?"  
 
Everyone makes personal buying choices, and the sooner we learn not to judge others for THEIR choices the better it will be.  An A&K 380 is worth $3200 because someone is willing to pay that for it.  End of story.  

 

[haiku]

I´ve grown up mostly listening to totl analog and digital gear. IMO, there´s no way around AK3XX Daps, because they´re the only ones which can create "a fundamentally correct harmonic structure" on a level with the best turntables or open reel to reel tape machines. Listen to a good tape to dsd transfer on an AK3XX Dap, and you know what I´m talking about (I´d recommend Bill Evan´s "Trio 64" album). Another thing is Gapless Playback. Listening to my 70s Progrock collection without GP would be torture. I don´t know why only AK (asfaik) is capable of doing it flawlessly, but for me this alone is worth the price.

 

[H20Fidelity]

In reality for me spending over 4-5-years on these forums daily I guess I've learn't to 'live and let die'. I understand people being upset about the pricing, I've been vocal about it myself and can't say I agree, but its just a reality and presence of the market now. Like watching heated cable discussions or debates about 16bit vs 24bit, once I saw a few you've seen them all, you start to become immune.
 
I guess in some way its a level of acceptance which many woudn't agree with, but it IS how I now perceive things. 

 

[haiku]

  In reality for me spending over 4-5-years on these forums daily I guess I've learn't to 'live and let die'. I understand people being upset about the pricing, I've been vocal about it myself and can't say I agree, but its just a reality and presence of the market. Like watching heated cable discussions or debates about 16bit vs 24bit. Once I saw a few you've seen them all, you start to become immune.
 
I guess in some way its a level of acceptance which many woudn't agree with, but it IS how I now perceive things. 

 

Hit.Nail.Head. 

 

[casper3127]

To the question... Because there are people willing to pay for it for the sake of who knows

Enviado desde mi H1

 

[borjok536]

IMHO, many considered this as TOTL Dap because its "Expensive" period. I guess its like a "placebo" effect? u perceive things as very good or superior because of the price. I guess if AK380 will come into different form with different name and different price tag and you present it to someone with AK380, he will still believe that he has the superior product in his hands because its more expensive but the reality is he is listening to two identical products even if he himself knows that after listening the difference is negligible or nothing at all.
 
As long as there's someone willing to pay for it then these products will exist. 

 

[Currawong]

To the question... Because there are people willing to pay for it for the sake of who knows

 
That's it really. Because there are people out there who are willing to shell out for the best performing DAP possible. That's not to say that far cheaper DAPs haven't become vastly better than before. 
 
Before the AK120, people were very unwilling to shell out even the cost of FiiO's X7, but as AK pushed the price ceiling higher and higher, we now have a great range of <$1000 DAPs available.

 

[kenz]

In all honesty, AK has got their software and user interface almost perfect from day 1.
Coupled with some of the most refined sounds coming out of a dap with even headphones (dun ask me why) and ticking most of audiophiles needs, AK has managed to put a premium on their players.
 
Not everyone agrees with their pricing strategy which i suspect caused the current drop in portable audio interest due to the crazy pricing others are doing (hoping to repeat AK success). And given the current global situation, i highly doubt AK pricing will do them any favors. 

 

[tienbasse]

  I´ve grown up mostly listening to totl analog and digital gear. IMO, there´s no way around AK3XX Daps, because they´re the only ones which can create "a fundamentally correct harmonic structure" on a level with the best turntables or open reel to reel tape machines. Listen to a good tape to dsd transfer on an AK3XX Dap, and you know what I´m talking about (I´d recommend Bill Evan´s "Trio 64" album). Another thing is Gapless Playback. Listening to my 70s Progrock collection without GP would be torture. I don´t know why only AK (asfaik) is capable of doing it flawlessly, but for me this alone is worth the price.

Very subjective point of view, and for your information, Cowon has implemented gapless in all their players WAY before A&K, and it has always worked with all file types (including MP3).
I can't say the same for my antique AK120, so much for the "flawlessly"... and I'm not even talking about the botched EQ function on most AK DAPs...
 
They make good DAPs, but let's be realistic, they're not more perfect than any other DAPs. Just more overpriced.
 
This obsession with manufacturing cost vs retail price is beyond me. No one said it should be remotely linked in a so-called "free" market.
You're free to buy or not to buy, this is pretty much the only freedom of this market.
Of course there are plenty of people who gob any pseuso-science and SQ they're being teased with, and spend thousands of dollars for subjective things, just because they can. That's life.

 

[haiku]

   
They make good DAPs, but let's be realistic, they're not more perfect than any other DAPs. Just more overpriced.
 
 

 So that´s not your subjective opinion, but "objective fact". Ooookay, I get it....  

 

[tienbasse]

   So that´s not your subjective opinion, but "objective fact". Ooookay, I get it....  

No need to get cranky.
You expressed how the Ak 3xx DAPs fit your SQ needs, nothing wrong with that.
However they are not perfect based on the objective criteria/features I mentioned. If SQ is your main criteria, good, but each individual has its own priorities, and I tend to take into account some objective features on top of SQ.
 
People relate their own priorities with their budget and decision making (hence the various "overpricing" opinions,  they're not facts but personal opinions, including yours and mine), but manufacturers have their own marketing strategy, and there's very little you can do about it except buying/not buying. We can debate overpricing without end, there's no "right" answer.

 

[haiku]

 
No need to get cranky.
You expressed how the Ak 3xx DAPs fit your SQ needs, nothing wrong with that.
However they are not perfect based on the objective criteria/features I mentioned. If SQ is your main criteria, good, but each individual has its own priorities, and I tend to take into account some objective features on top of SQ.
 
People relate their own priorities with their budget and decision making (hence the various "overpricing" opinions,  they're not facts but personal opinions, including yours and mine), but manufacturers have their own marketing strategy, and there's very little you can do about it except buying/not buying. We can debate overpricing without end, there's no "right" answer.

So, considering what you´ve written, what´s your problem with AK? What "objective features" are missing? Because I don´t miss anything.

 

[Levanter]

A simple answer which some might not like to hear...
because sheeps are willing to chase after lemmings

 

[Mython]

  In reality for me spending over 4-5-years on these forums daily I guess I've learn't to 'live and let die'. I understand people being upset about the pricing, I've been vocal about it myself and can't say I agree, but its just a reality and presence of the market now. Like watching heated cable discussions or debates about 16bit vs 24bit, once I saw a few you've seen them all, you start to become immune.
 
I guess in some way its a level of acceptance which many woudn't agree with, but it IS how I now perceive things. 

 

Yes, everything is relative, and generating resistance & angst in response to it is optional; not compulsory.
 
 
However, one can still hold disdain for something, without necessarily feeling emotional angst.   Heck, see my sig tagline and you'll see I don't get sleepless nights over the likes of iRiver, but it doesn't mean I can't hold an opinion about them

 

[fzman]

   

Yes, everything is relative, and generating resistance & angst in response to it is optional; not compulsory.
 
 
However, one can still hold disdain for something, without necessarily feeling emotional angst.   Heck, see my sig tagline and you'll see I don't get sleepless nights over the likes of iRiver, but it doesn't mean I can't hold an opinion about them

 
Here's the thing.  People often forget, or never even bother to consider that their actions have consequences for others, as well as for themselves.  I think it is morally imprtant to consider what those consequences might be, before posting those opinions on a public forum.  (I am not singling you out here, just using your post as a springboard to make these comments.)
 
Likewise, I think that a number of the comments made regarding specific manufacturers and/or retailers, if made about Head-Fi members, would result in bans, or utter ejection from the site.  Why do people think that it's ok to "trash" a company, as if it had no moral rights of its own?  Or, for that matter, the people within the company?