Couldn't agree more. I get the impression that some people enjoy spending all their time finding new ways to listen to the same music rather than using that time and money to expand their musical listening. A decent smartphone and a cheap but good pair of earphones and you're set for all sorts...

  What happens if you burn them for 100 hours and are stuck on a 4 hour flight with some IEMs you don't like?   Why not just - radical notion here - listen to them when you get them?

It amazes me people will pay such ridiculous amounts for headphones and players when they can just EQ the music to make it sound different.

  Shoddy.

  Yes - light makes things appear to have colours. That's the way the world works.

As far as I can glean from all the press, the big USPs of the AK240 are - to quote from the What Hi-Fi article here: http://www.whathifi.com/news/astell-kern-unveils-new-ak240-portable-audio-player-at-ces) :   - In addition to a brand-new look, the AK240 includes a series of new features not...

i've tried Viper on my rooted S3 with Boefla and, well, meh. Its a massive battery drainer and doesnt improve the already excellent sound when using Neutron music player. Strikes me as a bit gimmicky really.

Fit is everything with an IEM. If it - and by consequence the sound quality - moves when you do, its going to drive you insane.

  Well they've been earning interest on all your money these last few months, so its hardly going to break them, is it?

  What miracle paradigm-shift materials are they using in their IEM construction that haven't been used before then? I don't want to get into the burn-in debate, I really don't, but you must see the lunacy in your statements? p.s. No way in the world am I ever going to buy a pair of IEMs...

  If they sound bad out of the box, they are bad.

More prime Miles due to be released in a couple of months' time - great news, as far as I'm concerned:   http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/miles-davis-jams-on-spanish-key-in-1970-20140122

April eh? Where can i find details? I looked in the meet up forum section but seemed to draw a blank....I am pretty blind though.

  Well, why not buy another one then and sell me your used one for twenty quid? That should cover the postage.  If it really is that good, you'll be making a benevolent gesture that can only lead to more of us hearing the best sound quality ever. If I don't agree, you can have it back.  ...

  I'm in London - which is local if you use that tunnel under the abandoned well out back. Chuck your Studio V3 down and I'll catch it at the other end. Your question of price vs happiness is an interesting one. Does anyone have a formula? Obviously it will have to build in disposable...