Thats an interesting and punchy short summary! I was thinking about trying a couple of the new EE ones. I have the KSE1200, which I’m enjoying very much. When you say “completely opposite”, any extra colour to add?

Thank you for such a detailed, insightful response. That’s very useful indeed and very much appreciated! For me it’s a DAP (SP1K SS) and mainly Tidal HiFi/Masters; occasionally 192. Interestingly, I do exactly the same with the volume: I tend to listen to guitar-based bands and like to get a...

lol sounds like a great few days testing both. Have you ever tried / owned the KSE1200s? I own them and am enjoying them thoroughly. However - there’s nearly always a however, right - I also wish they had a balanced option (and the little amp is a bit of a hassle), so the Wraith obviously caught...

could you elaborate on the instrument timbre point?

I may have missed an earlier post, but when you say “custom tips”, could you clarify? I’m trying a few different ones on my 1200s at the moment. Thanks and best.

Just got my SPK SS back from repair and throughly enjoying it after a two-month absence. I’m a fan of balanced, but the Shure KSE 1200 is currently beating out my usual balanced connection IEMs (altho would be great if they could do a balanced one). It’s like having a new player again (my...

Thanks for the impressions. Would you mind clarifying “imaging is bigger” in the Cu point, and “a bit laid back (compared to Cu)” in the SS line. Thank and best. PS I own a SP1000 SS and demo’d The SP1000 Cu (I found the Cu to be warmer, with less resolution, per your SP2k comment above, but...

Ah yes, new toyitis. That too :)

AK have said that there’s no difference in SQ per se with the amp, because the DAP is still doing the DA conversion and EQ etc. So in theory it will ‘just’ drive harder-to-drive cans with the same DAP, with the same SQ as when using no amp and easier-to-drive IEMs (obviously if the...

My local dealer said the same thing: he prefers the SPK SS but prefers the SPK2 Cu. I haven’t heard any of the 2000s yet, but there’s definitely a difference to my ears between SS and Cu in the 1000 editions. Just as with IEM cable, I found the copper SPK to be much warmer. SS edition sounds...

This a FANTASTIC review. Really appreciate your honesty about science versus what your ears are hearing, and I personally feel your pain that you are left with a subjective conclusion versus your preferred data-driven one. I feel the same way about these high-end DAPs as I do with electric...

Bad news again with SP1000: Bluetooth hasn’t worked since day one, which I lived with as it has only been missed a couple of times. Then in the last week, WiFi connectivity stopped working as well. The DAP says it’s connected to my WiFi (only the 2.4ghz one of course), but the WiFi symbol...

@JasonNYC I appreciate (1) your prompt response and (2) your transparency. And thks for the volume icon expl There are much bigger issues in the world than a dude (me) with an expensive music player, so I’ll note down my current offline Tidal albums and do the factory reset. @JasonNYC thanks...

Did the update but when I tried to use the device, it has become very unstable - shutting down to just the on-screen ‘A’ symbol / dropping WiFi every few seconds. I’ve tried holding the power button down for 10/20 secs etc but no joy. Anyone else finding this? I’m trying to avoid a hard reset...

Agree with this 100%. Nicely put.

I for the SP1000 for the same reason - I.e. A&K finally got around to Tidal offline and then Tidal Masters (well done AK by the way), and I was happy to be able to pick up one of their players for the first time since the old AK120 + Glove that I had some years ago (one of the best ever setups...

@Samuel777 just wanted to close this off: I needed to upgrade the FW on my manual install Tidal, so went to APKpure.com or whatever it is, and searched for Tidal. Then downloaded the latest Tidal (and Spotify), connected SP1000 to laptop (USB to USB-C in my case) and dragged the downloads into...

Cosmic Ears CE6P with 8W copper cable, balanced, and Shure KSE1200 SE.

Well said. Haven’t tried any of the lotoos, but the SPK SS is certainly a level above anything I’ve owned before and not fatiguing at all. Interesting that you’re hearing an improvement after time as well. Won’t go down the burn-in rabbit hole, but I’m still being blown away on some tracks...

I know what you are talking about and as I said, you need to reinstall the extra Tidal via the same process as the initial install. Check the version on your app, then check the version on APKpure. If you need to update, then go through the download / drag and drop process with the DAP connected...

Hiya If I remember correctly, the unit will prompt you to update the pre-installed version, which I guess you can do on the device as normal. Doing this will act as a reminder to also update the manual store version, which may require updating externally / downloading the newer version from the...

Duly noted!!!

I was referring to @szore’s weekly clarification. In which case I throw the ball back to @szore, @JasonNYC EDIT: don’t shoot the messenger.

@szore, I’m not sure if I used the word “better” anywhere in my post. In fact I think I used the word “awesome” about 3.5 (SE) and used the example of my KSE1200s. However, I definitely said “wider” about balanced, 2.5, but that may not be everyone’s main criteria. Although you kindly made the...

@JasonNYC to save @szore having to (rightly) clarify this every week, please get the AK website/online press release/whatever typo corrected, so we can all move on with our lives and get excited about whether the SP2000 is going to sound “better” (insert your own subjective caveat) than the...