Astell & Kern AK120

General Information

High-End, Dual-Mono portable system equipped with dual DACs independently dedicated to separate left/right audio channels

Latest reviews

dieseldriver200

Head-Fier
One of my first Hires Player that is compact, natural sounding, and long battery life
Pros: I'd have to say the continuous playtime and very neutral and warm sounding dual Wolfson DACs with very formidable channel separation, SNR, and sound stage. Also it's so compact that it won't impose on you when you travel with it. You can have up to 196GB files; internal bank 0, 1, and 2. Each with 64GB of storage space which is quite good. They will all appear in single view in your library if you use album cover. When you use your computer, it will shows up as 3 separate drives.
Cons: I don't think I can think of many but because of age, the display may appear bit dated but does not imply that it's terrible. One thing that is somewhat annoying however is when you modify the any of the storage; either add, delete, or change any of the files using MTP mode, it will rescan the whole library which takes time.
I had bought the AK120 used. I've always wanted one, and have the AK120II. Both are very nice DAPs even almost 10 years after they were first introduced. Back then, it was very expensive but now, you can get them pretty cheap on eBay or other type of Swap Meet websites. It's perfect for someone just starting out with HiRes and looking for that higher end audio playing experience.

I am really enjoying my AK120 for several reasons. First is battery life. It has a built-in 2350mAh rechargeable battery which you can play about 8.5-10 hours on a single charge. But I am changing it out to 3000mAh LiPo battery to see if I can squeeze out a bit more playing time.

Second is its compact size. It's tiny. Though if you look at the ads, it does not look small as those pictures are not in scale. But the unit itself is so small that you can fit in your shirt pocket.

Third is craftsmanship. It's very well made and very simple to operate. Just few buttons and a volume knob. That's it. Just get a good pair of low impedance IEMs and you're all set. I use Campfire Mammoth with mine and I am so happy with comfort that I can play over 8 hours straight without even thinking about it. I keep the unit stored in a little arm band phone holder and stash away the extra cord from the headphone using velcro. It's a very nice set up.

Lastly, the sound. It's very neutral, has good details, SNR, and nice channel separation in unbalanced mode, with decent amount of soundstage. It uses dual Wolfson DACs that sounds warm without being too mushy. It's nice sounding DAP if you don't want ear piercing highs and mids. It is definitely worth taking a look if you miss that sound from the 80's receivers like Marantz, Kenwood, or Fisher.
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Tawek
Tawek
chasing new daps and having several top daps (sp1000ss, wm1z, cayne) and others
Quite out of curiosity, I bought the A&K 120 tyt not so long ago, I was still looking for a DAP that would properly drive my GL-AMT16 headphones (this is unique iem)
and for several weeks I have been seriously shocked at how well this dap drives these headphones, it's amazing.
Suffice it to say that Wm1z and Sp1000ss are lying around gathering dust
and I bought a second pair of the same headphones especially for this dap :)

harrisonhawk

Head-Fier
Pros: Incredible sound quality. Massive storage potential. Optical in/out. 2 micro SD card slots. Quality DAC. Build quality
Cons: Some EMI. Larger music libraries are hard to browse. Some glitches with ALAC files. Some glitches with metadata on some tracks.
I picked up a second hand AK120 off ebay and have not regretted shelling out around 15 times what I paid for my last DAP, a Sansa Clip Zip. The difference is astonishing to say the least. I really enjoyed the Sansa, a nice sound, good detail, pretty neutral sounding with the potential to beef up the sound through Rockbox, but the AK120 wipes the floor with it.
 
The best word I can use to describe the difference is texture. There is an improvement in detail, soundstage and the overall oomph of the player, but the most striking thing for me is the texture of the sounds produced. Put simply I've never experienced this with a portable player before this, or even through my laptop via a DAC. Drums sound incredible, you can almost feel the impact. Guitars sound full, rich and detailed. Strings are airy and fill the room, and vocals are taken to a whole new level. The timbre of a voice is suddenly apparent, it's intimate, you really feel like the singer is right next to you. Put simply, every sound has a texture, you can almost feel it, and it is what makes this player stand out.
 
The sound is neutral, bass has impact and depth without being overwhelming. Mids are detailed, textured and absorbing, and the high end is crisp and clear.
 
The UI is where the main drawbacks are. Turning the player on takes 20 seconds or so but the overall appearance is nice enough, but with a music library of around 4000 songs, navigating is a chore. Going from top to bottom of my albums takes a minute or so of patient scrolling. I'd like to see iRiver add an option to skip to first letters easily so you can scroll through the list much easier. I've also experienced a couple of issues with metadata. Some albums aren't recognised properly and are sorted with other albums with completely different names, despite changing the info in MusicBrainz. I'd also like to see an update library feature because at the moment, if you add 1 new song and want to see it in your database, you have to update the entire library, and rescan every song which can take 5 or more minutes. Finally, I'd like an option to turn off the auto-fade when skipping songs, especially when it fades songs in sometimes.
 
The only other issue I have is that there is some EMI. Not acceptable for a high end DAP.
 
I use the AK120 with my Unique Melody reshelled Shure SE530x4 and they pair together beautifully. It also drives my Sennheiser HD-25-1 very well. I've heard that with 300 ohm monsters like the HD600 need to be amped with the AK120, but it's more than capable of driving most cans.
 
Overall, I'm delighted with the AK120, but it isn't perfect and for the price I'd like to see iRiver address some of the UI issues I've mentioned.
keepitsimple
keepitsimple
i enjoyed your review
dieseldriver200
dieseldriver200
I know this is bit dated but the Metadata glitch is not a glitch. Can't blame everything on the AK120. It has to do with the Metatags that's been added by the song distributor. You can click on 'Extended Tags' on MP3Tag and check all the Metadata and simply remove the ones you don't need. That solves the issue.

average_joe

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: Small size, total memory capacity, user interface, charging via USB, battery life
Cons: Sound quality is bested by other (larger) DAPs
The AK120 is a portable player that is truly an ideal player for a traveler or those that prefer simplicity over complexity and the small annoyances that often come with top performing portable audio devices.  Sound quality is very good with more refinement than the lower end players, but lags behind other high-end players such as the DX100 and 901, but those players do have a disadvantage in battery life, UI, and size.  
 
The AK120 may be for you if:
- Portability and usability are two of the top qualities you are looking for in a DAP.
- You have a large music collection that you want to take with you, especially if that music is in a high bitrate.
- You want to connect to any computer anywhere to use the DAC functionality or any device with an optical output.
- You want a high quality portable transport with optical out.
 
The AK120 may not be for you if:
- You want the highest possible sound quality, portability and battery life be damned.
- You have headphones that are difficult to drive.
- You like very dynamic and punchy sound.
 
My full review can be found here.  Another thing to note about the AK120 is that you can get it modified by Red Wine Audio for higher sound quality.  While I haven't heard one, this could possibly make it the ultimate portable DAP.
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Claritas
Claritas
The full review (linked) is worth reading. Thanks.

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