ACTIVO P1 Digital Audio Player - Coming Soon
Sep 1, 2024 at 3:59 AM Post #211 of 458
That is kind of what I am waiting on(free shipping). I have Prime but that apparently does not matter in this case. I have a SE300 so this is all about curiosity more than anything else.
You probably won’t be disappointed. I’m using the Activo P1 more than the Kann Ultra due to its portability and sound quality. It sounds much better than the next smaller DAP I have, the Zx707. Overall I’m quite satisfied and I can finally take this while commuting. It’s super lightweight and really small, almost like an iPod. No more Bluetooth dongles as with the P1 I can play Lossless and use wired IEMs. I also take it around the house in my trousers, it doesn’t hang.

A&K Software still leaves something to be desired. No dark mode, hardly any customisations. Most of the settings as usual are for the built-in player. I had to look everywhere to find the SD Card format hidden under System Information. Display is decent. Although there is a chunk of blank space at the bottom which makes it a bit odd. Screen doesn’t occupy the entire display. 2 screen protectors are bundled, cheapest quality screen protectors I’ve ever seen tbh. They are not pre-applied and do not occupy the entire screen on any side so that makes it also odd to apply properly and without dust/bubbles.

Battery life is pretty good. Controls are simple. Power button and another button for Play/Pause/Forward/Rewind on one side. Volume +/- buttons on the other side. All buttons are etched so easy to find with fingers.

I installed Qobuz from Playstore and it works fine. UI is snappy for a DAP, the Mediatek CPU is almost on par with Snapdragon 660. Although I’m not sure yet how well it will perform with a large library.

Overall my curiosity was satisfied !
 
Sep 2, 2024 at 12:42 AM Post #212 of 458
Not sure what the issue is. We have plenty of stock, so I am assuming something on Amazon's end? I don't currently have access to the Amazon store. I unfortunately will not have an answer until the team is back in the office on Monday morning (Sunday night here). Will share an update when I have it.
Ill keep checking Amazon, let us know when it comes back online.
 
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Sep 2, 2024 at 12:45 AM Post #213 of 458
A&K is an interesting DAP maker, they have managed to do what Apple and Nike have done. They have established themselves as the premium brand for DAP's. As such they can afford to charge very high prices for their units largely from their reputation. Almost every dealer in Canada that sells DAP's carry Astell & Kern models. Mainly because there is a very high profit margin on these DAP's. So the dealers don't have to sell alot of units to make money. It will be interesting to see how many of these dealers will also sell the Activo P1 as I am sure the profit margin will be much lower.

I have demoed some A&K units and they sound great but the software is lets just say not good. I just stumbled accross this model yesterday and it got me intrigued. I am familiar with whitelisted DAP's having owned the Fiio M9 and M7 and don't mind it actually since I am not into streaming. It is already available on amazon.ca so availability won't be an issue. I am currently waiting to see if the Shanling M1 Plus will be available in Canada so I will follow this thread and look at some reviews for the P1 while I wait. I never imagined owning an A&K DAP but who knows this might be worth giving a try.
 
Sep 2, 2024 at 2:25 AM Post #214 of 458
Mentioned it in a previous post that I was interested in this DAP. I’ve just ordered one so can share my thoughts at some point. They may not be worth much as I have never had a DAP to draw any comparisons to or have any specific expectations.

Don’t know why this one is the one I’m drawn to but I have really enjoyed all my A&K products.
 
Sep 2, 2024 at 10:59 AM Post #216 of 458
Sep 2, 2024 at 11:49 AM Post #217 of 458
2 screen protectors are bundled, cheapest quality screen protectors I’ve ever seen tbh. They are not pre-applied and do not occupy the entire screen on any side so that makes it also odd to apply properly and without dust/bubbles.
Do you think screen protectors made for other 4.1" 720 x 1280 touch screens would fit? There are some available for the A&K KANN ALPHA and KANN MAX, for example, that have the same specification.

I think I am going to pull the trigger on one of these. I generally don't like to be an "early adopter", but my old iPod is on it's last legs and, in any event, I would like to upgrade the sound quality. I travel ~ 7 hours by train several days per week and the P1 appears to actually be pretty portable! Some of the competitors are rather brick like.
 
Sep 2, 2024 at 12:24 PM Post #218 of 458
Do you think screen protectors made for other 4.1" 720 x 1280 touch screens would fit? There are some available for the A&K KANN ALPHA and KANN MAX, for example, that have the same specification.

I think I am going to pull the trigger on one of these. I generally don't like to be an "early adopter", but my old iPod is on it's last legs and, in any event, I would like to upgrade the sound quality. I travel ~ 7 hours by train several days per week and the P1 appears to actually be pretty portable! Some of the competitors are rather brick like.
They should fit if the screen size is the same.
The screen protector is rectangular in shape with no cutouts.

Kann Alpha and Max are 6mm wider than the P1 so most probably they won’t fit.
Look at the actual size (width and height) rather than the display size.
 
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Sep 3, 2024 at 4:36 PM Post #220 of 458
But looking at the other technical specs of the P1 on the homepage, i would be highly surprised if there would be audible noise floor.

With 4Vrms, A&K seems to have decided for an sane amount of power output and that should mean the noise floor should be rather low. I expect to hear nothing with the SE846 so it should be safe for your Sennies
Back home now to the P1 & IE600/900. No audible hiss with either using 4.4mm. 👍

This being my first DAP it’s quite fun to use rather than messing about with iphone/ipad & dongle/BT.

Seems pretty quick and responsive. Sound wise I’m pretty drawn to it, seems detailed, as mentioned very black background, volume levels really good from very quiet to more than adequately loud. Drives my SRH1840’s no problem either.

Been a joy so far and glad I bought it, will definitely prove to be a better solution for me.
 
Sep 3, 2024 at 6:29 PM Post #222 of 458
Sep 3, 2024 at 6:45 PM Post #223 of 458
Android version bump please.
I would have also preferred this to use a newer Android version, but it takes a lot of work to upgrade to newer versions, especially when the OS is heavily customized by the manufacturer. My uneducated guess is A&K started work on the P1 when Android 12 was either new or well understood, or maybe the organization behind Android charges a licensing fee and the older versions are cheaper to buy licenses for?
 
Sep 3, 2024 at 7:48 PM Post #224 of 458
Found this info on Twitter:

OS:Android 12
SOC:MT8788
SCREEN:1280×720
RAM:4GB

IMG_5520.jpegIMG_5521.jpegIMG_5522.jpegIMG_5523.jpeg
 

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