[jwbrent]

Volume wheel is known and much pronounced in ak240ss than in ak240. Still not all ak240ss has this but eventually they will get it.
 

 
I'm not sure how the casing material can affect the looseness of the volume knob. In my case, the knob is as tight as the 240 I owned before I bought my SS, and after 16 months of use, any looseness has not changed at all.

 

[Eroica4th]

I'm not sure how the casing material can affect the looseness of the volume knob. In my case, the knob is as tight as the 240 I owned before I bought my SS, and after 16 months of use, any looseness has not changed at all.

1-You don't compare stainless steel manufacturing to aluminium.

2- your experience will be considered next time when someone asks me about loose wheel knob. But sorry yours is insignificant statistically speaking.

3- Almost from the first patch till now people complain about knob which suggests and supports point (1).

4-I don't see a continuous pattern of complaining from fellow regular ak240 users.

 

[wldcohso]

I returned my AK240SS because of the knob issue and got an AK380 Copper but now I'm having issues with the capacitive touch. It's implementation on the AK240 is much better (behind glass instead of copper) and much more responsive. May be sending my AK380 back because of it.

 

[jwbrent]

I returned my AK240SS because of the knob issue and got an AK380 Copper but now I'm having issues with the capacitive touch. It's implementation on the AK240 is much better (behind glass instead of copper) and much more responsive. May be sending my AK380 back because of it.

Yes, it is unfortunate that these high priced items have such issues. I feel lucky that I got an SS without any problems.

 

[hyde27]

AK240 v1.34

 

[eserafinojr]

Hey guys I'm debating picking up the 240SS.
 
So hang in there, here's where I'm coming from :
 
I used to own the original AK240 and then got it modded to the RWAK240+ which I enjoyed for awhile until I sold it to fund my desktop DAC which I use a lot more. I loved my AK240.
 
Last year I bought the DP-X1 before it was officially released state side. I have never been all that satisfied with my DP-X1 at all. Just don't care for the sound signature (thin and shouty, the UI is crap (brightness adj. never worked) and the Android OS just eats battery like crazy. Having the Play Store is nice and being able to watch video and surf the internet but I don't do that all that often on a DAP.
 
So I really miss my 240. I'm a little apprehensive about going all the way up to the 380. I do like the bigger screen, but the 240SS is perfect sized for traveling on a plane, it has a beautiful suede case and by all accounts the AK240SS sounds more like the 380 than it does the stock 240. I also miss the AK UI a lot and the ability to browse by "recent" music playlist when adding a bunch of new tracks for example.
 
Another thing I dislike about my DP-X1 is it does not do Bit Perfect playback. This is misleading and I felt deceived by how it was marketed. You either HAVE to upsample to 192kHz or "settle" for all playback at 48kHz. And no native DSD or bitperfect PCM without a bulky outboard DAC, defies the purpose of being "portable"...
 
My DP-X1 also has issues with reading tags as a couple songs don't display art correctly or titles where as on my 240 everything was perfect there. All of my music is tagged perfectly with Jriver as my tracks come from iTunes, Acoustic Sounds, HDTracks & Beatport. I really thought I was being smart by leaving AK and trying the new offering from Onkyo, but I don't like the DP-X1 at all. Obviously it's not a fair comparison if you go by price point, but at the time I thought I was getting a winner by what it offered overall and being able to "play" DSD and PCM which does no different than am android phone with the Onkyo Player App.
 
I should also mention I also didn't necessarily like my RWAK240 mod "better" but it was just different. There was definitely slightly more bass and slam, but at the same time I felt that came at the expense of the wonderful clarity of the highs/mids and bass texture that the original non-modded sound signature had.
 
The Copper 380 looks nice, but the price is just totally outrageous. Virtually double of a 240 and I doubt it sounds twice as good.
 
Besides over the AK240SS for example, how much is the universal praise of the 380 partly due to expectation bias and other factors?
 
If I had to guess sound wise the AK380 and AK240SS probably aren't that far off. But I haven't heard a 380 so...
 
What do you guys think I should do? Is the 380 really THAT much better?
 
What about something like the AR M2 or Plenue S? Have you guys heard those? 
 
Thanks!!!

 

[jwbrent]

When the 380 came out, the consensus option was that it was different sounding than an SS, but not necessarily better. If you will be using headphones that are easy to drive, the SS should be a great choice; if you have higher impedance headphones and want to limit the clutter of an amplifier/cable, then the 380 or one of its cousins with the attachable amplifier would likely be the better choice.

I haven't followed the 380 thread for awhile, so maybe my recollection is dated. After reading, though, that the 380 wasn't obviously superior to the SS, I lost interest and and was happy to stop thinking of changing out my SS ... the form factor is much to my liking and the solid steel casing and glass (not plastic like the regular 240) back makes for an elegant and unique design.

I might suggest checking out the new $3,000+ Sony that was recently released. It looks nice and purportedly sounds fantastic.

 

[eserafinojr]

Thanks for feedback.

I love sony products but their dap is out for me due to the non-standard 4mm balanced plug and its a little bulkier than I'd like.

But I bet it has GREAT battery life. Something the AK240 or DP-X1 does not. And Im sure it sounds great.

Another thing I recall is that all Sony walkmams dont use DAC chips but rather Class D digital amps. Hence all the DSP stuff they offer.

I prefer a faithful and honest bit to bit reproduction of sound.

How much better is the 380's battery life ? If it's that much better than the 240 I may have to give it another look.

But right now I'm leaning towards an SS.

What about the PCM1792 Burr-Brown based AR M2 anyone hear it?

 

[Polo410]

This is a crap player quality wise it died after 18 month and astell and kern asked me to pay 1300 dollars to get it fixed.none of the player i had has died and requires half of its value to be fixed

 

[jwbrent]

This is a crap player quality wise it died after 18 month and astell and kern asked me to pay 1300 dollars to get it fixed.none of the player i had has died and requires half of its value to be fixed

That seems excessive. What exactly was wrong with your player?
 
Your other option is to reach out to Vinnie at Red Wine Audio. He does upgrades on 240s and others have posted that he will do repairs as well provided you buy the upgrade. You may find his service rates to be far less expensive, and you will get an upgraded SS back to boot.

 

[Polo410]

That seems excessive. What exactly was wrong with your player?

Your other option is to reach out to Vinnie at Red Wine Audio. He does upgrades on 240s and others have posted that he will do repairs as well provided you buy the upgrade. You may find his service rates to be far less expensive, and you will get an upgraded SS back to boot.
[/

 

[Polo410]

Thanks i already contacted him he said he wasn't sure if he can makr it fixed but he can take a look at it.anyway the player has been shipped to korea and the 1300 dollars was quoted as a maximum cap they will answer me soon with the fees and i am praying its not the maximum

 

[jwbrent]

Thanks i already contacted him he said he wasn't sure if he can makr it fixed but he can take a look at it.anyway the player has been shipped to korea and the 1300 dollars was quoted as a maximum cap they will answer me soon with the fees and i am praying its not the maximum

What was wrong with your unit?

 

[Polo410]

What was wrong with your unit?

suddenly it never powered on.tried reset but never worked,hope its just the battery

 

[jwbrent]

suddenly it never powered on.tried reset but never worked,hope its just the battery

A likely problem. Please report back after you get your SS.