[jwbrent]

Here’s the info for the new US distributor:

Address: 19600 Fairchild Road, Suite 125, Irvine, CA 92612
Email: support@theinvixion.com
Phone: (949) 336-4540/4541

The main AK site doesn’t list this info, only the AK store site from what I could see.

 

[ThomasHK]

Very odd concept. I can't imagine there's many people waiting for this kind of combo.
A swappable amp system has benefit as you can select the one most suitable for your headphones/earphones/taste. But this double system...why not just have the best implementation of one of those two and optimize it to the max capable for its price point.

 

[jwbrent]

Very odd concept. I can't imagine there's many people waiting for this kind of combo.
A swappable amp system has benefit as you can select the one most suitable for your headphones/earphones/taste. But this double system...why not just have the best implementation of one of those two and optimize it to the max capable for its price point.

I suppose AK believes there is a segment of its customer/potential customer base that want the change in tonality option. AK, in my long experience having owned four of its DAPs, likes novel features, e.g., stainless steel chassis, to separate itself from its competitors.

 

[TheUnknow]

Different chassis will make the sound different? Are you serious?

They just tuned each implementation differently , that's why.
Nothing to do with chassis.
And each time they update the firmware , sound tuning change ...

... Also , no love for Cirrus Logic ?
I would have ditch one AK for one CL ...

... Maybe for SE300.

 

[ipaddy]

Very odd concept. I can't imagine there's many people waiting for this kind of combo.
A swappable amp system has benefit as you can select the one most suitable for your headphones/earphones/taste. But this double system...why not just have the best implementation of one of those two and optimize it to the max capable for its price point.

This is the second time I am going to say "precisely what I said."

But you said it with fewer words. "Optimize to the max capable for its price point." But you left out one even more important point. With all of these models, all over the place, SR15, SR25, 700, SE100, SE200, etc., which seems to be the way AK does it, its very important that AK *not* make it as good sounding as current higher end products, and better sounding than current lower end products.

The 700 was a nice attempt at confusion. But consumers still want performance for price. And so...the additional point.

I haven’t heard back from my question to @JasonNYC about the DAC implementation, but I assume the difference between the SP2000 and the SE200 is the fully balanced digital section in the SP2000 ... not likely in the SE200.

I sometimes wonder, despite all of these reviews that start sounding like yet another adjective-laden article in Stereophile or Absolute Sound, using words I rarely hear, whether with a good headphone, the difference between, say, an SE100 and an SP2000, is just that they are tuned differently, sound different, but the SP2000 is not "better."

And that an SE100 could have been tuned *just the same* as an SP2000, and in double blind, there's not a soul with the best headphones in the world that could have told them apart if that were done.

 

[cr3ativ3]

No people said about buying it... is about the idea... doing something that had not been done before.. omg.. your understanding is perfect man... what I see from Jason trying to say is the no other people in the market put 2 flagship DAC (I thing 9068 is the new Flag by ESS) into a single device and make it plug n play rather than changing the DAC itself like how Cayin did it...

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/products/sabre-digital-analog-converters/

if you look here . it dont looks like a new flagship dac , its under "low power dac" under audiophile its still the 9038pro the flag...

but not sure at all

 

[szore]

I could see if each dac had a special, unique tuning that was not just 'different', but unique and useful in its own way. Let's wait for reviews to see what they did here...

 

[cr3ativ3]

I could see if each dac had a special, unique tuning that was not just 'different', but unique and useful in its own way. Let's wait for reviews to see what they did here...

Yeah we need some sound impressions and comparisons of this

 

[godlikegamer]

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/products/sabre-digital-analog-converters/

if you look here . it dont looks like a new flagship dac , its under "low power dac" under audiophile its still the 9038pro the flag...

but not sure at all

Yup.. maybe ES9068 is not Flag in the entire line but in its class (small desktop and portable applications)... this is from ESS themselves.. "The ES9068Q will offer Best-in-Class performance based on the SABRE DAC architecture with HyperStream® II modulation and can be used as a functional upgrade to the successful ES9018K2M, ES9028Q2M, and ES9038Q2M products."... like how SE200 is flag in the Futura Line...

 

[godlikegamer]

What gear have you listened to?

Listen: SP2000, SP1000, SP1000M, SE100, LPGT, LPG and many more DAP, iem and cable.. I own some entry level EA cable like Ares II+ and Origins, SP1000 and L&P L3.. I once tried PW no.5 with my iem and found that it reli change the Sound Sig dramatically so I bough Ares II+ in the end... I bought SP1000 instead of SP2000 because SP2000 reveal flaw for my music library... I am into can hear the difference field, not against it..

 

[starouterspace]

Why people hang on to DAC chips? There are so many ak4497 DAPs and they sounds very different. A good implementation can make products based on ak4493 or es9038q2m being able to compete with TOTL DAC products.

Curious about everyone's ideas about how to rank the following in terms of sound impact (assuming we are talking about the same pair of IEM and same soundtracks):
1. Music file format
2. DAC
3. Amplification
4. Eartips
5. IEM cable
6. DAP metal chassis

 

[szore]

Why people hang on to DAC chips? There are so many ak4497 DAPs and they sounds very different. A good implementation can make products based on ak4493 or es9038q2m being able to compete with TOTL DAC products.

Curious about everyone's ideas about how to rank the following in terms of sound impact (assuming we are talking about the same pair of IEM and same soundtracks):
1. Music file format
2. DAC
3. Amplification
4. Eartips
5. IEM cable
6. DAP metal chassis

It's called synergy

 

[Hanesu]

I sometimes wonder, despite all of these reviews that start sounding like yet another adjective-laden article in Stereophile or Absolute Sound, using words I rarely hear, whether with a good headphone, the difference between, say, an SE100 and an SP2000, is just that they are tuned differently, sound different, but the SP2000 is not "better."

And that an SE100 could have been tuned *just the same* as an SP2000, and in double blind, there's not a soul with the best headphones in the world that could have told them apart if that were done.

I was just about to write the same thing. IMO this is the inconvenient truth about so many Hifi goods, including many DAPs, DACs, head- and earphones. Different models are in many cases simply tuned differently - but often there is no objective "better" or "worse". The latter in many cases is just interpretation by the consumer, influenced through marketing, price and materials used. And audio companies are aware of it, because this is normal in the free market economy (as it is with many other products).

People often write things like "this earphone has so much more detail than the old flagship" but in many cases imo it's just a slightly changed signature with, lets say a more elevated treble for example, that obviously lets you hear more details in the music because they are simply made louder. Self proclaimed audiophiles always say they can hear the difference between "real details" and "elevated details" - but I am always asking myself after reading those things: (How) can they really? How are "real details" even defined?
In the end most of us here are just normal people that started this hobby at some point and picked up the vocabulary from this forum.

I am not claiming that there are no sq differences between a 5 Dollar earbud and a 1000 Dollar earphone, but I feel the end of the flagpole has been reached already for quite a while and now many makers are just trying to find new justifications to raise the price of flagship audio gear a few thousand Dollars every year (I am not talking about this specific A&K product in this case)...

Well, this ist just my opinion...

 

[szore]

I was just about to write the same thing. IMO this is the inconvenient truth about so many Hifi goods, including many DAPs, DACs, head- and earphones. Different models are simply tuned differently - but often there is no objective "better" or "worse". The latter in many cases is just interpretation by the consumer, influenced through marketing, price and materials used. And audio companies are aware of it, since this is normal in the free market economy (as it is with many other products).

People often write things like "this earphones has so much more details than the old flagship" but in many cases it's just a slightly changed signature with, lets say a more elevated treble for example, that obviously lets you hear more details because they are simply made louder. Self proclaimed audiophiles always say they can hear the difference between "real details" and "elevated details" - but I am always asking myself: Can they really? In the end most of them are just normal people like me and you that started this hobby at some point and picked up the vocabulary from this forum.

I am not claiming that there are no sq differences between a 5 Dollar earbud and a 1000 Dollar earphone, but I feel that the end of the flagpole has been reached already for quite a while and now many makers are just trying to find new justifications to raise the price of flagship audio gear a few thousand Dollars every year (I am not talking about this specific A&K product in this case)...

Well, this ist just my opinion...

Yeah, ok... Stick with your cellphone...

 

[Hanesu]

Yeah, ok... Stick with your cellphone...

Actually I do sometimes, but it depends on the usage scenario and also signature I prefer for the moment. Why do you think people like Crinacle also stand up for using their phone instead of a DAP? But again, I have nothing against DAPs or buying high end gear (otherwise I would not be here in this forum) - I am just claiming that in many cases we are not getting what we think we get, that is all.

Can I ask why are you using a SR25 instead of your former SPK2000cu (at least it seems from your signature)?