Man, I miss the times when people were considering a 1000 Dollar DAP as crazy overpriced
(...and that is not so long ago)!
Hmmm....maybe it is just me, but to me this feels like a weird product category. Especially the fact that you have two (well, to be precise: four) different outputs instead of just having a switch between the two DACs.
A bit like a laptop that you can open from both sides and one is running Windows, the other Mac OS
By the way, I am pretty sure it would be possible to simulate the different types of sound of two (or more) different DAC chips just by using DSP. Wouldn't that be easier?
But I love the design of the SE200! It`s gorgeous!
Hi, thanks for yoru reply! Astell&Kern Futura is not a product line targeting at affordability, and its main goal is to explore new design concepts. If SE200 offers better performance and sound than AK240, which used to be more than $2,000, I will still hold my opinion that it is a good pricing strategy. AK120 used to be around $1,000 but yeah, it was 7 years ago. At 2013, iPhone5S launch price was around $800, and now iPhone 11 Pro Max is about $1300 with max-out capacity. I think it is also impossible for them to put on the same price tag as their 2013 product.
With 8-core cpu (should be Exynos 7 Octa 7420 on Galaxy S6) and the latest DAC/AMP circuits, I believe it will also power up some multi-driver iems easily.
As far as I know, it is impossible to implement the software switch you described with two completely standalone DAC+AMP circuits. Cayin N8 achieves half of it, using two types of AMP circuits but with the same DAC. Welcome to prove me wrong
It's not a bad idea to use DSP, but obviously Astell&Kern is a company that currently leading the portable music fashion and decided to do something new. Since they have made balanced output (more accurately, BTL output since the ground is not used, as well as 4.4mm standard), physical volume knob and dual dac almost an industry standard for flagship players, I would still love to see how their multi-dac implementation performs.
Meanwhile, I also admire their design! The new curve is sleek, and the ceramic backplate is good. They recently uploaded a video discussing their design on YouTube A&K official channel, take a look!
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