[darkarth]

Just quick question. I'm interested to inform me about the Astell&Kern portfolio. Since I'm using full sized headphones that are bit harder to drive, I would like to know the output power or at least the headphone impedance recommention. But I can't find both on their website. Do I missunderstand something or is there another place to get these infos?

http://www1.astellnkern.com/eng/con...10180&spos=0&tcg=&tpos=0&dpos=3&gcode=SC35590

 

[RagnarL]

I'd be even more afraid of breaking one that was NOT mine.

Sure is a beast, though. The more I listen to it and play with the modes, the more impressed I am. And I love(d) my SP1K. This one just has "that" much more timbre in jiust the right places. I suppose if I had an IEM that was warm the T wouldn't be so much fun for me. But it just really plays nicely with the Zeus. Poorly mastered/mixed tracks can sound not so good, but when the track is done well, it sounds sublime. The SP1K was the same way. But even with poorly-done tracks I can throw on the Tube and it will sound better. It's got 100+ hours on it now, and I figure, based on my experience with the SP1K, it will still improve another 10% over the next hundred hours.

So which Ultima did you decide to keep? 1000ss or 2000t?

 

[olddude]

I'm selling the SP1000. Just too busy to put it up on the thread right now. Gonna be a real good price, lots of extras. Anyone interested, shoot me a pm.

 

[Aces High]

First post here but what an awesome thread. I have a LINE OUT question too…

But first as context, I bought the sp2000t at the weekend after a LOT of ‘umming and ahhing’. So many folk seem to say there’s no need for DAPs these days, the prize is insane etc etc. I get all that, but I adore my headphone use and…I took the plunge and so far it’s absolutely majestic. I listen in Op Amp mode most of the time and I can hardly put it down. I have a pair of Noble Kaiser Encore IEMs with Effect Audio Leonidas ii cable and it’s just sublime. So that’s all good.

But….I have a Kann too and I always enjoyed connecting the Kann’s Line Out to my Violectric 281 headphone amp and listening through my Sennheiser 800s cans (via XLR). I’m struggling to do that with the 2000t. I know maybe it’s daft to bypass the awesome onboard AK amps but I want to try the Violectric and Senny’s with it. I activated the Line Out setting and used the headphone socket (on the left) to connect to the amp…but can only get sound through one earphone. Plus even the instruction manual (which isn’t great) says don’t switch on Line Out and use earphones, which is kinda worrying. No doubt I’m missing something incredibly obvious, I realise, but grateful for any help please! I saw a fairly similar query above, though not quite the same.

Thank you!

 

[JasonNYC]

First post here but what an awesome thread. I have a LINE OUT question too…

But first as context, I bought the sp2000t at the weekend after a LOT of ‘umming and ahhing’. So many folk seem to say there’s no need for DAPs these days, the prize is insane etc etc. I get all that, but I adore my headphone use and…I took the plunge and so far it’s absolutely majestic. I listen in Op Amp mode most of the time and I can hardly put it down. I have a pair of Noble Kaiser Encore IEMs with Effect Audio Leonidas ii cable and it’s just sublime. So that’s all good.

But….I have a Kann too and I always enjoyed connecting the Kann’s Line Out to my Violectric 281 headphone amp and listening through my Sennheiser 800s cans (via XLR). I’m struggling to do that with the 2000t. I know maybe it’s daft to bypass the awesome onboard AK amps but I want to try the Violectric and Senny’s with it. I activated the Line Out setting and used the headphone socket (on the left) to connect to the amp…but can only get sound through one earphone. Plus even the instruction manual (which isn’t great) says don’t switch on Line Out and use earphones, which is kinda worrying. No doubt I’m missing something incredibly obvious, I realise, but grateful for any help please! I saw a fairly similar query above, though not quite the same.

Thank you!

When you enable Line Out from the menu, you need to turn the volume knob to show the on-screen display. In the middle of the display will be Line Out button. Click on it to enable Line Out. The extra step is a safety precaution so that you do not accidently enable line out with headphones connected to the player as this will result in an extremely high volume output that can damage your hearing.

The warning in the manual is warning against using Line Out when directly connected to headphones, not when connecting to an external headphone amp.

More info can be found in this FAQ:
https://us.astellnkern.com/apps/help-center#hc-how-do-i-use-the-line-out-function-on-my-player

 

[Aces High]

When you enable Line Out from the menu, you need to turn the volume knob to show the on-screen display. In the middle of the display will be Line Out button. Click on it to enable Line Out. The extra step is a safety precaution so that you do not accidently enable line out with headphones connected to the player as this will result in an extremely high volume output that can damage your hearing.

The warning in the manual is warning against using Line Out when directly connected to headphones, not when connecting to an external headphone amp.

More info can be found in this FAQ:
https://us.astellnkern.com/apps/help-center#hc-how-do-i-use-the-line-out-function-on-my-player

Thank you Jason - it works a treat!

 

[music_man]

I was wondering if the 4499 version sounds markedly better and if that is solely attributable to the 4499? Do they still sell the 9068? I am just guessing that as usual I would prefer the sharper cutting Sabre. The 9068 is no slouch? It has every modern decoding feature? What about Kann line? Just a bit confused by these. I never had one. Any comments greatly appreciated.

 

[olddude]

It’s not just what’s inside the box. It’s how it is implemented. I have both the SP1K and the 2KT and while the 2KT is a bit warmer, I haven’t gone back to using the 1K. With the OP and the default filter, I can get the T very close to the same sound. After that I can play with the other amps and filters and dial in a sound. As to decoding, read the info on the AK site. I know it won’t decode ISO.

 

[snewton70]

Got my SP2KT this week having issues drag and dropping files on to sd card
I have managed to get 2 albums to transfer
Just upgraded from a 1000m so sort of know what's what but on the 1k never had this problem just dragged and dropped files at will
Thought it might have been that I took the sd card straight out of the 1k so tried to drop straight to the external memory but files look like there gonna finish transferring but just stop
Also laptop named it MTP USB Device
When i plug in 1k its named SP1000M
Any owners experiencing anything similar

 

[Dobrescu George]

Got my SP2KT this week having issues drag and dropping files on to sd card
I have managed to get 2 albums to transfer
Just upgraded from a 1000m so sort of know what's what but on the 1k never had this problem just dragged and dropped files at will
Thought it might have been that I took the sd card straight out of the 1k so tried to drop straight to the external memory but files look like there gonna finish transferring but just stop
Also laptop named it MTP USB Device
When i plug in 1k its named SP1000M
Any owners experiencing anything similar

You can try using a different pot and see if it helps...

I had some USB issues on certain ports with all DAPs, usually it is a PC problem of how many USB ports are connected and of what type.

I found that on my specific motherboard all USB 2.0 ports at the back are stable, front USB 3.0 ports are very unstable, and some of the 3.2 USB ports at the back start disconnecting if I have specific stuff connected, especially some card readers cause other USB devices to disconnect.

 

[olddude]

You could also try rebooting your computer. I would suggest loading the card up using a card reader. But I think your issue may be taking the card straight out of the lK. I used a new 400 card on my T and simply transferred the files to my desktop from the 1K and then onto the card via a reader. I used a clean card, created a folder and named it Music, and then dropped the files into the folder.

But you start off talking about a card and then say external (by which I assume you mean the card), so I'm confused about what you are attempting, and how. Are you trying to move them all at the same time? A few? Best practice would be to try a single folder and see what happens.

If it were me I would move the files to my computer, put the card into the T and reformat it, then load the files onto the card using a card reader. Then let the T index them a couple of times.

 

[snewton70]

Thanks Dobrescu George and olddude
For advise, computer was rebooted and 2KT was only source so don't think it's that but was thinking on the same lines as olddude by transferring all files to a hard drive and let the 2KT reformat the card as I did with the 1k
By external I meant the built in memory of the 2KT and always move one file at a time, but was advised with the 1k to use that to transfer files directly onto the player and not a card reader, pretty sure I read that on this forum, think it may have been the owners forum but can't remember
But first I'll reformat and go from there
Thanks guys for the input

 

[olddude]

I assume you are using a PC. I use a Mac and use either Android File Transfer (free) or Commander One. I can move all my files over in one fell swoop. My thought with your issue is how the 2K is handling the card from the 1K. That's why I suggested starting fresh. But once the card is clean you should try a single music folder and, if it transfers well, just move the rest over. Remember to name an empty folder on the card Music. Then put your music folders into it.

 

[snewton70]

All sorted many thanks

 

[olddude]

So I've been using the T for a few weeks now, getting used to it, and I've gotta say I think it is brilliant. The little issues I was having (battery not lasting a long time, the order of songs on an album jumbled) have resolved (I turned off the light on the back of the device and a ran a manual scan a couple of times). The sound quality is excellent. I find with my 60's rock that running Hybrid and Hybrid filter does the trick. Every once in a while I need to go to the OP or the Tube for specific albums, but that's rare. I find the warmth is not overwhelming the clarity of the mids and the treble is still excellent. As I live for guitar strings and not pounding bass, the synergy with my Zeus is perfect. All in all, I'm quite happy with the purchase. I have a VanNuys vertical case coming Tuesday (right now I'm using my old SP1K case that I had to modify a bit to give clearance to the volume knob) and that should complete things.