Astell&Kern A&ultima SP3000

[Luke Skywalker]

I just ordered the 1040 and 1050 pelican cases with foam inserts. I’ll let you guys know which one is the best fit. I use them for a lot of my other gear and even my sunglasses with a tactical rubber band

 

[Memorexx168]

I just ordered the 1040 and 1050 pelican cases with foam inserts. I’ll let you guys know which one is the best fit. I use them for a lot of my other gear and even my sunglasses with a tactical rubber band

for your sunglasses? o.O sounds overkill
I have the 1060 for my Fiio M17. Thought it would be nice...but it's kind of not practical in my opinion. It's good for putting the dap into a suitcase or something...but besides that...

 

[Marat Sar]

http://dignisdesign.com/product/lucete-ak-sp3000-alcantara-case/334/?cate_no=85&display_group=1

Really nice to see there's at least one alcantara option with some colour -- the blue one -- for the sp3000. Cases for AK TOTL players have been getting more and more conservative, even the unofficial ones. Wish they still made the ak250 peacock green one and wild stuff like that To hell with modesty!

Thinkin of buying the sp3000 for x-mas for myself

 

[KLennikov]

I've had the traillii and ak sp3000 here for a couple of weeks. Out of the sp3000 they crushed the Meze Rai Penta's, which mobile sound I was very familiar with. Noticably better than ibasso dx220 to penta. Now I'm going line out to ferrum orr from sp3000 to LCD5s and I have to say if it was before the pearly gates, and my life depended on hearing every detail, I'd go with LCD 5 from Orr with Hypsos. But for all other circumstances, I'd take sp3000 in my pocket, straight to the Bird. I'm playing to sp3000 as a Roon endpoint in my house, with eq (not HQ Player) on an i7 roon core, controlled from a big Samsung tablet. That's got to be about 90% of max goodness, considering typical lifestyle and such.

Jkirvan, how do you like traillii?​

 

[funasianguy4u]

I use this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002VPE1QG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Amazon Basics Travel Case Electronic Devices (e.g. GPS, MP3 Portables, Nintendo DS)​

I probably will get shamed ...for sharing what I purchased if the occasion requires to travel with a big DAP (mine is the Ibasso 300 max)....at your nearest Prada store.

My thought was to carry big phone, maybe a few other things, hide it under my coat or jacket or reverse to minimize logo showing ..but then afterwards, I thought what a great, great DAP bag ..to carry around ...if I was in a plane, i would be able to carry right into the bathroom and it has dual utility. It is sturdy, leightweight enough....

Again, it is prada...probably material worth ...25 dollars..but it cost in the USD...1170 plus tax....it is selling very well it appears because my local store stocks and it sells out quickly.

Right now, it sits at home - but this is truly the best "designer" high end bag i think....for all we know one can carry this and another prada men bag...then, don't get mugged...I guess....

I do admit - obscene - but then again - we are all pursuing a hobby..here ..that is insane

 

[William1955]

I probably will get shamed ...for sharing what I purchased if the occasion requires to travel with a big DAP (mine is the Ibasso 300 max)....at your nearest Prada store.

My thought was to carry big phone, maybe a few other things, hide it under my coat or jacket or reverse to minimize logo showing ..but then afterwards, I thought what a great, great DAP bag ..to carry around ...if I was in a plane, i would be able to carry right into the bathroom and it has dual utility. It is sturdy, leightweight enough....

Again, it is prada...probably material worth ...25 dollars..but it cost in the USD...1170 plus tax....it is selling very well it appears because my local store stocks and it sells out quickly.

Right now, it sits at home - but this is truly the best "designer" high end bag i think....for all we know one can carry this and another prada men bag...then, don't get mugged...I guess....

I do admit - obscene - but then again - we are all pursuing a hobby..here ..that is insane

Amazon £11.00

 

[CharlyBrown]

After some problems with my A&K SE200 (sold in 2021) I gave A&K another try with a little help of Black Friday Discount and purchased the SP3000, going TOTL now

I've owned the device since last week and oh boy, is this a nice luxury gadget. I bought the silver one and being cured now from the luxury watch virus I have a feeling of nicely manufactured stainless steel. While not 100% at Swiss watch level the volume knob alone is a wonderful thing of beauty, I can't stop looking at it, together with the perfectly integrated LED ring. The rest of the device is also great but also a huge fingerprint magnet and it is hefty.

I really like the included cover, it is top notch, high quality. But for me the color is a bit boring. I wish they made the thread in the back in white that would be much more interesting. Still a very nice cover and the color is also great.

I love the GUI and how A&K focuses purely on music. No Twitter installable, no email, that's what I need.

The SP3000 seems to be extremely powerful for IEMs, I have lots of headroom with my ODINs, looking forward to the Supermoons which are on their way to me. The UI is super smooth and fast responding, screen is sharp like retina from Apple.

I am very happy with it.

My main use-case is streaming music and some local files. But 99% streaming with Apple Music (main), Spotify (exploring, finding new music), Tidal (sometimes).

I am very delighted to see that the SP3000 can now analyze the music stream from those services and e.g. switches from red LED lighting while playing 16bit on Apple Music to green for 24bit on Apple at a higher res song. Nice! Same works for the downloaded Tidal app. Spotify is always red as they seem to stream only in 16bit, I guess.

Some little issues / questions regarding streaming:

• I discovered that the device crashes if you are doing anything in the streaming apps like Apple, Spotify and simultaneously charge the device. It will stop responding and reboot. As soon as I disconnect the USB-C cable, streaming works fine without issues.

• I love using Spotify for finding music and for their "Canvas" feature where they play short 8sec videos, fitting to the current song. I think they are delivered by the artist. Problem: Canvas doesn't work on my SP3000. I tried with the stock Spotify app through A&K services, as well es side loaded the latest version - no Canvas. Why?? The option doesn't even appear within the Spotify settings

Any help appreciated, maybe there is a solution?

(edit) One nitpick - WiFi reception is still underwhelming, also with this TOTL device. I had to switch from 5Ghz to 2.4Ghz band. With 5Ghz you literally need to be in line of sight with the access point. A little wall (no problem for all other devices) kills 5Ghz...

 

[Joebas]

I have a a slack of about 0,5mm on the volume dial knob. Up and Sideways is that normal?

After some problems with my A&K SE200 (sold in 2021) I gave A&K another try with a little help of Black Friday Discount and purchased the SP3000, going TOTL now

I've owned the device since last week and oh boy, is this a nice luxury gadget. I bought the silver one and being cured now from the luxury watch virus I have a feeling of nicely manufactured stainless steel. While not 100% at Swiss watch level the volume knob alone is a wonderful thing of beauty, I can't stop looking at it, together with the perfectly integrated LED ring. The rest of the device is also great but also a huge fingerprint magnet and it is hefty.

I really like the included cover, it is top notch, high quality. But for me the color is a bit boring. I wish they made the thread in the back in white that would be much more interesting. Still a very nice cover and the color is also great.

I love the GUI and how A&K focuses purely on music. No Twitter installable, no email, that's what I need.

The SP3000 seems to be extremely powerful for IEMs, I have lots of headroom with my ODINs, looking forward to the Supermoons which are on their way to me. The UI is super smooth and fast responding, screen is sharp like retina from Apple.

I am very happy with it.

My main use-case is streaming music and some local files. But 99% streaming with Apple Music (main), Spotify (exploring, finding new music), Tidal (sometimes).

I am very delighted to see that the SP3000 can now analyze the music stream from those services and e.g. switches from red LED lighting while playing 16bit on Apple Music to green for 24bit on Apple at a higher res song. Nice! Same works for the downloaded Tidal app. Spotify is always red as they seem to stream only in 16bit, I guess.

Some little issues / questions regarding streaming:

• I discovered that the device crashes if you are doing anything in the streaming apps like Apple, Spotify and simultaneously charge the device. It will stop responding and reboot. As soon as I disconnect the USB-C cable, streaming works fine without issues.

• I love using Spotify for finding music and for their "Canvas" feature where they play short 8sec videos, fitting to the current song. I think they are delivered by the artist. Problem: Canvas doesn't work on my SP3000. I tried with the stock Spotify app through A&K services, as well es side loaded the latest version - no Canvas. Why?? The option doesn't even appear within the Spotify settings

Any help appreciated, maybe there is a solution?

(edit) One nitpick - WiFi reception is still underwhelming, also with this TOTL device. I had to switch from 5Ghz to 2.4Ghz band. With 5Ghz you literally need to be in line of sight with the access point. A little wall (no problem for all other devices) kills 5Ghz...

 

[Joebas]

I experience a slack in the volume crown. Up and sideways of about 0,5mm is this normal?

 

[CharlyBrown]

I experience a slack in the volume crown. Up and sideways of about 0,5mm is this normal?

Yes, normal, it has a little movement. Probably because it is a volume knob + on/off switch.

 

[Joebas]

Okay thanks for your reply. I was (am) a little worried because this is my second device and the first one had less "crown movement". Maybe more will also reply for this question.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Man... I thought my SP3000 went to sleep earlier. I had been having issues with it not doing that so I turned off AK connect. But now it won't turn back on. I plugged it in to charge as usual and I don't get the little graphic showing it's charging

*whew* false alarm. I just had to hold the button in a lot longer like 25 seconds

 

[Eoin]

Some little issues / questions regarding streaming:

• I discovered that the device crashes if you are doing anything in the streaming apps like Apple, Spotify and simultaneously charge the device. It will stop responding and reboot. As soon as I disconnect the USB-C cable, streaming works fine without issues.

If that’s the case with your unit, then there is something wrong!. I can use all those services, while charging, without issue.
Perhaps check the power supply, they recommend a QC 3.0 adaptor 5V 2A / 9V 1.67A / 12V 1.5A. with a warning if the charger exceeds 12V and 1.5A it my not operate normally and cause product damage. Might also be worth checking the auto time out setting in the menu, in case it accidentally got changed.

I’m using Apple Music v 4.0.0 and Spotify v 8.7.76.359.

 

[tret]

I'm not usually one that uses things like DAR, EQ, Crossfeed, etc. but this afternoon I was listening to the Boogie With Canned Heat album which, like a lot albums from the 60s and 70s, has some wonky Left/Right channel separation. I decided to try out the Crossfeed feature and it made such a difference. I definitely recommend giving it a go when listening to older albums with funky channel mixing.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

That’s really interesting. I’ve had trouble understanding what crossfeed does on the SP3000. I’m trying the Jan Meier preset with “Vulture’s Paradise” (Warlung) and it does sound pretty boss