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Astell & Kern ACRO L1000
Aug 28, 2018 at 4:30 AM Post #64 of 86
Listened to this one side by side with the Mojo and Ifi Micro iDSD BL. It’s... competent, I guess? Very, very soft, to the point of boring for me. I can see it working for folk, or generally vocal-heavy, languid music. Not an all-rounder at all though, forget about it for EDM, metal, or big orchestra music; sound stage was insanely poor - we’re talking 200 degrees max, and the detail is not all there. The price tag eludes me... being able to drive speakers as well is a nice bonus for some, and that function must add a lot of engineering work and circuitry. It’s correctly built too, although not quite the chunk of Ionic column shaft I was expecting.
 
Sep 11, 2018 at 2:03 PM Post #65 of 86
Giraku said:
OK. I got mine yesterday!!

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Currently testing with various HPs and IEMs comparing against SP1000Cu and Hugo 2.
As for the HP driving power, I tested it with my friend's Beyerdynamic T1.2 and had to turn the volume up to ~90%.

Also it seems like the filters are not working (bass boost and high gain mode). Maybe it requires a firmware update.
@JasonNYC, do you have any info about the filters and firmware update?
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How do you like those TH900?
 
Sep 20, 2018 at 12:52 PM Post #66 of 86
Nov 3, 2018 at 8:09 AM Post #67 of 86
@Giraku How are you doing with the L1000? Any comparison chances vs other amps? Someone felt it was very dark sounding vs the Mojo, but others seem to feel differently. It is hard to make sense things atm so any feedback would be good.
 
Jan 23, 2019 at 3:51 PM Post #72 of 86
monsieurfromag3 said:
Listened to this one side by side with the Mojo and Ifi Micro iDSD BL. It’s... competent, I guess? Very, very soft, to the point of boring for me. I can see it working for folk, or generally vocal-heavy, languid music. Not an all-rounder at all though, forget about it for EDM, metal, or big orchestra music; sound stage was insanely poor - we’re talking 200 degrees max, and the detail is not all there. The price tag eludes me... being able to drive speakers as well is a nice bonus for some, and that function must add a lot of engineering work and circuitry. It’s correctly built too, although not quite the chunk of Ionic column shaft I was expecting.
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I'm considering L1000 vs. iFi Micro iDSD BL. What would You recommend to buy? Why? What are the sound differences? Thanks.
 
Jan 23, 2019 at 7:49 PM Post #73 of 86
6a6uH BHyK said:
I'm considering L1000 vs. iFi Micro iDSD BL. What would You recommend to buy? Why? What are the sound differences? Thanks.
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From memory they are polar opposites tuning-wise.

The L1000 I honestly wouldn’t recommend for use as headphone amp from what I auditioned (only tried single-ended), unless you’re into super soft sources and don’t mind an intimate stage. For studio-recorded folk music, guitar/piano + voice maybe. It’s just not very adept technically, more like an above-average PC sound card than a $900 dac/amp. The versatility is nice though - not many devices can drive speakers as well as sport jacks for 3.5mm and 6.3 single-ended, then also 2.5mm and XLR balanced.
4.4mm Pentaconn is the only oversight - too bad it’s where a large part of the balanced headphone market is headed.

The iDSD BL is in another league in pretty much all respects sound-wise. But I personally find it clangy and raw, not very musical, as I often feel with many iFi products that on paper sound tailor-made for me. I listen to metal a lot so the added edge is not welcome at all, it makes aggressive masterings downright unpleasant. I can see many people enjoying this unfiltered approach though, and the tinkering you can indulge in with the filters and options.

To both I preferred the Mojo, I ordered one but eventually returned it, as it wasn’t doing anything with my gear that my V30 couldn’t. For the desktop I also considered the Nuforce DAC-9H, which is the DAC-9 with a headphone amp section. Very good. But ultimately I went for a tube DAC/amp from Taga Harmony, the HTA-700B v2, the least expensive of all devices I’ve just listed and yet by far my favorite irrespective of price. Warm, full, detailed, dynamic - a damn steal at just 400€.
 
Jan 24, 2019 at 5:10 AM Post #74 of 86
monsieurfromag3 said:
From memory they are polar opposites tuning-wise.

The L1000 I honestly wouldn’t recommend for use as headphone amp from what I auditioned (only tried single-ended), unless you’re into super soft sources and don’t mind an intimate stage. For studio-recorded folk music, guitar/piano + voice maybe. It’s just not very adept technically, more like an above-average PC sound card than a $900 dac/amp. The versatility is nice though - not many devices can drive speakers as well as sport jacks for 3.5mm and 6.3 single-ended, then also 2.5mm and XLR balanced.
4.4mm Pentaconn is the only oversight - too bad it’s where a large part of the balanced headphone market is headed.

The iDSD BL is in another league in pretty much all respects sound-wise. But I personally find it clangy and raw, not very musical, as I often feel with many iFi products that on paper sound tailor-made for me. I listen to metal a lot so the added edge is not welcome at all, it makes aggressive masterings downright unpleasant. I can see many people enjoying this unfiltered approach though, and the tinkering you can indulge in with the filters and options.

To both I preferred the Mojo, I ordered one but eventually returned it, as it wasn’t doing anything with my gear that my V30 couldn’t. For the desktop I also considered the Nuforce DAC-9H, which is the DAC-9 with a headphone amp section. Very good. But ultimately I went for a tube DAC/amp from Taga Harmony, the HTA-700B v2, the least expensive of all devices I’ve just listed and yet by far my favorite irrespective of price. Warm, full, detailed, dynamic - a damn steal at just 400€.
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Thanks for response and sharing Your experience! I am 70% in electronic music and 30% in rock/metal of different genres. Currently looking for replacement of my AudioQuest Dragonfly Red to upgrade to a bit more tight, punchier bass and faster presentation, keeping treble on the same level (which is important to avoid sharp edges). I've considered L1000 for versatility mostly, but according to your description, soundwise doesn't fit my taste. I'll consider HTA-700B v2, as I haven't look at tubes before, and it has speakers output as well. I see lot of people recommends Chord Mojo, how it can be compared to Dragonfly Red? Is there any improvements or killer differences, taking into account that "Mojo wasn’t doing anything that LG V30 couldn’t"?)
 
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Jan 27, 2019 at 3:37 PM Post #75 of 86
6a6uH BHyK said:
Thanks for response and sharing Your experience! I am 70% in electronic music and 30% in rock/metal of different genres. Currently looking for replacement of my AudioQuest Dragonfly Red to upgrade to a bit more tight, punchier bass and faster presentation, keeping treble on the same level (which is important to avoid sharp edges). I've considered L1000 for versatility mostly, but according to your description, soundwise doesn't fit my taste. I'll consider HTA-700B v2, as I haven't look at tubes before, and it has speakers output as well. I see lot of people recommends Chord Mojo, how it can be compared to Dragonfly Red? Is there any improvements or killer differences, taking into account that "Mojo wasn’t doing anything that LG V30 couldn’t"?)
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I PM’d you as my reply was getting way off-topic :yum:
 
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