DrSheep
Headphoneus Supremus
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GAA1 will be my pick.
Astell & Kern AK120 impression thread
- Thread starter audionewbi
- Start date
silversurfer616
1000+ Head-Fier
A major soundstage improvement for me was using the RWAK120-S/ALO International with balanced LCD2.
Balanced increases soundstage and makes things even more airier withouth losing punch and impact.
Balanced increases soundstage and makes things even more airier withouth losing punch and impact.
Jimmy6
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Hi there AK120 owners,
Battery life is stated at 14hrs, but was wondering if that really is true? Or is it less in real life use?
Cheers
James
Battery life is stated at 14hrs, but was wondering if that really is true? Or is it less in real life use?
Cheers
James
Ike1985
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If there are any AK owners that also have a pono, a comparative analysis would be wonderful.
DrSheep
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I doubt it, as the Pono cost even more than the DX90 with less functions, but of course someone might do it as an technical exercise.
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I have both. You're not giving up that much sound quality with a Pono. I'm not big into A/B-ing. The differences are small. None of these are night-and-day. A lot of my listening is with high res flac files.
-I think the AK has a bit more detail, refinement. If you run the Pono balanced mode (you need a special cable for your headphones) you decrease the difference.
-The Pono is marginally more powerful in balanced mode. About the same single ended.
-Pono is a bit more bass heavy/warm, I suspect the AK120 is more neutral.
-Pono doesn't seem to have EQ, but using the EQ on the AK120 seems to take the SQ down below the Pono.
-The AK120 is capable of MUCH more storage, which is the deal breaker for me on Pono. I like being able to carry a large part of my collection around with me. I guess I could carry a bunch of micro SD cards, but they're very easy to loose.
Sounds pretty accurate. I can leave mine running overnight unplugged to burn in new headphones and the thing doesn't quit. I can also listen for an entire workday (9 hours or so) with plenty of battery left. The main reason I haven't upgraded to something else is the battery life would be a shame to give up since it's hard to match in the DAP world.
Jimmy6
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Thanks four feedback!!
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14 hours on the MZAK100 is about right. It's not the lovely 20+ of the original AK100, but good enough.
Wyd4
Headphoneus Supremus
Hey,
Just wondering on the note of storage.
How well does the ak120 play with 128gb cards?
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I have a 256gb SD Card strapped to the back of mine and its a bit sluggish. Read the thread for details.
ibs63
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I actually took both of the 128gb cards that I had in my Fiio X5 and they worked without having to reformat and reload my music.
Wyd4
Headphoneus Supremus
I just picked up an ak120 from the forum here.
I am using it with my Sennheiser Momentums at the moment and tried it wish some trash Beats solo things that come with my wifes old phone and I have a large volume of hiss from the left channel.
Does anyone know why this may be the case?
Usually hiss doesn't bother me so much, so this is significant.
Right channel is completely silent.
Seems odd.
I am using it with my Sennheiser Momentums at the moment and tried it wish some trash Beats solo things that come with my wifes old phone and I have a large volume of hiss from the left channel.
Does anyone know why this may be the case?
Usually hiss doesn't bother me so much, so this is significant.
Right channel is completely silent.
Seems odd.
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