[Rico613]

^ LOL . . .

 

[Juan Virgo]

  the AK380 needs a little time to warm up. After about 15-20 minutes of playing it really starts to sing

 
Hugo starts to sing from the first second, no warm ups, a turbo space drive...
after 20 minutes i felt to sleep often ... So with ak380 will never listen to it potential..
 
So... thanks God, nobody forcing me to buy one...

 

[Kvud]

   
 
 

 
 

 

[bflat]

  Those line of amps are already loose to Hugo, even the pre production one... for a reference, Hugo is much better then Cen/M8, fostex v1, and so on..  period.
 
So if Hugo is the best portable amp/dac for this moment, why not to compare it to the most expensive one ?

 
When did this become a contest?
 
All I stated was it's a better apples to apples comparison to stick to the same type of device in terms of impressions and comparisons. I never stated any was superior to the other. You have not offered a single useful impression or comparison of the AK380. Have you even listened to any of the other amp/DACs? I think not because as you have stated the WA-8 isn't even available and yet you say Hugo is better. You are entitled to your opinion, but the whole purpose of this community is to share impressions so that each member can decide whatever their wallets and preferences decide. I get it, you like the Hugo. Not everyone agrees with you so telling the same thing over and over again won't help change opinions. Give us something new and qualitative about AK380 here or if it's Hugo, go to that thread.

 

[Saraguie]

   
When did this become a contest?
 
All I stated was it's a better apples to apples comparison to stick to the same type of device in terms of impressions and comparisons. I never stated any was superior to the other. You have not offered a single useful impression or comparison of the AK380. Have you even listened to any of the other amp/DACs? I think not because as you have stated the WA-8 isn't even available and yet you say Hugo is better. You are entitled to your opinion, but the whole purpose of this community is to share impressions so that each member can decide whatever their wallets and preferences decide. I get it, you like the Hugo. Not everyone agrees with you so telling the same thing over and over again won't help change opinions. Give us something new and qualitative about AK380 here or if it's Hugo, go to that thread.

 
Echo bflat. This is the AK380 thread which is a player/dac/amp.  If one wants to compare dac/amps there are threads for that or start one.

 

[b0ssMax]

When did this become a contest?

All I stated was it's a better apples to apples comparison to stick to the same type of device in terms of impressions and comparisons. I never stated any was superior to the other. You have not offered a single useful impression or comparison of the AK380. Have you even listened to any of the other amp/DACs? I think not because as you have stated the WA-8 isn't even available and yet you say Hugo is better. You are entitled to your opinion, but the whole purpose of this community is to share impressions so that each member can decide whatever their wallets and preferences decide. I get it, you like the Hugo. Not everyone agrees with you so telling the same thing over and over again won't help change opinions. Give us something new and qualitative about AK380 here or if it's Hugo, go to that thread.

+1 on shooting down juan because of his non constructive opinions.

though i have to say I'm one of the folks comparing 240 only vs 240 + hugo and eventually with the 380. There's a rationale behind it, in my mind. To get the best transportable/portable set-up.

I compared the 240 and 240 + hugo combo after months of owning both. Hugo bought july 2014 and 240 bought aug 2014. My conclusion last week was the same as if it was months ago. My preference was ak240 w/o hugo.

I do believe in combinations: and to juan's take that hugo trumps m8? I have to disagree because my hd650 with m8 is better for me than with hugo. You will appreciate the power of the m8. With the hugo, the hd650 was somewhat slow and thin for me. Moving on...

Eventually the 240 became my go to w/o hugo, with hugo relegated to special occasions only and special comparisons. What i also noticed was that the ak had better synergy with my 'phones either with different amps like my mass ko bo or intruder or rxmk3b+. It was easier to switch. With hugo i found that i only liked it with my layla's and hifiman re400s. It didn't work quite well with my v8's, fx1200, fxz-200, havi, etc...,whereas ak240 alone or with an amp was good.

Eventually, got to do a compare of 240, 240 + hugo and 380. All i can say is i got a good deal from my dealer, and came out with the 380, and i've no more the 240 and hugo.

I do have to give props to chord and the hugo because it helped me in my journey. It was highly resolving, timing and coherence was the best. What i didn't like though was it's synergy characteristics with my preferred 'phones.

Long post now but what i'm trying to say is: we all have different ears, we have different combinations in our chain, and different equipment combinations makes us hear different things. My goal was to get the best portable set up that i could afford with the sound i liked.. I think i found it with the a&k, and hoping that with burn-in it gets better.

Lastly between ak240 and 380, what caught my immediate attention was the bass was lower hitting, but better quality compared to the 240. Though when i listened in for a few mins with the hm901s, i thought the hifiman sounded more analog but with more intimate soundstage. The soundstage and space was better on the 380 though. Call out: i used my layla's with balanced cable, and v8 with linum balanced. Using 8 wire whiplash silver cable adapter to the hifiman.

This wasn't written to piss people off in comparing daps with dac/amps. I had a goal and i think i met it. I had to compare a couple of equipment/s to validate and complete my chain.

 

[goodvibes]

Seems rational to me.

 I think many get caught out on synergism. You've worked for a sound you like and then change one component without the same effort put to interfacing and declare it inferior. There's more to it and that device may be preferred in another arrangement. I do believe certain things are inherently better but they clearly won't be so for everyone.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

I've gone off the rails.
 

 

[b0ssMax]

Seems rational to me.  I think many get caught out on synergism. You've worked for a sound you like and then change one component without the same effort put to interfacing and declare it inferior. There's more to it and that device may be preferred in another arrangement. I do believe certain things are inherently better but they clearly won't be so for everyone.

Agreed.

Hopefully we all get to move on and start focusing on getting more impressions...

I got my unit with fw:1.03, not sure if i should upgrade or not. 2 things holding me back: the sound might change and the store button. I was a bit hesitant on the alphabet index when scrolling was out but seems ok for me. Im also welcoming the change where i don't need to choose balanced when switching to bal 2.5.

In one of my favorite songs i found the 380 more resolving in detail presentation than 240, but thats just a 30 min listening session. (Having a hard time using the 380 as the missus might see it).

 

[speedracer1]

Agreed.

Hopefully we all get to move on and start focusing on getting more impressions...

I got my unit with fw:1.03, not sure if i should upgrade or not. 2 things holding me back: the sound might change and the store button. I was a bit hesitant on the alphabet index when scrolling was out but seems ok for me. Im also welcoming the change where i don't need to choose balanced when switching to bal 2.5.

In one of my favorite songs i found the 380 more resolving in detail presentation than 240, but thats just a 30 min listening session. (Having a hard time using the 380 as the missus might see it).

I had a demo unit with fw:1.03 and used it about a month then purchased a brand new unit and went to fw1.07. Version 1.07 for me sounded a little bit "thinner" then 1.03. Now I'm on the (brand new) version fw:1.11.  There is a notable improvement in sound quality with some really neat features in the UI.  My AK240 player is running at version 1.15 and that is my bench mark reference when comparing the AK 380.
Sincerely,
-Speed 

 

[mysony1]

I've gone off the rails.



[/quote


End of this month the amp will launch in the market was wondering how good it will be to pair with some of those headphones?

 

[Uncle E1]

why not balanced

 
Quote:

  I've gone off the rails.
 

 
 

 

[bflat]

Mike is just teasing us. Really, taking those cans to an AK380 when he probably has a WA234 mono blocks is just plain silly. Made us forget about Hugo for a while tho.
 
Talk about going off the rails Mike, it's only been a month since I got the WA7 and I got more tubes than I know what to do with! You are killing me!

 

[AnakChan]

   
Hugo starts to sing from the first second, no warm ups, a turbo space drive...
after 20 minutes i felt to sleep often ... So with ak380 will never listen to it potential..
 
So... thanks God, nobody forcing me to buy one...

 
[OT]
The Hugo is a component. I still fail to see the continual comparison. But whilst we insist on doing oranges to apple toffee comparisons, I actually preferred the Flow to the Hugo and the Flow is even cheaper.
[/OT]
I've not found my demo AK380 to "sing" 20 minutes later. Probably my ears are not as sensitive or my memory as reliable as piercer's, I've found it to be pretty much the same from power up. The only thing that I find troubling with any DAP is how the firmwares can change the signature so much. I've done a 180 with the Calyx M from 12 months ago and now. And with the AK380 firmware from 1.03 -> 1.07 -> 1.11, it's changed my opinions of the Calyx M vs AK380 in just the past 2 months.

Now, no review/comparison is absolute. As long as firmwares continue to evolve, comparison summaries can be rendered obsolete.

 

[Mimouille]

[OT]
The Hugo is a component. I still fail to see the continual comparison. But whilst we insist on doing oranges to apple toffee comparisons, I actually preferred the Flow to the Hugo and the Flow is even cheaper.
[/OT]
I've not found my demo AK380 to "sing" 20 minutes later. Probably my ears are not as sensitive or my memory as reliable as piercer's, I've found it to be pretty much the same from power up. The only thing that I find troubling with any DAP is how the firmwares can change the signature so much. I've done a 180 with the Calyx M from 12 months ago and now. And with the AK380 firmware from 1.03 -> 1.07 -> 1.11, it's changed my opinions of the Calyx M vs AK380 in just the past 2 months.


Now, no review/comparison is absolute. As long as firmwares continue to evolve, comparison summaries can be rendered obsolete.

I don't understand this firmware thing. It can only be a voluntary eq tweak from Iriver, it cannot just be an accident. So why would they want to change the sound?