[Jalo]

@Jalo
, could you provide a little more clarification please? When you're testing with and without the case, I gather you were holding the player?

This topic could have been clearer worded to focus on grounding rather than just "case" and gained better credibility as that makes more sense (but it would lead off to a different topic as to why AK would design a case that's sensitive to grounding, as such me leaving @sawrym
's post up in #5853 as that post had more validity).

Well I went back and repeat the blind test. This time the 380cu is being placed on an isolated platform behind me. The result is the same. I can pick out the times when the case is off and the times when the case is on in about twenty seconds or so. I don't know why there is a slight difference but personally I don't think it is a grounding issue. I think it may have something to do with vibration or the damping of vibration.

In my first test, I didn't pay attention to the grounding issue and some of the times I was holding the 380 in my hand and several times I put it on my desk.

 

[lohanette]

I have a Question.
I've got a 380 which I've been since UK release and I've just got the amp for it.
I charged amp with player on it till both were fully charged.
After some listening the player was at 4% and amp at 31%.
As battery's are same in player and amp I thought they would run down at same rate.
Anyone else's 380 with amp run down at different speeds?
Hoping it's cause player has to power DAC's and it's not battery in player needing replacing.
Any amp users feedback would be welcome.

 

[Jalo]

Need Help : My brand new AK380 purchased on 24th June 2016 is defective : 
When playing music it suddenly stop and went off, black screen, no sound whatever i do : nothing / then i'm obliged to reset.
When playing music, suddenly it start to RING in my ears, and it can ring up to one hour if i don't reset the DAP.
When charging the battery, most of the time the screen becomes black, and impossible to see if the battery is full or not.

I order the DAP in France, so if someone has advices to give me, i would really appreciate.
Or if i can get contact in order to return the DAP to Astell&Kern : that could be good for me.

Thanks to all of u for your help.
Sam

Did you purchase it from an authorised AK dealer?
When you receive your unit, did it look and feel brand new to you?
To your knowledge has your unit been dropped since you received it?
Did you problem start from the very beginning?
If your unit behaves like this from the beginning, you may have a damaged product or doa (dead on arrival) and you should contact your dealer right away. I wish you good luck.

 

[raypin]

mmm......the batteries of the amp and the DAP discharges at different rates when both are in use. That's normal.

 

[lohanette]

hi, yes unit (player) was purchased from offical dealer and was sealed.
not dropped unit.
I just wondered if battery needs replacing, not sure how many charges they take but its not been charged a lot maybe 50 times.
be good to hear from amp user to see if their player and amp battery goes down at different rate.
just had player returned to me from AK in korea as balanced socket broke, thats why I got amp so if the socket on that breaks I can still use player whilst amp repaired.

 

[lohanette]

thanks raypin.

 

[T1000]

My AK380cu is now stuck in balanced-mode too, i contacted my dealer. 

I´m not happy, let´s see what´s next.

 

[Samuel777]

Did you purchase it from an authorised AK dealer?
When you receive your unit, did it look and feel brand new to you?
To your knowledge has your unit been dropped since you received it?
Did you problem start from the very beginning?
If your unit behaves like this from the beginning, you may have a damaged product or doa (dead on arrival) and you should contact your dealer right away. I wish you good luck.

I order the unit on 24th june 2016.
I order it from TOPACHAT in France.
Che  i received it, it was really new.
No it has never been drop since i received it
Yes the same day i noticed that the DAP has a strange behavior
I prefer return it to AK.

 

[raypin]

Mmm.....insert 2.5 mm ic and make sure it is properly seated. Remove. Insert 3.5 mm. ic then turn off/turn on unit. Repeat as necessary. Try variation of procedure.

 

[prismstorm]

Three months ago when this stuck in balanced mode thing happened I had already alerted AK and they just told me to send it back for RMA, even when it's a software problem and can be fixed by a simple firmware release. 

 

[warrior1975]

prismstorm Is it definitely a FW issue? Seems like if it was, AK would update and fix it, much more cost effective than RMA'ing units.

 

[raypin]

mmm.......I've posted a couple of times in this thread about the stuck balance mode. AK should reinstate the Bal button in the menu option as with previous gen AK UI in a firmware update and help us get back to enjoying our AK 380/cu instead of being annoyed with this stupid problem.

 

[prismstorm]

@prismstorm Is it definitely a FW issue? Seems like if it was, AK would update and fix it, much more cost effective than RMA'ing units.

Back when I encountered the problem I used the trick of plugging in both 3.5mm and 2.5mm outputs then pulling both away simultaneously 15+ times, silently begging that it would make the 'BAL' forever go away. It did, and fortunately it still hasn't come back to haunt me yet. But it sheds light into this possibly being something AK can definitely fix without RMA-ing, if untrained customers can 'ghetto-fix' it themselves. 

 

[raypin]

mmm......I've experienced this annoying stuck BAL problem once on my AK 380 (when I still had it) and twice on my AK 380 cu. I think it is a fairly common problem.

 

[T1000]

I´ve tried all the methods, no way. I was on fw 1.23 and updated to 1.24 and back to 1.23 again, this damned bal-sign didn´t leave....
 
Maybe i´ll wait till the next fw-release, it´s not that big problem right now, i have the amp and i can use all of my Headphones.